A question asked in Tamil triggered heated exchanges in Lok Sabha on Wednesday between the Opposition and Treasury benches that spilled over to the issue of ministers giving replies in Hindi.
The Rajya Sabha proceeding washed out completely on Wednesday and was adjourned for the day amid continued protest by the Opposition parties led by the Congress over price rise and levy of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on daily essentials.
The no-confidence motion against the government could not be introduced amid the din in the Lok Sabha.
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.
Sachin Tendulkar and Rekha's tenures in the Rajya Sabha end this month.
Income tax officials on Monday conducted surveys at offices of engineering major Larsen & Toubro and media firm Zee Group for alleged GST evasion, an official of the tax department said. When contacted, L&T neither confirmed nor denied the development, while the media group has confirmed the tax survey. The tax official said surveys have been carried out at many L&T premises in the city, and in case of Zee, the surveys are underway at all its offices across the country since morning.
Pakistan's media regulatory body has not received any orders from the supreme court regarding a ban on licensing of Indian Satellite TV channels, a senior minister informed the parliament on Wednesday.
From northern backwaters, a new business elite emerges
Opposition politicians on Wednesday stalled a last minute attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to pass the Goods and Service Tax bill.
Ahead of the budget session, PM Narendra Modi appealed to the opposition to allow Parliament to function. While his call was taken positively by most of the parties, the Congress signalled that disruption will be their main weapon to raise several issues.
The Union Public Service Commission exam row generated heat in both Houses of Parliament with a member tearing a paper and throwing it towards the Speaker in Lok Sabha and almost the entire opposition staging a walkout in the Upper House as the government refused to set a timeline for resolving the issue.
The extended Winter session of Parliament got off a stormy start on Wednesday with uproar over the Telangana and caste-reservation issue stalling proceedings.
Unfazed by the stalemate over the Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti issue, government has lined up a heavy legislative agenda in Parliament this week including a bill seeking to replace coal blocks allocation ordinance.
Modi orders coal, insurance sector reforms.
'We shouldn't attach great significance to Obama's 'qualified' assurance on a membership to 'a reformed' Security Council. Nobody knows how many decades it will take and America can easily forget its un-doable promises.'
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.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad made this assertion outside Parliament while speaking to reporters and said the revocation of suspension of the Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs was not a demand, but a 'request'.
Pakistan Peoples Party's firebrand leader Faisal Raza Abidi has accused Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry of misusing his authority to favour his son and asked him to resign, contending that the country was virtually under a "judicial martial law". Asking the chief justice to resign, Abidi, a member of the Senate or upper house of Parliament, demanded a probe against Chaudhry by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, a distant relative of former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani.
A Pakistani parliamentary panel on Friday criticised the interior ministry for the delay in implementing a new visa agreement with India, with its members passing a resolution that called on the cabinet to ratify the pact at the earliest.
Finance ministry sources said Mukherjee merely pointed out to the Lok Sabha Secretariat that any change in salaries has to go through a process under the ministry of finance, while Lok Sabha sources expressed ignorance about the finance ministry raising any objection.
As the stand-off between the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party on the coal block issue continued, answers to Parliamentary questions for the current session related to Coal ministry are missing from the Rajya Sabha website.
The Congress will reach out to various parties in this regard.
Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance on Thursday stuck to its demand for the Prime Minister's resignation on the coal block allocation issue at a meeting convened by the Rajya Sabha chairman to end the impasse and boycotted a meeting called by the Lok Sabha Speaker on the matter.
Parliament on Tuesday hailed A P J Abdul Kalam as the "real gem" of India, saying the death of the former President has taken away its "true son" who became the driving force behind the country's space and missile programme.
As vice president and ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankar is inheriting a troubled legacy. Although the government faces no real numerical challenges in the Upper House, political and legal challenges are there aplenty.
Beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday summoned Pakistan's National Assembly, lower house of Parliament, on August 11 during which the ruling coalition is likely to bring forward an impeachment motion against him. Musharraf signed a summary convening the Assembly on Monday, officials said without specifying the agenda.
The government is keen to get the GST Bill approved during the Monsoon Session of Parliament ending on August 12.
Rediff.com lists a few celebs who have donned the role of a politician in the Rajya Sabha.
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and yesteryear actress Rekha are among four eminent personalities recommended for nomination as members of the Rajya Sabha. The 39-year-old Tendulkar and Rekha will become Members of Parliament under a provision of the constitution that allows the President to nominate 12 members to the Upper House.
A united Opposition in the Lok Sabha on Thursday pitched for referring the triple talaq bill to a 'joint select committee' of Parliament, claiming its provisions were unconstitutional.
Deputy leader of BJP in the Rajya Sabha, S S Ahluwalia, maintained that both Houses of Parliament had to be adjourned on Tuesday as the government did not agree to put to vote the discussion on price rise in the Upper House and did not accept adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted, "Shayad meri tapasya mein kuch kami reh gayi (Maybe my penance fell short)."
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday night named 12 candidates, including cash-for-vote scam accused Faggan Singh Kulaste and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley for election to the upper house of Parliament.
Buoyed by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party's strong performance in elections to the upper house of parliament, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday dismissed speculations about an early general election and the installation of a caretaker regime. "Now there will be no caretaker or chair-taker. The prime minister will not go up, inside or outside. He will stay right here," Gilani said.
Known for his witty one-liners, Naidu said "after all, the culture of India is agriculture."
"Articles 15(4) and 16(4) (dealing with provision for socially and educationally backward classes, and reservation) do not put any limit on the percentage of quota and there is no constitutional hurdle in increasing the same," Sharad Pawar said.
Rajya Sabha's next session will begin from April 23, three days after the second half of the budget session of Lok Sabha commences.
The Ethics Committee of Rajya Sabha headed by veteran Congress leader Karan Singh, decided to give Mallya one week time to explain his conduct.
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Thursday following a request from the government that the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 be taken up for consideration when Opposition members are also present in the House.
The Rajya Sabha approved 15 legislations during the session while the Lok Sabha passed 23 bills, including the GST bills.
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