A bill to raise the ceiling of gratuity for employees to Rs one million (Rs 10 lakh) from the current level of Rs 3,50,000 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The Bill - which seeks to align the voting rights of foreign shareholders in banks in proportion to their equity holding - will make it easier for banks to raise capital. It will be tabled in the current session of Parliament.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill aims at strengthening the arrangements for speedy investigation, prosecution and trial of cases related terrorism while at the same time guarding against any possible misuse of such provisions.
The CPI (M) members seemed determined to thwart the bill, aimed at increasing the FDI limit in the insurance sector. As Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal rose to introduce the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, CPI (M) member T K Rangarajan tried to grab the copy of the bill from him. An agitated-looking external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee pushed Rangarajan to protect Bansal. Another minister Meira Kumar rushed to shield Bansal, who introduced the bill.
The government will table the Patents (Amendment) Bill in the winter session of Parliament, the Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday.
The GST will replace more than a dozen levies central and state levies, including central excise duty, service tax and central sales tax as well as VAT on sale of goods and entry tax, to make movement of goods seamless across 1.3 billion market.
The Central government had earlier in the day introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha despite stiff opposition from the National Democratic Alliance.
