Thanks to a close one's illness, I have seen quite a few hospital rooms in the past half a year or so. They have revived my respect for life reinterpreted via its essentials, notes Shyam G Menon.
Taking a serious view of the hooliganism exhibited by a group of Members of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha on Monday during the tabling of the Women's Reservation Bill, a disciplinary action is being mooted, said sources.
Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram regretted that there has been stiff resistance from certain quarters over the reservation bill, which would ensure 33 per cent seats for women in Parliament and legislatures. Chidambaram said this while releasing the book Karmic Divas -- stories of eight powerful and wealthy women written by Prerna Kaul Misra and printed by Vitasta publications.
With the Congress-led government taking most of the credit for the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday patted its own back for the success and criticised the United Progressive Alliance for the forcible eviction of protesting Members of Parliament from the House. Despite being in a minority in the Upper House, the Congress-led government and especially party chief Sonia Gandhi earned kudos for passage of the Bill.
Speaking in the House on Tuesday, he stressed that two-third of the MPs and MLAs will lose interest in nursing and serving their constituencies as they stand no chance of second term and that include all women representatives.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury on Monday said the Left parties are in favour of the much-delayed Women's Reservation Bill and maintained that it should be introduced in Parliament in its original form. He said parties like RJD and SP are opposed to the bill, as they have certain issues related to it. However, he said, these could be discussed in Parliament through amendments also.
Jarange said he had decided to call off the fast keeping in mind the sentiments of the Maratha community.
Congress Member of Parliament from Bihar Mohd Asraul Haque created a flutter in party circles on Thursday by demanding that the interests of "all sections of society" should be taken into account before passing the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will meet Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav on Tuesday morning over the Women's Reservation Bill.
The 71-MP strong ruling Congress is determined to push ahead with the Constitution amendment bill on Monday in the Rajya Sabha, which has an effective strength of 233, coinciding with the International Women's Day.
Shiv Sena, an ally of the National Democratic Alliance which voted for the Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha, said on Wednesday, that it will oppose it if marshals were called in and force was used to pass the measure in Lok Sabha.
Gandhi attacked the government over its 'maximum governance' slogan, saying this also meant expanding the base of disagreement without inviting retribution, a reference to its crackdown on several non-governmental organisations.
Vice President Hamid Ansari's wife Salma says she has a "problem" with the Women's Reservation Bill and feels that it will not be of much help unless awareness is created among women at the grassroot level.
Unfazed by Monday's developments in the Rajya Sabha, President Pratibha Patil said that it will be 'graceful' if the Women's Reservation Bill is passed after consultation 'as far as possible.'
The chief minister underscored the back-to-back suicide deaths of a son and his father on August 12 and 13 respectively due to the stress of NEET.
Consensus eluded the all-party meeting held in New Delhi on Monday to break the logjam over the Women's Reservation Bill, with the Yadav trio sticking to their demand for quota within quota and United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress supporting their stance. After two hours of intense deliberations, it was decided that more discussions would be held on the issue, triggering doubts about whether the bill could be introduced in Lok Sabha in the budget session.
The support of a majority of his own party MPs to the legislation notwithstanding, JD (U) president Sharad Yadav on Tuesday accused the UPA of forcing through the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha and said constitutional amendments should only be passed after evolving a consensus.
The government said on Tuesday that it would hold a discussion on the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha and not bulldoze the passage of the evolutionary measure involving amendment of the Constitution.
Toughening his stand over the Women's Reservation Bill, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad said on Saturday that he would not bow down to any pressure and continue fighting against the present form of the bill.
"The government should have a roadmap and strategy for passing such an important bill. We are not in favour of passing such a vital bill without a discussion. It (a discussion) is a requirement for a Constitutional Amendment as the basic structure of the Constitution will change," Deputy Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said.
With the tagline "Na duri hai, na khai hai, Modi hamara bhai hai, (there's no detachment, there's no chasm, Modi is our brother)", the campaign aims to attract at least 1,000 Muslim women towards the party.
In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider the separate pleas of opposition-ruled Kerala and West Bengal, alleging the denial of assent to bills passed by the respective legislative assemblies.
The bills that repeal and replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act will usher in a new era in the criminal justice system, Home Minister Amit Shah said
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of seeking to divide women in the name of caste and by spreading lies, as he launched a fierce counter-attack on the party over its demand of OBC sub-quota in women's reservation in legislatures.
It said Article 200 of the Constitution empowers the governor to either give assent to a bill passed by the state legislature, or to withhold the assent, or reserve the bill for consideration of the President.
The government hailed the consensus among major political parties on the Women's Reservation Bill on Sunday and said no single party could claim credit for it.
'He is exposing the failings of the BJP, which is rankling the party.'
A group of women BJP activists staged a demonstration outside Parliament on Tuesday, to protest the delay in the passage of Women's Reservation Bill and against leaders opposed to the historic legislation.
Several Muslim organisations have disfavoured the women's reservation bill in its present form and demanded that the government take up the measure only if it provides for a quota within quota to women belonging to Muslim, Dalit and Other Backward Class communities.
The deportation of Indians from the United States, deaths in the Maha Kumbh stampede and the joint Parliamentary committee report on the Waqf bill were among the issues that led to heated exchanges and some disruptions in an otherwise smooth first part of the Budget session that ended on Thursday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said on Tuesday it will not vote on the Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha without a discussion on it.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Tuesday that the government forced them to behave badly in Parliament by tearing the Women Reservation Bill copy.
The Supreme Court on Monday said the pleas challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act's constitutional validity will now be taken up by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India-designate Justice B R Gavai on May 15 as the incumbent CJI will be demitting office on May 13.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with some opposition leaders too expressed surprise over the President not being invited to the important occasion of shifting Parliament to new premises.
'We deposited money just yesterday, but they did not say anything...'
Rajya Sabha witnessed heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches after Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge made remarks on the manner in which political parties select women candidates from weaker sections and raised the issue of 'delayed' GST payments to non-Bharatiya Janata Party ruled states.
Under attack for his controversial comment on the Women's Reservation Bill, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday justified his remark, that a separate quota for women would help only those belonging to elite families, whom 'youths would whistle at'.At a meeting of party workers at the SP headquarters in Lucknow, Yadav asserted that his statement was not a slip of tongue but was made after evaluating all aspects, to initiate a debate on the issue.
The Trinmool Congress, fuming over the manner in which the Women's Reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, has claimed that the Congress 'cheated' their leader Mamata Banerjee over the issue."Till the last moment, we were kept in the dark. Congress leaders didn't show us their cards till the last moment. This is not the way to treat allies," said Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi.
A cornered government faced flak from the BJP which today sought to make political capital out of its failure to get Women's Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha by accusing it of developing a cold feet after SP and RJD threatened to withdraw support. Both BJP and CPI(M) said the government should have convened an all-party meeting on the issue earlier.
