Rajya Sabha welcomed its new Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking the lead in expressing confidence that the Upper House under his leadership would “scale new heights” with serious debates and democratic discussions. Opposition members urged him to give more time for discussions, ensure the Opposition’s voice is heard in the House, allocate more time for smaller parties and see to it that legislations are not passed in a hurry and are sent to parliamentary panels for scrutiny.
Ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday requested all parties to make collective efforts to make the session more productive. Referring to India's G20 presidency, he said: "This G20 Summit isn't just a diplomatic event, it's an opportunity to display India's capability before the world. Such a large country, mother of democracy, such diversity, such capability -- it's an opportunity for the world to know India and for India to show its capability to the world."
The three-week-long Winter Session of Parliament will begin Wednesday and the first week is expected to be a heated one since the outcome of the municipal corporation elections in Delhi and the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls will be out on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
The Opposition has identified a raft of issues including the alleged misuse of investigation agencies to corner the government which has lined up 16 new Bills for consideration and passage. On the legislative agenda of the government would be 25 Bills – 16 of them new, seven pending ones and two finance Bills.
AICC general secretary in-charge of communication Jairam Ramesh (PTI)
Further nuancing its position on reservation for economically weaker sections, the Congress leadership on Saturday decided to ask the government to have a “rethink” on the issue in Parliament.
In the Winter Session, which will begin next week, the party will also seek discussions on three issues: the border standoff with China, the economic situation and the government’s “interference” in the functioning of constitutional authorities.
The Congress had initially welcomed the Supreme Court judgement upholding 10 per cent EWS reservation in the general category. It had argued that the 103rd Constitutional Amendment, which provided a 10 per cent EWS quota, was the result of a process initiated by the Manmohan Singh government in 2005-06 with the appointment of the Sinho Commission that submitted its report in July 2010.
A Bill that proposes to allow the Registrar General of India to maintain a database on births and deaths and use that to update the National Population Register (NPR) will likely be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament.
The draft of the Bill — which will amend the Registration of Birth and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969 — was shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs in October last year for public comments and suggestions.
According to the proposed Bill, the data will also be used for updating electoral rolls, the Aadhar database, ration cards, passports and driving licenses.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks before a session of Parliament in New Delhi. (Express Photo: Prem Nath Pandey/File)
Parliament is the most important symbol of Indian democracy. It is through summoning the House and calling MPs to participate in legislative and other business through discussion, debates, committee dispensations, and other mechanisms that Parliament enables the citizens of the country, through their representatives, to participate in decision-making and hold the government to account.
Standing Committees are a microcosm of Parliament. They were conceived to scrutinise the technical details of bills referred to them, leaving the House to look at broader policy matters. Unfortunately, far fewer bills are now being referred to committees. In the first term of this government (2014-19), about 27 per cent of bills were referred to committees. During the 17th Lok Sabha, as per the data available on the Lok Sabha website, less than 10 per cent have been referred to committees, compared to 71 per cent under the UPA-II government in the 15th Lok Sabha.
With the under-construction Parliament building missing the government’s November deadline, officials say they are attempting to complete the project by the end of December.
The building, which has been under construction since January 2021, has seen its completion target pushed multiple times — from August 15 to October to November.
Officials from Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry and Central Public Works Department said efforts are on to complete the work by the end of December so the building can be handed over to security agencies ahead of the Budget session in January-February. The work at the site adjacent to the existing Parliament House continues even as preparations for the Winter Session of Parliament are on.
During the all-party meeting on Tuesday, members of opposition parties detailed around 16 issues for raising during the session. These include national security and China border "incursions", recent cyber attack on AIIMS, "uncontrolled" inflation and price rise of essential commodities, persisting high level of unemployment, failure to provide legal sanctity to minimum support price (MSP), and a rethink on the EWS reservation after the Supreme Court verdict. The recent conflict between the judiciary and the government, the falling rupee and declining GDP growth, alleged voter "theft" in Karnataka, continuing attacks on Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir are also likely to be sticking points between the opposition and the government.
The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to play out during the start of the session. Ahead of the session, leaders from more than 30 parties attended a meeting convened by the central government to discuss the legislative agenda and the issues likely to be taken up during the session. The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister and deputy leader of Lok Sabha Rajnath Singh, was to seek cooperation from all parties for the smooth functioning of Parliament.
The Opposition has identified a raft of issues including the alleged misuse of investigation agencies to corner the government which has lined up 16 new Bills for consideration and passage. On the legislative agenda of the government would be 25 Bills – 16 of them new, seven pending ones and two finance Bills. The session will have 17 sittings over 23 days before it concludes on December 29.
Winter Session of Parliament 2022: The Parliament House building ahead of the commencement of Winter Session, in New Delhi, December 8, 2022. (PTI)
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said India has become dependent on a country which has "inimical interests" and it is important that it realises this.
Replying to supplementaries during question hour in the Rajya Sabha, he said the high trade deficit of USD 48.5 billion in trade between India and China inherited in 2013-14 cannot be ignored and the government is now taking steps to promote domestic manufacturing sector. He said the India-China trade in 2000-2001 was barely USD 2 billion and that position continued till 2002-03 where it increased at best to about USD 5 Billion.
"At that time the trade deficit was just about USD 1 billion. I don't know what happened after that, but suddenly after 2003-04 the USD 1 billion trade defict over the next ten years increased to USD 36 billion in ten years," he told the house. (PTI)
With his party's government in Kerala locked in a bitter war of words with Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, CPI-M MP V Sivadasan on Friday introduced a private member's bill in Rajya Sabha that seeks to amend the Constitution to define the role and powers of the Governor.
Moving the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (amendment of article 153 and substitution of articles 155 and 156) in the Upper House, Sivadasan noted that the post of the Governor is being misused by the central government to forward its agenda in the states.
"I would like to present a very important subject here. If we look at the history, Governor is a position which has been there since colonial times. The role of Governors in colonial India was to suppress and oppress Indian people," he noted while introducing the bill under the Private Member's Legislative Business. The Governors who were ruling the provinces under the Governor General were like kings as they took all the powers to themselves leaving hardly anything for the elected and nominated members of the council, he stated. (PTI)
India has been winning more medals in sporting tournaments now than ever before and it has been possible due to government’s proactive approach and motivation provided by PM Narendra Modi’s interactions with sportspersons, Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Anurag Thakur said this in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
“Be it before a tournament or after, sometimes even in the middle of a tournament, PM Narendra Modi speaks to sportspersons to motivate them. It has had positive results... India has been winning more tournaments and medals in sporting events now. When we came to power in 2014, the budget of the ministry was Rs 1,219 crore. This has increased to Rs 3,062 crore in 2022. The spending saw a dip only in the Covid years,” Thakur said while replying during a discussion on promotion of sports in India in the Lok Sabha.
Thakur said through National Sports Development Code and other measures, the government was bringing about great changes in sports administration. (Read more)
As many as 20.16 lakh tuberculosis cases and 73,551 deaths have been notified from January till October under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told Lok Sabha on Friday. There has been an 18 per cent increase in the number of tuberculosis cases notified under NTEP in 2021 (21.35 lakhs) in comparison with 2020 (18.05 lakhs), Pawar said in a written reply.
The increase in the number of tuberculosis cases notified under NTEP has been due to increased efforts taken by the programme to decentralise diagnostics, active case finding, intensified private-sector engagement and specific strategies to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and reach pre-Covid levels. The government has several steps to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025 under the 'Nikshay Mitras' initiative, she said. (PTI)
A private member bill to regulate the appointment of judges through the National Judicial Commission was on Friday introduced in Rajya Sabha by CPI(M)'s Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya but was opposed by AAP MP Raghav Chadha. The National Judicial Commission Bill, 2022 was introduced after the majority of voice votes were in its favour.
Bhattacharyya moved the bill that aims to regulate the procedure to be followed by the National Judicial Commission for recommending people for appointment as the Chief Justice of India and other judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justices and other judges of High Courts.
The bill, if approved, will also regulate their transfers and to lay down judicial standards and provide for accountability of judges, and establish credible and expedient mechanism for investigating into individual complaints for misbehaviour or incapacity of a judge of the apex court or of a high court and to regulate the procedure for such investigation.
It also proposes for the presentation of an address by parliament to the president in relation to proceeding for removal of a judge and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. (PTI)
There has been no wastage of COVID-19 vaccines in the government buffer stock due to expiry, Union minister Bharati Pravin Pawar informed Lok Sabha on Friday. The central government closely monitors COVID-19 vaccine stocks in states and Union territories so as to ensure their optimal utilisation and minimal wastage, Pawar said in written reply to a question.
States and UTs have also been advised to review programme coverage and vaccine wastage on a daily basis and redistribute the vaccine stock if required for their optimal utilisation.
To ensure utilisation of the near expiry vaccine, they have been supported for intra- and inter-state transfer, the short expiry vaccines are also replaced by manufacturers, the Union Minister of State for Health said. The national regulator, Central Drugs Standard Organisation, prescribed the shelf life of Covishield vaccine as nine months and Covaxin vaccine as 12 months from the date of manufacture, Pawar stated. (PTI)
The trade deficit, difference between import and exports, between India and China has touched USD 51.5 billion during April-October this fiscal, Parliament was informed on Friday. The deficit during 2021-22 had jumped to USD 73.31 billion as compared to 44.03 billion in 2020-21, according to the data provided by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
According to the data, imports during April-October this fiscal stood at USD 60.27 billion, while exports aggregated at USD 8.77 billion. He said that the merchandise exports from India to China have increased from USD 11.93 billion in 2014-15 to USD 21.26 billion in 2021-22, showing an increase of 78.2 per cent over the last six years.
Imports from China, on the other hand, have increased from USD 60.41 billion in 2014-15 to USD 94.57 billion in 2021-22.
"The trade deficit with China in 2004-05 was USD 1.48 billion, which increased to USD 36.21 billion in 2013-14, an increase of 2,346 per cent. Against this massive increase, the trade deficit with China has since increased by only 100 per cent to USD 73.31 billion in 2021-22," Goyal said. (PTI)
Approximately 4.18 crore hospital admissions worth Rs 48,934.9 crore have been authorised under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) through a network of 26,267 empanelled healthcare providers, including 11,700 private hospitals till December 4, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
The percentage of hospital admissions authorised in the private sector by count and amount are 57 per cent and 67 per cent, respectively, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply. On whether the government was aware that people were not able to avail of benefits under AB-PMJAY due to the apathy of private hospitals, Pawar said healthcare providers could not deny treatment to genuine beneficiaries according to the terms and conditions of empanelment.
In case of denial of treatment by the empanelled hospital, beneficiaries can lodge grievances on the designated web portal or mobile application of Central Grievance Redressal Management System, she said. (PTI)
The estimated number of cancer cases in the country in 2020 was 13,92,179 and it is projected to increase by 12.8 per cent, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed Lok Sabha on Friday citing National Cancer Registry Programme data. Responding to a question, Mandaviya said patients with cancer are getting treatment at various health facilities, including district hospitals, medical colleges, central institutes like AIIMS and private hospitals.
Relevant data related to patients registered for treatment is maintained by the institutions and hospitals concerned at their own level. Under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN), financial assistance is provided to poor patients belonging to families living below poverty line, suffering from major life threatening diseases for medical treatment at any of the super specialty hospitals/institutes or other government hospitals, Mandaviya said. Under the Health Minister's Cancer Patient Fund (a component of RAN), Rs 216. 98 lakh was utilised for 40 beneficiaries as on December 5, 2022, in the 2022-23 fiscal. (PTI)
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari on Friday demanded that the Archaeological Survey of India send a team of experts to Jallianwala Bagh to rectify the shortcomings in the recently carried out restoration work at the memorial. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Tewari said the murals at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar did not depict the Punjabi population of the era when the horrific massacre of innocents took place on April 13, 1919.
He said the signboards in and around the memorial were also riddled with errors. Tewari said the spot from where General Reginald Dyer had ordered indiscriminate fire on the people gathered at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919 has also not been marked properly.
Biju Janata Dal member Bhartruhari Mahtab wanted the government to honour those freedom fighters who are alive as the country celebrated the Amrit Kaal of Independence. (PTI)
Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan on Friday raised in Lok Sabha the issue of alleged rise in crimes, especially against Dalits, in Bihar and said Parliament can't be mum when the state government is maintaining "silence". The Jamui MP noted that a woman and her five-year-old daughter were burnt alive in Arwal after their house was set ablaze by people accused by the mother of trying to sexually assault her.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Paswan said the culprits were angry with her, a member of the Paswan community, for complaining to police and alleged that the local administration was hand in glove with them. He said a Paswan woman was gang-raped and killed in Begusarai as he hit out at the state government for its "silence". (PTI)
A controversial private member's Bill that seeks to provide for a panel to prepare a Uniform Civil Code was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. 'The Uniform Civil Code in India Bill, 2020' was introduced in the Upper House amid protests from opposition parties. BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena moved for leave to introduce the Bill to provide for the constitution of the national inspection and investigation committee for preparation of a Uniform Civil Code and its implementation throughout India and for matters connected therewith during the private member's business.
However, Opposition members from the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Trinamool Congress protested against the introduction of the Bill saying it will "destroy" the social fabric and unity in diversity that is prevalent in the country. With the Opposition members seeking withdrawal of the Bill, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar called for division and the motion for introduction of the Bill was passed with 63 votes in favour and 23 against it.
In the past, although the Bill was listed for introduction, it was not moved in the Upper House. The Bill envisages a collection of laws to protect the personal rights of all citizens without considering religion. (PTI)
Lok Sabha on Friday after an interval, resumed proceedings and took up further discussion under Rule 193 on the need to promote sports in India and steps taken by the Government.
The Government on Friday sought Parliament nod for net additional spending of over Rs 3.25 lakh crore in the current fiscal.
As per the first batch of supplementary demands for grants tabled in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, approval is being sought for gross additional expenditure of about Rs 4.36 lakh crore. (PTI)
Passport services in the country have improved by "500 per cent" ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Friday.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been continuously working to speed up issuance of passports, the minister said in Lok Sabha during Question Hour. He also said that as many as 32 million Indians or Indian origin people live abroad and the Ministry of External Affairs has been rendering services to all of them.
"Passport services have improved very much in the last eight years, I would say 500 per cent. The number of offices which process passport applications was 110 before 2014 and the number now stands at above 550," Muraleedharan said. He added that the MEA is working continuously to speed up passport issuance and meet high or seasonal demand for passports by taking various steps including organising special drives or melas on weekends.
Since June, a total of 234 passport melas have been held and 500 more will be held in the coming days, he said. (PTI)
Union Minister Piyush Goyal, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, stressed on the importance of the Centre’s Make in India initiative. “Our government is focused on Make In India. For a lot of capital and electronic goods, we are dependent on China. It is important that we recognise how we can became dependent on a country that has inimical interests towards our country.”
On the third day of the Winter Session of the Parliament, the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Bills to be introduced
Bills for consideration and passing
Among the bills to be taken into consideration and passing today at the parliament are the Anti Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019, the Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Among the other Bills that are likely to be introduced are the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022. (PTI)
Congress MP Manickam Tagore gives adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss "the stand of the Central government to scarp the pre-metric scholarship for SC, ST, OBC and minority students from 1st-8th standard from the academic year 2022-23".
Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda gives Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha to discuss the “Medical Bond Policy implemented in several states, including Haryana, causing a worrisome situation”, and demand that the policy be scrapped.
The Winter Session of Parliament began on Wednesday. The BJP has a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha. They effortlessly manufacture a majority in the Rajya Sabha. The numbers are on their side. But do they have the courage to take up even one of these issues in the ongoing winter session of Parliament?
Not two or three of the six listed below. Just one would be a good start in the forthcoming two weeks. Read the list here
The Centre told the Parliament on Thursday that it currently has no plan to reintroduce the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015.
Responding to a question by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and CPI(M) MP John Brittas, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in a written response said, “at present, there is no such proposal.” Know more here
Piloting the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Upper House, Power Minister R K Singh said the country is working towards reduction in emissions although its per capita emissions is about one third of the global average. "If we look at the total carbon dioxide load on the environment, our contribution is just 3.4 per cent even as our population is 17.5 per cent of the global population," he said.
Yet, the county has emerged as one of the leading nations in energy transition and climate action, he added. "Today our non-fossil fuel power generation capacity is 42 per cent of our total capacity which is around 408 giga watt," he said, adding that this initiative needs to be carried forward.
"We have changed the way of generating electricity but that accounts for 40 per cent of the emissions. But we have to address other sectors which account for 60 per cent of emissions, which includes steel and cement manufacturing," Singh said.
In order to remain a leader in climate action, the government has brought in amendments in the legislation, he added.
A bill that seeks to promote the use of non-fossil fuels, including ethanol, green hydrogen and biomass, was introduced in Rajya Sabha for passage.
The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, is also aimed at helping the country achieve its international commitments on climate change. The legislation was cleared by Lok Sabha in August this year.
Over 11,000 "matters" are pending before the Supreme Court for over 10 years, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Similarly, in the 25 high courts, 8.77 lakh civil and 3.74 lakh criminal cases are pending for more than 10 years, he said citing data from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). In the district and subordinate courts, 6.91 lakh civil and 27.26 lakh criminal cases are pending for over a decade, the minister said.
IMD data shows an increase in extreme rainfall events in parts of northeast India and studies at North Eastern Space Application Centre suggest a mild rising trend of black carbon concentration over the region but no specific study has been carried out on the relation between the two, the Union Environment Ministry said.
Union Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey told the Rajya Sabha that aerosols including black carbon influence the cloud formation and the rainfall pattern.
A recent paper published by IIT-Guwahati in the Journal of Atmospheric Research (April, 2022) mentions that "rising black carbon emissions is leading to suppression of lower intensity rainfall and increasing heavy rain in the pre-monsoon season in the Northeast region", he said in response to a question asked by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien. But the conclusions of this study are based on only 10 days of model simulations, the minister added.
The government said it is in touch with authorities in Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea for securing release of 16 Indian sailors who were part of the crew of a commercial ship that was detained in August.
The Indian sailors have been reportedly in detention in Equatorial Guinea.
According to the charge sheet filed on November 14 by the Nigerian side in the court, three charges have been levelled against the crew members which comprise conspiracy, evasion of lawful interception, and unlawful export of crude oil, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.
India has called on Russia and Ukraine to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue and end their ongoing conflict, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
In reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in MEA V Muraleedharan also said that India has consistently called for immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to violence since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. "India has called upon both sides to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue, and also expressed its support for all diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. The government has been in touch with Russia and Ukraine at various levels," he said in his written reply.
Muraleedharan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine on multiple occasions and urged for immediate cessation of hostilities and return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue for the resolution of the conflict.
Operating crews of 23 flights have declared 'emergency' since January 2020, with Indigo leading the tally at 11, parliament was told.
In a written reply to a question from BJP MP Varun Gandhi, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh (retd) in Lok Sabha said that in 19 cases, the affected components were replaced after the landing of the aircraft. Three emergency landings resulted from weather diversion, and one emergency landing was due to bird hit.
Air Asia, Air India, and Alliance Air had one emergency landing each in 2020, while Indigo had four emergency landings that year.
In 2021, AIXL and SpiceJet had two emergency landings, while Indigo had five. In 2022, Air India had one emergency landing, AIXL, SpiceJet, and Indigo had two emergency landings each.
Seaplane operations between Sabarmati river front and the Statue of Unity launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020 was discontinued due to "commercial and COVID-19 reasons", the civil aviation ministry said.
In a written question in Lok Sabha, Congress MP Revanth Reddy asked the ministry whether it is aware that Gujarat spent Rs 77 million to start an "ill-fated seaplane project that operated for less than six months in 2020-21". He also asked if the previous operator, SpiceJet subsidiary SpiceShuttle (SG, Delhi International), has reportedly not re-tendered for the contract Seaplane operations.
In his written reply, Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh said the ministry introduced a new mode of transportation - seaplane operations from water aerodromes under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme.
The Centre has approved the implementation of Ken-Betwa river link project, one of the links under peninsular rivers component with an estimated cost of Rs 44,605 crore with central support of Rs 39,317 crore, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said in Lok Sabha.
He said the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti has identified 16 links under peninsular rivers component and 14 links under Himalayan component of National Perspective Plan (NPP) for inter basin transfer.
Pre-feasibility reports of all the 30 links have been completed and feasibility reports of 24 links and detailed project reports of eight links have been completed, he said during Question Hour.
Number of LPG connections increased from 14 crore in 2014 to 32.5 crore this year. Of these, 9.6 crore connections were provided under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the Lok Sabha.
To create awareness and improve LPG usage among PMUY beneficiaries, the government and Oil Marketing Companies organised LPG panchayats, social media campaigns and public events across the country, the minister for petroleum and natural gas said during the Question Hour.
Highlighting the steps taken by the government to encourage LPG consumption, Puri said a subsidy of Rs 200 on 14.2 kg refill up to 12 refills per year had been given for 2022-23, in addition to the options of 5 kg Double Bottle Connection and swap from 14.2 kg to 5 Kg, upto three free refills under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package from April to December 2020.
With the Congress routed in Gujarat, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat took a jibe at the party's leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, saying he should worry more about the downfall of his party than the fury of rivers.
The Jal Shakti minister was responding to a supplementary question Chowdhury asked during Question Hour about the damage caused by river breach in his constituency in West Bengal's Murshidabad. "You should be more worried about the downfall of the Congress than you are about the damage caused by river breach," Shekhawat said.
He said the government has undertaken many efforts to build embankments and provided financial assistance of Rs 1,282 crore in the past few years to various states facing the issue.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said work on the new terminal of the Chennai International Airport will be completed by 2024 and subsequently it will be inaugurated.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Scindia also said a new site, Parandur, has been chosen for Chennai's second airport -- a greenfield one -- out of the four sites offered by the Tamil Nadu government.
"We have a very aggressive plan for the Chennai airport. We are spending almost Rs 2,895 crore for the Chennai airport expansion plan. The probable time of completion of the work is somewhere in 2024. As soon as that is completed, we will inaugurate it," he said.
The government has chalked out a plan along with all stakeholders to ease congestion at country's airports, which have been witnessing heavy traffic in recent days, and the results will soon be visible, Civil Aviation Ministry Jyotiraditya Scindia said.
Scindia also said in the Lok Sabha that the increase in traffic is due to the “resurgence of traffic” and also partly because of the “democratisation of civil aviation” and expansion of the network across the country.
“I have had a detailed meeting yesterday not only with airport operators but with the immigration, the CISF and others. I told them that we must have a planning for peak hour departures and arrivals. Not on the basis of an airport's capabilities of take off and landing. On the basis of our peak hour traffic, we can manage our departures and arrivals,” he said during the Question Hour.
The incentive for foreign filmmakers to shoot in Indian locations "appears to be meagre" compared to international norms, a parliamentary panel has said, and suggested reviewing the rates.
The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture in its report -- Role of Indian Missions Globally for the growth of Tourism -- cited Hrithik Roshan starrer "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" to highlight how the Spain Tourism Board tied up with the filmmakers for promotions of the film shot there to woo tourists.
It said that countries offer various types of incentives to encourage movie producers to shoot films in beautiful locations. Most countries offer tax sops in the form of VAT refunds ranging from 10 per cent to 20 per cent depending on the location and the budget of the film.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has set a target of constructing 12,200 kilometres of national highways during 2022-23, against which 4,766 kilometres have been constructed till November, 2022, Parliament was informed.
The road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said under Bharatmala Pariyojana, apart from development of highways/ expressways in the country, which facilitate logistic efficiency to India economy, 35 Multi Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs) are to be developed. These MMLPs would act as major cargo consolidation and distribution hubs, Gadkari added.
Several MPs urged the government to create sports infrastructure in rural areas and initiate measures to include rural youth in selections, as the Lok Sabha resumed debate on sports and steps taken by the government in this regard. The discussion had started in Lok Sabha on March 31, during the Budget Session of Parliament.
Manickam Tagore of the Congress stressed that sports helps in building trust and said it gives confidence and builds trust in community. "The need for Bharat Jodo is an important process and Bharat Jito can happen only with Bharat Jodo," he said. Tagore also suggested that private sector should be roped in for development of sports facilities in rural areas.
YSR Congress MP Krishna Devarayalu Lavu said use of drugs had increased across the country and was of the opinion that sports would keep the youth away from substance abuse. He said while the focus was usually on winning medals and international tournaments, sports was also important for the holistic development of an individual.
BJP's Rama Devi spoke on the need for providing compensation for migrant labourers from Bihar in case of death or injury, while her colleague from the Congress raised the issue of aid for farmers from Uttar Pradesh who lost their crops due to excessive rains.
Assam MP Dilip Saikia demanded that the contribution of Lachit Barphukan, a 17th century Ahom general who successfully fought against the Mughals, be included in CBSE and NCERT textbooks.
There is a need to take the issue of religious conversions happening across the country seriously, BJP MP from Jharkhand Sunil Kumar Singh said in Parliament on Thursday and claimed it has led to rise of suicides.
Speaking during a session in Lok Sabha to discuss matters under Rule 377, he said conversions are changing the direction of society and the country.
"Such organisations specially target people from backward classes. There have been cases that people killed themselves due to religious conversion. As part of a conspiracy, they are encouraged to think that they are not Hindus, they do not believe in Constitution. In Chhattisgarh, which is majority tribal and Dalit area, this is a very serious problem. Thus I request for a strict legislation against religious conversion," Singh said.
Congress Rajya Sabha member Kumar Ketkar alleged that real estate sharks and corporates were devastating jungles and using their money and muscle power to avoid legal action.
In order to protect wildlife, not only should the laws be strict but their implementation should also be equally stingent, he said during a discussion on the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill in the Upper House. The bill was tabled by Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav on Wednesday.
"At present, when we are talking about this Act, Nicobar is being completely ruined, Nicobar jungles are being removed for the benefit of some corporates. So essentially, the wildlife is actually attacked not by any humans as such, but by the corporates and sometimes by celebrity Bollywood types," he said.
TMC Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy alleged that the central government is "using a high dignitary" to run down the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges as it wants to extend its powers everywhere, including the judiciary.
Speaking during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, Roy said the 99th Constitution amendment along with the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act was struck down by the top court and as a result the collegium system of appointing judges continued.
"I oppose the comments by the high authority and also by the law minister against the Supreme Court, against the collegium system. And we oppose all efforts to run down the independence of the judiciary which is one of the pillars of the Constitution which this government is trying to bring down," Roy said.
India has achieved 165.94GW of renewable energy capacity till October as against the target of 175GW by 2022, Parliament was informed.
"Against the target of achieving 175 GW of Renewable Energy installed capacity by 2022, a total of 165.94 GW of renewable energy capacity (including large hydro) has been installed in the country as on October 31, 2022," Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh stated in a written reply to Lok Sabha on Thursday.
A capacity of 76.13 GW (of renewables) is under various stages of implementation and a capacity of 36.44 GW is under various stages of bidding, Singh informed the House.
Power deficit or gap between electricity required and supplied has fallen from two per cent in April this year to 0.1 per cent, Parliament was informed.
"The gap between energy requirement and energy supplied has been reduced from two per cent to 0.1 per cent between the month of April, 2022 and October, 2022," Power Minister R K Singh stated in a written reply to Lok Sabha. The data showed that the deficit was 2,752 million units (units) in April this year which came down to 124 MU in October, 2022.
The power deficit was 609 MU (0.4 per cent) in May, 796 MU (0.6 per cent) in June, 434 MU (0.3 per cent) in July, 465 MU (0.4 per cent) in August and 312 MU (0.2 per cent) in September.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor urged the Centre to release a relief package for the coastal community, days after protests against the Adani international seaport at Kerala’s Vizhinjam ended.
Invoking Rule 377 during the ongoing Parliament session, which allows a member of the House to bring up matters of importance, the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram stressed the “imperative need to address the woes of the coastal community, particularly the fisherfolk”.
About 53% houses sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) have been completed so far, according to data provided by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry in replies to several questions in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The Centre’s flagship affordable urban housing scheme was launched in 2015, with the aim of constructing 1 crore houses for beneficiaries. Since then, the demand raised by states has increased, and as of March this year, which was the cut-off for sanctioning new units, 120.45 lakh houses were sanctioned.
The scheme’s deadline was extended from March 2022 to December 31, 2024 earlier this year.
On the first day of Parliament’s winter session on Wednesday, the echo of Punjabi language was heard in the Rajya Sabha as documents given on the floor of the House were also in Punjabi language, apart from conventional Hindi and English.
Rajya Sabha member and environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal had raised this issue during the monsoon session and demanded that documents must be given to him in Punjabi – his mother tongue. Read more
The Rajya Sabha on Thursday (December 8) passed the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022, which has invited scrutiny on two major issues: the exemption made to allow the transfer of captive elephants, and the sweeping powers given to the Centre to declare species as vermin.
Lok Sabha had cleared the Bill in August during the monsoon session. Read more
During the second day of the Winter Session of the Parliament Thursday, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar welcomed a parliamentary delegation from the Republic of Zimbabwe.
The Bills for consideration and passing includes the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Rajya Sabha and the Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019, Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Lok Sabha today. (PTI)
Rajya Sabha on Wednesday welcomed its new Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankhar, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking the lead in expressing confidence that the Upper House under his leadership would “scale new heights” with serious debates and democratic discussions.
Opposition members urged him to give more time for discussions, ensure that the Opposition’s voice is heard in the House, allocate more time for smaller parties and see to it that legislations are not passed in a hurry and are sent to parliamentary panels for scrutiny. Read more...