Expressing concern over frequent internet shutdown without any empirical study, a parliamentary panel has pulled up the department of telecommunications for not maintaining the record of incidents and inaction on several of its recommendations.
Buch, under a cloud over allegations of conflict of interest levelled by United States-based short-seller Hindenburg, was asked to appear before the PAC, which is reviewing the performance of the market regulator.
Opposition members hit out at the government for the introduction of the bill in a 'hurry' and 'without any consultation with stakeholders'.
There is a proposal from the BJP camp that they would resort to a proportion-based increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for individual states, based on what they now have. On the face of it, this sounds like a fine argument that those demanding a 'freeze' now cannot oppose without reasons and justification, avers N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet in the National Herald case, accusing Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of a "criminal conspiracy" to "usurp" properties worth Rs 2,000 crore of its public company AJL by transferring 99 per cent shares for just Rs 50 lakh to their private company Young Indian. The ED has named Sonia Gandhi as accused no 1 and Rahul Gandhi as accused no 2 in the chargesheet, which was filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Parliamentary standing committee on labour, led by Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, has said in its report that it is unjustifiable for owners to pay workers' wages during natural calamities.
The agenda for the meeting is 'Evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Communication (Department of Telecommunications) on the subject of 'Citizens' data security and privacy'.
Amid Anna Hazare's agitation on the Lokpal issue, a Parliamentary Standing Committee going into the Lokpal Bill on Sunday gave signals that it could "surprise" all those skeptical or cynical about the outcome of the exercise.
This is in protesting against the 'confrontationist' approach of the United Progressive Alliance government.
The government is hopeful that the Monsoon Session of Parliament will begin on its normal schedule in July, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Tuesday amid the second wave of COVID-19.
The Union finance ministry has rejected a proposal sent by the labour ministry to double the monthly minimum pension amount to Rs 2,000 under the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS). The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex decision-making body of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), was apprised of the proposal's rejection during a meeting on Saturday. "According to the recommendations made by a highly-empowered monitoring committee constituted by the government, a proposal to increase the minimum pension under EPS from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per month, by providing additional budgetary support, was sent to the ministry of finance.
A parliamentary panel on Thursday cleared the much-awaited Electricity Bill that proposes to rationalise electricity tariff and bring about transparency in policy regarding subsidies.
A parliamentary committee report on empowerment of women from February 2019 noted that the number of cases 'could be higher as many times cases against coaches also might have gone unreported/not complained against.'
'Muslims need to work according to strategy and not fall into the trap of Opposition parties.'
Holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies would need at least five constitutional amendments and a large number of additional EVMs and paper-trail machines costing "thousands of crores of rupees", but will yield a huge long-term saving to the public exchequer, officials said on Friday.
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.
The members of Parliament attending Parliamentary Standing Committee meetings will have to sit six feet apart, and not more than two witnesses from the ministry concerned can appear before the panel at a time. As per the protocol for meetings of Rajya Sabha Committees, members have to ensure conformity with physical distancing norms.
Rashtriya Janata Dal's Lalu Prasad was the odd man out in the Lok Sabha on Saturday when he questioned the need for a debate on the Lokpal issue saying a bill in this regard was already before a Parliamentary Standing Committee.
After Gen V K Singh pointed out critical shortage of tank ammunition in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a parliamentary panel on Monday pulled up the government saying it was alarmed over the way deficiencies were allowed to continue leading to such a situation.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met top officials of the finance and corporate affairs ministries to review the implementation of various announcements of the Union Budget FY24. "The finance minister underlined the importance of continuous assessment of progress to ensure that various announcements are implemented in a time-bound manner," the finance ministry said in a tweet. Sitharaman also discussed in detail various issues on the digital competition laws with Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the minister of state for entrepreneurship, skill development, electronics and technology.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
In a bid to build pressure on the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Anna Hazare has decided to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi if the panel does not come up with strong recommendations on Lokpal Bill.
The party finds Uttar Pradesh members of Parliament unaware of govt schemes.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, headed by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, had called representatives of Facebook to hear their views "on the subject of safeguarding citizens' rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space," according to agenda of the meeting.
'Going forward, the encouragement would be to move to the new tax regime.'
Opposition MPs in the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill are scheduled to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday to protest its chairperson Jagdambika Pal's alleged 'unilateral' decisions and attempts to 'bulldoze' proceedings, indicating that they may disassociate themselves from the panel.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded immediate arrest of industrialist Gautam Adani after the billionaire industrialist was charged in the United States for alleged bribery and fraud.
A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, claiming it was a "blatant intrusion" into the rights of a religious denomination to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion. The plea, filed by Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, argues that the amendments would distort the religious character of Waqfs and irreversibly damage the democratic process in their administration. Several other petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the validity of the bill, including those by Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
The opposition on Sunday asked the Centre to allow discussions in the Parliament on the United States prosecutors' bribery charges against the Adani Group even as Union minister Kiren Rijiju made it clear that the matters to be taken up in the two Houses will be decided by their authorised committees with the consent of the respective Chair.
A parliamentary panel on Friday questioned top Twitter officials over a whistle-blower's revelations on its India operations, and gave them a dressing-down as their replies on issue of data security and privacy were "not satisfactory", sources said.
Apparently addressing concerns that it was encroaching into parliamentary territory, the Supreme Court has said the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the OBC reservation bill will be placed before it after it is tabled in the House.
Fondly remembering the contribution of retiring members from the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said the wisdom shared by them would be greatly missed and their departure would leave a void.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP and party chief M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi on Friday sought to suggest that her nomination to a Parliamentary Standing Committee was a regular affair, maintaining that nothing had been proven against her in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha after a fiery debate on Tuesday, with the opposition terming the move 'dictatorial' and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal asserting that the legislation would not tamper with the powers enjoyed by states.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury on the Lokpal issue ahead of the Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting to finalise its report on the anti-corruption law.
The chairmen of the standing committees have a special status. They can summon any senior officer and convene a meeting at his or her will in any part of the country. The chairman can also take the committee to any state with prior intimation to have an on-the-spot study.
'The standing committee on defence was flagging what the services had said.' 'As a soldier, General Khanduri might have felt that it was his duty to point this out in the greater good of India,' points out Aditi Phadnis.
Taking a leaf from the US, Canada and the UK, where students and research scholars get to work with Parliamentary panels, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is pushing for induction of interns in the Parliamentary standing committees.
The Micro Finance Institutions (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2012, is currently being scrutinised by a Parliamentary Standing Committee.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Lokpal Bill will meet in New Delhi on September 7 to decide its procedure to fast track the comprehensive exercise for formulating a strong legislation. It will kick off its work by hearing Central Bureau of Investigation director A P Singh and Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar who have been sent notices to appear before it.
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