Page 46 - Parliament

Ram temple symbolic of spirit of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat': Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday moved a resolution on the Ayodhya Ram temple, describing its construction as a historic achievement, and said it will give the values of hope and unity to future generations. Reading out the resolution at the end of a nearly four-hour-long discussion on "the construction of historic Shri Ram Temple and Pran Pratishtha of Shri Ramlala" in the House, he said after centuries of wait, the Ram temple in Ayodhya has ushered in a new era of good governance and public welfare. The speaker noted that the temple is symbolic of the spirit of "Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat". Soon after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict, the statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi "inspired society about peace instead of a feeling of victory or defeat", Birla said, referring to the court's 2019 judgement in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title case. He said that through this resolution, the members of the House appreciate the historic work accomplished in Ayodhya.

PM Modi surprises MPs with unexpected lunch at Parliament canteen

The drill began a little earlier in the day when officials from the Prime Minister's Office contacted the MPs, some of them first-time members, without giving away the details

PM Modi has lunch with MPs from different parties at Parliament canteen

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lunch with some MPs belonging to different parties at the Parliament canteen on Friday. BJD leader Sasmit Patra, RSP leader N K Premachandran, TDP's K Ram Mohan Naidu, BSP's Ritesh Pandey and some BJP leaders, including Union minister L Murugan and Heena Gavit, were with Modi as they had lunch together. Parliament's Winter session ends on Saturday. It is the last session of Parliament before the Lok Sabha elections, expected in April-May.

Parliament passes bill to curb malpractices in competitive examinations

Parliament on Friday passed a landmark bill that aims to curb malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations by including stringent punitive provisions, with Union Minister Jitendra Singh asserting that the bill is meant to deter those who play with the future of the youth. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, passed in Rajya Sabha, has provisions for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine up to Rs 1 crore. The bill was passed through a voice vote in Rajya Sabha on Friday, after amendments proposed by some opposition members were rejected. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on February 6. Replying to a discussion on the bill in Rajya Sabha, Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, said the youth power of the country is "vital" and made it clear that the bill is meant to deter those who are playing with their future. "We can't allow vital youth power of this country to be surrendered or sacrificed in the hands

AAP to meet on Feb 13 to decide on LS candidates' names for 3 states

The AAP will hold a meeting of its Political Affairs Committee on February 13 to decide on the names of the Lok Sabha candidates for Gujarat, Haryana, and Goa, a party source said on Friday. In a sign of exasperation over protracted seat-sharing talks with its INDIA bloc partner Congress, the AAP on Thursday declared party candidates for three Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam. "The party's PAC will meet on February 13 to decide on the names of the candidates for Gujarat, Goa and Haryana," the source said. Aam Aadmi Party national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak announced party leaders Manoj Dhanohar, Bhabhen Chaudhary, and Rishi Raj candidates from Dibrugarh, Guwahati, and Sonitpur, in that order. Pathak, in a press conference at AAP headquarters here, said the party is left with little time ahead of the polls. Earlier, the AAP leaders had said that the party was in talks with the Congress over seat-sharing in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Goa. AAP national

Parliament passes Bills to amend SC, ST list in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh

The Parliament also passed the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Bill, 2024 on Thursday, following its passage in the Lower House

No quick fixes, took bold reforms to nurture economy: Govt in White Paper

The 59-page document, which compared the last two decades of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) versus the NDA government, criticised the former for falling short of delivering on crucial reforms

White paper reaffirms Indian economy's robust growth momentum: CII

The White Paper tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reaffirms the Indian economy's robust growth momentum, industry body CII said, expressing confidence that the country's GDP will touch the USD 7 trillion mark before 2030. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled a 'White Paper on the Indian Economy' in the Lok Sabha. Sitharaman in her Interim Budget speech had announced that the government will come out with a white paper on the economy outlining the economic mismanagement in the 10 years of UPA rule till 2014. The NDA government has overcome the crisis of those years, and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path with all-round development, Sitharaman said. R Dinesh, President CII, said the finding of the white paper tabled in Parliament reaffirms the Indian economy's robust growth momentum. "CII's in-house surveys capturing the pulse of the industry members have mirrored the optimism of the white paper on the ...

Daily wages paid under MGNREGA not adequate, says Parliamentary panel

The daily wages paid under the flagship rural employment scheme - Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme - are inadequate and not in consonance with the rising cost of living, a parliamentary panel told government on Thursday. It said this may be one of the reasons for dearth of workers under the scheme. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, in a report tabled in Lok Sabha, pointed out the high range of variations in MGNREGA wages across the states. "The committee finds the range of wages vary from as little as Rs 221 in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Rs 224 in Arunachal Pradesh, Rs 228 in Bihar and Jharkhand to Rs 354 in the three gram panchayats of Sikkim (Gnathang, Lachung and Lachen), Rs 328 in Nicobar and Rs 311 in Andaman," it said. "Observing the quantum of wages since 2008, the committee finds the wages inadequate and not in consonance with the rising cost of living. At this juncture, the agricultural labourers an

Parliament approves interim Budget 2024-25, with RS returning Finance Bill

Parliament on Thursday completed the exercise of passing the interim Budget for 2024-25, with Rajya Sabha returning the Finance Bill 2024 and the relevant appropriation bills. The Upper House also returned the appropriation bills related to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The bills were returned to Lok Sabha after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's reply on the discussion. On Wednesday, Lok Sabha passed these bills. Rajya Sabha returned the Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2024; The Appropriation Bill, 2024; The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2024; The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill, 2024; and The Finance Bill, 2024. With Rajya Sabha returning all these money bills to Lok Sabha, the Budget process has been completed.

Highlight of interim budget emphasis on capex: FM Sitharaman in RS

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the highlight of interim budget is the emphasis given by the government on capital expenditure and sustaining pace of economic growth. She was replying to the general discussion on the Interim Union Budget 2024-25, Finance Bill 2024 and the Interim Budget of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, 202425 in Rajya Sabha. The minister emphasised that capital expenditure for creation of public infrastructure is growing faster than real GDP growth. "With the capital expenditure being in the focus, in the last 3-4 years, we have made sure that our debt management is done in such a way that we honour the glide path for fiscal deficit that we had given in 2021," the minister said. She emphasised that money spent on capital expenditure gives return compared to revenue expenditure. "So public investment in infrastructure gives us greater returns," she said, and added the government is making sure that fiscal deficit is managed without hurt

FM Sitharaman moves Finance Bill 2024 for consideration in Rajya Sabha

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday moved the Finance Bill 2024 for consideration in the Rajya Sabha. The Finance Bill 2024 will be considered for returning to the Lok Sabha which passed the bill on Wednesday. The finance minister also moved a bill related to Jammu and Kashmir budget bill and appropriation Bill authorising the government to meet expenses for four months in the next financial year. "I move that the bill to continue the existing rates of income tax for the financial year 2024-25 and to provide for certain relief to taxpayers and to make amendments in certain enactments as passed by Lok sabha be taken into consideration," Sitharaman said while introducing the Finance Bill 2024-25. The minister moved the appropriation vote on Account Bill 2024 as passed by Lok Sabha as part of the discussion on the interim budget. The Appropriation Bill 2024 , The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation 2 Bill, and the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2024 were also moved by t

FM Sitharaman tables 'White Paper', blames UPA for 'mountain of bad loans'

The 'White Paper' states that the UPA government failed miserably to facilitate economic activities and created hurdles that held back the economy

Railways lost Rs 25.5 cr due to injudicious procurement: Parl panel

Injudicious procurement of an additional CNC horizontal boring and milling machine by Patiala Locomotive Works cost a financial loss of Rs 25.43 crore to the Railways, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said in its report in the Lok Sabha. The PAC, in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, carried out a detailed examination based on the CAG report, which was laid on the table of the House on December 21, 2022. Titled "Injudicious procurement of an additional CNC horizontal boring and milling machine: Patiala Locomotive Works", the report recommends the ministry to establish a mechanism for periodic review of procurement policies in line with evolving directives to prevent recurrence of such infructuous expenditure in future. The matter pertains to the manufacturing and rebuilding of Diesel Locomotives for Zonal Railways and Non-Railway Customers by the Patiala Locomotive Works (PLW) as the Railway Board assigns the work for manufacturing and rebuilding of various type

Railways mismanaged land purchase for Hajipur-Sagauli project: House panel

The Hajipur-Sagauli New Line project, sanctioned in 2003-04 at an estimated cost of Rs 24.66 crore, registered a huge cost escalation of Rs 2,066.78 crore in January 2019 due to indecisiveness of the Railway Administration, according to a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report. Tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the report titled 'Loss due to indecision of Railway Administration in the matter of land acquisition: East Central Railway' was based on one of the findings of a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report of 2021. After carrying out a detailed examination, the PAC observed that the railways' lack of prudent decision-making and timely payments resulted in avoidable extra expenditure, underscoring the importance of meticulous financial planning and adherence to land acquisition policies. "The Hajipur-Sagauli New Line project, sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways in 2003-04, underwent a series of financial oversights and lapses in land acquisition processes, leading to

LS passes Finance Bill, completes exercise for interim budget 2024-25

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Finance Bill, 2024, thus completing the exercise for passage of the interim budget 2024-25. The Finance Bill, 2024, does not propose any change in the tax structure as the final budget will be tabled in July after the new government assumes office post the general elections in April-May. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the Finance Bill, 2024, does not propose any change in tax structure. "We have focused on development despite presenting an interim budget ahead of elections, Chaudhary said replying to a discussion on the bill. Earlier in the day the Lok Sabha approved the Rs 47.66-lakh crore interim Budget 2024-25 of the Union Government and second batch of supplementary demands for grants. The House also approved the Appropriation Bill authorising government to meet expenses for four months in the next financial year. The lower house also approved the Rs 1.8 lakh crore budget of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Highlights of the day: Bengal transferring money to 2.1 mn MGNREGA workers

Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

Govt sets up task force to resolve non-tariff barriers, says Piyush Goyal

The government has set up a task force under the Department of Commerce to identify, categorise and develop tailored strategies for the resolution of non-tariff barriers, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Such barriers include prior registration requirements in the exporting country, cumbersome testing and certification requirements and unreasonable domestic standards/rules. Different countries enforce various regulatory measures to ensure the safety and quality of the products placed in their territory. These measures apply equally to domestic manufacturers and importers. However, such measures may sometimes act as trade barriers due to various reasons like gaps in the regulatory frameworks and quality compliance requirements of the trade partners, lack of transparency, arbitrariness or differing interpretation of the rules, and improper implementation. "Taking cognizance of the challenges involved in mapping the trade barriers, and to give increased focus, a task force has

PM Narendra Modi lashes out at Congress in Rajya Sabha; top 10 highlights

From jibes at Kharge's speech to accusation of dividing the country, Prime Minister launched a scathing attack against Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections

Budget session extended by a day till Feb 10: LS Speaker Om Birla

The Budget session of Parliament has been extended by a day till February 10, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced on Wednesday. The session, which began on January 31, was otherwise slated to end on February 9. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had said on Tuesday that the government will table a 'white paper' comparing the state of the Indian economy before and after 2014, when the BJP came to power defeating the Congress. With the agenda items like the Finance Bill, budget discussion and demand for grants yet to be taken up by Parliament and the white paper also to be tabled, sources had said it was considered necessary to extend the session's duration by a day. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 'white paper' to highlight the country's poor economic condition when the Congress-led UPA left power, as often charged by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and how the incumbent dispensation brought the turn around. She will table it in b