Page 4 - Parliament Winter Session

Om Birla urges MPs to actively participate in Winter Session of Parliament

He further highlighted that each session guides MPs towards duty, restraint, and public welfare, deepening the essence of people's representation

Mayawati calls for smooth Winter Session to ensure debate on key issues

BSP chief Mayawati has appealed to both the ruling dispensation and the opposition to ensure a smooth and orderly Winter Session of Parliament so that crucial national and public-interest issues like air pollution in Delhi and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls can be discussed meaningfully. In a post on X, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister cautioned that, like previous sessions, the Winter Session beginning Monday is expected to witness considerable uproar. However, she stressed that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) wants both Houses to function smoothly to allow substantive debate on urgent matters. She also highlighted the practical difficulties and objections arising during the ongoing SIR, along with the challenges faced by booth-level officers (BLOs), pointing to incidents of suicides allegedly linked to work pressure. These issues, she said, need to be addressed through proper discussion and effective solutions. Merely trading allegations will not help, the

Govt meets floor leaders of parties ahead of Parliament's Winter session

An all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Winter session of Parliament is underway here on Sunday where the opposition is likely to rake up various issues, including Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the Delhi blast and foreign policy matters that it wants to raise in both Houses. While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and his deputy Arjun Ram Meghwal are representing the government, the opposition is being represented by Jairam Ramesh, Gaurav Gogoi, Pramod Tiwari (Congress), T R Baalu (DMK), Derek O'Brien (TMC) and E T Mohammed Bashir (IUML). Union minister J P Nadda represents the BJP. He is the BJP president as well as Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha. Manoj Jha of the RJD, Harsimrat Kaur of the SAD and Sanjay Jha of the JD(U) are also attending the meet. The customary meeting has been convened to ensure smooth functioning of the two Houses during the session where several new bills are planned to b

Parliament Winter session: Govt to push reform agenda, Oppn to target SIR

The Winter session of Parliament beginning Monday will see the government push its reforms agenda with a legislation to open up the civil nuclear sector to private players, while the opposition is set to rake up the issue of revision of electoral rolls across 12 states and Union territories. The three-week long session of Parliament comes against the backdrop of the overwhelming victory of the BJP-led NDA in the Bihar Assembly elections which is expected to reflect in the renewed push for reforms after a virtual washout of the Monsoon session. Besides the crucial 'The Atomic Energy Bill, 2025', which seeks to govern the use and regulation of atomic energy in India, the Higher Education Commission of India Bill and eight other draft legislations are also on the agenda for the session which will have 15 sittings. The government already had to step back from its plans to bring a bill to empower the president to make regulations for the Union Territory of Chandigarh directly, after stif

Air pollution, SIR, Vande Mataram: Key issues and bills in Winter Session

Winter Session of Parliament could see debates on air pollution, electoral revisions, Vande Mataram, and key bills spanning nuclear energy, higher education, and corporate law

No Bill on Chandigarh admin to be introduced in winter session: MHA

The Ministry further said that any decision on the matter will be taken only after adequate consultations with all stakeholders

Bill to hike FDI in insurance sector to 100% to be tabled in winter session

The government proposes to introduce a bill to raise foreign direct investment in the insurance sector to 100 per cent in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament. The Winter session of Parliament is slated to begin on December 1 and continue till December 19. The session will have 15 working days. According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill 2025, which seeks to deepen penetration, accelerate growth and development of the insurance sector and enhance ease of doing business, is part of the 10 legislations listed for the upcoming session of the Parliament. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in this year's Budget speech, proposed to raise the foreign investment limit to 100 per cent from the existing 74 per cent in the insurance sector as part of new-generation financial sector reforms. So far, the insurance sector has attracted Rs 82,000 crore through foreign direct investment (FDI). The finance ministry has proposed amending various provisions of the ..

Bill to form higher education regulator to be introduced in winter session

A bill to set up a higher education regulator, which will replace bodies such as the UGC, is listed for introduction in the winter session of Parliament, set to commence on December 1. According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, the proposed legislation has been christened the Higher Education Commission of India Bill. The Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), which was proposed in the new National Education Policy, looks to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). While the UGC oversees non-technical higher education, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE is the regulatory body for teachers' education. The HECI is proposed to be set up as a single higher education regulator, but medical and law colleges will not be brought under its ambit. It is proposed to have three major roles -- regulation, accreditation and setting professional standards. Funding,

Winter Session of Parliament from December 1; truncated one, says Oppn

In 2025, if Parliament sits for all 15 sittings planned during the session, it would have sat for 62 days, or 21 days on average for each of the three sessions in the year

Winter session from Dec 1 to 19; Oppn slams govt for 'just 15 working days'

The Winter session of Parliament will be held from December 1 to 19, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday. "The Hon'ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji has approved the proposal of the Government to convene the #WinterSession of Parliament from 1st December 2025 to 19th December, 2025 (subject to exigencies of Parliamentary business)," Rijiju said on X. "Looking forward to a constructive and meaningful Session that strengthens our democracy and serves the aspirations of the people," he said.

Delhi HC grants relief to 2 accused in Parliament security breach case

The Delhi High Court today granted bail to Neelam Azad and Mahesh Kumawat on a ₹50,000 bond and two sureties each, after they challenged a trial court order that had earlier denied them bail

Notice for my removal from post was a rusted knife, says V-P Dhankhar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said one should not use a vegetable-cutting knife for bypass surgery and asserted that the notice for his removal from the post was actually a "rusted" tool. In his first reaction on the notice submitted by the opposition INDIA bloc, Dhankhar said, "Just look at the notice against the vice president. Just look at the six links they have given. "You'll be shocked. Chandra Shekhar ji once said, 'Never use a vegetable-cutting knife for bypass surgery'. The notice wasn't even a vegetable-cutting knife; it was rusted. There was haste." The notice was rejected by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chair Harivansh. "When I read it, I was astonished. But what surprised me more was that none of you read it. If you had, you wouldn't have been able to sleep for days," he told a group of women journalists. Dhankhar said any constitutional position has to be vindicated by commitment to sublimity, sterling qualities and constitutionalism. "We are not in a position t

V-P Dhankar calls for accountability of MPs over Parliament disruptions

Against the backdrop of Parliament witnessing poor productivity due to disruptions, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday called for accountability of lawmakers and said people would force them to think why they were sent to Parliament. He also said that for any democracy to succeed, expression and dialogue must go hand in hand with great responsibility on both sides. Dhankhar is the Rajya Sabha's ex-officio chairman. Calling for accountability among parliamentarians, he said, "... Make no mistake, I am referring to parliamentarians. People have learned to take disorder as order. There is no sense of revulsion." Hopefully, people will write and their thoughts will move, the vice-president said, according to an official statement. "People will force you to think, why did you go there (Parliament)?" he said. Addressing awardees of the Chaudhary Charan Singh Awards - 2024, the vice-president said agriculture was the spine of rural development. "Unless agriculture develops, the

Parliament scuffle: Crime branch to probe BJP's FIR, Congress' allegations

The crime branch will now probe the BJP's FIR against Rahul Gandhi and the Congress' counter-allegations, as the political standoff over the Parliament scuffle intensifies

Winter Session of Lok Sabha sees 57.87% productivity despite disruptions

The Lok Sabha's Winter Session, hamstrung by disruptions over issues ranging from Adani to billionaire George Soros' "links" with the Congress leadership and Amit Shah's Ambedkar remarks, had a productivity of 57.87 per cent, official sources said on Friday. The Lower House met on November 25 and was adjourned sine die (indefinitely) on Friday amid protests by the opposition and the treasury benches over the alleged insult to BR Ambedkar and directions by Speaker Om Birla to members against holding demonstrations at any gate of Parliament. Among the key bills introduced during the session were two that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections. The two bills were on Friday referred to a joint committee of Parliament for examination and wider consultations. The Lower House last week saw a debate on 75 years of the Constitution's adoption, during which the treasury and the opposition benches launched a series of attacks at each other. The Lok Sabha sat an extra day last

Dhankhar spoke for almost 30% of time in RS, claims TMC's Derek O'Brien

Amid the opposition's charge that Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar does not allow them to speak, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Parliamentary Party Leader Derek O'Brien on Friday alleged that the Rajya Sabha chairman spoke for around 30 per cent of the time the Upper House functioned. Slamming the chairman on the last day of the Winter Session, O'Brien in a brief statement said that the Upper House ran for a total of 43 hours till December 18 and Dhankhar spoke for around four and a half hours. There are no official records of speaking time of the Rajya Sabha chairman or its members. "As of December 18, the Rajya Sabha ran for a total of 43 hours. Of this, the bills were discussed for 10 hours," the TMC leader said. "The debate on the Constitution lasted for 17 and a half hours. Of the remaining 15 and a half hours who spoke for four and a half hours or nearly 30 per cent of the time? It was the Rajya Sabha chairman and vice president," O'Brien said. "Did Jagdeep Dhankhar set a new recor

Crime branch to investigate BJP-Congress complaints over Parliament clash

A scuffle broke out in the Parliament on Thursday between the Congress and the BJP. Both political parties filed complaints, leading to a police investigation into the incident

Ambedkar row: Opposition MPs hold protest against Amit Shah at Vijay Chowk

Opposition MPs staged a protest at Vijay Chowk here on Friday demanding Home Minister Amit Shah's apology and resignation for allegedly "insulting" BR Ambedkar. They also carried out a protest march from Vijay Chowk to Parliament. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also slammed the BJP over the FIR filed against the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, saying it "shows their desperation level". "The entire country is watching, they have slapped several cases on Rahul Gandhi. They bring in new FIRs and lie...This shows their desperation level," she told reporters. Priyanka Gandhi joined several other INDIA bloc MPs at Vijay Chowk to protest against Shah's remarks as they demanded Shah's apology and resignation over the issue. She was seen carrying a placard which read 'Babasaheb ka apman nahi sahega Hindustan'. The MPs raised slogans such as 'Jai Bhim' 'Amit Shah Maafi Mango' and 'istifa do'. The protest comes a day after separate marches by oppositio

'Badge of honour': Congress on FIR against Gandhi for 'defending Ambedkar'

Congress calls FIR against Rahul Gandhi over Parliament scuffle a 'badge of honour', alleging BJP's vendetta and diversionary tactics to counter his protest against Amit Shah's Ambedkar remarks

Lok Sabha speaker bans protests after NDA-Congress clash at Parliament gate

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla bans protests at Parliament gates after NDA-Congress clash at Makar Dwar turns violent, leaving two BJP MPs injured; cross-complaints filed by both sides