In this exclusive interview with Parliament expert C V Madhukar, Founder and Director of PRS Legislative Research, he tells rediff.com's Sahim Salim that there is a need for a JPC to look into the smooth functioning of the Parliament, if for nothing else.
Parliament's Budget session has been a washout since the beginning of its second part on March 13, with the BJP demanding an apology from Gandhi.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had on May 11 reserved its verdict on the pleas after a marathon hearing of 10 days.
The tug-of-war between government and the Opposition over a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum case showed no sign of ending on Tuesday, with Parliament adjourning for the day due to protests from opposition parties. The Opposition protests in the Lok Sabha, however, appeared to be losing steam, as decibel levels remained considerably low compared to the previous week.
Bharatiya Janata Party-led opposition on Wednesday created uproar in the Lok Sabha over their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G Spectrum allocation, Adarsh Housing Society and CWG scams, leading to adjournment of Parliament for the day.
The legislation was sent to Kalam on August one after Parliament re-enacted it without any changes.
A proposal to withdraw the bill was moved by Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan and was approved by the House
Opposition does not stall legislative agenda; Upper House passes two bills.
The 2G spectrum scam may have caused a colossal loss to the national exchequer, but the standoff between the government and opposition over it has resulted in the further wastage of over Rs 146 crore as the entire Winter Session of the Parliament was virtually washed out.
The Upper House was earlier adjourned twice in the afternoon session when it took up the discussion on the Budget after Prime Minister Narendra Modi finished his speech on the motion of thanks on the President's address and the motion was passed.
Adani Power Ltd's Rs 7,017-crore deal to buy thermal power assets of DB Power has fallen after the initial pact expired. "We wish to inform that the long stop date under the memorandum of understanding dated August 18, 2022, has expired," Adani Power said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. Earlier in August 2022, Adani Power had informed the bourses that it has agreed to acquire DB Power Ltd (DB Power), which owns and operates a running 2x600 MW thermal power plant at district Janjgir Champa in Chhattisgarh.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
Over the last 50 years, the number of sittings of Parliament has been declining and has halved since the 1950s and the 1960s, the report stated.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned till noon on Friday when Opposition members disrupted the Question Hour for the 16th working day, demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2-G spectrum allocation scam. In the Lok Sabha, members from the Bharatiya Janata Party and its National Democratic Alliance allies, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Samajwadi Party walked into the well.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the NCP may have its view but 19 like-minded Opposition parties are convinced that the "PM-linked Adani Group" issue is real and very serious.
The two Koreas have agreed to pursue a bid to co-host the 2032 Olympic Games, they said in a joint statement on Wednesday following a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Glimpses into the life of Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, who at 31, is Pakistan's youngest first lady.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday said it will allow the Parliament to function if formation of Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation scam is announced by the government on Tuesday, but would continue to raise irregularities in the Commonwealth Games-related projects and Adarsh Housing scam.
Pakistan's parliament on Wednesday became the new battleground in the ongoing political turmoil with pro-government leaders and lawmakers of Imran Khan's party accusing each other of undermining democracy, even as protesters returned to the negotiating table.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday rejected the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam and hit out at the opposition, saying that the country will not forget and forgive them for the wastage of an entire session of Parliament.Turning down the Opposition demand for a JPC into the 2G spectrum issue, Gandhi said there was no need for a JPC when the Public Accounts Committee and the Central Bureau of Investigation were probing the case.
At a time 20-odd opposition parties, many of them regional rivals, joined forces over the Adani issue, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar's open support for industrialist Gautam Adani has put a question mark on the durability of a non-Bharatiya Janata Party block in the run-up to the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Gandhi also said such controversies seem to play out every time his party raises concerns of "crony capitalism".
The police said 10 companies have been deployed outside JNU. One company comprises 70 to 80 personnel.
On March 13, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had tabled the second batch of supplementary demands for grants in the House amounting to a total of Rs 2,70,508.89 crore.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Bharat Rashtra Party and Samajwadi Party, came together in a show of unity on Thursday and accused the Modi government of getting the second half of the budget session washed out, while asserting that if this attitude continues, the country will move towards a "dictatorship".
In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
The Lower House of Parliament took up the Demands for Grants and Appropriation Bills after two adjournments as the ruling and Opposition MPs engaged in a matching duet over demands for an apology by Rahul Gandhi and the Adani issue.
The agitational programmes include the 'Loktantra Bachao Mashal Shanti March' starting from Red Fort on Tuesday and a series of press conferences in 35 major cities across the country on March 28 and 29.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said he is not completely opposed to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the charges against the Adani group, but a Supreme Court committee will be more useful and effective.
The Congress on Tuesday stepped up its attack on the government over the Pegasus snooping controversy and demanded a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.
Salaries of the MPs will rise from Rs 12,000 to Rs 16,000 per month.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the statutory joint committee, proposed to be set up to resolve disputes between financial regulators, would come into play only when there was a conflict between two regulators in an area of hybrid products.
The Congress has, however, countered this saying someone who is not an MP of Rajya Sabha cannot be called to the House and there cannot be any discussion/reflection on or about an MP of Lok Sabha.
Following is the text of the statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Lok Sabha
21-member parliament panel would review the bill.
With consensus eluding it, the land bill is unlikely to be presented in Parliament during the Monsoon Session beginning Tuesday and the related ordinance would be promulgated for an unprecedented fourth time, government sources said.
A united opposition on Monday forced adjournment of the Question Hour in both Houses of Parliament, demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation.As soon as the House met, Bharatiya Janata Party members stormed the well, chanting . 'We want JPC'. They were joined by members of the Shiv Sena and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The monsoon session of Parliament beginning Tuesday is set to be stormy as Congress and several other Opposition parties appeared to be closing ranks to corner the government on a range of issues including Vyapam scam and Lalit Modi controversy.
They said the proposal to bring a motion was mooted at the meeting of party MPs this morning and Congress leaders are now talking to other party leaders over it.
The Railway Budget will be presented on February 25 while the Union Budget will be presented on February 29.
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