Page 15 - Parliament Winter Session

Over 2.9k drugs found to be substandard in tests conducted in 2022-23: Govt

Out of the 89,729 drug samples tested between April 2022 and March 2023, 2,921 drugs were found to be "not of standard quality" while 422 were identified as spurious, the Rajya Sabha was told on Tuesday. In a written reply, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said 642 prosecutions were launched for manufacturing, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs, while 262 persons were arrested during the same period as per information received from drugs controllers of various states and Union territories. This excludes data from Rajasthan. Giving details of the previous year, Pawar said a total 88,844 samples were tested between April 2021 and March 2022 of which 2,545 were declared to be not of standard quality while 379 were found to be spurious. She said 592 prosecutions were launched for manufacturing, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs and 450 persons arrested during the same period. Responding to a question, Pawar said that in order to asse

Parliament approves additional spending of Rs 58,378 crore in FY24

Parliament on Tuesday gave its approval for a net additional spending of Rs 58,378 crore in the current fiscal ending March 2024, with a large chunk allocated to MGNREGA and fertiliser subsidies. The gross additional spending would be more than Rs 1.29 lakh crore, out of which Rs 70,968 crore would be matched by savings and receipts. On Tuesday, Rajya Sabha returned the two appropriation bills to Lok Sabha after a brief discussion. Most of the members who participated in the discussion were from the Treasury benches as a large number of Opposition members are suspended from the House. Opposition members who were present did not participate in the discussion. Last week, Lok Sabha passed the supplementary demands for grants after a short discussion. Replying to the discussion on Supplementary Demands for Grants in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Tuesday highlighted the key aspects of the first batch of demands for grants. According to the demands for

Dropout rate at 27% in Class 10, not 49.9%: Odisha counters Centre

The Odisha government on Tuesday claimed that the dropout rate in Class 10 was 27 per cent in the state in 2021-22 and not 49.9 per cent as stated by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the Lok Sabha a day before. Odisha School Education Programme Authority Director Anupam Shah asserted that the Centre's data did not include the number of students admitted to various industrial training schools after passing the 10th standard. He also said the school and mass education department will soon clarify its stand on the prevailing dropout rates at the school level. Responding to a question on Odisha registering the highest dropout rate of 49.9 per cent in Class 10 in 2021-22, he said, the data released by the Centre was old. "The data released by the Centre did not include the number of students admitted to different industrial training schools. The overall dropout rate at present (2022-23) in Odisha would be 17 per cent, Shah told PTI. He explained that the dropout rate is .

Over 95,000 foreign offenders in record till Nov 2023: MHA to Lok Sabha

Rai said the NDOFO uses data maintained by the States and Union Territories on "e-Prison" (the National Prisons Information Portal), as per protocols notified for ePrison

Purge being executed so that draconian bills passed without debate: Cong

The Congress on Tuesday alleged that a "complete purge" is being executed so that "draconian bills" are passed without any meaningful debate and the BJP MP "who facilitated entry of the two intruders" into the Lok Sabha on December 13 goes scot-free. The opposition party's attack came soon after 49 Lok Sabha MPs were suspended from the House for disrupting proceedings on Tuesday, a day after 78 opposition members were suspended from Parliament. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh underlined the suspension of Lok Sabha MPs Tuesday to allege that "a complete purge is being executed so that draconian bills are passed without any meaningful debate, and so that the BJP MP who facilitated entry of the two intruders into the Lok Sabha on December 13th goes scot-free". The MPs suspended on Tuesday include National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari. INDIA bloc MPs have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Sh

Inappropriate behaviour led to suspension of some MPs: Bhupender Yadav

The "inappropriate behaviour" of some opposition MPs led to their suspension from Parliament and the country would not benefit from their "negative politics", Union minister Bhupender Yadav said Tuesday. Yadav urged the suspended members to reflect upon their actions. In an unprecedented move, 78 opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament on Monday, the highest number of suspensions in a single day, drawing sharp criticism from the Congress and other parties that accused the BJP government of trying to bulldoze key legislations in an "Opposition-less" Parliament. An additional 49 Lok Sabha members were suspended on Tuesday for disrupting House proceedings. INDIA bloc MPs have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in Parliament on December 13. "Their inappropriate behaviour led to their suspension. The new Parliament calls for new traditions and a clean way (of functioning). We aim to address questions from all members and seek everyone's

Parl security breach: Accused created 7-8 member WhatsApp group to plan

Police will now seek the help of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to retrieve the email through the reissued SIM card. The security breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001

LS adjourned till 12 noon amid Oppn protests on Parliament security breach

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon on Tuesday following protests by opposition members demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Parliament security breach and revocation of the suspension of MPs. As soon as the House assembled, opposition members were on their feet and some of them came to the Well of the House shouting slogans against the government and holding placards. Some of them were carrying a morphed picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the whole House condemns the display of morphed picture of Prime Minister Modi in the House and demanded action against MPs carrying it. Speaker Om Birla said it was completely against the rules, regulations and proprieties to bring placards in the House. "This House belongs to you. We all have decided that no one will bring placards inside the House. But you have come here with placards. Even you have come to the podium. Is it correct ? Please go back to

Oppn's goal to throw out BJP, govt's goal is India's bright future: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at opposition parties over their protests in Parliament and asserted that their conduct will ensure that their numbers go further down in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls while the BJP gains in numbers. Addressing the BJP parliamentary party, Modi also expressed concern at "attempts" to justify Parliament security breach, saying it is as worrisome as the incident itself, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had recently blamed unemployment and price rise for the Parliament breach on December 13, when two protesters jumped into the lower house chamber and opened smoke cans. The prime minister said everyone believing in democracy and democratic values should have collectively condemned what had happened. "How can a party believing in democratic values overtly or covertly justify it," he said, according to BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad. Opposition parties are rattled by their rout in the rec

INDIA bloc to hold key meet today after suspension of 78 MPs; 10 points

INDIA bloc meet: A day ahead of the Opposition meet, 78 Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to Opposition parties were suspended from both houses

78 Opposition MPs suspended in uproar over parliament security breach issue

Action after protests over security breach; Opposition leaders term it 'dictatorship'

Rajya Sabha clears Bills to extend women's reservation to J-K, Puducherry

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 4 pm on Monday after two Bills to introduce reservation for women in legislative assemblies of Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir were passed by voice vote in the House amid an uproar by the opposition over the Parliament security breach. The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill were passed by the Lok Sabha last week. The Bills were passed by the Upper House amid continuous sloganeering by opposition parties, who have been demanding that Union Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement on the December 13 security breach in the House. After the passage of the Bills, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the security breach is a matter of "collective concern". "Incidents of such nature have also occurred in the past. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that this august institution works in the safest and most conducive atmosphere. "A high-level enquiry committee for an in-d

BCCI denied tax exemption under Section 11 of I-T Act, says FinMin

The government on Monday said the Income Tax department has denied tax exemption to BCCI under Section 11 of I-T Act, and the matter is now sub judice. Section 11 of I-T Act deals with charitable institutions. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary made the remarks while responding to a question on whether the BCCI, despite being one of the richest sports bodies in the world, is enjoying tax exemption in the name of promoting cricket. "BCCI is claiming exemption under Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. However, during assessment proceedings the exemption is being disallowed by the Income Tax department. The matter pertaining to tax exemption of BCCI is sub judice," Chaudhary said.

Google has removed 2,500 fraudulent loan apps from its Play Store, says FM

The government on Monday informed Parliament that Google has suspended or removed over 2,500 fraudulent loan apps from its Play Store between April 2021 and July 2022. The government is constantly engaged with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other regulators and stakeholders concerned to control fraudulent loan apps, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The matter is also regularly discussed and monitored in the meetings of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), an inter-regulatory forum under the chairpersonship of the Finance Minister. The objective is to remain proactive, maintain cyber security preparedness with constant vigilance, and take appropriate and timely action to mitigate any such vulnerabilities in the Indian financial system, she said. As part of steps taken to control fraudulent loan apps, she said, the RBI has shared a 'whitelist' of legal apps with the government of India, and this list was shared by t

45 Oppn MPs suspended in Rajya Sabha, 33 in LS over security breach row

As many as 45 opposition members in Rajya Sabha were on Monday suspended from the House for unruly behaviour and disregarding the directions of the Chair after they raised slogans over the Parliament security breach issue and disrupted proceedings. Among those suspended were Congress MPs Pramod Tiwari, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala and Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav. The development occurred soon after 33 opposition members, including leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK's T R Baalu and TMC's Sougata Ray, were suspended in Lok Sabha following similar scenes in the Lower House. While 34 of the Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended for the remainder of the Winter session, 11 have been directed to stay away from the House pending an inquiry report on their conduct by the Committee of Privileges. The members were suspended after the House adopted a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal for suspension of 34 MPs for the remainder of the session

Just 2 out of 15 board directors in NSFDC from SC community: House panel

A parliamentary panel has pointed out that the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), mandated to work for the economic uplift of Scheduled Castes, only has two members out of 15 in the Board of Directors from the SC community. In its response, the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry said that a proposal for four directors from the SC community has been approved by the Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, but the parliamentary panel called the reply "vague" and unconvincing. "The Committee are not convinced with the vague reply of the NSFDC in response to their recommendation that vacant posts in the Board of Directors of NSFDC should be filled at the earliest while ensuring adequate representation of Scheduled castes therein," the panel said. The Committee on the welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes tabled its report in Parliament on Monday. In the report, the Committee pointed out that out of the total 15 members, there are ...

LOP Ranjan, 32 Oppn MPs suspended from LS on protests over security breach

The fresh action comes only days after 13 MPs, including nine from the Congress, were suspended for displaying placards and unruly behaviour

LS proceedings adjourned till 2 PM, Telecommunications Bill introduced

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 PM on Monday due to protests by opposition members who were demanding a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the issue of breach of Parliament security. This is the second adjournment of the day as opposition members continued with their sloganeering and showing placards. As the House reassembled at 12 noon, Rajendra Agrawal, who was chairing the proceedings of the House, took up papers to be laid on the table. Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw introduced the Telecommunications Bill, 2023, amid the din. Agrawal asked opposition members to go back to their seats and not show placards to the chair. "Do not force the chair to take action against you," Agrawal told protesting members before adjourning the House till 2PM. When the Lok Sabha met in morning, members paid tributes to Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who passed away on Saturday. Speaker Om Birla told the House about the steps taken by th

RS adjourned till 2pm, Dhankhar warns MP's for disrupting proceedings

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha also faced pandemonium, leading to its adjournment for the day as the opposition stirred a massive ruckus

Sad that politics is being done on this: Birla on Parl security breach

The Speaker said he will continue to consult the members on the issue and urged them to take their seats