Sheela Bhatt traces how Parliament's Standing Committee on the Lokpal Bill is giving final shape to its report, finds out what the key clauses could be and discovers the political difficulties in finalising a complex legal issue before the winter session ends.
The trend of disruption of Parliament proceedings over the demonetisation issue is likely to continue on Monday with the Opposition parties insisting on their demand for discussion with voting rule in Lok Sabha and an apology by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rajya Sabha.
The deadlock in Parliament over Foreign Direct Investment in retail and several other issues continued for the ninth day on Friday with the opposition and some members of United Progressive Alliance partner Trinamool Congress creating uproar in both Houses to press for their demands. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned minutes after they met for the day.
The United Progressive Alliance government will have to face a tough time during the extended session of Parliament beginning Friday with the Left parties determined to take it on for "dispensing with the Winter session to cater to its political needs and failure on fronts of communal violence, terrorism and uncontrolled price rise."
Thousands of people gathered in Maharashtra's Beed city on Saturday to protest against the brutal murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh as even MLAs from ruling parties demanded the sacking of Nationalist Congress Party minister Dhananjay Munde.
Priyanka slammed Prime Minister Modi's 11 resolutions as "hollow" and said if there is zero tolerance towards corruption then why doesn't the BJP agree to a discussion on the Adani issue.
The police said 10 companies have been deployed outside JNU. One company comprises 70 to 80 personnel.
The BJP's decision to drop Namgyal comes amid resentment towards the ruling party among a section of Buddhists in Leh.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said the construction of a new Parliament building and redevelopment of the Central Vista Avenue, stretching from Rashtrapati Bhavan to the India Gate, will be completed in a time-bound manner.
According to sources, while the date for the meeting has not been finalised yet, the meeting will be held in the third week of December.
'Hang my son if he has done wrong.'
After a bitter separation with the Congress, the Trinamool Congress is mulling moving an adjournment motion under rule 184 that entails voting in the Winter Session of Parliament against the "anti-people" policies of the United Progressive Alliance government.
The opposition INDIA bloc is considering submitting a notice to move a resolution to remove Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar from office, sources said. The opposition had previously considered this in August but decided to give Dhankhar "another chance." The Congress is leading the charge, and the TMC and the Samajwadi Party are supportive. The decision comes after a contentious session in Rajya Sabha where BJP members protested alleged links between Congress leaders and George Soros.
'So must the Opposition where it is the dominant party in the state.' 'That is neither problematic nor impossible to achieve.'
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.
Led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition members in the Lok Sabha demanded sacking of Union minister Ajay Mishra from the government in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
The major security breach in Parliament on Wednesday brought to the fore shortcomings in the security protocol, driven in part by the shortage of parliamentary staff assigned to enforce it, a point made by some leaders in the all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 mark a significant step towards empowering Indian citizens and aim to create a more accessible, supportive and efficient justice system for everyone, official sources said.
All opposition members of the parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday amid continuous protests and accusations against Chairman Jagdambika Pal of steam-rolling through the proceedings.
According to the proposed legislation, 'the central government may, by notification, empower any officer to intercept, open or detain any item in the interest of the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, emergency or public safety, or upon the occurrence of any contravention of any of the provisions of any law for the time being in force'.
The Opposition said Lok Sabha could function only if Sonia and Natwar resigned.
Addressing a press conference, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and the party's chief whip in the Upper House Jairam Ramesh alleged that the government is throttling the voice of the Opposition leaders to prevent them from raising issues of public importance.
This is the first bill passed by the Lower House of Parliament in the Winter session, which began on Monday.
The President's address to Parliament on January 31 will contain the government's report card on the state of the economy, and will be no less important than the interim Budget announcements, says A K Bhattacharya.
Trinamool Congress members and some from the Congress trooped in the Well of the House raising slogans demanding a copy of the report.
Parliament on Monday passed The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, to repeal the three contentious agri laws against which farmers have been protesting for over a year, with its passage in Rajya Sabha.
Opposition parties Nationalist Congress Party and Samajwadi Party on Wednesday demanded reservation for OBCs in the women's reservation bill and questioned the reason for calling a special session when the bill cannot be implemented before census and delimitation.
In his resignation letter addressed to BSP president Mayawati, Pandey said he has come to the conclusion that the party does not need his service as neither has he been called for meetings for a long time nor has the party leadership spoken to him.
If the Opposition is bent upon shouting its own agenda on a deaf ruling dispensation, then it becomes binding upon the chair to ensure that the parliamentary affairs aren't reduced to a farce.
The government is ready for a debate in Parliament on price rise once Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers from Covid-19, the Bharatiya Janata Party asserted on Wednesday and targeted Rahul Gandhi, saying he may be "unproductive politically" but should not hurt the legislature's productivity.
A new set of guidelines, which rediff.com has learnt about, urges parliamentarians to get familiarised with the new security apparatus inside the complex.
The Pal-led committee is currently on a tour of five states to speak to various stakeholders though opposition members have boycotted it.
Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Thursday accused the government of imposing Hindi by bringing new bills with titles only in that language, a charge the treasury bench contested while alleging they were stuck with a colonial mindset.
Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha in December for "unethical conduct", has been renominated by her party from West Bengal's Krishnanagar seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Opposition MPs in the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill are scheduled to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday to protest its chairperson Jagdambika Pal's alleged 'unilateral' decisions and attempts to 'bulldoze' proceedings, indicating that they may disassociate themselves from the panel.
"Our agenda is to fight for a country free of corruption and black money. But their agenda is to close (disrupt) Parliament...I am puzzled," Modi said.
Sonia also described the mention of Emergency by the PM, the Lok Sabha Speaker as an attempt to divert attention from the "assault on the Constitution".
The development comes a day after a government resolution (GR) was issued, in which the state administration ordered disbursal of Rs 10 crore funds for strengthening the state Waqf Board.
Much drama is likely to continue in the coming year, within the Sangh Parivar as well as involving the Opposition parties and, of course the BJP's allies, predicts Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Modi government's flagship initiative 'Make in India' launched 10 years ago has helped the country boost exports, push investments and promote manufacturing. Under the initiative, launched on September 25, 2014, a series of measures have been taken by the government to boost local manufacturing. These initiatives include the rollout of production linked incentive (PLI) schemes for 14 sectors, easing foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, reducing compliance burden to improve business climate, all approvals through single window, and rolling out of the national logistics policy.
