Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Monday questioned the government in Lok Sabha on why it was scared of naming wilful bank loan defaulters.
Parliament Today HIGHLIGHTS: The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019 was passed by the Rajya Sabha Monday. The Bill seeks “to establish and incorporate Universities for teaching and research in Sanskrit, to develop all-inclusive Sanskrit promotional activities and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Monday questioned the government in Lok Sabha on why it was scared of naming wilful bank loan defaulters. “I was not allowed to ask a supplementary question in Lok Sabha, this takes away my right as MP,” he said, adding that he was hurt as it was the Speaker’s duty to protect his right to speak. Earlier, Minister of State Anurag Thakur had responded to his query where he sought the names of 50 wilful defaulters and said that information relating to the defaulters was given on the Central Information Commission (CIC) website.
In the wake of the cancellation of airline and railway tickets amid the spread of coronavirus, CPI (M) Kerala Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem Monday requested the government to forgo the cancellation charges of passengers. Congress floor leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had earlier given an adjournment motion notice over the issue of ‘imposition of excise duty on diesel, petrol and other petroleum products’ and the ‘price of petrol and diesel in the country respectively’.
The Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha have been adjourned till tomorrow.
Lok Sabha passes the Appropriation Bill, 2020.
The Union government is working on a comprehensive policy for elderly citizens, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot told Lok Sabha on Monday as he highlighted measures taken by his ministry to uplift dalits, tribals and backward classes. Replying to a debate on the demand for grants of his ministry, which was later passed by the House, Gehlot said 'divyang', a term for people with disabilities, across the country will have a standard identity card through which they can avail of benefits meant for them anywhere.
Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, said that the Budget Session of Parliament will continue as per schedule. "The government is proactively monitoring the Coronavirus situation and there is no need to curtail the ongoing session.", he told ANI.
Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur on Monday tabled three notifications relating to increase in excise duty and road cess on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per per litre, amidst uproar by opposition in Lok Sabha. Thakur placed before the House the notifications dated March 13, 2020 seeking to raise special additional excise duty on petrol by Rs 2 to Rs 10 per litre in case of petrol and to Rs 4 per litre litre from Rs 2 in case of diesel. Additionally road and infrastructure cess was raised by Re 1 per litre on petrol and diesel to Rs 10. Besides, another notification seeking to increase the Road and Infrastructure Cess (RIC), collected as additional duty of customs on both petrol and diesel from Rs 9 to Rs 10 per litre was also laid on the table.
The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019 is passed by the Rajya Sabha.
Replying to a query in the Upper House during Question Hour, Coal minister Pralhad Joshi said India houses the fourth largest resources in the world yet thermal coals were being imported and should be stopped.
The Budget Session of the West Bengal Assembly will be cut short over the coronavirus scare and the House will not meet after Tuesday, Speaker Biman Banerjee said on Monday. At an all-party meeting in the Assembly premises that was attended by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee and floor leaders of opposition parties, thespeaker said the second part of the session, which commenced on Friday, will be truncated as part of the precautionary measures being taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Those who attended the meeting said all agenda except for three bills, including the appropiation bill, will be put on the back-burner. Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections will, however, take place as scheduled on March 26. (PTI)
The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019 is being discussed in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill seeks "to establish and incorporate Universities for teaching and research in Sanskrit, to develop all-inclusive Sanskrit promotional activities and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."
Asking states to stop thermal coal imports, the government in Rajya Sabha on Monday said that a lobby was active in some states that was behind dry-fuel imports despite sufficient domestic stock. Replying to a query in the Upper House during Question Hour, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said India houses the fourth largest resources in the world yet thermal coals were being imported and should be stopped. "There is no hesitation in saying that in many states some import lobby is also working. Though in last three-four months we have enough stock some of the Gencos are importing. This is the major problem," Joshi said. "I have written to all chief ministers including of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu requesting them to direct all Gencos to maximise the coal lifting and stop coal imports," he said. (PTI)
With an MSc Mathematics student getting the job of a sweeper at the Madras Municipal Corporation, a Lok Sabha member Monday sought to know steps taken by the government to deal with the unemployment situation, news agency PTI reported. DMK leader A Raja said that people at the posts of mechanical engineer, MBA were getting the job of a 'Khalasi' (helper) in railways. Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said there were various central government schemes for employment and steps were being taken to tackle unemployment.
The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry has taken several steps to uplift under-privileged people, Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said in Lok Sabha on Monday. Replying to Demands for Grants for Social Justice Ministry, he said the ministry has become "active" in the last 5 years and has taken several historic key decisions, like setting up 132 camps in 126 districts to provide assistance to physically challenged people.
Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm
During the Zero Hour in Parliament on Monday, several Rajya Sabha MP's suggested people should follow simple preventive measures like washing hands to check the spread of coronavirus.
Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the government in Lok Sabha on Monday and asked why it was scared of naming wilful bank loan defaulters. He said he was hurt as the Speaker did not allow him to ask a supplementary question and said, "I was not allowed to ask a supplementary question in Lok Sabha, this takes away my right as MP. I was hurt as it was the Speaker's duty to protect my right to speak," news agency PTI reported.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha that our economy is in a bad state and the banking system was not working anymore. One of the central causes of the failure of banks, he said was the theft of large amounts of money by some people. He said that he had asked the names of 50 wilful defaulters in the country. To which, Minister of State Anurag Thakur responded and said "A list of wilful defaulters is available on the Central Information Commission (CIC) website. There is nothing to hide. All these people took money went away during their (Congress) government. The question posed by a senior member of the House shows his lack of understanding of the subject," news agency ANI reported.
Thermal screening of people visiting the Parliament complex was carried out on Monday in view of the threat of coronavirus. Staff and journalists visiting the complex were subjected to thermal screening. Authorities have already stopped issuing passes for people interested in witnessing proceedings in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Only MPs, staff and journalists are allowed to enter Parliament from Monday. However, it is not immediately known whether MPs were also subjected to thermal screening.
CPI (M) Kerala Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem Monday spoke about the coronavirus situation in Rajya sabha and said "Coronavirus has become a pandemic. The entire humanity is desperately battling against the catastrophic impact globally. Many state governments have proclaimed a virtual ban on the locomotion of people." He said that people were canceling their travel plans but airlines and Indian Railways were still levying cancellation charges from passengers. He requested the government to forgo the cancellation charges in the wake of the spread of coronavirus. Rajya Sabha chairperson Venkaiah Naidu said that the suggestion was worth considering and airlines and railways should see to it that no cancellation charges are levied.
Proceedings began in both Houses of Parliament at 11 am on Monday. Follow our live blog to get the latest updates.