Page 31 - Rajya Sabha

Govt passes telecom, criminal bills as suspended MP count reaches 143

Dhankhar says mimicking him 'insult' to the post of V-P; President Murmu, and PM express solidarity

Centre to move SC again to get funds from Sahara Group to repay investors

The cooperation ministry has also launched a portal where investors can make an application to get their money stuck in societies

Over 17 mn ST students granted pre, post-matric scholarships in 5 yrs: Govt

The Centre awarded pre-matric scholarships to 1,03,34,708 (1.03 crore) Scheduled Tribe students during the past five years, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Post-matric scholarships were granted to 68,74,363 (68.74 lakh) Scheduled Tribe (ST) students during this period. Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu told the Upper House that 11,925 Scheduled Tribe students received the national scholarship for higher education while 13,326 obtained the national fellowship for higher education in the past five years. The National Overseas Scholarship Scheme was extended to 170 students, he said. Pre-Matric Scholarship for ST Students covers those in classes 9-10 with an annual parental income below Rs 2.5 lakh. The contributions are 75 per cent from the Centre and 25 per cent from the state (90 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, for northeast and hill states). Post-Matric Scholarship for ST Students includes those in Class 11 and above and with an annual

Will not tolerate any insult to Parl, VP post: Dhankhar on mimicry row

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar Wednesday said he will not tolerate any insult to Parliament and the post of vice president while expressing deep anguish over a TMC MP mimicking him in the parliament complex and a Congress MP recording the act. In the Rajya Sabha, the chairman said the act of mimicking him and its videography has caused an "insult" to the honour of the post of the vice president, the farmers and his own community. When the House met at 11.45 am after the third adjournment, Dhankhar expressed his anguish over Tuesday's incident and asked the Congress party, including Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, to ponder over it. "I am not bothered if anyone insults Jagdeep Dhankhar but I cannot bear that I could not protect the honour of my post. It is my duty to protect the honour of the House", Dhankhar said. "You cannot imagine what has happened. Such a big incident took place. The post was disrespected. The farmers' community was insulted. My community was ..

Om Birla meets RS Chairman, expresses anguish over mimicry incident

Banerjee had mimicked Vice President Dhankhar during the opposition's protest on the stairs of Parliament on Tuesday against the suspension of MPs, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP

Mallikarjun Kharge as INDIA bloc PM face? Here's what leaders have to say

Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal proposed Mallikarjun Kharge's name as the INDIA bloc's prime ministerial candidate

Winter Session: After disruptions, suspensions, Parl to reconvene today

As the session resumes at Rajya Sabha, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move for leave to introduce a Bill to amend the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

Winter Session: Lok Sabha clears 3 key Bills as 49 more Oppn MPs suspended

The Congress, which now has only nine MPs in the Lok Sabha that have not been suspended, termed it a "complete purge" to ensure the passage of "draconian bills" without any meaningful debate

About 20% of 510 mn Jan Dhan accounts inoperative: MoS finance informs RS

About 20 per cent of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts in the country are inoperative, the government said on Tuesday. As on December 6, of the total 10.34 crore inoperative PMJDY accounts, 4.93 crore belong to women, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. As per data received from banks, of the approximately 51.11 crore PMJDY accounts, around 20 per cent accounts were inoperative as on December 6, he said. The percentage of inoperative PMJDY accounts is similar to the percentage of overall inoperative accounts in the banking sector, he said. The deposited balance in the inoperative PMJDY accounts is around Rs 12,779 crore, which is around 6.12 per cent of the total deposited balance in PMJDY accounts, he said. This balance continues to earn interest at par with that applicable to operative accounts and can be claimed and withdrawn by depositors at any point of time after the account becomes operative again, he ...

Over 2.9k drugs found to be substandard in tests conducted in 2022-23: Govt

Out of the 89,729 drug samples tested between April 2022 and March 2023, 2,921 drugs were found to be "not of standard quality" while 422 were identified as spurious, the Rajya Sabha was told on Tuesday. In a written reply, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said 642 prosecutions were launched for manufacturing, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs, while 262 persons were arrested during the same period as per information received from drugs controllers of various states and Union territories. This excludes data from Rajasthan. Giving details of the previous year, Pawar said a total 88,844 samples were tested between April 2021 and March 2022 of which 2,545 were declared to be not of standard quality while 379 were found to be spurious. She said 592 prosecutions were launched for manufacturing, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs and 450 persons arrested during the same period. Responding to a question, Pawar said that in order to asse

Not good for democracy: Kharge on suspension of MPs from Parliament

The Congress chief said several MPs have tried to put forward their opinions so far in Parliament

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

45 Oppn MPs suspended in Rajya Sabha, 33 in LS over security breach row

As many as 45 opposition members in Rajya Sabha were on Monday suspended from the House for unruly behaviour and disregarding the directions of the Chair after they raised slogans over the Parliament security breach issue and disrupted proceedings. Among those suspended were Congress MPs Pramod Tiwari, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala and Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav. The development occurred soon after 33 opposition members, including leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK's T R Baalu and TMC's Sougata Ray, were suspended in Lok Sabha following similar scenes in the Lower House. While 34 of the Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended for the remainder of the Winter session, 11 have been directed to stay away from the House pending an inquiry report on their conduct by the Committee of Privileges. The members were suspended after the House adopted a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal for suspension of 34 MPs for the remainder of the session

Kharge writes to RS Chairman, urges to revoke Derek O'Brien's suspension

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday wrote to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, urging him to revoke the suspension of Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien. Kharge said the TMC leader was only demanding a statement by the Home Minister on the security breach issue in Parliament. "All he (O' Brien) was trying to do was to attract your attention so as to raise the collective demand of INDIA parties for a statement by the Minister of Home Affairs on the shocking incident that took place in Lok Sabha on December 13," the Congress leader said. He said the Home Minister not speaking on the issue is a "breach of Parliamentary traditions and conventions". "These are perfectly legitimate demands. It is a breach of Parliamentary traditions and conventions that the Minister of Home Affairs can speak about the events of December 13 at a media function but refuses to say anything about in form of a statement in Parliament when the Parliament itself is in session," he ...

RS adjourned till 2pm, Dhankhar warns MP's for disrupting proceedings

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha also faced pandemonium, leading to its adjournment for the day as the opposition stirred a massive ruckus

Amit Shah to move Govt of UTs (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha today

According to the agenda released, Shah will also move the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, which seeks to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019

Parliament session: Centre may table Telecommunications Bill 2023 today

The new Bill states that the Centre be vested with the power to waive entry fees, licence fees, and penalties in the interest of consumers

Chief Election Commissioner appointment Bill: The good, the debatable

In question: Though certain aspects of proposed law have been appreciated, members of Oppn and civil society have flagged infringement of independence of top poll officers. Aditi Phadnis explains

AAP appoints Raghav Chadha as party leader in RS, replaces Sanjay Singh

The Aam Aadmi Party has appointed its MP Raghav Chadha as the leader of the party in Rajya Sabha in place of Sanjay Singh, sources said. In a letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, the AAP party leadership has said that in the absence of Sanjay Singh, who has "health issues", Raghav Chadha will henceforth be the party's leader in the upper house. AAP MP Sanjay Singh is currently behind bars in the Delhi liquor policy case. Sources in the Rajya Sabha secretariat confirmed that a letter has been received from the AAP regarding appointing Chadha as its floor leader. The letter is with the RS Secretary General for implementation. Chadha is one of the youngest members of Rajya Sabha. The AAP has a total of 10 MPs in the Upper House currently. The AAP has the fourth largest strength in Rajya Sabha after the BJP, the Congress and the TMC.

Our son can't do this: Parents of parl security breach mastermind Jha

Days after the Parliament security breach had shocked the nation, the parents of the alleged mastermind Lalit Jha, are still in a state of disbelief. Jha's father Devanand, who practices priestcraft in Kolkata to make ends meet, is visibly discomfited by the attention his dilapidated ancestral house in Bihar has since been attracting. "I came to know about my son's arrest through other people. As you all can see, we do not even own a TV set", Devanand Jha told journalists at his house in Rampur Uday, a nondescript village in Darbhanga district. His wife Manjula, who looked dazed, screamed amid sobs "My child is not a rogue. He cannot indulge in wrongdoings. He has always loved to help people. He has donated his blood three times". It has been a week since the couple last saw their 32-year-old son, who handed himself over to the Delhi police on Thursday, two days after four persons, two of whom found their way into the Lok Sabha's visitors' gallery, entered the Parliament building .