Page 45 - Rajya Sabha

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,

Govt needs to bring National Judicial Appointments Comission: Manoj Jha

Disagreeing with current collegium system, RJD member of parliament from Rajya Sabha Manoj Jha said that with the new changes, the government needs to bring the Judicial Appointments Commission bill

10 yrs of Nirbhaya case: DCW wants Parliament to discuss women's safety

Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal on Friday wrote to the Lok Sabha speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman urging them to suspend the day's business in both houses of Parliament to discuss the issue of women's safety on the 10th anniversary of the Nirbhaya gangrape incident. Crimes against women have reached an "epidemic proportion", she said, while highlighting that six rapes are reported in the national capital every day. "An eight month old baby and a 90-year-old woman have also been raped in Delhi!" she tweeted. Maliwal also highlighted the recent acid attack on a 17-year-old girl in west Delhi. "The problem of increasing crimes against women and girls has reached an epidemic proportion and governments are failing to take steps to counter it. Even the Nirbhaya Fund that was set up for providing relief and rehabilitation for women and girls has been reduced substantially," she said. "The increasing crimes against women and girls in a matter of great concern and needs to b

Nuclear plants are 'well protected' from all types of intrusions: Govt

The government on Thursday asserted that nuclear plants in the country are "well protected" from intrusions including from cyber attacks. Minister of State (Independent Charge), Department of Atomic Energy, Jitendra Singh also said the government has entered into Inter-Government Agreements with the Russian Federation for setting up Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project. He was asked about the steps being taken by the government to prevent cyber attacks on nuclear plants. "Certainly there was one such report last year following which we have put in place a mechanism whereby different levels of screening is done and monitoring is done. "I can assure this House that the nuclear plants are well protected from all kinds of intrusions including the cyber attacks," Singh said during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha. The minister said the government has entered into IGAs with Russian Federation for setting up Kudankulam Nuclear Power Projects comprising six units of 1000 MW each. Two units KKNP

Centre spent over Rs 3,723 cr on advertisements in 5 yrs, Rajya Sabha told

Government has spent a total of Rs 3,723.38 crore on advertisement of its policies and programmes over the past five years through the Central Bureau of Communication, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. In a written reply, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the expenditure on advertisements and publicity has not increased over the past five years. According to the data shared by the government, Rs 1,220.89 crore was spent on advertisements in 2017-18 while an expenditure of Rs 1,106.88 crore was incurred in 2018-19, which was ahead of the general elections of 2019. The government spent Rs 627.67 crore in 2019-20; Rs 349.09 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 264.78 crore in 2021-22, Thakur said. In the current financial year, the government has spent Rs 154.07 crore on advertisements till December 9, he said. As per the above data, expenditure on advertisement and publicity has not increased in the last few years, Thakur said in response to a question by Congress memb

Over 22,000 second appeals, complaints pending with CIC: Govt tells RS

Over 22,000 second appeals and complaints were pending with the Central Information Commission as on December 5, 2022, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. The CIC is mandated to deal with second appeals and complaints filed by RTI applicants in case they are aggrieved with the responses provided to them by government departments. Of the total pendency of 22,442, 19,178 were second appeals and 3,264 complaints, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in reply to a written question. To a question on whether the government was aware of cases where personal information of some RTI applicants have been made public, the minister said the Centre has from time to time issued guidelines or office memorandums "bringing to notice of all ministries/departments of government of India that personal information of an RTI applicant should not be disclosed". Section 8(1) (j) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 provides that it is not obligatory for public informatio

Received 6 mn complaints on grievance redress system in 3 years: Centre

Govt said public grievances were received against various states and Union territories between 2020 and November this year

Parliament winter session: Rajya Sabha adjourned twice amid uproar

Seven Opposition members had given notices to the chairman on various issues, but were not allowed

No info from state govts about deadlock between VCs, chancellors: Centre

The Centre has not received any information from state governments about deadlocks between university vice-chancellors and chancellors, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar also denied that the government is considering to set up a commission for ease of selection of qualified and skilled persons for appointment as vice-chancellors. "The University Grants Commission (UGC) has framed UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2018, notified in the Gazette of India on 18th July, 2018," he said. The minister was responding to questions from Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on whether there is a deadlock between vice-chancellors and chancellors of universities in states and if the government is formulating any policy in this regard. "This ministry has not received any reference from the state .