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.
Addressing a press conference, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said efforts are being made since the last few days that a 'formula' or middle path is found with both the Opposition and the government relenting.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, who were present at the meeting, asked party leaders to remain united and connected with the people, sources said.
The standoff between the government and the opposition in Parliament has showed no signs of easing after it erupted on the opening day of the Monsoon session on July 19.
Punjab Minister Anmol Gagan Mann on Wednesday said her Aam Aadmi Party will fight on all 13 parliamentary seats in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will have an understanding with former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal-Secular for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Friday, an announcement that shot up political temperature in Karnataka.
The government on Thursday said it will set up a committee to look into the allegations that US retail giant Walmart indulged in lobbying activities in India to gain entry in the country's market.
Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were disrupted as Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout.
Khera told reporters in Hyderabad that the views of the newly-elected MLAs have been elicited and the central leadership is seized of the matter.
According to official figures, 121 cases of rape were registered so far this year while approximately 210 incidents of molestation were reported from various parts of the city. "We have arrested the alleged rapists in over 90 per cent of the cases. In majority of the cases, persons well known to the victims were behind the crime," a senior police official said. The Delhi police attribute the incidents of rape to a number of sociological factors.
Leader of opposition Sonia Gandhi, deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Shivraj Patil, and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Vijay Kumar Malhotra and former minister Shanta Kumar may also be part of the committee.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day as amid uproarious scenes with the opposition and treasury benches shouting slogans.
The US on Thursday raised concerns over India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill and draft non-personal data governance framework, claiming these could potentially threaten innovation and economic growth. In its latest 'Special 301' Report, the US Trade Representative (USTR) kept India on the priority watch list, maintaining the country remains one of the world's most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP). In December 2021, a joint parliamentary committee released a report recommending changes to the PDP Bill, 2019, that could undermine important IP protections in India.
Firmly backing DMK leader A Raja, prime accused in the 2G scam, in the wake of the controversy over filling of vacancy in the Joint Parliamentary Committee, the party today asserted it will not allow him to be made a "scapegoat".
21-member parliament panel would review the bill.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the deadly 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons on Wednesday jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery, shouted slogans and released yellow smoke from canisters that triggered panic and chaos in the House.
'At no point did Kamal Nath and Digvijaya indicate that the Opposition bloc was formed only to fight the Lok Sabha polls.'
Citing former telecom minister A Raja's communication to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G scam, Bharatiya Janata Party member Yashwant Sinha on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to appear before the committee, following the allegations levelled against him. In his letter, Sinha said any hesitation on the PM's part to appear before the JPC will prove that he has "something to hide".
The Congress president during his year at the helm of the party has repaired the citadel for far more challenging years ahead, and played a crucial role in shaping the Opposition alliance.
After the first draft of the Bill was submitted under a committee chaired by Justice B N Srikrishna in 2018, there were objections raised by businesses, especially on the broad restrictions on cross-border data flow.
The Committee, in an earlier report on the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill, had favoured abolition of STT.
The ministry of education is yet to take call on the recommendations by the empowered expert committee and the University Grants Commission.
Lambasting the government for multiplicity of laws and regulations on food safety standards, the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on pesticide residues in soft drinks has asked it to quickly finalise the draft Modern Integrated Food Law.
Inadequate infrastructure and lack of facilities at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on Tuesday came under scanner of a Parliamentary panel which slammed the government for its "failure" to even provide for a state-of-the-art ambulance to transport the Delhi gang-rape victim to the airport recently.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee, probing the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam, is unlikely to call former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness before it.
CDMA-based telecom operators have got a shot in the arm with a parliamentary committee recommending that the government allot the crucial 1,900 Mhz spectrum to players using this technology for expansion of services.
Might use it to counter Opposition campaign on land issue.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha, who is a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committe on 2G issue, on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stating he is "surprised and disappointed" over his refusal to depose before the panel.
Maybe, the need for secrecy may have tied the government's hand from sharing details in Parliament. Still, it should consider the need of sharing the utmost within any consultative committee, so that relative secrecy is still maintained. But such a course should involve the prime minister or home minister, as it is much more serious than is being made out to be, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
The plan asks private parties to buy project land directly from farmers, with the government stepping in to acquire only the final 30% required after 70% has been sold by farmers of their own free will.
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