A proposal to set up a panel of retired judges to oversee the investigations of the Central Bureau of Investigation to insulate it from political interference is in conformity with existing legal provisions, Finance Minister P Chidambaram indicated on Friday.
For the bribe takers, the bill proposes to increase the punishment to a minimum of three years of imprisonment, which may extend to seven years, besides fine.
The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision making body of the grand old party, passed a resolution to this effect. The CWC, chaired by Sonia Gandhi earlier discussed the issue along with that of the farmers' agitation and the COVID-19 vaccination drive and passed three resolutions on each of them.
"There are other senior leaders who also have not got a place in the executive committee. New people should also get an opportunity. I am aware of my duties and serving the people of my constituency is my first duty," she stressed.
Recommending statutory backup to the model code of conduct, a parliamentary committee has sought to take away certain powers vested with the Election Commission like de-recognising a political party.
Simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies can help reduce difficulties in terms of expenditure and management, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday and asked the Election Commission to take the initiative in bringing political parties on one platform to discuss the issue.
This is likely to put a brake on the fast pace at which Aadhaar cards have been issued so far to more than 400 million people.
The joint committee of Parliament examining the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 has adopted its report on the bill with several opposition MPs, including those from the Congress, Ttrinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal, submitting their dissent notes.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It's unfortunate that the prime minister prioritises his own image over the humanitarian situation that is unfolding in Manipur, prioritising his ego over the atrocities that women and tribals have had to suffer in Manipur.'
Twitter on Friday temporarily blocked IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's account for alleged violation of the US Copyright Act, a move that the minister slammed as being arbitrary and gross violation of IT rules.
By changing the nation's name from India to Bharat, would this landmass overnight lose the emotional and cultural linkage that had been built over generations, centuries and millennia, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
'There is no difference between the earlier government and the present government.' 'They are all following the economic policy based on the Chicago School of thought.' 'This school of thought says the government should have very little role in governing the country and the majority of the work should be handed over to the private sector.' 'This has not succeeded in the US.' 'Yet, it is being tried here by people like Arvind Subramaniam, Arvind Panagariya, Urjit Patel and Raghuram Rajan.'
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh puts it succinctly: "Arun Jaitley was every non-BJP person's favourite BJP-ite."
If retrenched workers are unable to reskill within a fixed period of time, they will have to return the money given to them by the government. Moreover, they may be asked to pay back an interest on the sum transferred.
Cases with the Omicron variant have already been detected in Karnataka and Gujarat.
She alleged that today, the regime in power is misusing and subverting the institutions of the Constitution, and weakening its foundations of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice.
Bringing corruption into the heinous crime category, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved official amendments to an anti-graft legislation enhancing the penalty under it to a maximum of seven years imprisonment from the present five years.
The establishment of a National Judicial Commission to give the Executive a say in appointment of judges and setting up a special investigation team on blackmoney stashed abroad are the priority areas for the Modi government, newly-appointed Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The I-T officer can go back up to six years to scrutinise the books of accounts of the assessees.
'The judge could have given him a six-month, one-year, or one-and-half-year sentence also because the maximum punishment for defamation cases is two years.' 'Disqualification happens only if one is sentenced for two years; it does not happen if the disqualification is for one-and-half years.' 'But the period of sentence is the judge's discretion.'
Citing overlapping of functions, a parliamentary committee on Monday recommended integrating Central Vigilance Commission and anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation to work directly under the command and control of Lokpal to deal with corruption cases.
There are 18 judges per 10 lakh people as compared to 50 judges recommended by the Law Commission in its 1987 report
'We take allegations of bias incredibly seriously, and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form'
During the 16th Lok Sabha, 180 bills were passed and 45 ordinances promulgated.
The Bill neither plans to make the Aadhar mandatory or limit its issuance to citizens.
Home ministry officials told the parliamentary panel that those detained under the PSA can challenge their detention in a designated tribunal.
Union ministers said Parliament passing over two dozen Bills was evidence of increased productivity of Narendra Modi government 2.0.
The Bill, which was already approved by the Rajya Sabha, defines child pornography, making it punishable.
The killing led to tension and protests at several places in the coastal district on Wednesday with instances of stone-pelting and police lathi-charge.
Taking a cue from the prevailing public mood against the political class, the Congress leadership -- Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi -- are said to have clinched the argument in favour of deferring the amendment to the Right to Information Act which seeks to keep political parties out of the ambit of the transparency law.
The next general election is more than three years away. Yet, the Centre appears to be reluctant to take any bold move that might annoy influential sections of the electorate.
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to play out during the start of the session.
Parliamentary panel seeks 5-yr jail term and penalty of up to Rs 50 lakh if a celebrity-endorsed product misfires
'A country cannot be run on lines that everyone should be in agreement and those who disagree should be silenced.' 'If this is how they look at democracy, then I can only wish good luck to the future of parliamentary democracy in India.'
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Admittedly, EVMs too have a UID number and any convergence of data can make the secret ballot system a party of history, warns Dr Gopal Krishna in the 5th part of his series against Aadhaar.
Let there be a rule that if the Budget is not passed and funds cannot be drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India, there will be a government shutdown as it happens in the United States, says A K Bhattacharya.
'Under Section 79 of the IT Act, Facebook is mandated to exercise care. Once you have a duty, you do not have the right to silence; you need to show compliance.'
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