India has allocated Rs 1.72 trillion, or 27.67 per cent of the total defence budget to cater to modernisation of the country's arsenal. Modern militaries spend up to 50 to 60 per cent of their total defence budget so that they go into combat with superior weaponry and equipment.
'The BJP alliance needs to handle the Maratha quota issue skilfully and address its root cause, which is agrarian distress. Then there is stalled industrialisation. If these issues are addressed, caste fault lines would wither away. But, this is next to impossible in a short span of three-four months.'
'A country cannot be run on lines that everyone should be in agreement and those who disagree should be silenced.' 'If this is how they look at democracy, then I can only wish good luck to the future of parliamentary democracy in India.'
As the Narendra Modi government nears completing a year in office, the Congress on Wednesday stepped up its offensive against the prime minister accusing him of weakening democracy by running a "one-man show" while scoring maximum on "arrogance" and minimum on governance.
India-China relations have always attracted Parliament's attention and there have always been useful and productive and constructive discussions how to engage with China, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill on protection of rights of transgenders after a motion to refer it to a Select Committee of the Upper House was defeated.
The ICC suspended Sri Lanka Cricket's (SLC) membership with immediate effect on Friday, citing government interference in cricket in the country.
Inviting EU lawmakers to J-K is the 'ultimate disrespect' to Indian Parliament's sovereignty, Sharma added.
'Laluji is like my father and I am like his son.'
'This is the victory of the people of Gujarat who want real development, not the hype of development.'
The session started on January 29 and was originally slated to end on April 8 but several members had urged Speaker Om Birla to end the session earlier as they focus on electioneering for the five assemblies.
The new law permits for the first time Chinese security agencies to open their establishments and operate in Hong Kong.
Gandhi said the party will defeat the saffron party and Narendra Modi in Gujarat just the way it was defeated in Ayodhya.
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra was expelled on Friday from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.
A bill to award death penalty to hijackers and give the right to security forces to shoot down an aircraft which may be used as a missile is likely to be brought in Parliament in the next session.
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra's expulsion from the Lok Sabha triggered a political slugfest on Friday, with the opposition calling it a 'betrayal of India's parliamentary democracy' and the Bharatiya Janata Party asserting that it was an 'apt decision' as there was proof of the allegations levelled against her.
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The government on Saturday came down heavily on Team Anna, saying its criticism of Parliamentary Standing Committee was a 'clear case of breach of privilege' and calling MPs 'thieves' is equal to casting aspersion on Parliament itself.
Ramesh says that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress.
The much-delayed insurance bill and the goods and services tax bill are among the 39 bills that are expected to come up during the month-long Winter Session of Parliament beginning next week.
"International Cricket Council Board has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket's membership of the ICC with immediate effect," read a statement from the ICC.
Let there be a rule that if the Budget is not passed and funds cannot be drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India, there will be a government shutdown as it happens in the United States, says A K Bhattacharya.
It is high time to rethink the entire recruitment process for the civil services, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice opined in its latest report.
Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit won't be afraid to tangle with the toughest of them.
Sri Lankan Cricket, on Wednesday, slapped a defamation lawsuit against sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe for making "damaging defamatory statements" against it, deepening the administrative crisis in the country.
While the major fronts, the CPI-M led LDF and Congress-led UDF have given three and one seat respectively to women, the BJP-led NDA has set aside five seats for their female politicians in the upcoming LS polls.
The panel said that vacant posts in the CBI are not being filled up at the required pace and recommended that "every effort should be made to fill up vacancies at the earliest".
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.
At the same time, offences attracting disqualification should have punishment more than five years, instead of existing two years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the Centre would soon form a committee which would adopt all possible ways for empowering Madigas (a SC community) with regard to their demand of categorisation of Scheduled Castes.
The government will push for the passage of a long-pending bill to provide statutory status to the Unique Identification Authority of India in the winter session of Parliament.
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.
Supporting death penalty for hijackers, a parliamentary committee has said capital punishment must be awarded to conspirators and abettors whose actions result in death of hostages or security personnel. At the same time, it raised questions as to whether opportunities for any negotiation or settlement to save lives would be foreclosed if the hijackers knew they would in any case get capital punishment for the offence.
The Bill which stipulates up to two year jail term and a maximum fine of Rs 5 lakh for discriminating against differently-abled persons.
After a meeting of the AAP's highest decision making body -- political affairs committee (PAC) -- at party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence in New Delhi, Chadha also welcomed the Congress' decision to oppose in Parliament the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.
The first two sessions -- held on January 6 and January 24 -- were adjourned by the presiding officer without electing a mayor as the sessions were marred by ruckus and acrimonious exchanges among the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party.
The 14-year political journey of Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra has encountered both upheaval and elevation, as her expulsion from Parliament in a cash-for-query case marked the culmination of her tumultuous parliamentary term.
Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and suggested to convene an all party meeting and virtual meetings of Parliament Standing Committees to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country.
In a brief statement, the party's Uttar Pradesh unit said, Ali, MP from Amroha, has been suspended for anti-party activities.
The parliamentary affairs minister also said the productivity of Lok Sabha was around 82 per cent and that of Rajya Sabha around 48 per cent.
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