Page 49 - Parliament

Time to end new trend of planned obstruction of House proceedings: Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday said there is a new trend of obstructing the proceedings in the House in a planned way and the time has come to change it. Addressing the 84th All India Presiding Officers' Conference (AIPOC), Birla said there is enough space to give voice to dissent in a democratic system and, therefore, disruption should not be used as a tool of protest and dissent. "There is a new trend of obstructing the proceedings of the House in a planned way. Time has come to change this," he said, noting that state legislatures, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha are places for discussion and dialogue. The agenda of the 84th AIPOC is to strengthen people's trust in democratic institutions - the need to maintain discipline and decorum in Parliament and the legislatures of States and UTs; and how to make the committee system more purposeful and effective. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the AIPOC through video message, while 26 presiding officers took part in the inaugural .

Political parties defending those who break rules of House is not good: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said political parties backing members who break the rules of the House and defending their conduct does not augur well for Parliament and state legislatures. In an online address to the 84th All India Presiding Officers' Conference (AIPOC) here, Modi said young elected representatives should be given more opportunity in legislative committees, so that they can participate more in policy-making. "There was a time when, if any member in the House broke the rules and action was taken against that member, senior members of the House would talk to him so that in future he did not repeat the mistake and break the rules of the House. "But these days some political parties stand in support of such members and defend their mistakes. The situation is not good for Parliament or state legislature," Modi said. He also said that work was underway on 'One Nation, One Legislative Platform' through the E-Vidhan and Digital Sansad initiative. In the last te

Thousands take to streets in Slovakia in nationwide anti-govt protests

Thousands of people on Thursday joined growing street protests across Slovakia against a plan by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico to amend the penal code and eliminate a national prosecutors' office. The proposed changes have faced sharp criticism at home and abroad. The plan approved by Fico's coalition government includes abolishing the special prosecutors' office, which handles serious crimes such as graft, organised crime and extremism. Those cases would be taken over by prosecutors in regional offices, which haven't dealt with such crimes for 20 years. The planned changes also include a reduction in punishments for corruption and some other crimes, including the possibility of suspended sentences, and a significant shortening of the statute of limitations. Thursday's protests took place in two dozens of cities and towns, including the capital, and spread also to Prague and Brno in the Czech Republic, Krakow in Poland and Paris. We're not ready to give up, Michal imecka, wh

Courts cannot direct govt to notify law passed by Parliament, says SC

The courts cannot direct the government to notify a law passed by Parliament, the Supreme Court said on Monday while dismissing a PIL seeking implementation of certain provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. "It is up to the government to notify a law passed by Parliament. This is beyond the power of the courts. Sorry, this is in the domain of policy. We cannot direct this," a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said. "We cannot issue a writ of mandamus to the government that they shall notify the law," the Chief Justice said and referred to his judgment to this effect. The top court was hearing a PIL filed by one Seema B Qayyum, seeking directions to the Centre to notify one part of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Highlights: Bihar CM Nitish reshuffles portfolios of 3 RJD ministers

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Agreement, disagreement soul of Parliamentary democracy: Lok Sabha speaker

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday said agreement and disagreement form the soul of Parliamentary democracy and urged members to utilise the forum of state assemblies to articulate the hopes and aspirations of people. Addressing the newly elected members of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly, Birla said it was very important for dissent to be expressed within the established parameters of parliamentary dignity and decorum. "When it comes to national interest, all the Members should work collectively to achieve that goal without being guided by partisan politics," he said. Birla said the dignity of the Chair in the House was paramount and suggested that Treasury and Opposition must respect decisions of the presiding officer. "Respect for the Chair will strengthen people's faith in democratic institutions," he said. Birla advised the members to denounce the tactics of disruption and adopt the path of debate and discussion. "Fruitful debates in the House will pave the way to s

One nation, one election will damage idea of parliamentary democracy: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday said holding simultaneous elections in the country will damage the idea of parliamentary democracy and the basic structure of the Constitution. It will not be able to deal with hung legislature and will actively encourage anti-defection, the AAP said. The remarks of the AAP, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, came a day after the Congress, also part of the same grouping, strongly opposed the idea of holding simultaneous elections in the country, saying it goes against the guarantees of federalism and the basic structure of the Constitution. In a statement on Saturday, the AAP said, "'One nation, one election' will damage the idea of parliamentary democracy, the basic structure of the Constitution and federal polity of the country. It is unable to deal with hung legislature, will actively encourage the evil of anti-defection and open buying-selling of MLAs and MPs." It added that the cost sought to be saved by holding simultaneous elections is a mere 0.

Germany approves legislation easing deportations of rejected asylum seekers

The German parliament on Thursday approved legislation that is intended to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers as Chancellor Olaf Scholz seeks to defuse migration as a political problem. The legislation foresees increasing the maximum length of pre-deportation custody from 10 to 28 days and specifically facilitating the deportation of people who are members of a criminal organisation. It also authorises residential searches for documentation that enables officials to firmly establish a person's identity, as well as remove authorities' obligation to give advance notice of deportations in some cases. Germany's shelters for migrants and refugees have been filling up in recent months as significant numbers of asylum-seekers add to more than 1 million Ukrainians who have arrived since the start of Russia's war in their homeland. The majority of rejected asylum-seekers in Germany will still have at least temporary permission to stay for reasons that can include illness, a ch

Rahul Gandhi led 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' enters Assam from Nagaland

Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', led by its leader Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday entered Assam through Haluwating in Sivasagar district from Nagaland. Gandhi resumed his journey in a bus from Tuli in Nagaland in the early morning and reached Assam around 9:45 am. He was received by hundreds of party workers at Haluwating, where the national flag was handed over to Assam Congress leaders for the eight-day journey in the state. The 6,713-km-long march, led by the Congress MP, commenced from Manipur on January 14 and will culminate on March 20 in Mumbai. The Assam leg of the march will continue till January 25. The 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' is planned to cover 110 districts in 15 states.

Parl breach probe: Narco test points Manoranjan was mastermind, says police

A day after the five accused in the Parliament security breach were brought back to Delhi following their polygraph, narco-analysis and brain mapping tests, a police source claimed that Manoranjan D was the mastermind behind the incident. Earlier, the police had said that Lalit Jha was the mastermind behind the December 13 incident. All six accused -- Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Amol Shinde, Neelam Azad, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat -- were presented before the Patiala House court on Saturday which sent them to judicial custody, police officials said. According to police sources, except for Neelam, the other five accused were taken to Gujarat for a polygraph test on December 8. Sagar and Manoranjan have also undergone additional naro-analysis and brain mapping tests. Neelam had not given consent to undergo the tests before the court. So far investigations and interrogations have revealed that the accused had planned to send a message to the government. The accused have revealed tha

LIVE: Court sends Parl security breach accused to judicial custody

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Congress files case against Andhra Deputy CM Swamy over derogatory remarks

A case was registered against Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Narayana Swamy following a complaint by a Telangana Congress leader that he made derogatory comments against party leader Sonia Gandhi, police said on Saturday. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee senior vice president Mallu Ravi complained to police over Swamy's alleged comments linking Sonia Gandhi and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu for the death of former CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. Rajasekhara Reddy died in a chopper crash in 2009. The complainant alleged, among others, that Swamy spread false information. The case was registered at Begumbazar police station in the city under section 505 IPC (statements conducing to public mischief), police said.

Parl security breach: Court sends accused to judicial custody till Jan 27

A Delhi court on Saturday sent the six accused arrested in connection with the Parliament security breach case to judicial custody till January 27. Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur remanded Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Lalit Jha, Amol Shinde, Mahesh Kumawat and Neelam Azad in judicial custody after they were produced before the court on expiry of their police remand. The judge passed the order on an application moved by Delhi police seeking judicial custody of all the accused as the investigation was ongoing. During the hearing, accused Neelam Azad alleged before the court that a woman officer forcibly made her sign over 50 blank papers on Friday. Special Public Prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh objected to the allegations and submissions of the accused. The court recorded the submissions of both sides. In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, Sharma and Manoranjan jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero H

Parliament session from January 31, FM to present Interim Budget on Feb 1

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the Interim Budget session will commence with President Droupadi Murmu addressing both Houses of Parliament

Budget session of Parliament likely between January 31 and February 9

A brief Budget session of Parliament is likely to be held between January 31 and February 9, sources said on Thursday. President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of the two houses on January 31, they said. The government would present a vote-on-account or an 'interim budget' on February 1. The new government will present a full-fledged budget later. Since the term of the 17th Lok Sabha ends on June 16, it is set to be the last session of Parliament before general elections are announced. In 2019, the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 10 and voting was held in seven phases between April 11 and May 19.

Parliament breach case: Accused Manoranjan, Sagar Sharma undergo Narco test

Delhi Police suspects that Manoranjan D was the key mastermind of the conspiracy. It was on his request that Sagar Sharma breached Parliament security with him

INDIA parties should speed up seat-sharing in favourable states: Omar

INDIA bloc partners should speed up their seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections in states such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Punjab where their prospects are better, National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters here, he said such talks for the seats in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh have not started yet. "We are a part of the INDIA alliance. We have a total of six seats including Ladakh and I do not think it will take us more than 15 minutes to take a decision on that. I want that wherever we have hopes of winning seats like in UP, WB, Maharashtra, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, TN, and Kerala, we should speed up the process of seat-sharing discussions," he said. Abdullah said the National Conference has also not started intra-party talks on its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, due in April-May. Asked whether he would contest the elections, he said, "I have not had the opportunity to discuss this....

Budget and electoral tailwinds

With limited fiscal space, the Budget needs to take advantage of the ruling party's recent electoral wins

Parl security breach: Delhi court allows polygraph test of 5 of 6 accused

A court here on Friday allowed the Delhi Police to conduct the polygraph test of five of the six accused arrested in connection with the Parliament security breach. Additional Sessions Judge Hardeeep Kaur, who also extended the police custody of all the accused by eight days, allowed the investigating officer to conduct the polygraph test of Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Dhanraj Shinde, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat. The court passed the order after noting the consent of the accused, excluding Neelam Azad, to conduct their polygraph test. The judge passed the order on an application moved by police, which had sought permission to conduct the polygraph test of all the accused. In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack on December 13, two people -- Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D -- jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during the Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by

Parliament breach update: Accused agree to submit to polygraph, narco test

Investigators suspect external funding and a potential handler's involvement. All six face charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act