Page 21 - Parliament

Rs 858 cr pollution control fund unused due to lack of approval: Parl panel

The budgetary allocation of Rs 858 crore for pollution control in 2024-25 remains unutilized due to lack of approval from the Union Environment Ministry for the continuation of the scheme, a parliamentary panel has said in its report. In the report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change said air pollution has assumed "gigantic proportions", affecting not just Delhi but many other cities. "In such a scenario, the committee is shocked to note that amount to the tune of Rs 858 crore allocated for 'Control of Pollution', which is 27.44 per cent of the annual revised allocation of the ministry, remains unutilized since the approval for continuation of Control of Pollution Scheme till 2025-26 is awaited," the 31-member panel headed by BJP Rajya Sabha member Bhubaneswar Kalita said. "At a time when the ministry is required to address the grave and critical challenge of

Formulate national heat plan amid high temp worry this summer: Parl panel

On climate change, the committee said it is a global concern and India, being among the most populous countries, needs to be especially vigilant

Parliament passes new bill to improve disaster response across states

Parliament on Tuesday passed the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill 2024 to strengthen the efficient working of the national and state disaster management authorities. The government also stressed that the legislation will help states in handling all disasters in a better way. The Rajya Sabha cleared the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill 2024 to amend the Disaster Management Act of 2005 by a voice vote. Several amendments moved by Opposition members were negated by the House. The government said states faced difficulties in implementing the Disaster Management Act of 2005. The proposed amendments are based on the difficulties flagged by states and suggestions given by them. The Bill seeks to specify the roles and responsibilities of various organisations involved in disaster management and ensure synergy and uniformity in response. The discussion also saw a significant focus on the government's response to the disaster in Wayanad, with several opposition members accusing the

Who pays Members of Parliament more: India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh?

With significant parliamentary changes occurring, how do these neighbouring countries compare in their compensations to their lawmakers

New Income Tax Bill set for discussion in monsoon session: Sitharaman

The new Income Tax Bill will be taken up for discussion in the monsoon session of Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. Replying to the discussions on the Finance Bill 2025 in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the new income tax bill, which was introduced in the House on February 13, is currently being vetted by the Select Committee. The Select Committee has been mandated to submit its report by the first day of the next session of Parliament. "...we will take it (new income tax bill) up in the monsoon session," Sitharaman said. The monsoon session of Parliament is usually convene in July and runs through August. The simplified Income Tax Bill, which is half the size of the 1961 Income Tax Act, seeks to achieve tax certainty by minimising the scope of litigation and fresh interpretation, the Income Tax department had earlier said. The new bill has a word count of 2.6 lakh, lower than 5.12 lakh in the I-T Act. The number of sections is 536 against 819 effec

Delhi HC reserves order on MP Rashid's plea to attend Parliament in custody

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on a plea by Jammu and Kashmir MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh, who is in jail in a terror funding case, seeking permission to attend the ongoing Parliament session. A bench of Justices Chandra Dhari Singh and Anup Jairam Bhambhani, which was initially inclined to grant the permission, later said a detailed order would be passed. The bench deliberated on certain conditions which could be imposed on Rashid in case the plea is allowed, including that the Lok Sabha Speaker could be requested to grant special permission to a police official to accompany the independent Baramulla MP in Parliament's premises. Rashid's plea was vehemently opposed by the NIA which said the court would have no jurisdiction inside Parliament. A trial court had on March 19 dismissed Rashid's regular bail in the case. Rashid, who is facing trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a 2017 terror funding case, has challenged a March 10 trial court o

LS approves motion to extend tenure of JPC on 'One Nation, One Election'

Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), PP Chaudhary, had moved the motion in the Lok Sabha regarding an extension of time

'Chhaava' screening in Parliament likely on Thursday, PM Modi to attend

The report suggests that the entire cast and crew of the film including Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, and others will also be attending this special screening

Manish Tewari files motion to discuss alleged aberrations in judiciary

The Congress MP called on the government to provide a comprehensive statement on the floor of the House regarding the incidents in question

JPC on One Nation One Election to meet with AGI, Justice Patel today

The last meeting of JPC was held on March 18 in which former Solicitor General of India Harish Salve participated, BJP MP and 'One Nation One Election' (ONOE) JPC Chairperson, PP Chaudhary had said

Members of Parliament get 24% salary hike on Cost Inflation Index basis

Effective from Apr 1, 2023

FinMin launches BAANKNET, e-BKray to enhance PSU bank e-auctions

The BAANKNET portal is specifically designed to enhance transparency and speed up the process of disposing of non-performing asset cases

Release interim data on 7th Economic Census, House panel tells MoSPI

Data collection for the 7th Economic Census began in 2019 and took two years to complete owing to Covid

MPs to get ₹1.24 lakh monthly salary, daily allowance increased to ₹2,500

The salary of MPs has been raised by 24 per cent, increasing from ₹1 lakh to ₹1,24,000 per month; daily allowance revised to ₹2,500 per day, while the pension has been increased to ₹31,000 per month

BJP came up with 'fake' issue to get Parliament adjourned: Congress

The Congress on Monday claimed that the BJP came up with a "completely fake" issue to get Parliament adjourned so that the very serious matter of Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma's conduct does not get discussed. The BJP members in the Lok Sabha have been raising the issue of reservation for Muslims in government contracts in Karnataka, and claiming that state Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar purportedly suggested changing the Constitution to accommodate four per cent reservation for Muslims. Shivakumar, has, however, said that he never stated that the Constitution will be amended in any manner to give religion based reservation. Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned on Monday in the pre-lunch session without transacting any business as treasury and opposition benches sparred over the issue of reservations to Muslims in Karnataka public contracts. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Today the BJP came up with a completely fake issue

Rajya Sabha chairman to meet with Nadda, Kharge to discuss NJAC issue

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has convened a meeting with Leader of the House J P Nadda and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday to hold a structured discussion on the issue of judicial accountability and the NJAC Act. The chairman has written to both Nadda and Kharge for a meeting in his chamber at 11.30 am, a source said. The meeting is with reference to the observations made by the House chairman on March 21, in response to the points raised by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh over the recovery of cash from the residence of a high court judge. Chairman Dhankhar had on March 21 referred to the mechanism for judicial appointments after the passage of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act in 2014. The legislation was struck down by the Supreme Court later. On March 21, Dhankhar told the Rajya Sabha, "You all will recollect the mechanism which was passed by this House with near unanimity, with no dissension, only one abstention in the Rajya .

DMK-backed JAC tells Centre to extend delimitation freeze by 25 more years

Asserting that the proposed delimitation exercise based on population would not be "fair" to southern states, the DMK-led Joint Action Committee meeting on Saturday demanded that the Centre should extend the freeze on Parliamentary constituencies, based on the 1971 Census population, by another 25 years and decided to submit a joint representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the ongoing Parliamentary session. A political consensus also emerged to fight against "population" as the yardstick to determine delimitation and it was resolved during the meeting, which was held to ensure "fair delimitation", not to lose representation for southern states. Politically, the meeting, which was attended by three chief ministers, a deputy CM and leaders of 14 parties including the BRS, BJD andD from six states in a show of solidarity on the issue, was a shot in the arm for Chief Minister M K Stalin and his party DMK, ahead of the Assembly election in Tamil Nadu next year. "The upcomin

Delhi Assembly to go paperless, signs agreement to implement NeVA platform

Moving towards paperless work, the Delhi Assembly on Saturday signed a tripartite agreement with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Delhi government for implementation of the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA). The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in the presence of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta. With this, Delhi Assembly has become the 28th legislature to adopt the NeVA platform, a statement from the Assembly Secretariat said. The agreement was signed by Satya Prakash, Additional Secretary in Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ranjeet Singh, Delhi Assembly Secretary, and Reetesh Singh, Principle Secretary (Law) in Delhi government. The agreement signifies Delhi's commitment to a paperless and more transparent legislative system, the statement from Assembly Secretariat said. The NeVA platform aims to bring greater efficiency, accessibility and sustainability to legislative procedures by digitising House ...

Delimitation must not reduce any states LS, RS representation: Jagan to PM

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to carry out the delimitation exercise in such a manner that no state would suffer any reduction in representation in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, especially in terms of the share of total number of seats in the House. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the YSRCP chief highlighted that the gravity of the delimitation issue has the potential to disrupt the social and political harmony in the country. "Request for the delimitation exercise to be conducted in such a manner that no state would have to endure any reduction in its representation in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, in terms of its share in total no. (number) of seats in the house," said Reddy. The opposition leader emphasised that the Constitution should be amended in such a fashion that no state would have to encounter any reduction in its representation in the House of the People.

Expand PLI scheme to labour sectors: Parliamentary committee to govt

The committee also recommended that the commerce department should 'proactively' take measures to conclude the FTAs