Will the new Congress government implement the five 'guarantees' that helped it in part to wrest power from the Bharatiya Janata Party in toto or will they now add a "conditions apply" clause?
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to go into a batch of Public Interest Litigations challenging constitutional validity of the notification on composition of a committee to draft the Jan Lokpal bill, saying the petitions were "premature".
The proposed bill seeks to raise FDI cap in the sector to 49% from the present 26.5%
Its passage in the Lok Sabha is all but certain due to the massive majority the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies have, and the Union government is confident of its passage in the Rajya Sabha as well with the support of several non-aligned regional parties which have often joined the treasury benches in the past.
Rejecting allegations that the government sprung a surprise by referring the Lokpal bill to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal said political parties were consulted before taking the move.
After a discussion which went on for over 90 minutes and amid opposition to some of the proposals by ministers, the Union Cabinet Monday evening passed the draft Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011.
The insurance Bill seeks to increase the cap on shareholding of foreign investors
Amid a stalemate between the government and the Opposition over the issue, the House failed to transact any significant business and was adjourned for the day.
At a meeting of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, the Centre's plan to bring petroleum goods under GST regime was opposed.
Accusing the government of reducing the meetings of the joint committee to a mere "show of formality", Gandhian Anna Hazare expressed surprise that the government told them that finally two Bills will be sent to the Cabinet -- one drafted by the civil society and one by the government representatives.
The Bill says that the central government, in consultation with the Data Protection Authority, can direct any data fiduciary or data processor to provide non-personal data to enable better targeting of delivery of services. The government can also ask data processors to provide data for formulation of evidence-based policies for its own use.
They warned that the 'prime minister and his cabinet colleagues will be stopped from entering the state' if their interests were harmed.
The Delhi Cabinet on Monday cleared the draft of the much talked-about Jan Lokpal bill which provides for covering all public servants -- from chief minister to Group D employees -- and seeks life term as maximum punishment for those found guilty of corruption.
A bill to award death penalty to hijackers and give the right to security forces to shoot down an aircraft which may be used as a missile is likely to be brought in Parliament in the next session.
The Left parties, Janata Dal (United), and two other Opposition members on the committee opposed raising the foreign direct investment limit in the insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave seven more days to the Andhra Pradesh assembly till January 30 to discuss and debate the draft Telangana Bill in the House before returning it to the Centre.
The committee is yet to give its opinion to the HRD ministry, Moily said, adding that the committee would finalize its interim by July 10 and then submit to the government.
It will be presented in the Lok Sabha next week in its original form.
Following is the text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks at the all party meeting on the Lokpal issue in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.
'The CBI and its independence was discussed in great detail. We invited and sought the views of the CBI director as well as several government officials. But the ingenious solution to the problem came from within the committee. The effort was to somehow find a solution. It would not have been possible to draft this Bill if members had not been liberal in their views and if they had not been prepared to rid themselves of their political bias.' Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi, who headed the Parliamentary committee which proposed the recommendations for the Lokpal Bill, speaks to Anita Katyal in an exclusive interview.
The Group of Ministers on Telangana is likely to take up six official amendments to the Telangana Bill on Monday. The GoM will have daily meeting for three days from February 3 in New Delhi.
Facing isolation in Rajya Sabha over its stand against the Judicial Appointments Bill, Congress on Monday said it was "not opposed" to the amendments but would take a decision in the matter only after "examining" the changes.
The party's research department team, which Rajya Sabha member M V Rajeev Gowda heads, has sifted through the suggestions received in the last five months, and the manifesto is slated to be released later this month, reports Archis Mohan.
Journalists will be exempted from seeking consent of individuals before collecting and reviewing their personal data to be used in news reports.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it will "unequivocally" oppose the Communal Violence Bill when it comes up for discussion and passage in Parliament as it is a "threat" to communal harmony and an "attack" on the federal structure.
In the Interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a high power committee would be set up to consider the challenges arising from 'fast population grown and demographic changes.' 'But who wants data? It pays to feed people's fears, insecurities and apprehensions. If such fears don't exist, they must be created,' her husband Parakala Prabhakar says in this fascinating excerpt from his book, The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis.
On Thursday, the Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha, which allocates time for the Bills and discussions to be taken up for the forthcoming week, met, but the government strategists didn't ask the members to allocate time for the GST Bills for the next week.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Wednesday said that a consensus has been reached over a revised draft proposal of the Centre on their pending demands and it will now meet on Thursday to decide the future course of the movement, even as its leaders demanded a formal communication on government letterhead.
'This government wants to keep control of everything in its hands.' 'If they have their stooges sitting on the National Medical Commission, they will do only the government's bidding.' 'Imagine a scary situation where people who have no knowledge about medicine sit on a commission that will take decisions on matters related to medical education, doctors and medical ethics.'
The ministry of education is yet to take call on the recommendations by the empowered expert committee and the University Grants Commission.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the session has been "more productive and satisfactory" than the previous Budget Session and last year's monsoon session.
17 MLAs of the TDP were suspended from the assembly for disrupting CM Jagan Mohan Reddy's address on the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda also dismissed criticism that government was trying to impose moral values on citizens, saying it is about "righteousness" and the technological advancements in this area have to be used in the "right perspective".
Delhi assembly on Friday passed the Janlokpal Bill, incorporating suggestions of Anna Hazare, which provides for an ombudsman with powers to act against any government functionary.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday termed Food Security Bill a "historic legislation" and asked party leaders to publicise its importance to masses as they gear up for elections scheduled early next year.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued the final gazette notification for redrawing of municipal wards in Delhi, paving the way for civic polls in the city.
The war of words between the two leaders began after Singh, addressing a press conference at Chandigarh on Sunday, described as "theatrics" Kejriwal's announcement earlier during that day that he will observe a one-day fast on Monday in support of the protesting farmers.
A 38-hour bandh beginning from 5 am on Tuesday has been called in Manipur protesting against the state government's failure to punish those behind the killing of a student during the July 8 agitation for implementation of the Inner Line Permit Systerm in the state.
The government has introduced the Code on Wages Bill 2019 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code Bill 2019 in Lok Sabha on July 23.
The bill to amend the 49-year-old law to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China was passed amid a walkout by the entire Opposition.
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