Page 16 - Rajya Sabha

Dhankhar vs Jaya: Walkout over VP's tone, he says Constitution disrespected

Uneasy relations between Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and opposition parties on Friday erupted in a heated exchange between the chair and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan, leading to a walkout by opposition parties and Dhankhar calling it "disrespect to democracy and constitution". The cine star objected to the "tone" in which Dhankhar addressed her as well as switching off the mike of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, triggering a heated exchange. The Chairman, who is also the Vice President of India, said he can't be "schooled" and that Bachchan "may be anybody... a celebrity" but she has to observe decorum. As Dhankhar refused to allow her or any one from the opposition to speak, INDIA bloc parties staged a walkout, which was slammed both by the chair and the treasury benches. Leader of the House and Union Minister J P Nadda called the opposition behaviour "highly indecent and irresponsible". Trouble broke when the Congress MPs sought an apology from BJP memb

Waqf Amendment Bill: 31-member JPC constituted; Owaisi, Masood included

This comes a day after, Kiren Rijiju on Thursday introduced The Waqf (Amendment) Bill and proposed sending it to a joint parliamentary committee after Opposition parties objected to its provision

11 Bills introduced, 3 passed as Budget session of Parliament concludes

LS devoted 27 hrs and 19 minutes to discuss the Union Budget against the allotted 20 hrs

You may be a celebrity, but accept decorum: Jagdeep Dhankar schools Jaya Bachchan | Rajya Sabha

Amid demand of Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs for expunging remarks of BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari about LoP, SP MP Jaya Bachchan made remarks about the tone of the remarks made by the Chairman Jagdeep Dhankh

Parliament session highlights: Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha highlights: Here are the news updates on the developments in the Parliament

'Unacceptable tone': Jaya Bachchan demands apology from RS Chair Dhankhar

The Opposition staged a walkout on Friday after Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan accused Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar of using unacceptable' tone

Union Budget 2024: Parliament approves Appropriation Bill, Finance Bill

Parliamentary approval for the Budget 2024-25 was completed on Thursday with the Rajya Sabha returning the relevant legislations to the Lok Sabha after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's spirited reply to the debate emphasising Budget was aimed at promoting investments and creating jobs. The Rajya Sabha returned the Appropriation Bill and the Finance Bill to the Lok Sabha, thus completing the budgetary exercise for 2024-25. The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill too was returned to the Lower House. Earlier, these bills were approved by the Lok Sabha. Sitharaman presented the Budget in the Lok Sabha on July 23. It was her seventh Budget. Replying to the discussions in the Upper House, the minister said the Union Budget balances different overriding imperatives, including growth, employment, capital expenditure, and fiscal consolidation. "In a nutshell, the Union Budget this year balances several overriding imperatives, growth, employment generation, capital investment, and fis

News updates: PM Modi to visit landslide-affected sites in Kerala's Wayanad on Aug 10

Catch all the news developments from around the world here

Vinesh deserves the vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana: Ex-CM BS Hooda

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that if he had the majority, he would have allocated the vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana to wrestler, Vinesh Phogat

Protest over Phogat disqualification in RS, anguished Dhankhar leaves House

An anguished Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar left the House for some time during the morning session on Thursday, following an uproar and walkout by Opposition party members, who were not allowed to raise the issue related to the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Olympics. Soon after the listed papers were tabled in the House, Leader of Opposition and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stood up to raise the Phogat disqualification issue and wanted to know "who is behind" it. However, Dhankhar did not allow Kharge to raise the issue. In the meantime, Derek O'Brien of TMC, stood up to raise some issues but was not allowed by the Chair. To this Dhankar cautioned the TMC member, saying "You are shouting at the Chair. Your conduct is ugliest in the House. I condemn your actions. Next time I will show you the door". As uproar increased in the House, Opposition parties staged a walkout. Dhankhar expressed his anguish on the conduct of Opposition members and left the H

Opposition walkout in Rajya Sabha over Vinesh Phogat's disqualification

The Opposition said they wanted to discuss wrestler Vinesh Phogat's Olympic disqualification. But the government was not ready, alleged Congress Members of Parliament

Elections to 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats from 9 states on September 3: EC

Elections to 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in nine states will be held on September 3, the Election Commission said on Wednesday. Ten Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant as the sitting members, including Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal and Jyotiraditya Scindia, were elected to the Lok Sabha. Bypolls are also being held for two seats in Telangana and Odisha. K Keshava Rao from Telangana resigned recently from the House after quitting the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to join the Congress while Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Mamata Mohanta resigned from her Rajya Sabha seat and primary membership of the party. Besides Goyal, Sonowal and Scindia, the other Rajya Sabha members who won the parliamentary polls and moved to the Lok Sabha are Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (BJP), Misha Bharti (RJD), Vivek Thakur (BJP), Deepender Singh Hooda (Congress), Udayanraje Bhosle (BJP), K C Venugopal (Congress) and Biplab Kumar Deb (BJP). The notification for the Rajya Sabha elections will be issued on Aug

FM Sitharaman tables Appropriation (No 2) Bill 2024 in Rajya Sabha

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday introduced the Appropriation (No 2) Bill 2024 in the Rajya Sabha which authorises certain sums out of the Consolidated Fund of India for services in 2024-25. Sitharamam also introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2024 in the Upper House. The Lok Sabha passed the two legislations last week. Initiating the discussion on the bills, Digvijaya Singh of Congress stated that the focus of the government should be on reducing the disparity between rich and poor, tackling price rise and generating employment. Attacking the government, he said that for the last decade the government has just worked for the benefit of big corporations. He stated that household savings have come down in the country signalling that poverty is on the rise. He said that while price increase is there, earnings remain at the same level as was the case 10 years ago. "The number of billionaires has risen the most during the Modi government. Poor h

Concerned over violent online games, NCP member urges govt for regulation

NCP Rajya Sabha member Fauzia Khan on Tuesday expressed concern over the exposure of children to the violent content of online video games and asked the government to regulate the content. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Upper House, she said that in the digital age, children are increasingly exposed to online video games. Many of these games contain themes unsuitable to small children, such as wanton violence, foul language, substance abuse, sexual content, gender stereotypes, and disregard for law, she noted. "Online games like PubG, Call of Duty, GTA, and Blue Whale Challenge have become immensely popular among the children. This leads to the development of aggressive behaviour in them as they grow up. Excessive exposure can also cause anxiety and phobias, especially in the case of gore content," Khan said. She also referred to an incident in Pune where a 15-year-old boy influenced by a video game, tragically committed suicide by jumping from a 14th-floor ...

Parliament highlights: Centre tables bill to reserve seats for Scheduled Tribes in Goa Assembly

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha highlights: Here are the latest updates on the developments in the Parliament

India needs policy solution to mushrooming of coaching institutes: Congress

India needs a comprehensive policy solution to mushrooming of coaching institutes, the Congress said on Saturday and called for a revision of syllabi, more resources for all exam-takers and investments in the quality of education. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said data provided by the Department of Higher Education to the Rajya Sabha shows that GST collections from coaching institutes have risen rapidly between 2019 and 2024, from Rs 2,241 crore to Rs 5,517 crore. This represents an astonishing 146-per cent rise in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, some part of which may be attributable to better enforcement, but it also likely comes from the growing market size, he said. "Worryingly, the GST collections of Rs 5,517 crore in FY24, collected at a rate of 18 per cent, suggests a market of Rs 30,653 crore for coaching institutes annually. This is an extremely worrying figure, since it corresponds to about two-thirds of the Union Budget's ...

Only Centre can validate facts related to it, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

The Centre is best suited to determine whether a particular fact related to it is correct or wrong, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday while making the government's stand clear on the PIB's Fact Check Unit. He was replying to a supplementary query during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha related to the Supreme Court's stay on the Centre's notification on setting up a fact-checking unit. "The amendment in the IT Intermediary Rules which has been stayed by the Supreme Court, that is still under contest but the fundamental principle is, our point is, anything related to the government of India, only the government can say whether it is a correct fact or a wrong fact. That is our stand," Vaishnaw, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, said. The Supreme Court in March this year stayed the Centre's notification on setting up a fact-checking unit under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to identify fake news about the Union government. The Fact Check Unit was ...

87% cases filed with grievance committees under IT Rules resolved: MoS

The final decision of the GAC is binding on platforms and refusing to comply with the GAC can cost a platform its safe harbour protections

KC Venugopal likely to chair Public Accounts Committee: What is it?

Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal and Amar Singh are part of the committee, which was previously headed by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Swati Maliwal case: Supreme Court grills Kejriwal aide Bibhav Kumar

Is this kind of goon supposed to work in the CM's residence, the Supreme Court asked on Thursday as it came down heavily on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar who allegedly assaulted AAP MP Swati Maliwal earlier this year. A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan posted Kumar's bail plea for next Wednesday and told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi that the court was shocked with the details of the incident recorded by the Delhi High Court. Kumar has challenged the July 12 order of the Delhi High Court denying him bail in the case and claimed the allegations against him are false. He has also said his custody was no longer required as the probe was over. The apex notice issued notice to the Delhi government on his plea. "Is CM residence a private bungalow? Is this kind of 'goon' supposed to work in the CM's residence?" the bench asked Singhvi, who said there were non-serious injuries and the FIR was lodged after three days of the incident