Currently, there is no regulation or any ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.
A bill to modify the list of scheduled castes in Tamil Nadu by grouping of seven castes which presently exist as separate castes, was passed by the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Reservation is an albatross whose continuation under the current system risks creating deep fissures in our society, warns Vikram Johri.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker sections (EWS) persons in admissions and government jobs.
Will the Monsoon Session of Parliament be adjourned sine die on Monday? That's the buzz in the Central Hall of Parliament on Friday, with many members of Parliament from both the Bhartiya Janata Party and the Congress, privately saying that the situation was getting out of control with the continued stalemate in the first week of the session.
The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter K Kavitha in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, officials said on Wednesday.
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
Parliamentary Affair Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said he wanted the BJP not to disrupt the proceedings today so that the bill can be taken up. "We have already lost three weeks due to disruptions. I would request them to let Parliament function for last two days so that important issues could be taken up," he said
The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to play out during the start of the session.
Union ministers said Parliament passing over two dozen Bills was evidence of increased productivity of Narendra Modi government 2.0.
Trouble is brewing for the Women's Reservation Bill with a section of the Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament in Lok Sabha expressing their opposition to the measure and threatening to vote against it and the party decided to crack on the dissenters by issuing a whip to them to back it on Thursday.
Noting that a very important policy for advancement of SCs and STs was Schedules Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan, Raju said the group has recommended a central and states' legislation on them.
The impending expulsion of Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Mahua Moitra from the Lok Sabha, three bills to replace criminal laws and a proposed law for the appointment of election commissioners are issues set to dominate the Winter Session of Parliament, with the government urging the Opposition to ensure a conducive environment for discussions in the House.
Chhattisgarh scores the highest among all four states with 21 per cent of its newly elected lawmakers women.
The government assured the Opposition that reservation to Anglo-Indians will be considered later.
"At present, there is no reservation for women in government jobs. We will bring forward a bill providing reservation for women in government jobs," he said, addressing a meeting to thank voters in his constituency Sivaganga. Chidambaram also said he was confident that the bill for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and assemblies would be passed.
SC/ST reservation in the LS and state assemblies extended for another 10 yrs. However, the benefit was not extended to Anglo-Indian members.
The joint committee of Parliament examining the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 has adopted its report on the bill with several opposition MPs, including those from the Congress, Ttrinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal, submitting their dissent notes.
Leaders of various opposition parties on Sunday demanded that issues of price rise, 'Agnipath' scheme as well as the alleged misuse of investigative agencies be taken up in Parliament and also raised objections to the list of 'unparliamentary words' at an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government is working out a new Bill on cryptocurrency which will be placed in the ongoing session of Parliament after approval of the Union Cabinet. The ongoing winter session is scheduled to end on December 23. Replying to a series of questions in the Rajya Sabha, she said the new Bill takes into account the rapidly changing dimensions in virtual currency space, and incorporate features of the earlier Bill that could not be taken up.
Amid the Reserve Bank expressing reservations over the Unit Linked Insurance Products (ULIPs) ordinance, the Finance Ministry on Tuesday said a bill to replace the ordinance would be placed in the forthcoming session of Parliament beginning July 26.
On December 4, the Union Cabinet cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution there. The government intends to introduce bill in Parliament's Winter Session next week. What is this legislation and why is it contentious?
A constitutional amendment bill to restore the powers of the states to make their own OBC lists was passed by Parliament on Wednesday, with the opposition and treasury benches joining hands in the Rajya Sabha to approve the legislation.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Friday backed the proposed data privacy and cryptocurrency bills, saying India is putting in place the most forward-looking policies and regulations. Ambani, who has been a votary of Indians owning and controlling their own data and the nation drafting strict rules around how digital information is stored and shared, said nations have the right to build and protect strategic digital infrastructure. Stating that data is the 'new oil', he said every citizen's right to privacy has to be safeguarded. "India is putting in place the most forward-looking policies and regulations," he said at the Infinity Forum, hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
The demand was raised during a debate on the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill 2017 in the Upper House, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 2 superseding the amendments earlier carried out by the Rajya Sabha.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge used poetry and humour to take swipes at the government on Monday, saying nothing will be accomplished by changing names, and went on to recall how first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's 'inclusive' approach of involving opposition parties had led to the laying of a strong foundation for the Constitution.
'The people of Tamil Nadu in particular Chennai know about the double standards of the BJP. Nothing will work for them here.'
'In the long run, I don't foresee major ramifications [about Trudeau's allegations].' 'There's just enough hypocrisy among Western nations for India to douse the outrage.'
In her first address to a joint sitting of the two Houses in the new Parliament building in which she touched on varied issues ranging from insurgency to inflation, Murmu said a country can progress at a fast pace only when it defeats the challenges of the past and puts maximum energy into building the future.
New Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan strongly favours reservation for backward Muslims as well as for Dalits among Christians and Muslims notwithstanding the Supreme Court's observation on the sub-quota issue.
This form of government, where secrets and major decisions are kept from the Cabinet itself, appears to be continuing, which is why the speculation around this special session, asserts Aakar Patel.
Sources said former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for early passage of the bill in the Lok Sabha during the upcoming session as the same has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha.
He said in the last five years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the role of zonal councils has changed from advisory nature to action platforms.
The markets will be eyeing the amendments.
If the Personal Data Protection Bill gets passed in its present form, a new class of companies and entities could emerge. The sole job of these new entities would be to manage the consent for data usage of a user.Banks, healthcare firms and fintech companies, among others, fear that sharing non-personal data with the government may hurt business interests. Banks also fear the threat of data misuse.
Sonia Gandhi is confident about a third term for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.
The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018 inserted articles 338B, which deals with the structure, duties and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes, and 342A that deals with the powers of the president to notify a particular caste as an SEBC and the power of Parliament to change the list. Article 366 (26C) defines SEBCs.
Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael Patra on Wednesday said the central bank's views about cryptocurrencies might have delayed the government's proposed legislation on crypto assets. Emphasising that the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will be introduced in FY23 as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget speech, Patra said India will proceed very gradually on the subject as there are concerns on privacy, its impact on monetary policy formulation and energy intensity. The government had plans to introduce a bill on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin during the Winter Session of Parliament in November-December 2021 but did not introduce it.
The country on Friday elected 543 Members of Parliament to the 16th Lok Sabha. Here is a brief profile of the MPs gender, age, education and professional profiles.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Tuesday once again adopted the anti-NEET Bill, returned days ago to the government by Governor RN Ravi, with the ruling Dravida Munentra Kazhagam and principal opposition All India Anna DK reaffirming their opposition to the test.
