For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
The bill to restore the original provisions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday, acceding to a key demand of Dalit groups ahead of their call for a 'Bharat Bandh' on August 9.
The Supreme Court on Friday held that a resolution suspending 12 Bharatiya Janata Party legislators from the Maharashtra legislative assembly beyond the period of the remainder of the session held in July 2021 is "unconstitutional" and "irrational".
A group of MPs from the opposition alliance INDIA will visit Manipur on July 29 and 30 to assess the situation in the northeastern state which has been engulfed in ethnic violence since May 3.
As the month-long monsoon session of Parliament got underway, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the government is prepared to discuss any issue in accordance with rules and hoped the opposition would cooperate in tackling legislative business before the two Houses.
'So must the Opposition where it is the dominant party in the state.' 'That is neither problematic nor impossible to achieve.'
As many as 43 leaders took oath on Wednesday in the first Union Cabinet reshuffle and expansion after Prime Minister Modi returned to power for a second term in May 2019.
Singh targeted the Congress using a 'snakes and ladders' analogy, saying the party will fall to zero from 99 after being bitten by a snake -- referring to the grand old party winning 99 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare said on Friday he will start a 'satyagraha' in New Delhi on the first day of winter session, for the passage of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.
Opposition parties of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) boycotted Lok Sabha proceedings on Friday to protest the suspension of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the House.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties, led by the Congress, staged a walkout from both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, in protest against all states except two being 'ignored' in the budget, an allegation termed 'outrageous' by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanm, who said all the states never found a mention in any of the previous budgets, including those presented by the Congress.
According to a schedule of her five-day visit provided by her Trinamool Congress, Banerjee is slated to meet Modi at 4 pm on Tuesday.
The Lok Sabha is set to witness a fierce debate on the no-confidence motion against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on Tuesday with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose membership was restored following a Supreme Court direction, likely to be the lead speaker of the opposition bloc INDIA.
Online sports platform Mobile Premier League has laid off around 350 people or about half of India team to cut down on expenses and bear the burden of increased GST of 28 per cent, according to an internal company email. The GST Council has decided to levy a 28 per cent GST on online gaming and casinos on the face value of bets at the entry level. The Centre will bring amendments to the Central GST law in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, following which states will pass the amendments in their respective assemblies to pave the way for the introduction of changes in the law by October 1.
In a hard-hitting statement, Shah said that the report about the alleged snooping has been amplified by a few whose only aim is to do whatever is possible to humiliate India at the world stage.
He also pointed out the high sums earned by the coaching centres leading to the commercialisation of education.
The Congress on Wednesday gave a notice on moving a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi-led central government in the Lok Sabha over the Manipur issue.
The meeting of the Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill took an ugly turn as the Trinamool Congress MP smashed a glass water bottle and threw it towards panel chairman Jagdambika Pal of the Bharatiya Janata Party during a heated exchange of words with BJP's Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former Calcutta high court judge.
The bills -- the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill -- were introduced in the Lok Sabha by Home Minister Amit Shah on August 11.
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Thursday following a request from the government that the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 be taken up for consideration when Opposition members are also present in the House.
A visibly perturbed Dhankhar termed O'Brien's behaviour "theatrics" that would not be tolerated.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said a decision on whether to oppose the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi would be taken before the Parliament session.
Refuting the opposition's claim that Manipur 'is burning', a senior government functionary said on Thursday that no killing has happened in the state since July 18 and asserted that peace and normalcy will be restored soon through ongoing talks with the two warring communities -- Meiteis and Kukis.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said that social distancing norms will be strictly followed in the monsoon session of Parliament in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and 257 MPs of the House will sit in Lok Sabha chamber, 172 in the visitors gallery and the remaining members in the Rajya Sabha chamber and its gallery.
The frenetic activity currently being witnessed in the Congress combined with the United Progressive Alliance government's move to postpone the monsoon session of Parliament till end-August has once again fuelled speculation about the possibility of an early election, says Anita Katyal.
The government has identified nine areas of concern in the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) draft, and they would be taken into consideration while it is being redrafted.
Rattled by the doping scandal that has rocked Indian athletics, the Sports Ministry is planning to bring a new law to deal with the menace in the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The privileges committee of the Lok Sabha on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution to revoke the suspension of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the lower house.
Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narvekar will likely disqualify the 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Eknath Shinde, who will then be asked to resign as chief minister. 'Once this is done, Ajit dada will be sworn in chief minister.'
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.
Catch all the action from the Monsoon session of Parliament, LIVE
A delegation of 21 Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc MPs will pay a two-day visit to Manipur beginning Saturday to assess the ground situation first-hand and then make recommendations to the government and Parliament for a solution to the problems in the violence-hit state.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended up 134 points at 27,279 and the Nifty50 ended up 42 points at 8,371.
Observing that the Bharatiya Janata Party is in favour of passing the Food Security Bill with some amendments, party president Rajnath Singh on Monday asked the government to advance the monsoon session of Parliament for the purpose. "We are ready for a debate on Food Security and Land Acquisition bills. We want these bills passed with some amendments. The monsoon session should be advanced for this," he told reporters.
The high court said the defence, if any, needs to be considered by the trial court on the basis of evidence.
Thakur, seated in the witness box, got visibly emotional at one point and the proceedings were halted for ten minutes.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani on Wednesday amidst speculations that the present monsoon session may be curtailed.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice in the post-lunch period on Thursday as a war of words broke out between the treasury and opposition benches, triggered by Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi's spat with the Bharatiya Janata Party's Ravneet Singh Bittu.
The government has given up plans to reconvene a parliament session to secure approval for a common goods and services tax.
'We wanted the PM to speak, and he just refused to -- now we have the opportunity, not just in the Lok Sabha, but also in the Rajya Sabha, to lay the government on the mat.'
