'The Bills (Bharatiya Saksha, Bharatiya Nagarik Sanhita and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) are arbitrary, opaque and ambiguous and structurally quite violent.'
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum scam has deferred its October 3 meeting, in view of the Lok Sabha Speaker's efforts to persuade Bharatiya Janata Party, members who have threatened to quit the panel alleging bias on his part, its chairman P C Chacko said on Saturday.
The Parliamentary Committee on Special Economic Zones on Friday said no further SEZs should be notified unless the law is amended to include changes pertaining to land acquisition.
Ramesh stressed that the prime minister should participate in the debate on Manipur.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee has pulled up the government for mere lip service to the recommendations of the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee it had itself constituted in 2005 to study the status of Muslims in India.
A united opposition is all set to corner the government in Parliament today on the banning of old notes.
Navigating a history of animosity and mistrust, negotiations for a potential Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance in West Bengal face significant challenges while addressing the shared adversary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, with the Bengal Congress unit appearing reluctant to engage in an electoral pact.
The Government on Friday managed to have its way in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam when the panel approved the draft report giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram with a 16-11 vote in its favour.
She said then defence minister Manohar Parrikar had replied to the letter asking the official to remain 'calm' as everything was 'alright'.
As many as 14 opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament for the remainder of the winter session for disrupting proceedings, as the Lok Sabha security breach incident snowballed into a major row on Thursday with the government asking the opposition not to "politicise" the "grave national issue" and the Congress, Trinamool Congress and others demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
A senior non-Congress MP, while briefing about their focus in the JPC on the 2G spectrum scam, said, "This JPC is very important. We understand the issue and we will fight tooth and nail to corner the government. My question is: can you sell petrol, milk or even vegetables in 2009 at the price of 2002? This government did it in the name of continuation of NDA's policy. How can you sell a new product at the price of an old product, at old rates?"
With the government inches closer to the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee after the Congress party reportedly took a decision that enough damage had been done by Parliament being stalled and a signal filtering across that the government had something to hide, sources said that the modalities of how this has to be done are still to be worked out.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Jayalalithaa on Thursday said nothing short of a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam was acceptable to her party. She claimed that former telecom minister A Raja's arrest showed that those backing him have now 'accepted his guilt'. "These parties had initially said Raja was not guilty. But they have now accepted his guilt, following his arrest," she told reporters.
Now, the total number of MPs suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session of Parliament stands at 14 -- 13 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha.
The opposition members were not satisfied with Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement rubbishing the charge that it had authorised any telephone tapping of politicians and alleged that the issue smacked of the 1975 Emergency days.
Embattled billionaire Gautam Adani on Thursday spoke publicly for the first time since his ports-to-energy conglomerate publicly battled a short seller's accusation of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, saying the abrupt move to withdraw a fully-subscribed share sale at his flagship firm was due to market volatility. His group continued to lose on the stock market, with the cumulative rout now nearing $108 billion in a week -- one of the biggest wipeouts in India's history. "After a fully subscribed follow-on public offering (of Adani Enterprises Ltd), yesterday's decision of its withdrawal would have surprised many.
Opposition members said the former finance minister had misled the Lok Sabha on the Calcutta Stock Exchange payment crisis and the UTI fiasco.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is hailed as the architect of economic reforms in the country, is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, it was announced on Tuesday.
Railway Minister and key United Progressive Alliance partner Mamata Banerjee ruled out any difference with the Union government over a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation, even as she advocated a discussion on the scam in Parliament.
The Parliamentary panel examining the controversial nuclear liability bill is expected to finalise its report in time for introduction of the draft legislation during the monsoon session beginning July 26. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment on Forests is examining the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010 that was introduced in the Lok Sabha on May 7 amid stiff resistance from a united Opposition.
The committee looked into the merger of the two airlines and its impact on the domestic aviation industry.
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.
In a major escalation of the tussle with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Friday warned that he could recommend President's rule in the state and also initiate criminal proceedings if his letters are not answered.
Out of the 20 candidates announced by the BJD for the 21 Lok Sabha seats, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's party has nominated at least seven leaders who came from either the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Congress.
Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, was suspended on Thursday for allegedly attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and disturbing the ministers.
The government on Tuesday excuded confidence that the new Company Law, which promises greater shareholder democracy and stricter corporate governance norms, will be enacted by the end of this fiscal.
DCP Manoj Lall's suspension is aimed at ensuring an impartial probe into charges that he led a police assault on JD(U) MP Devendra Prasad Yadav.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the current logjam in Parliament could end if the Opposition and the government sit for a discussion and both move two steps forward.
The poll panel said it found Kharge's letter, placed in the public domain in the middle of the ongoing electoral process, 'highly undesirable' and designed to create confusion, misdirection and impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections.
Chaudhry, the former information minister, said that the decision was taken in a meeting of the lawmakers of the party ahead of prime minister's elections for which the party has nominated ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs favoured expeditious resumption of fuel supplies to the country's civil nuclear plants.
Rajya Sabha members Mausam Noor and Priyanka Chaturvedi have written to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, complaining about 'sloganeering' from the visitors' gallery of the House on September 21 and requesting him to take action in the matter.
A five-time Member of Parliament from Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency is now the Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
The session is likely to see the proceedings of Parliament move from the old building to the new Parliament building.
Ahead of its rally in Delhi on Wednesday against corruption, the National Democratic Alliance on Tuesday remained firm on its demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam and asked the government to give up its 'adamant' stand on it as the parliamentary accounts committee has 'limited powers'.NDA convener Sharad Yadav also downplayed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer to appear before the PAC.
In a recent report, the Department-related Standing Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel said it expects the government and the judiciary to finalise the revised MoP, 'which is more efficient and transparent', in terms of a Supreme Court observation.
Additionally, the Haryana police and home guard personnel will be deployed for security during the elections, he said.
Sources within the INDIA bloc said appointing Nitish Kumar as convenor would lend credibility to the INDIA bloc's demand for conducting a nationwide caste census.
Congress leaders have supported the Union government's stand of abstaining from voting in the anti-Russia resolution in the United Nations General Assembly, informed sources on Thursday.
