Page 52 - Parliament

Travesty of parliamentary democracy: Shashi Tharoor on suspension of MPs

Slamming the government over the suspension of over 140 MPs, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday claimed that a "dubious record" had been created as in no country so many lawmakers had been suspended together and alleged that our entire parliamentary democracy has been "betrayed and reduced to a travesty". Speaking with reporters after participating in the opposition protest over the suspension of MPs, Tharoor, who was himself suspended on Tuesday, said that with the suspension of so many opposition MPs, the history of parliamentary democracy has been "besmirched" in our country. What has been seen in the country in the last few days is a "travesty of parliamentary democracy", he said. "I did a bit of research, never in the entire history of Parliamentary democracy has any Parliament in any country in the world ever suspended or expelled 150 people. That is the dubious record being set in our Parliament this week," he said. Everyone understands that the basic principle of

Govt tables Telecommunications Bill 2023 in Parliament: Check details

The Centre will take temporary possession of telecom network in case of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety, under the Telecommunications Bill, 2023

Why 141 Opposition MPs were suspended from parliament?

141 MPs from the Opposition INDIA group were suspended between Monday and Tuesday for protesting against Parliament security breach. Here's all you need to know >

PM, BJP want to establish 'single-party rule': Kharge on suspension of MPs

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday charged that the prime minister and the BJP want to establish a "single party rule" in the country and the suspension of MPs from Parliament is for that. While 141 MPs have been suspended because they wanted a statement from the home minister on the grave security breach in Parliament, the BJP MP who facilitated the entry of the intruders, remains scot-free and has not yet been questioned, the Congress leader said. "What sort of an investigation is this," he asked in a statement posted on X. "Why haven't senior officers responsible for Parliamentary security made accountable? Heads should have rolled by now," he said. Kharge said apparently the intruders have been planning this since months and asked who is responsible for this massive intelligence failure. Given the multi-layered security of Parliament, how did two intruders manage to hide yellow gas canisters in their shoes and enter the building and almost reach the sanctum ...

Why BJP MP who facilitated entry of intruders not yet questioned: Congress

The Congress slammed the government on Wednesday over the Parliament security breach issue and asked why BJP MP Pratap Simha "who facilitated the entry of the two intruders" into the Lok Sabha has not been questioned even a week after the incident. The opposition party's attack came a day after 49 more opposition lawmakers were suspended from Lok Sabha on Tuesday for unruly behaviour, taking the total number of MPs facing action in both Houses of Parliament to 141. The INDIA coalition announced nationwide anti-government protests on Friday. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "It has been exactly a week since the very serious security breach in the Lok Sabha shocked the nation. The prime minister, home minister and the Lok Sabha speaker say that an investigation has started. So be it." "But why is it that even after seven days BJP MP Pratap Simha who facilitated the entry of the two intruders into the Lok Sabha has not yet been questioned?" he posed. Rame

They want to do politics in everything: Pralhad Joshi attacks Oppn parties

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also reacted on the seat distribution of INDIA bloc and said that whatever happened in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, everyone saw

Kharge appoints 9 AICC Secretaries to coordinate 'Hai Taiyaar Hum' rally

The AICC members include P.C. Vishnunadh, MLA, Qazi Nizamuddin, Sanjay Kapoor, Dheeraj Gurjar, Chandan Yadav, B.M. Sandeep, Chetan Chauhan, Pradeep Narwal and Abhishek Dutt

Share of agriculture in India's GDP declined to 15% in FY23: Govt

Share of agriculture in India's GDP declined to 15 per cent last fiscal year from 35 per cent in 1990-91 due to rapid growth in the industrial and service sector, the government informed on Tuesday. "The share of agriculture in total Gross Value Added (GVA) of economy has declined from 35% in 1990-91 to 15% in 2022-23. The decline is brought out not by the decline in agricultural GVA but a rapid expansion in industrial and service sector GVA," Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. "In growth terms, agriculture and allied sector has registered an average annual growth of 4 per cent during last five years. As far as global experience is concerned, share of agriculture in the world's GDP has also declined over the decades and stands at about 4 per cent in recent years," he added. The minister said the government has adopted/implemented several developmental programmes, schemes, reforms and policies towards increasing agricultural productivity, ...

Suspend, throw out, bulldoze is Modi govt's new policy: Kharge on MPs row

A total of 141 MPs were suspended following a ruckus over the demand by the Opposition for a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament breach incident

Growth in milk output slows in FY23 due to various diseases, LS informed

Milk production growth rate slowed down to 3.83 per cent last fiscal year due to diseases like Lumpy Skin Disease, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Parshottam Rupala said, "Annual growth rate of milk production in the country has come down to 3.83 per cent in the year 2022-23 from 5.77 per cent during the year 2021-22." Milk production stood at 230.6 million tonne in 2022-23, 222.1 million tonne in 2021-22 and 210 million tonne in 2020-21. However, he said, as per the latest statistics released by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAOSTAT) of the United Nations, India maintains the position of the largest producer of milk in the world. "Diseases like Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) was the main reason behind the slower growth of milk production in 2022-23," Rupala said.

Parliament approves additional spending of Rs 58,378 crore in FY24

Parliament on Tuesday gave its approval for a net additional spending of Rs 58,378 crore in the current fiscal ending March 2024, with a large chunk allocated to MGNREGA and fertiliser subsidies. The gross additional spending would be more than Rs 1.29 lakh crore, out of which Rs 70,968 crore would be matched by savings and receipts. On Tuesday, Rajya Sabha returned the two appropriation bills to Lok Sabha after a brief discussion. Most of the members who participated in the discussion were from the Treasury benches as a large number of Opposition members are suspended from the House. Opposition members who were present did not participate in the discussion. Last week, Lok Sabha passed the supplementary demands for grants after a short discussion. Replying to the discussion on Supplementary Demands for Grants in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Tuesday highlighted the key aspects of the first batch of demands for grants. According to the demands for

It's not MPs but democracy that has been suspended: AAP's Raghav Chadha

"I would not say that some MPs were suspended but democracy has been suspended," the AAP leader added

Purge being executed so that draconian bills passed without debate: Cong

The Congress on Tuesday alleged that a "complete purge" is being executed so that "draconian bills" are passed without any meaningful debate and the BJP MP "who facilitated entry of the two intruders" into the Lok Sabha on December 13 goes scot-free. The opposition party's attack came soon after 49 Lok Sabha MPs were suspended from the House for disrupting proceedings on Tuesday, a day after 78 opposition members were suspended from Parliament. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh underlined the suspension of Lok Sabha MPs Tuesday to allege that "a complete purge is being executed so that draconian bills are passed without any meaningful debate, and so that the BJP MP who facilitated entry of the two intruders into the Lok Sabha on December 13th goes scot-free". The MPs suspended on Tuesday include National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari. INDIA bloc MPs have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Sh

Inappropriate behaviour led to suspension of some MPs: Bhupender Yadav

The "inappropriate behaviour" of some opposition MPs led to their suspension from Parliament and the country would not benefit from their "negative politics", Union minister Bhupender Yadav said Tuesday. Yadav urged the suspended members to reflect upon their actions. In an unprecedented move, 78 opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament on Monday, the highest number of suspensions in a single day, drawing sharp criticism from the Congress and other parties that accused the BJP government of trying to bulldoze key legislations in an "Opposition-less" Parliament. An additional 49 Lok Sabha members were suspended on Tuesday for disrupting House proceedings. INDIA bloc MPs have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in Parliament on December 13. "Their inappropriate behaviour led to their suspension. The new Parliament calls for new traditions and a clean way (of functioning). We aim to address questions from all members and seek everyone's

Parl security breach: Accused created 7-8 member WhatsApp group to plan

Police will now seek the help of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to retrieve the email through the reissued SIM card. The security breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001

Oppn to strongly raise demand for Shah's statement on security breach

The constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc Tuesday decided to strongly raise on Tuesday the demand for a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach issue in both Houses. This was decided at a meeting of the alliance's constituents in the Parliament complex, a day after 78 MPs in both houses were suspended for raising the demand. The suspended MPs have also decided to protest near the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament complex. "The demand for Home Minister Amit Shah's statement will continue and the suspended MPs will protest in front of the Gandhi statue," Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said after the meeting. Tagore himself is suspended from the Lok Sabha. Monday's action has taken the total number of MPs suspended from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to 93, with 92 being suspended since Thursday. AAP member Sanjay Singh was suspended as a Rajya Sabha member from July 24. The opposition parties which are members of the IND

LS adjourned till 12 noon amid Oppn protests on Parliament security breach

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon on Tuesday following protests by opposition members demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Parliament security breach and revocation of the suspension of MPs. As soon as the House assembled, opposition members were on their feet and some of them came to the Well of the House shouting slogans against the government and holding placards. Some of them were carrying a morphed picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the whole House condemns the display of morphed picture of Prime Minister Modi in the House and demanded action against MPs carrying it. Speaker Om Birla said it was completely against the rules, regulations and proprieties to bring placards in the House. "This House belongs to you. We all have decided that no one will bring placards inside the House. But you have come here with placards. Even you have come to the podium. Is it correct ? Please go back to

INDIA bloc to hold key meet today after suspension of 78 MPs; 10 points

INDIA bloc meet: A day ahead of the Opposition meet, 78 Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to Opposition parties were suspended from both houses

Telecom Bill drops OTT reference, retains regulator Trai's powers

Seeks space spectrum allocation; keeps Trai powers intact

Rajya Sabha clears Bills to extend women's reservation to J-K, Puducherry

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 4 pm on Monday after two Bills to introduce reservation for women in legislative assemblies of Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir were passed by voice vote in the House amid an uproar by the opposition over the Parliament security breach. The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill were passed by the Lok Sabha last week. The Bills were passed by the Upper House amid continuous sloganeering by opposition parties, who have been demanding that Union Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement on the December 13 security breach in the House. After the passage of the Bills, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the security breach is a matter of "collective concern". "Incidents of such nature have also occurred in the past. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that this august institution works in the safest and most conducive atmosphere. "A high-level enquiry committee for an in-d