Much drama is likely to continue in the coming year, within the Sangh Parivar as well as involving the Opposition parties and, of course the BJP's allies, predicts Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday tabled its report in the Lok Sabha on pesticide residues and safety standards for soft drinks, fruit juices and other beverages.
Addressing the newly elected MPs in the Central Hall of Parliament, she said far from taking responsibility for the failure, the prime minister intends to get himself sworn in again on Sunday.
Parliament's approval of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, a contentious piece of legislation aimed at reforming Waqf bodies, has sparked strong reactions from the opposition, who allege that the bill was "bulldozed" through Parliament. The bill, considered the government's most consequential legislation in its third term, was passed with comfortable majorities in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha despite opposition claims of a lack of consultation and an intrusion into religious affairs. Other notable bills approved during the session included the Finance Bill, Appropriation Bill, Immigration and Foreigners Bill, and Tribhuvan Sahkari University Bill. The session, which saw high productivity, also witnessed debates on issues such as economic distress, delimitation, and the three-language policy. While the government touted its achievements, the opposition criticized the government's approach and vowed to challenge the Waqf bill in court.
The British government has supported to limit public funding for cricket unless it takes concrete steps to rid of racism
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee chairperson M M Joshi on Thursday indicated that overlapping of functions of the panel and the Joint Parliamentary Committee into 2G spectrum scam was not a matter of concern and his powers went beyond the Comptroller and Auditor General report.
Amid sharp differences in the Parliamentary Committee examining the Lokpal Bill on a variety of issues including bringing Prime Minister under its ambit, panel chairman Abhishek Singhvi has called a fresh meeting on Thursday evening.
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.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has seen a reduction in fighter squadrons due to the phasing out of ageing MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27 aircraft. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence acknowledged the "shortage" and highlighted the multi-pronged approach being taken to address it. This includes the induction of indigenous Tejas fighters and the procurement of additional LCA Mk-1A aircraft. The report also addresses concerns over "incidences of spying" within the IAF and details the action taken against those involved.
The report was earlier listed in the agenda of the lower house for December 4 but was not tabled.
Top external affairs ministry officials on Monday briefed a parliamentary panel about efforts to bring back Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine, including plans for 13 evacuation flights in the next two-three days to its neighbouring countries and subsequent increase in the number of daily flights to nine, sources said.
'I felt isolated, humiliated at times. I lost my career to racism.'
The draft will be examined, studied and discussed before it is tabled in the assembly on February 6, he said.
Strict guidelines to check the wastage of taxpayers' money on 'study tours' undertaken by the members of parliamentary committees will soon come into place.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he will back any candidate announced by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar as Maha Vikas Aghadi's chief ministerial face.
Top Canadian officials have accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of leading a campaign targeting Sikh separatists in Canada, escalating tensions between the two nations.
In FY24, the net income generated from Waqf properties fell to about Rs 1.26 crore from Rs 150 crore in FY20.
However, BJP members claimed that the opposition members were abusing the chairman of the committee Jagadambika Pal.
Slamming the leakage of the draft Joint Parliamentary Committee report on 2G scam as a "gross breach of Parliamentary propriety", the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said its contents appeared like Congress documents where attempts have been made to save its leaders including the Prime Minister.
The two 'One Nation One Election' (ONOE) bills, including one requiring an amendment in the Constitution, that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after a fiery debate.
The ongoing row over the UPSC issue saw disruption of Parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday as opposition parties demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a joint parliamentary committee to look into the matter besides a discussion on it.
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.
The SEBI and the RBI will look into it. Let their reports come in, BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani said.
The Parliamentary committee examining the Lokpal Bill has sought one more week to submit its report on the subject.
Misri is also likely to brief the parliamentary panel on the recent upswing in India's ties with China following the agreement to resume patrolling at friction points along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
Fifteen opposition members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum scam on Wednesday wrote to the committee secretariat rejecting the panel's draft report in toto, setting the stage for worsening of the confrontation with the government on the issue. The 15 members, who had met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar last week to express "no-confidence" in panel chief P C Chacko, wrote separate letters stating that they are rejecting the report "in toto".
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.
While the permission has been granted from the Rajya Sabha till December 31, 2022, the Lok Sabha has granted the time till January 9, 2023.
The parliamentary panel on information technology will question government officials on allegations relating to suspected phone tapping of politicians, journalists and others using Pegasus spyware, the committee chairman and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday, and asserted that it is the "most important issue" for many members.
The much-hyped Lokpal Bill could be tabled in Rajya Sabha in the ongoing monsoon session if a parliamentary panel looking into the legislation gives its report before the end of the session, the government said on Thursday.
The Union Budget 2025-26 has allocated over Rs 1,400 crore to the law ministry to meet carry forward expenditure for holding the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and purchase of new electronic voting machines for the Election Commission. The allocation includes Rs 500 crore for the elections, Rs 300 crore for voter identity cards, Rs 597.80 crore for "other election expenses", and Rs 18.72 crore for new EVMs. The law ministry is the nodal agency for the Election Commission, polls, electoral laws, and appointment of members to the poll panel.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has conceded that he was wrong in opposing India's stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, stating that the country's current position allows it to play a significant role in achieving lasting peace. Tharoor, who had initially criticized India's neutrality, now acknowledges that the policy has positioned India as a mediator, capable of engaging with both Russia and Ukraine.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
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).
DMK leader T R Baalu said he had given a notice of breach of parliamentary privilege against Chacko over the leakage of the JPC draft report.
Former telecom minister A Raja on Monday wrote a strongly-worded letter to Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman P C Chacko, slamming the draft report of the committee on the 2G scam.
A Canadian parliamentary committee has voted unanimously to urge the border services agency to stop the deportation of nearly 700 Indian students who were duped by unscrupulous education consultants in India to enter the country with "fraudulent college admission letters."
Rafiq testified before a British parliamentary committee and spoke of the discrimination he faced while at Yorkshire
Kodikunnil Suresh, the Opposition's pick for the Lok Sabha speaker who will go up against the Bharatiya Janata Party's Om Birla, is a Congress veteran, an eight-term MP and one whose election in 2009 was declared invalid by the Kerala high court before being restored by the Supreme Court.
The ICMR-National Institute of Virology has been regularly undertaking studies to understand the protective efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against emerging variants.
