The assembly also saw the passage of four bills amidst the din, and Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri taking strong exception to Congress members "unnecessarily" bringing in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's name during their protest in the well of the House.
'This bill is to relieve the government of accountability and to cover up its corruption.'
Stringent punishment for rape of a girl under 12 years has been provided with the minimum jail term being 20 years which may go up to life in prison or death sentence. Gangrape of a girl under 12 years of age will invite punishment of jail term for the rest of life or death.
The minimum punishment in cases of rape of women has been increased from rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years.
The bill was introduced following a division of votes, with 186 members supporting and 74 opposing it.
As per the existing process of law under the PMLA, the ED could confiscate the assets only after the trial in a case finishes which usually takes many years.
Moving the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 in the Upper House, Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the proposed legislation should be not seen through a political prism or vote bank politics, as it aims at ensuring gender dignity, justice and equality.
From 1952 to 1967, each of the three Lok Sabhas sat for an average of 600 days and more than 3,700 hours. In comparison, the 15th Lok Sabha -- from 2009 till 2013 -- has met for just 345 days and 1,331 hours, says Shreya Singh
The SC said that it was the duty of the state governments to ensue law and order in society.
He also rejected queries on whether a "cleansing act" was going on in the universities.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday lashed out at Governor Arif Mohammed Khan for seeking resignation of vice chancellors of nine universities in the state.
The Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly on Thursday passed a bill that provides for recovery of losses from the people and organisations responsible for damaging public and private properties during protests.
Since 2014, India has left its moorings as a pluralist, modern, secular State because that is how the BJP wants it to be, notes Aakar Patel.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram addressed the media in New Delhi on Monday on the anti-rape ordinance promulgated by the government, and said they hope the stringent provisions will be a deterrent.
'It is a welcome development, but the ordinance has limited validity of six months, that is the problem.' 'Therefore, we are urging all political parties including the Congress to collaborate and bring a law.'
'Why is the government in such a hurry?' 'The answer is the December assembly elections and the 2019 general election.'
The separatist Hurriyat Conference is finished in Jammu and Kashmir but attempts are being made to keep it alive from Pakistan, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said on Monday, adding that the militancy in the region is "on crutches".
"Under this circumstances, what should we do? Should we allow Muslim women to be continued to be exploited," he said.
The most strident criticism of UP's anti-conversion ordinance has come from the judiciary with several retired Supreme Court and high court judges having described it as being violative of Article 14 (Right to Equality), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion), 21 (Right to Life) and 25 (Freedom of conscience) of the Constitution, points out Rashme Sehgal.
A draft proposal by the sub-committee of the insolvency law committee has recommended that the corporate debtor (CD) may initiate the prepack since it may prove difficult to implement if creditors are allowed to do so without the willingness of the promoter.
It also provides that no preliminary enquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval.
A united Opposition in the Lok Sabha on Thursday pitched for referring the triple talaq bill to a 'joint select committee' of Parliament, claiming its provisions were unconstitutional.
The chargesheet in which 15 persons have been named as being part of a 'premeditated conspiracy' in the north east Delhi riots, said the tone and nature of the communication of the members of Jamia Co-ordination Committee (JCC) changed from the evening of February 24 and they started talking about relief, rehabilitation and care of the victims while 'simultaneously unleashing concerted disinformation campaign blaming the state, police and the ruling political party for the loss of lives and property caused by their terrorist and unlawful act'.
The cabinet also approved ordinance to amend the RBI Act to extinguish the liability on the old notes.
Amnesty highlighted poll-related violence in the lead up to the May 2014 General Elections, communal clashes and failure of consultation on corporate projects as key concerns.
Driven by hardship, adventurous souls mortgage their homesteads in Punjab or Haryana, pawn the family jewellery and borrow heavily to satisfy the greed of the criminal traffickers who organise their trips, points out Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Sandeep Pandey salutes women who have contributed to social transformation in India after 1980.
Parliament has passed a bill to extend the tenure of the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to a maximum of five years from the present two years.
The list of candidates contesting elections in the current round of assembly polls shows that not much has changed with regard to political parties' approach to candidates with a criminal track record. A K Bhattacharya explains
Once passed by Parliament, the bill will replace an ordinance promulgated on December 30 last which provides for a fine of 10,000 or five times the cash held, whichever is higher, on holding of more than 10 banned 1,000 and 500 rupee notes.
Decision-making has been very poor, Ambani said.
The Opposition, which had been demanding that the bill be referred to a 'joint select committee', staged a walkout when its demand was rejected by the government.
'You are unable to attack creation of black money.' 'You have not stopped that, but are now coming up with such rules.' 'It is so stupid and unbelievable.' 'This ordinance is a very scary way of going about it.'
Convicted Congress leader Rashid Masood on Monday became the first member of Parliament to lose his seat after the Supreme Court struck down a provision that protects a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts.
The brand new bankruptcy process is being brazenly gamed by those with connections and money. The touts and fixers of the previous regime have been replaced by a new set close to this one, observes Debashis Basu.
Rajya Sabha also rejected an opposition sponsored motions to send the bill to a select committee of the House and for making triple talaq a civil offence with 100 votes against it as compared to 84 in favour.
Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Anurag Thakur, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, has introduced three private member bills including a significant 'National Sports Ethics Commission' bill which recommends '10 years of jail term' for any sportsperson indulging in match-fixing.
The bill was taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha after the Speaker rejected Opposition demands to refer the key reform measure to a parliamentary Standing Committee.
'People have been infected. They are responsible for it internationally.' 'They only admitted in February that it is infectious. This proves our case.'
Sebi has been given direct powers to freeze bank accounts, attach properties, conduct search and seizure and initiate recovery proceedings.
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