As many as 884 Pakistani nationals, including fishermen, are currently in Indian jails and 79 of them have completed their prison terms, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Malik Ammad Khan said on Monday.
The Rajya Sabha will take up the impeachment proceedings of Calcutta High Court Judge Soumitra Sen in perhaps the first case of its kind in the history of the Upper House. The controversial judge has been held guilty on corruption charges by a panel appointed by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari. The issue will be taken up on August 17, Parliament sources said.
"We want good ties with all neighbours including India and Afghanistan," he told the Senators.
Former Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday appeared all set to become Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha after his appointment as Leader of Congress in the Upper House.
The bill, aimed at easing the existing legislation on rape, which was part of the Hudood Ordinance brought in by former military ruler Zia-ul-Haq, will become law after getting assent from Musharraf, who pressed for its approval.
"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.
A united opposition on Monday cornered the government in Parliament, accusing it of focusing on issues like religious conversions instead of fulfilling promises of bringing back black money and creating jobs.
Cracking the whip, the Congress on Tuesday expelled six Lok Sabha Members of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh who had opposed the creation of Telangana and had given a notice of no-confidence motion against the government.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said that Pakistan and India should overcome 'war phobia' to address their outstanding issues as a 'third power' cannot come and do it for them.
Union Minister for Environment Jairam Ramesh, already in deep trouble over his latest public spat with Union Home Ministry on China policy, is running into stiff resistance to his nomination to the Rajya Sabha for a second term from Andhra Pradesh.
In a brief ceremony held at the Chairman's chamber in Parliament House, both members took oath in Hindi.
Along with them, ex-BJP lawmaker Ram Shakal took the oath.
The objective of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, enacted in 2019, is to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted minorities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar wanted to raise the issue of financial security for national level athletes in his maiden Rajya Sabha speech, which could not take place due to protests in the Upper House.
The government has given up plans to reconvene a parliament session to secure approval for a common goods and services tax.
PM Modi is likely to visit Kabul on December 25 where he will inaugurate the new building of the Afghan Parliament constructed by India at a cost of about USD 90 million.
The proceedings of the House were almost washed out as it could not take up any legislative business.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted, "Shayad meri tapasya mein kuch kami reh gayi (Maybe my penance fell short)."
It was a moment of pride for Olympian boxer MC Mary Kom as she took oath as a Rajya Sabha MP in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajya Sabha member Su Thirunavukkarasar has decided to resign from the party and the upper House of the Parliament as he is all set to rejoin the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.Su Thirunavukkarasar said that he would take a final decision on the matter after he talked to senior BJP leaders L K Advani and Rajnath Singh. The 60-year old leader unsuccessfully contested from Ramanathapuram in the Parliamentary polls
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.
He rejected the arguments that the publication of cartoon reflects press freedom and said this is the misuse of freedom of expression.
He has set up the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai with focus on strengthening information communication system in villages.
A weak presence in the Rajya Sabha has forced the NDA to try and rope in 'weak links' in the Opposition ranks to pass key legislation in the Upper House.
So keen is Congress President Sonia Gandhi to have the women's reservation bill passed in the Rajya Sabha that she told women MPs of her party who met her during on Thursday that "even if they have to snatch papers and tear them" they must do so to ensure that the bill is passed in the upper house of Parliament.
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 two bills -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 -- were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The Standing Committee on Culture of the Senate, the Upper House of Pakistan's Parliament, last week sent a report backing the lifting of the ban and containing a mechanism for importing Indian movies on a reciprocal basis.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and his party colleague Ram Gopal Yadav along with eight other new members of Parliament were administered oath by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Wednesday.
Vice Chairman Harivansh regretted that 78 hours of business were lost due to disruptions and that the House functioned for only 27 hours.
"My presence in Parliament will be an opportunity to project the views of the judiciary before the legislature and vice versa," he said.
Singh noted that opposition members tore rule book, threw papers at the desk of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was in the Chair, and climbed the officials' table -- something, he added, he had never witnessed before.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi on Wednesday submitted her resignation from the Upper House to party chief and her father M Karunanidhi in line with the decision of an all-party meeting to put pressure on the Centre to call for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.
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 country's 5,000 MPs, MLAs and MLCs should resolve in this historic year to return to the people the favour they have been doing by relentlessly nurturing democracy over the last 70 years, he said.
The inflation target of the RBI would be reviewed once every five years.
The election was held to fill the vacancy caused by the death of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.
Ahead of next week's crucial meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a top Swiss lawmaker has said his government will 'most likely' support a waiver for India at the 45-nation grouping."The Indo-US nuclear deal is important for India's energy security and I think the Swiss government will most likely support the waiver for New Delhi at the NSG meet," Speaker of the Upper House of Swiss Parliament Christoffel Brandil told PTI.
The Andhra Pradesh Intelligence Bureau has warned of possible trouble in case the passage of the Bill is delayed on Thursday. The current session of Parliament ends on Friday.
It makes it mandatory for companies to spend on social welfare and seeks to bring in greater transparency.
