Page 44 - Rajya Sabha

Judiciary vs Executive: Can a referee become a player?

It may be inadvertent, but the VP seemed to have joined the ongoing face-off between the judiciary and the government

Both Houses pass nine bills during Parliament's winter session: Joshi

The winter session was curtailed by a week following demand and sentiments of members to leave for their constituencies for Christmas and year-end celebrations

BIS has published 21,890 standards so far: Consumer Affairs Minister to RS

Ashwini Kumar Choubey says the standards also facilitate trade, provide investment confidence, foster innovation and support govt policies and regulations

Winter session: Both houses adjourned sine die, 6 days ahead of schedule

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday, six days ahead of schedule. The Winter Session of Parliament, which commenced on December 7, was to otherwise end on December 29. Before adjourning the House sine die (indefinitely), Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the productivity of the House was 102 per cent. The House held 13 sittings totalling 64 hours 50 minutes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge were present in the House.

EC proposal to cap anonymous cash donations under examination: Centre

A proposal of the Election Commission to cap individual anonymous political donations to Rs 2,000 from the present Rs 20,000 is under examination, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. Asked whether all political parties were consulted, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju responded in a negative in a written reply. "The proposal is under examination," he said on being asked whether the poll panel has proposed reducing anonymous political donations to Rs 2,000 from Rs 20,000 and cap cash donations at 20 per cent or at a maximum of Rs 20 crore. In September this year, the Election Commission had proposed bringing down anonymous political donations from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000 and cap cash donations at 20 per cent or at a maximum of Rs 20 crore to cleanse election funding of black money. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar had written to Law Minister Rijiju recommending a slew of amendments to the Representation of the People (RP) Act. The proposals were aimed at ushering in reform

22,238 complaints, second appeals pending with CIC: Govt tells Rajya Sabha

A total of 22,238 complaints and second appeals were pending with the Central Information Commission (CIC) as on December 15, 2022, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. In reply to a written question, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said 20,756 complaints and second appeals filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act were disposed of during 2022-23 up to December 15. The CIC had registered 13,472 such cases during the period, he said. "The CIC is making efforts to expedite disposal of the pending cases by making use of technology tools for efficient hearing of cases. This has reduced the pendency significantly," the minister said. Singh said the information of registered, disposed and pending cases in respect to State Information Commissions (SICs) is maintained by the state governments. "The CIC facilitates information seekers by providing hybrid mode of hearing i.e. physical as well as virtual. As far as the State Information Commissions are concerned, i

Raya Sabha Chairman Dhankhar asks MPs to mask up amid spurt in Covid cases

Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday asked MPs to wear masks and practice social distancing in view of the surging COVID-19 cases in the world, saying the House needs to lead the nation by example. When the House met for the day, he referred to rising Covid cases in other countries. "I urge all the members to be extra-cautious about the surging Covid cases in the world," Dhankhar said. "It is our ardent duty to set an example before our countrymen." India, he said, had overcome the challenges of COVID-19 in the past due to coordinated efforts of the administration, doctors, healthcare professionals and the sanitation workers. Over two billion doses of free Covid vaccines were administered in record time, an unparalleled fleet in the world. Besides, these were digitally recorded and certificates issued, again another unparallel example in the world for its scale, size and speed. "Currently, the Covid situation is getting alarming. We need to

Centre to move 3 Bills in RS to modify ST list in TN, Himachal, Karnataka

The Central government is set to move three bills in the Rajya Sabha later on Thursday to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to the states of Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka

RS nominates 10 members to panel on Multi-State Cooperative Societies Bill

Rajya Sabha on Wednesday nominated 10 members to the joint committee of Parliament to examine the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The Lok Sabha Tuesday referred the Bill to the committee. Cooperation Minister Amit Shah had said 21 members of the joint panel will be from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. While moving the motion in the Upper House, Minister of State for Cooperation B L Verma named the 10 members of the Rajya Sabha who will be in the joint panel. These members are Ghanshyam Tiwari, Surendra Singh Nagar, Dhananjay Bhimrao Mahadik and Ram Chander Jangra of the BJP, Rajani Ashokrao Patil of the Congress, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray of the Trinamool Congress, N R Elango of the DMK, Vikramjit Singh Sahney of the AAP, Sujeet Kumar of the BJD and S Niranjan Reddy of the YSRCP. The Upper House adopted a motion for nomination to the joint committee of Parliament on this Bill through a voice vote. The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bi

Rajya Sabha passes bill to deal with maritime piracy with voice vote

Parliament on Wednesday passed the Maritime Anti-Piracy Bill, which provides for stringent punishment to those convicted of such crimes. The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed by voice vote the Maritime Anti-Piracy Bill-2022 which was moved for consideration and passage by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday. In the bill, the government has added provisions for death penalty and life imprisonment for those convicted of maritime piracy. Replying to a debate on the bill, Jaishankar said it will help the country in having international cooperation to deal with piracy. He also told the House, "We will have jurisdiction on foreign ships (which would indulge in piracy)." About the members' suggestions about having standard operating procedures (SOP) for have better enforcement, he stated that the suggestion is well taken as it would help in its enforcement. He appreciated the members' views that authorised persons -- armed forces dealing

NIIMH has 448 books on history of medicine, 285 palm leaf manuscripts: Govt

The collection has several classical texts of Ayush systems and European medicine, which includes some early editions, Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told the Rajya Sabha

Significant dip in number of regular employees in CPSEs since 2014: Centre

There has been a substantial decline in the number of regular employees in various Central Public Sector Enterprises since 2014, while the number of contractual employees has increased

Won't hesitate in suspending listed business for urgent matters: Dhankhar

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar Tuesday assured the opposition parties that he would not hesitate to suspend the scheduled business of the House under Rule 267 even on a daily basis if the notices qualify on merit. In the same breath Dhankhar, however, asserted that he would not invoke the rule even once during his entire tenure if notices are devoid of merit. Under Rule 267 of Rajya Sabha's Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business, a listed business of the day can be suspended to take up an urgent matter with the approval of the Chair. The chairman noted that the demand for suspension of scheduled business of the day under Rule 267 and 'point of order' have become tools to disrupt proceedings. Even on Tuesday, several notices under Rule 267 were made before the Chair but none were accepted. Among other issues, opposition members were demanding discussion on the India-China conflict in the House under Rule 267. When the Chair announced that no notice had been accepted, ..

Oppn members walk out of RS, accuse NHRC of selectively visiting states

The entire opposition walked out from the Rajya Sabha at the end of the morning session on Tuesday alleging that the NHRC only visits opposition ruled states for investigations while skipping BJP-governed Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Dola Sen of the TMC, while making her Zero Hour submission, said it is unfortunate that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is visiting Bihar and goes to Bengal, but does not visit Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Protesting this, Sen announced a walkout of the TMC from the House. Other opposition parties too followed. Earlier, Manoj Jha of the RJD too wanted to raise the issue, but could not. During the Zero Hour, members raise matters with permission of the Chair.

Jio installed 5x more 5G radios than Airtel as of Nov: Telecom dept in RS

Airtel cites difference in tech after govt presents data in Rajya Sabha

Ahead of 2024, Private Member's UCC Bill poses a dilemma for Opposition

Many Upper House members have admitted that the treasury benches were seeking an opportunity and when the opposition count was low in the House then the bill was introduced

China's attempts at transgression, economy dominate Parliament proceedings

China's attempts at transgression at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, the government's strong desire to have a say in the appointments to the higher judiciary and heated debates on the state of the economy were some of the issues that dominated the Parliament proceedings this week. The Lok Sabha approved the Supplementary Demands for Grants to the tune of Rs 3.26 lakh crore, primarily to fund the higher subsidy bill on items such as fertilisers, food and cooking gas, besides ramping up capital expenditure in sectors such as railways and roads. The Lower House also passed two bills to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order to add the Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran communities to the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) of Tamil Nadu and include the Hattee community of the Trans Giri area of Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh to the ST list of the hill state. On Tuesday, as opposition members raised the issue of clashes between Indian and Chinese troops near ..

Coordinated efforts taken to contain Chinese loan apps: FM in Rajya Sabha

Government departments and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are taking coordinated steps to check Chinese mobile apps offering easy loans and cheating people, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Rajya Sabha on Friday. Responding to a zero-hour issue raised by a Trinamool Congress MP, she said action has been taken against apps that are cheating people by offering loans. The minister said she had in the last 6-7 months held several meetings with representatives of the central bank, her ministry officials and Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on the issue of Chinese loan apps harassing and cheating people. "A lot of apps that have been badly misused have also been brought to the attention of MeiTY," she said. "So there is a coordinated effort to contain such apps. And also to take action against those who are misusing." Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) is the nodal ministry that issues orders for blocking apps considered prejudicial to the sovereign

Courts must work for a min 300 days a year to curb pending cases: Cong MP

Senior advocate and Congress Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh Vivek Tankha on Friday said courts should remain functional for at least 300 days a year to reduce the pendency of cases. Judges can go on leave but not courts, and only then can five crore pending cases be disposed of, he said. "Judges can go on leave but not courts. They should remain functional for at least 300 days in a year and then only the five crore cases pending in the courts will be disposed of. It should not happen that the entire court goes on vacation," he told reporters. "This was the practice during the British period when the judges went back home, so they declared a two-month holiday for courts like schools. If the court remains open then pending cases will be disposed of in a speedy manner. Currently, courts remain open for 200 days (per year). If a reform takes place then they will remain functional for at least 300 days," he added. Asked about the controversy over the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer film

Countries eager to sign FTAs with India: Piyush Goyal in Rajya Sabha

Countries across the world are looking at India as a trusted partner and want to sign free trade agreements with it after its emergence as a strong force in the world, Textile Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. He said talks are underway with the European Union, Gulf countries, Canada and the United Kingdom for free trade agreements (FTA) and the FTAs with two developed economies of the UAE and Australia will be enforced in this year alone. Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, the minister said it is true that in last few years, Bangladesh and Vietnam have made progress in the field of cotton textiles and garments. Bangladesh is still the least developed country (LDC) and will remain so till 2026 and because of that it gets duty free access in all world markets, he noted. Similarly, Vietnam has a FTA with the European Union due to which they get duty free access to the big market while our garments attract 9 to 10 percent duty in EU markets,