Page 146 - Lok Sabha

Top Headlines: No census before LS polls, HUL's health and wellbeing foray

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

Gujarat election result 2022: Bhupendra Patel firmly in the saddle

Patel's work was hyper-local - which left leaders like Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to emphasise how the BJP had managed to propel India to the centre stage globally

LPG connections up to 325 million: Union minister Puri tells Lok Sabha

Number of LPG connections increased from 14 crore in 2014 to 32.5 crore this year. Of these, 9.6 crore connections were provided under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the Lok Sabha on Thursday. To create awareness and improve LPG usage among PMUY beneficiaries, the government and Oil Marketing Companies organised LPG panchayats, social media campaigns and public events across the country, the minister for petroleum and natural gas said during the Question Hour. Highlighting the steps taken by the government to encourage LPG consumption, Puri said a subsidy of Rs 200 on 14.2 kg refill up to 12 refills per year had been given for 2022-23, in addition to the options of 5 kg Double Bottle Connection and swap from 14.2 kg to 5 Kg, upto three free refills under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package from April to December 2020. The PMUY was launched in 2016. Despite rise in international prices, he said, the government maintained a lower gas ..

Congress, TMC raise issue of denial of Parliament panel chairmanship in LS

The Congress and Trinamool Congress on Wednesday raised the issue of the two parties being denied parliamentary standing committee chairmanship as has been the convention in the past. Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha on the first day of the winter session of Parliament, Leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay flagged changes made in the composition of the committees in October. "The convention of appointing chairman of parliamentary committees from opposition parties is being done away with," Chowdhury said. Bandyopadhyay said that despite the TMC being one of the largest party in the Lok Sabha, it was informed by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry that it will not be given chairmanship of any committee. In a reconstitution of parliamentary panels, notified by secretariats of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, chairpersons of several committees were changed in the Congress. The Congress and TMC had lost chairmanship of four key parliamentary pan

Coal import by power sector rose to 39 MT in Apr-Oct FY23: Centre to LS

Import of coal by the power sector has increased in ongoing financial year and the sector imported 38.84 million tonne (MT) of the dry fuel in April-October period, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. "...import of coal by the power sector increased during current financial year of 2022-23. As against the total import of 27 MT by power sector in entire year of 2021-22, the import of coal by power sector in first 7 months increased to 38.84 MT," Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. However, much of the rise in import has gone to feed domestic coal-based plants, and the restoration of power generation by imported coal-based plants to its potential level has remained slow. As per the current import policy, coal is kept under open general licence and consumers are free to import coal from the source of their choice as per their contractual prices on payment of applicable duty. The Centre does not interfere in this matter. However, the power ministry had

Mainpuri by-polls 2022: Security beefed up, sensitive booths identified

Ahead of the high-octane Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypolls on Monday, the administration has stepped up the security with heavy deployment of the security forces, according to an official on Sunday

All govt scheme grievances to be redressed: TMC MP assures Birbhum locals

TMC MP Satabdi Roy faced the ire of a section of locals in Bengal's Birbhum district, who alleged that "unfair means" have been adopted for doling out government scheme benefits, and sought immediate redressal of their grievances. Roy, who was in Sainthia area on Saturday for a public outreach programme, urged the aggrieved villagers to approach the nearest Duare Sarkar (government at doorstep) camp, run by the state government for registering names under its welfare schemes, and their grievances would be looked into. A group of women approached Roy as soon as she reached Hatora village and complained that benefits of a rural housing scheme were being doled out only to a handful of people. "Those in need of houses are not getting the money; we are living under inhuman conditions. Some people, who has already received money, are getting it for the second time. This is unfair. Local panchayat and BDO do not listen to us, despite having raised the matter several times," one of the wome

Nadda calls for 'massive' meeting of BJP office bearers on Dec 5-6

The meeting, party sources say, has been called to discuss the strategy and preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2023 assembly elections in several states

Performance high on BJP's agenda in Tamil Nadu for 2024 Lok Sabha polls

Faced with a crucial ideological battle against the ruling DMK, a disunited AIADMK frantically engrossed in leadership tussle as ally, and few disgruntled elements within the party, BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai hopes to cruise through political choppy waters to ensure the lotus blooms in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. He has set the goals high for the party members, mandating them to perform or give way to talented persons, who may be newcomers, a senior leader in the party said. "Annamalai's recent analogy of accommodating new passengers if some passengers get off the bus, is seen as a warning to the party members to perform. Those working against the party's interest or don't show results may not have a place in the party," says M Chakravarthy, state vice president. It is very crucial for the party cadres to sustain the momentum built by Annamalai who has made the BJP a strong force in the state, he said. "The Lok Sabha election and also the 2026 Assembly polls will turn out to

PM Modi extends birthday greetings to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla

PM Modi extended birthday greetings to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and lauded his efforts to further strengthen Parliamentary democracy

Speaker to decide if Winter Session will be in new building: Minister

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore on Tuesday said finishing touches are being given to the new Parliament building and the Lok Sabha Speaker will decide whether the forthcoming Winter Session will be held there or the existing building. The Winter Session of Parliament will begin on December 7 and conclude on December 29. The government has maintained that the project would be completed by November. Kishore said the project was on track and efforts were being made to complete the construction work as soon as possible. "The Speaker will decide whether the Winter Session of Parliament will be held in the new building or the old one," Kishore told PTI. On the completion of the project, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said earlier this month that it was up to the government to make the announcement regarding the date. In December 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament build

IFFI 2022: Want to build India as global content hub, says Anurag Thakur

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Sunday said the government aims to establish the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) as the one-stop destination for content creation, filmmaking and shooting. The 53rd edition of the nine-day festival is set to kickstart here with film personalities including Ajay Devgn, Kartik Aaryan, Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Bajpayee, Suniel Shetty, Varun Dhawan, and Sara Ali Khan in attendance at the opening ceremony. The festival runs till November 28. "The IFFI is Asia's largest film festival and we are in the 53rd edition... We want to establish India as a global content hub. Be it content creation, co-production, filmmaking or shooting," Thakur told reporters ahead of the opening ceremony here. In the 75th year of India's independence through the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative, the union minister said the focus is not only on celebrating excellence in cinema but also creating a collaborative ecosystem for the Indian .

Will look into financial disclosures of Byju's, says ICAI president

Move comes in backdrop of Congress MP Karti Chidambaram's letter airing concerns over results

With new Parliament building to welcome MPs soon, here's what will change

In the new Parliament House, with a soft launch this winter session (the full functionality will happen in January in the budget session), papers are supposed to disappear among other things

Fiscal correction: Focus should be on reducing the fiscal deficit

The govt would do well to be cautious and resist the temptation of increasing expenditure in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections because the economy is likely to slow in the second half of the year

UP: With eye on Lok Sabha polls, BJP reaches out to Pasmanda Muslims

Aiming to win all 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is sharpening its outreach among numerically strong Pasmanda Muslims, which have benefitted from government schemes like free ration and housing. The BJP, which following a state-level Pasmanda Muslim meet is planning to hold similar functions in all civic body areas, claims after social and economic empowerment of this section, it's working for their political uplift. In Pasmanda Muslim meets, the BJP leaders are highlighting that the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress always used Muslims as a "vote bank" and did not give them their due. The BJP's game plan to attract Pasmanda Muslims is visible since the start of the party's second consecutive term in UP as it inducted Danish Azad Ansari, hailing from the community, as the sole Muslim minister in the state cabinet. Ansari told PTI, "Central and state governments have done economic and social empowerment of Muslims so far. The BJP now wants political

With eye on panchayat, LS polls, Nadda forms core committee for Bengal BJP

BJP national president J P Nadda on Monday constituted a new core committee for the party's state unit with an eye on next year's panchayat polls and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, a party leader said. The West Bengal BJP unit didn't have any core committee since last year when Sukanta Majumdar was appointed the state president, replacing Dilip Ghosh who was made a national vice president. The 20-member new core committee included, apart from Majumdar and Ghosh, Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari, film star Mithun Chakraborty, and the four union ministers from the state Subhas Sarkar, Shantanu Thakur, John Barla and Nisith Pramanik. BJP national general secretary and state observer Sunil Bansal, and the state in charge Mangal Pandey are among the four special invitees to the core committee. This is the first time after Sukanta Majumdar took over that a core committee has been set up. Earlier during Dilip Ghosh's tenure, there was a core committee,

Goal is to win 2024 LS polls, help form non-BJP govt at Centre: M K Stalin

The DMK's first goal is to emerge victorious in all the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone Puducherry segment as well in the 2024 Parliamentary election, party President and Chief Minister M K Stalin said here on Sunday. The next goal is to facilitate formation of a new government at the Centre that is committed to the principles of social justice and federalism, he said. "During the run-up to the (Lok Sabha) election (in 2024), we will take political steps aimed at it," he said in a video-message. It is the first edition of DMK's public outreach initiative through a video-message series titled, "Answers of one among you." (Ungalil Oruvanin Pathilgal in Tamil). The DMK has come with a Tamil political slogan, "Narpathum Namathe, Nadum Namathe." It could be roughly translated as, "All the 40 Parliamentary constituencies are ours, the country is ours as well." The outreach programme's objective is to respond to queries raised in social media platforms by the people on ...

Congress no longer reliable: AIUDF Rafiqul Islam on fighting LS 2024 alone

Contrary to the political call for 'unified Opposition' to fight against the ruling BJP, the AIUDF announced to contest alone in the Lok Sabha elections slated to be held in 2024.

Stalin calls upon DMK cadres to be prepared for 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MK Stalin, who was re-elected as the DMK President for the second time called upon the party cadres to work hard for winning all the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu