Parliament

Oppn protests in Parliament after President Murmu mentions VB-G RAM G Act

President Droupadi Murmu's reference to the VB-G RAM G Act in her address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on Wednesday sparked protests from opposition parties which raised slogans demanding a roll back of the law. In her address, the President said the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) would provide guarantee for 125 days of work, and would also stop corruption and leakages. She also asserted that it would provide a new impetus to rural development. While the President's mention of the VB-G RAM G Act was welcomed by treasury benches by thumping of desks, Opposition members raised slogans demanding roll back of the law. President Murmu paused during her address as the opposition raised slogans like "vapas lo" (roll back the Act). The Act is set to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Opposition parties are demanding the withdrawal of the VB-G RAM G Act and restoration of MGNRE

Datanomics: Parliament's Budget sessions see longer sittings, fewer Bills

Parliament's Budget Session begins as longer sittings contrast with limited debate on expenditure and fewer bills introduced and passed in recent years

Parliament's Budget session begins on Wednesday; pending Bills listed

Opposition parties demand discussion on SIR, MGNREGA

Centre convenes all-party meeting ahead of Budget session: Top agenda

The meeting is aimed at ensuring the smooth functioning of Parliament and managing issues that are expected to arise during the session

Delhi court allows Engineer Rashid to attend Budget Session in custody

A Delhi court on Saturday granted custody parole to jailed Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid to attend the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament. Custody parole entails a prisoner being escorted by armed police personnel to his place of visit. Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma passed the order, granting Rashid permission to attend the session that would begin on January 28, subject to conditions imposed earlier about travel costs and others. Rashid's counsel Vikhyat Oberoi told the court that his client's appeal about travel costs is pending before the Delhi High Court. In November last year, the court had granted Rashid custody parole to attend the Winter Session of Parliament on all dates. It had also allowed him to attend the Monsoon Session between July 24 and August 4, 2025, in a similar manner. In 2024, Rashid was granted interim bail to campaign for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls. The Independent MP has been lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail since 2019, after he was .

Australia Parliament debates anti-hate speech, gun laws after Bondi attack

Australia's Parliament on Tuesday began debating draft anti-hate speech and gun laws proposed after two shooters killed 15 people at a Jewish festival in Sydney last month. The draft laws would create new restrictions on gun ownership and create a government-funded buyback scheme to compensate people forced to hand in their firearms. Anti-hate speech laws would enable hate groups that don't fit Australia's definition of a terrorist organisation, such as Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, to be outlawed. Hizb ut-Tahrir is already outlawed by some countries. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Parliament that alleged gunmen Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram would not have been allowed to possess guns under the proposed laws. The father, who was shot dead by police during the attack on Jewish worshippers during Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach on Dec 14, legally owned the guns used. His son, who was wounded, has been charged with dozens of offenses including 15

Budget session of Parliament begins on January 28; to continue till April 2

The Budget session of Parliament will be held from January 28 to April 2, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Friday. The Budget session begins with the address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint session of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the Lok Sabha chamber. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey and present the general Budget. However, Rijiju did not share details on the date of the presentation of the Budget. February 1, which has been fixed as the Budget Day, falls on a Sunday this year. Parliament will be in recess from February 13 till March 9. "On the recommendation of the Govt of India, Hon'ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji has approved the summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session 2026. "The Session will commence on 28 January 2026 and continue till 2 April 2026," Rijiju said in a post on X. "The first phase concludes on 13 February 2026, with Parliament reassembling on 9 March

PM Modi likely to inaugurate Commonwealth Speakers' conference on Jan 15

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the conference of presiding officers of Commonwealth nations here on January 15, an official said on Sunday. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will host the four-day Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments of Commonwealth Countries (CSPOC) at the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan from January 14-17. At the CSPOC held in Guernsey last year, the Lok Sabha Speaker had said that the focus of the conference in India would be the application of artificial intelligence and social media in the working of Parliaments. The conference will have sessions on the topic 'AI in Parliament: Balancing Innovation, Oversight and Adaptation'; 'Social Media and its Impact on Parliamentarians'; 'Security, Health and Wellbeing of Members of Parliament and Parliamentary Staff'. A special plenary on 'The Role of Speakers and Presiding Officers in maintaining strong democratic institutions' will be a highlight of the conference. The presid

Parliamentary panel urges inter-ministry coordination on critical minerals

A parliamentary panel has stressed the need for seamless coordination among ministries to bolster the country's self-reliance in critical minerals like lithium, graphite, cobalt, and rare earth that are vital for a technology-driven future global economy. In its report, the Committee noted that the "Atmanirbhar Bharat" initiative, with its strong emphasis on self-reliance, holds immense potential to secure a sustainable supply chain of these minerals and enhance the country's industrial competitiveness. However, it cautioned that without effective coordination, these efforts may fall short. "The Committee...suggest that alongside the Ministry of Mines, which is leading these efforts, all ministries concerned, State governments and agencies should work in close alignment to ensure that the country remains competitive in the critical mineral sector," the Standing Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel has said in a report. The committee recommended that the mines ministry, which is ...

Pvt Members' Bills return to spotlight, even as history shows rare success

Despite rarely becoming law, these have left a lasting imprint on India's legislative journey

Parliament panel urges labour ministry to set up women's creches with NGOs

Noting that only Madhya Pradesh and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu had reported creche facilities on the central portal for women construction workers, a Parliamentary committee has recommended that the Ministry of Labour explore the feasibility of involving NGOs for opening creches for women. In a report titled Safety and protection of women in unorganised sector' tabled in Parliament, the Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women, chaired by BJP MP D Purandeswari, also recommended extending the operating hours of the creches to match women's work schedules (8 hours), ensuring childcare aligns with employment needs. It also recommended a mandate of a fixed percentage of CSR funds for childcare and maternity support in the informal sector. According to the report, The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, mandates comprehensive welfare measures for women construction workers. Th

Govt's SHANTI Bill may put citizens' lives in danger: Prashant Bhushan

The SHANTI Bill could be challenged on the ground of violating Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, alleged Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan in a press conference in Delhi

Parliament Winter Session Highlights: Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha adjourned sine die amid Oppn protest

Parliament Winter Session LIVE updates: Follow all the latest updates from Parliament as government and opposition debate key issues

Disruptions unbecoming of MPs, says RS Chairman as Winter session ends

Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Friday strongly disapproved of disruptions by Opposition members during the passage of the rural employment guarantee bill (G RAM G), terming the conduct "unbecoming of Members of Parliament", and urged them to introspect and refrain from such behaviour in future. Radhakrishnan read out a synopsis of the legislative and other business transacted during the 15-day sitting of the Winter session before adjourning the proceedings sine die. Adjourned sine die (Latin for without a day') means suspending a parliamentary session indefinitely, without setting a specific date to reconvene. It's used when legislative bodies end a session without naming a future date for reassembly. The Winter session of Parliament started on December 1. "Disruption created during yesterday's sitting by the Opposition Members by shouting slogans, displaying placards, disrupting the Minister replying to the discussion, tearing up papers and throwing them in the well of

Oppn sits on overnight protest in Parl against passage of G RAM G bill

Opposition leaders staged a 12-hour overnight protest dharna in Parliament complex on Thursday night, while protesting against the passage of the VB-G RAM G bill that seeks to replace the MGNREGA rural employment programme and said they would take to the streets across the country. Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose accused the Union government of bulldozing the VB- G RAM G bill, as opposition MPs sat on a 12-hour dharna in the Parliament complex. The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill was passed by Parliament amid opposition's protests, with the Rajya Sabha giving it its nod post midnight. Ghose said the manner in which the Modi government has brought in this completely "anti-poor, anti-people, anti-farmer, anti-rural poor" VBGRG bill, and has done away with the MGNREGA. "This is an insult to India's poor, it is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, it is an insult to Rabindranath Tagore. With just five hours' notice,

Parl panel flags delays, seeks clearances for critical mineral projects

A Parliamentary Panel has flagged delays between mine auctions and operationalisation and has urged the government to explore setting up an inter-ministerial committee to monitor the post-auction progress for mineral and critical mineral projects. The panel also stressed that critical mineral projects should be given priority in necessary statutory clearances. "Although policy initiatives and simplification of exploration norms for auction of mineral blocks are in place, the Committee feels that the lengthy process of regulatory clearances, inadequate exploration, forest clearance requirement even at the exploration stage, considerable time lag between auction of mines and their operationalisation, etc., needs to be looked into," it said. The observations were made by the Standing Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel in its latest report titled "Self-Reliance in Minerals and Metals". "In view of these persistent challenges, the committee desires to explore the possibility of setting

Lok Sabha clears SHANTI Bill by voice vote amid Opposition walkout

The tough provisions of India's nuclear liability laws led to "silent phobia" among industry, prompting the government to bring a new comprehensive bill to address their concerns and open up the atomic energy sector for private participation, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday. Singh was replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha that passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill by a voice vote amid a walk out by the opposition. The opposition contended that the government was putting citizens in harm by allowing suppliers of nuclear equipment to escape the liability net in case of a nuclear accident. "The government will deal only with the operator, it is upon the operator to deal with the supplier," Singh, the Minister of State in the PMO, who oversees the Department of Atomic Energy, told the Lok Sabha. He said the operator liability has been rationalised through graded caps linked to reactor size to encoura

Parliament clears 100% FDI in insurance: What it means

The Lok Sabha has passed an insurance reform bill, raising foreign direct investment in the sector to 100%. The government says this will bring capital, competition, and better coverage.

Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha Bill passed; way paved for 100% FDI in insurance

The Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025, was cleared by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote, a day after it was passed by the Lok Sabha

Revamping rural employment: New law will bring significant changes

The Bill proposes to increase the number of guaranteed days of employment to 125 per household