Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday virtually blamed former Minister of State (personnel) Prithviraj Chavan for the fiasco involving appointment of P J Thomas as central vigilance commissioner, saying the note forwarded by him for the selection committee did not have information about corruption case against Thomas.
The former Union home minister claimed that the provisions in the bill can be misused as the police can arrest and take fingerprints and DNA samples of even those who are taking part in political rallies.
'Chavan's political clout began declining since his Lok Sabha defeat in 2019.'
Govt can advance the dates of the convening of the monsoon session of Parliament to early July
Catch all the action from the Upper and Lower House of Parliament.
Softening his stand on the Lokpal issue, Anna Hazare on Saturday suggested moving ahead with the amended Bill presented in the Rajya Sabha and said improvements in the legislation could be brought through amendments later.
The much-needed amendments will improve road safety, facilitate citizens in their dealings with transport departments, strengthen rural transport, public transport and last-mile connectivity through automation, computerisation and online services.
Congress on Monday kept the government guessing on the insurance bill asking it to take on board all stakeholders and favouring the select committee route even as it insisted that the measure is its own "baby" and it is a "misnomer" that the party is opposed to it.
On the eve of the Haryana assembly poll results, the issue of chief minister-ship has taken centre stage in the Congress with all eyes on its high command's next move as the party expects to regain power after 10 years in the state.
Accusing the Congress of creating obstacles in the path of growth and economy, he declared that the government would try to get the bill passed with the help of parties
The contentious anti-corruption Lokpal bill will come up for discussion next month in Parliament after the ongoing one-month recess of the budget session, Union Minister V Narayanasamy said on Sunday.
In a move aimed at insulating the Central Bureau of Investigation from political interference, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved recommendations of a Group of Ministers which include setting up of a panel of retired judges to oversee the investigations of the agency, besides increased financial powers of its director.
The insurance Bill seeks to increase the cap on shareholding of foreign investors
Anna Hazare on Wednesday broke his nine-day fast at his village Ralegan Siddhi shortly after Lok Sabha passed the Lokpal Bill, and announced he would form "watchdog bodies" comprising people of "impeccable integrity" to keep an eye on how the law is enforced.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday approved the bill giving primacy to Delhi's Lieutenant Governor (L-G) over the elected government after high drama in the House that saw uproar by the opposition and a walkout by MPs of parties like the BJD, SP, Congress and the YSRC.
A day after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls, Bishnoi also said that he listened to his soul and acted on his conscience.
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah engaged in a war of words on Twitter after the passage of the triple talaq bill in Rajya Sabha, with the latter stating that PDP leaders abstaining from voting "helped the government with the numbers needed to pass the bill."
The statutory resolution demanded that the Tribunals Reforms Bill be send to the select committee of the House, however, it got negated.
Foreign investment capped at 49 per cent.
The letters by Hazare and Gandhi were released by the All India Congress Committee on Tuesday, on a day the Bill was slated to come up for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha.
The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday, lasted for more than four hours and was held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.
It appears that the party has some kind of political death wish, observe Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
The much-awaited Lokpal Bill is in for further delay with the term of a Parliamentary committee examining it being extended on Friday beyond September 3 to allow it to submit its report by the beginning of the Winter Session of Parliament.
Opposition charged the government with making Parliamentary Standing Committees irrelevant.
Two crucial bills, forming part of NDA government's reforms agenda, got approval of Parliament within minutes today after a number of non-NDA parties backed the legislations in Rajya Sabha where the ruling coalition is short in numbers.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad made this assertion outside Parliament while speaking to reporters and said the revocation of suspension of the Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs was not a demand, but a 'request'.
Asked whether the SAD would pull out of the National Democratic Alliance as well, Harsimrat said it was for the party to decide and a collective decision would be taken on the issue by all senior leaders together.
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 Insurance Bill was deferred for consideration for the time being after a meeting
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday rejected Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that the Congress was taking a 'U-turn' on the Insurance Bill, saying that there are "no double standards" on the issue.
The Lokpal Bill is likely to be introduced in Rajya Sabha on November 29, according to a highly-placed source. The Congress Party's confident manner towards the approaching winter session indicates the party's decision to use the bill as a political weapon to ensure that the Bharatiya Janata Party refrains from disrupting Parliament sessions.
The winter session of Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Tuesday after passing 18 legislations, including amendment bills on amend coal mines allocation and labour laws, in 22 sittings.
The much-awaited Lokpal Bill today got the assent from President Pranab Mukherjee, providing for the creation of an anti-graft watchdog which will bring even the prime minister under its purview with certain safeguards.
The much-awaited anti-corruption measure Lokpal was tonight one step short of becoming a law with the government sending the bill to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent.
A Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday recommended a composite foreign investment cap of 49 per cent in the insurance sector and supported a government Bill to amend the Act.
Abstention by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi also helped the government get its legislation through in the upper house where the ruling party does not enjoy a majority.
The two bills -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 -- were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday.
'I gave enough evidence and proof to punish corrupt officials.' 'But my own government has not filed any FIR against such officials.'
Anna Hazare on Tuesday began his indefinite fast at his village in Maharashtra to press for immediate passage of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament even as Government said it was serious about getting the anti-graft measure passed in the current session itself.
The Central Public Works Department, which is executing the government's ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project, will soon start the construction work of the new Parliament building once it gets permission from the Heritage Conservation Committee, officials said on Tuesday.
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