Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday expressed anguish over Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge trooping into the Well of the House during an opposition protest, saying it is for the first time that a person occupying the post has engaged in such conduct.
Gandhi said the Opposition wanted the House to function "often and well" and added that it was very important that cooperation happens on the basis of trust.
Opposition on Thursday forced deferment of consideration of the contentious Mines and Minerals Bill in Rajya Sabha till on Friday.
Reserve Bank of India will resume issuing longer-term government securities next week under the market stabilisation scheme, along with the weekly auction of treasury bills.
In the first-ever auction of 'enemy property' that the Indian government has held since the 1971 Indo-Pak war, rights shares of Tata Steel were sold to an Indian investment firm for Rs 485 per share against the rights issue price of Rs 300 per share.
Liquidity continued to remain tight. The Reserve Bank of India had to infuse around Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) into the system. The market however expects the tightness to ease during the week, with the onset of government expenditure and successive cuts in the amount to be absorbed through treasury bill auction.
The Opposition intensified its noisy protests in Lok Sabha on Wednesday over Pegasus snooping, farm laws and other issues with some unruly members even hurling papers and torn placards in the House, but the government went ahead with its legislative agenda and three bills were passed amid the din.
Monday was the fourth consecutive day, proceedings were washed out over the Rafale jet deal and Cauvery issues.
The increase raises the bank's benchmark advance rate to 13.75 per cent from 13.25 per cent. The revised floating reference rate for consumer loans, including home loans, will be 10.75 per cent.
The Reserve Bank of India said on Thursday it would allow banks, primary dealers and national financial institutions to hedge interest rate risks on the country's exchanges.\n\n\n\n
Parliament officials said Birla was upset at the behaviour of both the Opposition and Treasury benches during the passage of bills in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Foreign institutional investments in equities soared by 43 per cent to over $9.43 billion this year pushing the Sensex to intra-day record high of 6,409 on Wednesday.
Interest rates on fixed rate home loans have been increased by 0.75 per cent to 8.50 per cent from the current level of 7.75 per cent with effect from November 17, 2004.
'Rhetoric and chest-thumping are running high on India's recent growth record.'
'But will the giant waves developing elsewhere allow us to sail smoothly into fair winds?' asks Debashis Basu.
With only two months left for the completion of fiscal 2003-04, Centre's gross borrowings rose by about nine per cent to Rs 1,45,974 crore
Those who consider the rupee as a proxy for virility have started thumping their chests and dreaming of dethroning the dollar from its coveted position, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Constitution amendment bill to restore the power of states to make their own OBC lists after a thaw in the logjam as Opposition parties backed the legislation but demanded the removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation, with many of them also calling for a caste-based census.
Ahead of the Parliament session, the government will hold a meeting with leaders of all parties on Sunday to brief them and hear their views, amid an intense buzz on whether it will have some surprise item up its sleeve during the five-day sitting.
The Centre's gross borrowing crossed Rs 1,62,000 crore (Rs 1,620 billion) as bond market turned bullish after a fall in price level in the country last week.
Soaring redemptions of government securities and 364-day treasury bills resulted in a 2.33 per cent fall in net borrowings of the Centre at Rs 91,821 crore (Rs 918.21 billion) till January 9, according to PNB Gilts.
A whopping 42 per cent increase in redemptions of government securities and 364 day treasury bills led to an over 14 per cent decline in the net borrowings of the Centre till December 26, according to PNB Gilts.
Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar also attacked the Congress, which had not opposed the bill in Lok Sabha but voiced its strong opposition in the Upper House.
The government has mopped up Rs 1,26,034 crore (Rs billion) till last week taking the gross market borrowing to over 88 per cent of the budgeted Rs 1,42,867 crore (Rs 1,428.67 billion) for the entire fiscal.
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.
The government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, reviving a proposal pending for years and blending history, politics and societal imperatives on the first day in the new Parliament building.
The numbers, however, appear to be in favour of the ruling dispensation to get these bills passed from Rajya Sabha, while the lower house has already cleared them despite a key NDA member Shiromani Akali Dal vehemently opposing them.
The Telugu Desam Party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam continued to raise the issue of the dam over the River Cauvery and special status for Andhra Pradesh in both the Houses. While the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after it met at 11.00 am, the Lok Sabha saw repeated adjournments, but managed to pass the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill amid the din.
The unusual timing of the session has left everyone wondering, even though the main standout feature on the listed agenda is a special discussion on Parliament's journey of 75 years starting from the "Samvidhan Sabha" (Constituent Assembly).
The climate for 'doing business' remains forbidding, taxtortion is still rife, corruption at state and district levels has increased, oil prices remain extortive with high taxation, and the continued red tape has kept the enterprise system as stifled as before, points out Debashis Basu.
The country has reduced its holding of American treasury bills by as much as $1.9 billion compared to July when it stood at $58.9 billion.
Ending months of wrangling between treasury benches and the opposition, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the civil nuclear liability bill after government dropped the contentious provision of 'intent' in the case of accident adopting a Bharatiya Janata Party amendment, paving the way for nuclear commerce with the world.
Its passage in the Lok Sabha is all but certain due to the massive majority the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies have, and the Union government is confident of its passage in the Rajya Sabha as well with the support of several non-aligned regional parties which have often joined the treasury benches in the past.
None of the four benchmarks suggested by the RBI is ideal as banks in India create loan assets from their deposits and not borrowing from the regulator or market, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day on Friday amid an uproar in the House over the issue of law and order situation in Rajasthan.
When the Chair asked Chowdhury to raise a point of order, Goyal stood up and said that he would not allow the Congress leader to speak in protest against the disruption of the external affairs minister's statement earlier in the day on India's foreign engagements since the Budget session.
