Page 14 - Parliament

President gives assent to Income-tax Act 2025, replacing 1961 law

President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Income-tax Act, 2025, which will replace the archaic Income Tax Act, 1961. The Income Tax Act, 2025, will come into effect from the next financial year, beginning April 1, 2026. The new Act will make tax laws simple and reduce wordage in the legislation, making it easy to understand. "The Income-tax Act, 2025, has received the Hon'ble President's assent on August 21, 2025. A landmark reform replacing the 1961 Act, it ushers in a simpler, transparent & compliance-friendly direct tax regime," the Income Tax department said in a post on X. The Income Tax Bill, 2025, was passed by Parliament on August 12. The new Act does not impose any new tax rate and only simplifies the language, which was required for understanding the complex Income Tax laws. The new law removes redundant provisions and archaic language and reduces the number of Sections from 819 in the Income Tax Act of 1961 to 536 and the number of chapters from 47 to 23. Th

Winzo, Nazara-backed Pokerbaazi suspend real-money online gaming offerings

Online gaming platforms WinZO and Nazara Technologies-backed Moonshine Technologies (PokerBaazi) on Friday said that they have suspended their real-money online gaming operations in the wake of the Online Gaming Bill, 2025, passed in the Parliament on Thursday. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, enforces a blanket ban on all forms of real-money online games, while encouraging the growth of e-sports and free-to-play social games. In a regulatory filing, Nazara Technologies said that its associate company Moonshine Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates PokerBaazi, has suspended its real-money offerings in line with the new legislation. "Pursuant to the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, passed by the Parliament on August 21, 2025 and pending enactment, we wish to inform that, as a matter of abundant caution and in due respect of the government's mandate, Moonshine Technologies Private Limited, an associate company in which Nazara ...

No USAID funds used for voter turnout in India, govt tells Rajya Sabha

MoS for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said the US Embassy confirmed no voter turnout projects were run in India between 2014-24

Parliament security breach: Intruder jumps wall, caught by security

A similar incident of a Parliament security breach took place in 2024, when a man in his early 20s scaled the Parliament wall and entered the Annexe building

Parliament's monsoon session sees lowest functioning of 18th Lok Sabha

The Monsoon Session of Parliament was held between July 21 and August 21. Both Houses functioned for 21 days as scheduled

Lok Sabha passed 12 bills, Rajya Sabha 14 in Monsoon session amid protests

Twelve bills were passed by the Lok Sabha and 14 by the Rajya Sabha during the month-long Monsoon session of Parliament, which has witnessed repeated disruptions, adjournments and walkouts. Barring discussions on Operation Sindoor in both House, the session has seen little business ever since it began on July 21 due to repeated disruptions and adjournments initially due to opposition demand for discussion on Operation Sindoor and then over demands for a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision exercise in Bihar. The Monsoon session is scheduled to end on Thursday. The bills passed by the Lok Sabha are The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2025, The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2025, The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2025, The Manipur Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2025, The National Sports Governance Bill, 2025, and The National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025. Other bills passed by the Lok Sabha

Parliament to hold debate on space programme on Monsoon Session's last day

The Parliament will also hold a special discussion today to honour India's first astronaut, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla

Parliament clears bill to set up India's 22nd IIM in Guwahati with ₹555 cr

The country's 22nd Indian Institute of Management (IIM) is set to be established in Guwahati with an investment of Rs 555 crore, as Parliament cleared a Bill in this regard on Wednesday, with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan saying the new institution will start admitting students from the current academic year itself. The Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote even as the Opposition staged a walkout soon after the bill was introduced. It was cleared by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The bill to set up an IIM in Guwahati will go for Presidential assent after its passage in both Houses of Parliament. Assam goes to the polls early next year. Introducing the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Pradhan said setting up of IIM-Guwahati, with a central outlay of Rs 555 crore, will contribute towards making India the third largest economy in the world. Later, replying to the discussion on the bill, Pradhan said this will be the 9t

DGCA staffing crisis a threat to aviation safety system: Parl panel

A Parliamentary panel on Wednesday suggested a time-bound plan to grant administrative as well as financial autonomy to DGCA and flagged that the staffing crisis at the regulator is an "existential threat to the integrity of India's aviation safety system". Besides, the committee said the current imbalance, where aircraft induction is outpacing airport growth, is putting unsustainable pressure on existing facilities, degrading service quality, and dangerously straining safety margins, as it pitched for developing a comprehensive National Capacity Alignment Plan to synchronise airport infrastructure development with airline fleet induction schedules. The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture -- headed by Rajya Sabha member and JD(U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha -- submitted its report on the 'Overall Review of Safety in the Civil Aviation Sector' on Wednesday. One of the recommendations is to establish a time-bound mechanism for the closure

News highlights: LS passes Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill by voice vote

Parliament session 2025 Live updates: The government introduced 3 bills in Parliament on removal of PM, CMs, ministers held on serious criminal charges. Catch all the latest updates here

Tharoor warns ban may push online gaming underground, calls for regulation

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday criticised the government's move to ban online money gaming, warning that such a step would only push the industry underground and strengthen criminal networks. He also said he had not studied the three Constitution amendment bills seeking to provide a framework for the removal of prime ministers, Union ministers, chief ministers and state ministers detained on serious criminal charges in any detail. On the face of it, it is difficult to say it has any problem, but obviously if anyone does something wrong they should not be a minister anyway. I don't know if there is any other motive, he remarked. Discussing the bill seeking to prohibit and regulate online gaming introduced in the Lok Sabha, he said, "I had written a very long article on the argument that by banning online gaming we are simply driving it underground, whereas it could be a useful source of revenue for the government if we legalise it, regulate it and tax it." He added that

Explainer: Online real money games and why govt is seeking to ban them

If passed, the online gaming bill could shut down the RMG industry, which employs 200,000 people and contributes ₹20,000 crore in GST annually

Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12 pm amid Oppn protest over SIR

Lok Sabha was on Wednesday adjourned till 12 noon due to vociferous protests by opposition parties demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision exercise carried out by the Election Commission in Bihar and other issues. When the House met at 11 am, opposition MPs, including those from the Congress, were on their feet, raising slogans and showing placards with their demand for discussion on the voter roll revision. Speaker Om Birla told the protesting members that carrying placards attached with sticks is against the rules of the House. He appealed to the members to go back to their seats and cooperate in running the House. However, the protesting MPs ignored his appeal, forcing Birla to adjourn the House till 12 noon, just within 2 minutes of business. The opposition has been demanding a discussion on the SIR exercise initiated by the Election Commission in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections there. Barring discussions on Operation Sindoor in both House, Parliament h

Govt to table bills for removal of PM, CM, minister held on serious charges

The government is planning to introduce three bills in Parliament on Wednesday for the removal of a prime minister, a Union minister, a chief minister or a minister of a state or Union Territory when arrested or detained on serious criminal charges for 30 days in a row. If any one of them is arrested and detained in custody for consecutive 30 days for offences that attract a jail term of at least five years, they will lose their job on the 31st day. These bills are the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill 2025; the Constitution (One Hundred And Thirtieth Amendment) Bill 2025; and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2025. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will also move a motion in the Lok Sabha to refer these three bills to a joint committee of Parliament. Interestingly, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji had not resigned from their posts ever after their arrests on different charges. "A minister, who for

TMC accuses govt of bringing bills to let CBI, ED 'topple' state govts

Trinamool Congress MPs on Wednesday accused the government of bringing new bills to allow the CBI and ED to "directly topple" state governments. The remarks came as the government is planning to introduce three bills in Parliament on Wednesday for the removal of a prime minister, a Union minister, a chief minister or a minister of a state or Union Territory when arrested or detained on serious criminal charges for 30 days in a row. If any one of them is arrested and detained in custody for consecutive 30 days for offences that attract a jail term of at least five years, they will lose their job on the 31st day. These bills are the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill 2025; the Constitution (One Hundred And Thirtieth Amendment) Bill 2025; and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2025. Flaying the bills, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale charged that Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are looking for "new tricks" to topple state ...

Parl panel pitches for 35% of GDP as investment to achieve 8% growth rate

A parliamentary panel on Tuesday pitched for raising the investment rate from 31 per cent of the GDP to 35 per cent to achieve the ambitious growth target of 8 per cent. The Standing Committee on Finance also urged the government to maintain sustainable, growth-oriented energy policies that prioritise affordability and efficiency while balancing climate commitments with economic and social objectives. The committee headed by BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab also suggested that the Ministry/Central Electricity Authority (CEA) expedite the development of pumped storage projects (PSPs), recognising their critical role in strengthening energy security and reducing import dependency. The panel noted that the investment rate must increase to about 35 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 31 per cent to achieve the ambitious growth target of 8 per cent annually for at least a decade. "Financing this may result in higher levels of current account deficit (CAD), which i

Govt likely to introduce bill to restore J&K statehood in LS on Aug 20

On Aug 5, 2019, Centre abrogated Article 370 and 35A, ending J&K's special status

Rajya Sabha remains in deadlock as SIR protests force adjournment till 2 pm

Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till the post-lunch session within minutes of assembly on Tuesday, as Opposition MPs persisted in demanding a discussion on alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. Soon after listed official papers were laid on the table of the House, slogan shouting Opposition MPs moved into aisles and well of the House raising the issue of SIR, leading to proceedings being adjourned till 2 pm. The House will reconvene after the lunch break. Deputy Chairman Harivansh rejected 20 notices that invoked Rule 267, which allows suspension of listed business to discuss matters being raised in them. Without indicating the subject, he said the notices were received on four different subjects, but none of them adhered to the prescribed rules and so were not admitted. He called for taking up the listed Zero Hour, where MPs raise issues of urgent public importance, but sloganeering drowned his attempts. He also object

CP Radhakrishnan to file nomination as NDA's V-P candidate on Aug 20

All NDA MPs and floor leaders, including proposers and seconders, will file nominations together under PM Modi's leadership, Rijiju told reporters

Delhi HC seeks police response to bail plea in Parliament breach case

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought police's response on a bail plea filed in the December 2023 Parliament security breach case. A bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain issued notice to the police on the bail plea of accused Lalit Jha in the case and posted the matter for October 8. Jha challenged a trial court's April 28 order rejecting his bail plea. He claimed of surrendering on December 15, 2023 and spending 1.8 years in custody since then. "At the current stage the case is at the stage of arguments on charge and the compliance of Section 207 CrPC. It is also relevant to mention here that in the case there are 133 witnesses in the main chargesheet. However, no single member of Parliament has been enlisted in the list of witnesses," his plea said. Jha further argued no harm or injury or loss of property happened to the members. He claimed the trial court was wrong in not considering the "true facts and circumstances" while dismissing his bail plea. In a major sec