Page 24 - Parliament

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

Parliamentary panel wants end use of spectrum clearly defined in auction

A Parliamentary panel has recommended that airwaves sold to companies should clearly identify their end use to avoid situations like the one that had led to CAG's critical remarks in the past about Reliance Jio making undue gains from BWA spectrum auction. The Standing Committee on Communications and IT, in its report, recommended that greater clarity be built into spectrum auction documents including clearly spelling out scope of usage of airwaves with robust mechanisms built to also ensure its efficient utilisation, as it cited CAG report of 2015 on how "deficiencies" in past BWA auction had led to an undue advantage of Rs 3,367 crore for Reliance Jio Infocomm (previously Infotel). Drawing attention to the said report, the committee further recommended that migration pricing for operators should be aligned with current market rates to prevent financial advantages that are not justifiable. "A robust mechanism for monitoring the progress of service rollouts should also be put in ...

Rajya Sabha disposes of disqualification petitions of 3 NCP, NCP-SP members

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday disposed of petitions seeking disqualification of three MPs belonging to the NCP and NCP-SP from the House after the two parties sought no further action in the matter. A petition under Rule 6(2) of the Members of Rajya Sabha (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1985, was presented on November 20, 2023 by Praful Patel as regards Vandana Chavan and Fauzia Khan, another member Rajya Sabha (3rd April, 2020 to 2nd April, 2026), for the Chairman's consideration. On November 21, 2023 another such petition was presented by Chavan regarding Patel. Both petitions were in essence under Tenth Schedule of the Constitution- provisions as to disqualification on ground of defection. During the morning session, Dhankhar informed the House that while the issue was engaging his attention, two even dated communications were received (February 3, 2025) one from Sharad Pawar, leader of NCP-SP, and the other from Praful Patel, leader of NCP b

Speaker uses Rule 349 to disallow Oppn members from wearing slogan T-shirts

Opposition DMK members protested in the Lok Sabha on Thursday against the proposed delimitation of constituencies, prompting Speaker Om Birla to remind them of a rule governing the conduct of MPs in the House. Birla said attending the House proceedings wearing T-shirts with slogans written on those is not acceptable and against parliamentary rules and decorum. "House functions with rules and procedures. Members have to maintain the dignity and honour of the House. But some MPs are not following the rules and violating the dignity, which is not acceptable," Birla said, citing Rule 349 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the House of the People. The speaker directed those members, who came wearing T-shirts with slogans written on those, to go out of the House and come back wearing proper dresses. Rule 349 deals with "Rules to be observed by members in House". Rule 349(xvi) says: "Whilst the House is sitting, a member shall not display flags, emblems or any exhibits

Parl's Standing Committee on Finance calls for GST relief on MPLAD fund

A GST of up to 18 per cent is charged on the work done under the MPLAD scheme

Parliament LIVE highlights: Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha adjourned amid ruckus

Parliament Budget session latest updates: Catch all the news developments related to proceedings in the Parliament here

National interest key in India's international oil purchases, says Centre

The Ministry of External Affairs was asked in Rajya Sabha whether 'it is a fact that the USA had asked India to stop unloading Russian oil tankers and has set a deadline for it'

Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm over Oppn MPs wearing T-shirts with slogans

Lok Sabha on Thursday witnessed repeated adjournments as several members came to the House wearing T-shirts with slogans on the issue of delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla objected to the DMK members wearing T-shirts with slogans written on them, and said such actions were against the rules of procedure of the House. Birla adjourned the proceedings till noon. Similar scenes were witnessed when the House reconvened at 12 noon and TDP member Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm. Tenneti also cited rules and said the behaviour of members was unacceptable. DMK members were wearing white T-shirts with slogans '#fairdelimitation Tamil Nadu will fight, Tamil Nadu will win' written on them. "House functions with rules and procedures. Members have to maintain the dignity and honour of the House. But some MPs are not following the rules and violating the dignity which is not acceptable," Birla sa

Need safeguards before raising FDI limit to 100% in insurance: Parl Panel

A Parliamentary Panel on Wednesday urged the government to put safeguard measures in place to counter concerns like profit repatriation while raising the foreign direct investment limit to 100 per cent in the insurance sector. The Standing Committee on Finance, in its report, said the downside of the FDI in India's insurance sector should be dealt with adequately and scrupulously. The Committee would like to emphasise the need for some safeguard measures to be in place to counter concerns like profit repatriation i.e. foreign investors sending earnings back to home countries rather than reinvesting in India; reduced decision-making power of domestic firms; job security concerns arising due to potential automation and cost-cutting measures; focus on high-margin policies, neglecting rural and financially weaker sections etc, it said. With regard to the integration of InsurTech (Insurance Technology) in the sector, the report said it has the potential to enhance efficiency, customer ..

Parliamentary committee slams 'amateur planning' in NITI Aayog budget

The committee strongly feels that there is a dire need for a more realistic assessment of the envisaged targets and expenditures thereon, the panel said

Parl panel calls for coordinated approach to reduce debt to GDP ratio

The Standing Committee urged the DEA to revisit the existing practice of allocating funds that are not directly related to the department - such as allocations for new schemes that are not finalised

Parliamentary panel flags concerns, suggests ways to improve IBC outcomes

'Operational creditors' interests are often overlooked; they should get adequate representation'

Received 67 proposals to build AI models trained on Indian datasets: MoS IT

"Of the 67 proposals, 22 are focused on large language models and large multimodal models, while the other 45 are proposals to develop domain-specific small language models"

Received 67 proposals to build AI models trained on Indian datasets: MoS IT

"Of the 67 proposals, 22 are focused on large language models and large multimodal models, while the other 45 are proposals to develop domain-specific small language models"

Panel on satellite toll system urges deliberation over security, privacy

Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said it is proposed to proceed with corridor/stretch-based projects

Maha Kumbh a defining moment like Dandi March, Dilli Chalo: PM Modi

The Opposition criticised the PM for failing to pay his respects to the memory of those who died in a stampede during the Mahakumbh

Parliament clears Rs 51,463 cr extra spending for FY25, Manipur FY26 budget

Parliament on Tuesday approved the supplementary demands for grants, which entails Rs 51,463 crore additional spending in the current fiscal and the Manipur Budget for 2025-26 with the Rajya Sabha returning four bills to the Lok Sabha. Parliament also approved the Rs 1,291 crore demands for excess grants for 2021-22 fiscal and the Rs 1,861 crore supplementary demands for grants for Manipur in 2024-25. The Lok Sabha had passed the supplementary demands for grants and the Manipur Budget for 2025-26 on March 11. The Rajya Sabha returned The Appropriation Bill, 2025; The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2025; The Manipur Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2025; and The Manipur Appropriation Bill, 2025, after the reply by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to a discussion on the four bills. The second batch of supplementary demands for grants entails a gross additional spending sought by the government was over Rs 6.78 lakh crore, of which Rs 6.27 lakh crore would be matched by savings a