Page 6 - Parliament

EVM an aggregator of votes, can't be used in presidential, V-P elections

Electronic voting machines (EVMs), which have so far been used in five Lok Sabha and over 130 assembly polls, cannot be used in presidential, vice presidential, Rajya Sabha and state legislative council elections. Why? Because the machines, in use since 2004, are designed to work as vote aggregators in direct elections such as the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Voters press the button against the name of the candidate of their choice and the one who bags the maximum number of votes is declared elected. But the presidential and vice presidential elections are held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. Under the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote, every elector can mark as many preferences as there are candidates contesting the election. These preferences for the candidates are to be marked by the elector, by placing the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on, against the names of the ...

Vaishnaw meets gaming firms to discuss user money protection, esports

Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has held a meeting with online gaming companies to discuss the protection of users' money and promotion of eSports and social games, an official source said on Monday. The meeting comes within a fortnight of Parliament passing The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, that bars all forms of online money games while promoting e-sports and other online games. "IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and officials met online gaming industry representatives today. Discussion focused on promoting eSports and social games. Points related to orderly transition and protection of users' money were also discussed. It was noted that industry has taken steps to ensure compliance with the Act," the source said. The Act has received the President's assent. The Act will come into effect after its notification by the government. Last week, banks and fintech firms, in a joint meeting with the Department of Financial Services and the Ministry of Electronics and

Ukraine arrests suspect in killing of ex-parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Ukrainian officials arrested a suspect in the shooting death of former parliament speaker and prominent pro-Western politician Andriy Parubiy. Zelenskyy said in a statement on X that a person was taken into custody after shooting Parubiy in the city of Lviv on Saturday. No details about the suspect or a motive for the killing were released. The necessary investigative actions are ongoing. I have instructed that the available information be presented to the public, Zelenskyy said. Parubiy, 54, was a lawmaker from the Lviv region who participated in Ukraine's Orange Revolution in 2004 and led self-defense volunteer units during the Maidan protests of 2014, which forced pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych from office. He was parliament speaker from 2016 to 2019.

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence to visit Andamans on Aug 27

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence under the chairmanship of BJP MP Radha Mohan Singh will visit Port Blair on Wednesday, an official said. The committee will review the preparedness of India's only tri-command at Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the visit, the official said on Tuesday. The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), is the only tri-services command in India, and it aims to bring greater synergy among the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Apart from Radha Mohan Singh, nine Members of Parliament Shashank Mani, Virendra Singh, Shaktisinh Gohil, Naresh Bansal, Lumba Ram, Jagannath Sarkar, Muzibulla Khan, Sanjay Singh and S Jothimani will visit the archipelago. An official said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence will be accompanied by five officials from the Lok Sabha and one senior Defence official, including Juby Amar (Director and secretary to the delegation). During the visit, the committee will be welcomed by Lieutenant General Dinesh Singh R

Congress questions govt on nuclear energy reforms, private sector entry

The Congress on Tuesday questioned the government over its promise of amending two existing acts to allow private companies to establish and run nuclear power plants, and asked whether the bills will be introduced in Parliament's Winter session. The opposition party also asked the government -- what about a Bill to establish an independent regulatory body that is not part of the atomic energy establishment. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the 2025-26 Budget, grand promises were made to give a boost to nuclear energy by amending the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, and the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, to allow private companies to establish and run nuclear power plants. However, somewhat surprisingly, neither of these two Bills were even introduced in the recently-concluded session of Parliament, he said. "Will the Bills be introduced in the Winter session three months hence? ...

New Bill puts spotlight on ministers with serious criminal cases

Amit Shah tables Bill to remove ministers in custody for serious crimes; ADR finds 1 in 3 CMs face grave charges, raising questions on political accountability

'Suspicious looking' man apprehended from outside Parliament House

A 20-year-old "suspicious" man was apprehended by the CISF on Saturday from near Parliament House Complex, an officer said. The person has been handed over to the police by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel for further investigation, the official said, adding, nothing "incriminating" was recovered from him. The incident comes a day after a man was nabbed trying scaling the wall of the high-security building. "The 20-year-old man was intercepted and apprehended by CISF personnel around 9:30 am on Saturday from the Raisina Road between the Rail Bhawan and the Parliament House. "Initial probe found the man came to Delhi from Bengaluru and was supposed to travel to Dubai. Nothing incriminating has been recovered from him and he has been questioned," a senior security officer said. A copy of his Aadhaar and passport was found in his phone. After preliminary questioning, he was handed over to the Kartavya Path Police Station for further investigation, he said. The

President gives assent to Income-tax Act 2025, replacing 1961 law

President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Income-tax Act, 2025, which will replace the archaic Income Tax Act, 1961. The Income Tax Act, 2025, will come into effect from the next financial year, beginning April 1, 2026. The new Act will make tax laws simple and reduce wordage in the legislation, making it easy to understand. "The Income-tax Act, 2025, has received the Hon'ble President's assent on August 21, 2025. A landmark reform replacing the 1961 Act, it ushers in a simpler, transparent & compliance-friendly direct tax regime," the Income Tax department said in a post on X. The Income Tax Bill, 2025, was passed by Parliament on August 12. The new Act does not impose any new tax rate and only simplifies the language, which was required for understanding the complex Income Tax laws. The new law removes redundant provisions and archaic language and reduces the number of Sections from 819 in the Income Tax Act of 1961 to 536 and the number of chapters from 47 to 23. Th

Winzo, Nazara-backed Pokerbaazi suspend real-money online gaming offerings

Online gaming platforms WinZO and Nazara Technologies-backed Moonshine Technologies (PokerBaazi) on Friday said that they have suspended their real-money online gaming operations in the wake of the Online Gaming Bill, 2025, passed in the Parliament on Thursday. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, enforces a blanket ban on all forms of real-money online games, while encouraging the growth of e-sports and free-to-play social games. In a regulatory filing, Nazara Technologies said that its associate company Moonshine Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates PokerBaazi, has suspended its real-money offerings in line with the new legislation. "Pursuant to the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, passed by the Parliament on August 21, 2025 and pending enactment, we wish to inform that, as a matter of abundant caution and in due respect of the government's mandate, Moonshine Technologies Private Limited, an associate company in which Nazara ...

No USAID funds used for voter turnout in India, govt tells Rajya Sabha

MoS for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said the US Embassy confirmed no voter turnout projects were run in India between 2014-24

Parliament security breach: Intruder jumps wall, caught by security

A similar incident of a Parliament security breach took place in 2024, when a man in his early 20s scaled the Parliament wall and entered the Annexe building

Parliament's monsoon session sees lowest functioning of 18th Lok Sabha

The Monsoon Session of Parliament was held between July 21 and August 21. Both Houses functioned for 21 days as scheduled

Lok Sabha passed 12 bills, Rajya Sabha 14 in Monsoon session amid protests

Twelve bills were passed by the Lok Sabha and 14 by the Rajya Sabha during the month-long Monsoon session of Parliament, which has witnessed repeated disruptions, adjournments and walkouts. Barring discussions on Operation Sindoor in both House, the session has seen little business ever since it began on July 21 due to repeated disruptions and adjournments initially due to opposition demand for discussion on Operation Sindoor and then over demands for a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision exercise in Bihar. The Monsoon session is scheduled to end on Thursday. The bills passed by the Lok Sabha are The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2025, The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2025, The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2025, The Manipur Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2025, The National Sports Governance Bill, 2025, and The National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025. Other bills passed by the Lok Sabha

Parliament to hold debate on space programme on Monsoon Session's last day

The Parliament will also hold a special discussion today to honour India's first astronaut, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla

Parliament clears bill to set up India's 22nd IIM in Guwahati with ₹555 cr

The country's 22nd Indian Institute of Management (IIM) is set to be established in Guwahati with an investment of Rs 555 crore, as Parliament cleared a Bill in this regard on Wednesday, with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan saying the new institution will start admitting students from the current academic year itself. The Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote even as the Opposition staged a walkout soon after the bill was introduced. It was cleared by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The bill to set up an IIM in Guwahati will go for Presidential assent after its passage in both Houses of Parliament. Assam goes to the polls early next year. Introducing the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Pradhan said setting up of IIM-Guwahati, with a central outlay of Rs 555 crore, will contribute towards making India the third largest economy in the world. Later, replying to the discussion on the bill, Pradhan said this will be the 9t

DGCA staffing crisis a threat to aviation safety system: Parl panel

A Parliamentary panel on Wednesday suggested a time-bound plan to grant administrative as well as financial autonomy to DGCA and flagged that the staffing crisis at the regulator is an "existential threat to the integrity of India's aviation safety system". Besides, the committee said the current imbalance, where aircraft induction is outpacing airport growth, is putting unsustainable pressure on existing facilities, degrading service quality, and dangerously straining safety margins, as it pitched for developing a comprehensive National Capacity Alignment Plan to synchronise airport infrastructure development with airline fleet induction schedules. The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture -- headed by Rajya Sabha member and JD(U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha -- submitted its report on the 'Overall Review of Safety in the Civil Aviation Sector' on Wednesday. One of the recommendations is to establish a time-bound mechanism for the closure

News highlights: LS passes Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill by voice vote

Parliament session 2025 Live updates: The government introduced 3 bills in Parliament on removal of PM, CMs, ministers held on serious criminal charges. Catch all the latest updates here

Tharoor warns ban may push online gaming underground, calls for regulation

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday criticised the government's move to ban online money gaming, warning that such a step would only push the industry underground and strengthen criminal networks. He also said he had not studied the three Constitution amendment bills seeking to provide a framework for the removal of prime ministers, Union ministers, chief ministers and state ministers detained on serious criminal charges in any detail. On the face of it, it is difficult to say it has any problem, but obviously if anyone does something wrong they should not be a minister anyway. I don't know if there is any other motive, he remarked. Discussing the bill seeking to prohibit and regulate online gaming introduced in the Lok Sabha, he said, "I had written a very long article on the argument that by banning online gaming we are simply driving it underground, whereas it could be a useful source of revenue for the government if we legalise it, regulate it and tax it." He added that

Explainer: Online real money games and why govt is seeking to ban them

If passed, the online gaming bill could shut down the RMG industry, which employs 200,000 people and contributes ₹20,000 crore in GST annually

Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12 pm amid Oppn protest over SIR

Lok Sabha was on Wednesday adjourned till 12 noon due to vociferous protests by opposition parties demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision exercise carried out by the Election Commission in Bihar and other issues. When the House met at 11 am, opposition MPs, including those from the Congress, were on their feet, raising slogans and showing placards with their demand for discussion on the voter roll revision. Speaker Om Birla told the protesting members that carrying placards attached with sticks is against the rules of the House. He appealed to the members to go back to their seats and cooperate in running the House. However, the protesting MPs ignored his appeal, forcing Birla to adjourn the House till 12 noon, just within 2 minutes of business. The opposition has been demanding a discussion on the SIR exercise initiated by the Election Commission in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections there. Barring discussions on Operation Sindoor in both House, Parliament h