Advocate and Team Anna's key person Prashant Bhushan, who was served with a breach of privilege motion by the Rajya Sabha secretariat for allegedly making derogatory references to members of Parliament, on Wednesday replied to the notice stating that the notice was "totally unjustified".
The three services are reeling under a shortage of 1,35,784 personnel, with the Army having the maximum vacancies at 1,16,464, according to details provided by the government.
The visit by the MPs comes nearly two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met top leaders of Jammu and Kashmir on June 24.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge used poetry and humour to take swipes at the government on Monday, saying nothing will be accomplished by changing names, and went on to recall how first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's 'inclusive' approach of involving opposition parties had led to the laying of a strong foundation for the Constitution.
The COVID-19 test of the MPs need to be done 72 hours before the start of the session and it can be done either in their constituencies or at the Parliament complex.
The proceedings of the House were adjourned till 2 pm as slogan-shouting TMC and other opposition MPs trooped into the well of the House, some holding placards, to demand a discussion on the issue of Israeli-made, military-grade Pegasus spyware being used to snoop on opposition leaders, government critics and journalists.
Hectic preparations are underway for the session with several first-time measures because of the COVID-19 pandemic such as testing of all MPs, staggered sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and use of both chambers and galleries to accommodate members while following physical distancing norms, officials said.
Natwar submits statement to RS Secretariat
The plea said the grounds for disqualification ought to be specific with the nature of offences as specified under the CrPC and not in a "blanket form", as is currently in force according to section 8(3) of the 1951 Act.
Shashi Tharoor has also been retained as the chairman of the panel on Information Technology.
The members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Monday paid tribute to the security personnel who laid down their lives while defending the Parliament complex from a terrorist attack on December 13, 2001.
Vijay Mallya has not informed Rajya Sabha secretariat about his whereabouts or that he would be leaving country.
'The government or the ruling party has indicated indirectly that you are not supposed to publish anything critical of the government or the senior functionaries of the government.'
The CPWD stated this in a letter to the Rajya Secretariat and also posted it on Twitter, amid allegations by opposition parties that the audio feed of Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV), which exclusively broadcasts proceedings from the Upper House of Parliament, was deliberately muted to black out their point of view.
The Rajya Sabha is slated for a 12-hour discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address to the joint session of the two Houses of Parliament, which also includes the reply by the prime minister, which is likely next Tuesday.
With disruptions continuing, the productivity of Rajya Sabha fell to 13.70 per cent during the second week of the ongoing monsoon session from 32.20 per cent during the first week, resulting in an overall productivity of 21.60 per cent for the first two weeks.
The members of Parliament attending Parliamentary Standing Committee meetings will have to sit six feet apart, and not more than two witnesses from the ministry concerned can appear before the panel at a time. As per the protocol for meetings of Rajya Sabha Committees, members have to ensure conformity with physical distancing norms.
This is the second case of an official posted in the building testing positive for the infection.
Contrary to earlier expectations, the Telangana bill will now be introduced in the Lok Sabha first instead of the Rajya Sabha with the government seeking a fresh recommendation from the President after the Upper House secretariat held it is a money bill.
Naidu routinely expunges any remark found unsuitable from Rajya Sabha's records after going through the proceedings of the day.
Azad was elected to the Upper House from Jammu and Kashmir, which does not have an assembly currently after it was made a Union Territory with the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.
Glitches in the automatic vote recording system of the Rajya Sabha on Friday marked the crucial voting on the motion against Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail which the government won. Even after voting was conducted twice, the final figure was corrected after scrutiny by officials of the Rajya Sabha secretariat late on Friday night.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against Janata Dal-United Rajya Sabha MP Anil Kumar Sahani for alleged filing of fraudulent Leave Travel Concession claims using forged air tickets and boarding passes and carried out searches on Friday at Rajya Sabha Secretariat and other locations.
Satyavrat Chaturvedi, chairman of the select committee on Lokpal, did not inform many of the Opposition parties about the meeting to be held on Monday
This is the Upper House's third best productive session in the last 14 sessions since the Monsoon Session (243rd Session) of 2017, the Rajya Sabha officials said.
Trinamool Congress has named Derek O'Brien as its chief whip in the Rajya Sabha. The party, which is a key constituent of the United Progressive Alliance government, has sent a communication in this regard to the Rajya Sabha secretariat, sources said in New Delhi on Thursday.
The month-long monsoon session of Parliament will begin on August 8, it was announced in New Delhi on Thursday.
It is not good that I cannot speak in the House on issues close to me, she said.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday witnessed uproar over the steep Rs 2.35 a litre hike in petrol price and 50 paisa a litre increase in cost of diesel.
pplications are invited for the Dr S Radhakrishnan Chair and two Rajya Sabha Fellowships on Parliamentary Studies instituted by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
Leaders of various opposition parties on Sunday demanded that issues of price rise, 'Agnipath' scheme as well as the alleged misuse of investigative agencies be taken up in Parliament and also raised objections to the list of 'unparliamentary words' at an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session.
As the members of the Rajya Sabha will be seated at multiple locations, including the galleries of the House and in the Lok Sabha, a hotline facility between the chambers of the two Houses has been created for the technology-aided session.
The two marshals, who flank the Chair, came to the House wearing dark coloured Indian bandhgalas, a dress that a Congress member remarked was "very smart."
The court issued notices after senior counsel P N Lekhi submitted on behalf of six of the expelled MPs that there was no such provision in the Constitution.
While several opposition parties criticised the move, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the Parliament session is being held under special and extraordinary circumstances.
Mulayam Singh Yadav wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari informing him about the expulsion of Ramgopal Yadav.
An ordinance to amend a law to reduce the salaries of MPs by 30 per cent for one year "to meet the exigencies arising out of COVID-19 pandemic" was promulgated.
As per the rules and regulations, members must not do anything that brings disrepute to the Parliament and affects their credibility, and members must utilise their position as Members of Parliament to advance general well-being of the people.
The Upper House, which has seen continuous protests by the Opposition since the Monsoon session started on July 19 to press for discussions on Peagasus and farm laws, was adjourned thrice before the Chair finally adjourned it for the day.
Leaders of the opposition parties had on Friday met Naidu and handed over the notice of impeachment against the chief justice of India bearing signatures of 64 MPs and seven former members, who recently retired.
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