'When Harivansh sits in the chair, you feel your voice will be heard.'
The special session saw the women's reservation bill being passed by both Houses.
A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, claiming it was a "blatant intrusion" into the rights of a religious denomination to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion. The plea, filed by Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, argues that the amendments would distort the religious character of Waqfs and irreversibly damage the democratic process in their administration. Several other petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the validity of the bill, including those by Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
The Congress on Monday said it welcomed the reported move as the party has been raising the demand for long.
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said, the purpose of labour reforms is to provide a transparent system to suit the changed business environment.
The Parliament on Thursday passed the anti-rape bill providing natural life term or even death for repeat offenders of rape, with Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde stating the "law will impact the society for years to come".
This is the first bill passed by the Lower House of Parliament in the Winter session, which began on Monday.
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.
The two 'One Nation One Election' (ONOE) bills, including one requiring an amendment in the Constitution, that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after a fiery debate.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday sought to give credit to his party for the women's reservation bill but Home Minister Amit Shah refuted his claim, saying that the legislation brought by the Manmohan Singh government had lapsed following the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has slammed the BJP over its stance on the Waqf Amendment Bill, accusing the party of a "fraudulent" approach and of trying to take away land for its industrialist friends. He also dared the BJP to remove the green color from its party flag if it disliked Muslims. Thackeray's comments come after the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
'We have created massive infrastructure in the past six years.'
Tabled by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, the legislation will reverse the effect of the Supreme Court verdict in May that gave the Delhi government power over administrative services.
He said Congress would push Madhya Pradesh back into the BIMARU (laggard) category if given an opportunity again.
The government is likely to introduce a bill on crypto currencies during the winter session of Parliament beginning November 29, amid concerns over such currencies being allegedly used for luring investors with misleading claims and for funding terror activities, sources said on Monday. Currently, there are no particular regulations or any ban on use of crypto currencies in the country. Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, held a meeting on the crypto currencies with senior officials and indications are that strong regulatory steps could be taken to deal with the issue.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the RSS of "majority communalism" over an article published in an RSS mouthpiece regarding the Catholic Church's property holdings in India. The article, which has since been removed from the website, called for the government to acquire the church's land, claiming it was illegally leased during the British era. Vijayan said the article reveals the "true mindset" of the RSS and its alleged plan to "target minority groups one by one and destroy them step by step." The Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, echoed Vijayan's concerns, stating that the article shows the RSS's intent to target the Church's property. He also claimed that the article's publication coincides with the passing of the Waqf Bill in Parliament, suggesting a pattern of targeting religious communities. Meanwhile, the BJP state president, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, denied the article's accuracy and stated that the article was removed after it was found to be untrue. He also emphasized that owning land is not a crime, and countered allegations that the Congress and Waqf have illegally acquired land in Karnataka. Archbishop Joseph Pamplany of Thalassery, however, expressed confidence that the Church is not afraid of any "Church Bill", as its properties have been earned through hard work. He said the Church will take legal action if necessary.
Opposition MPs, some of whom have given their dissent, slammed the exercise as undemocratic, claiming that they were given little time to study the final report and frame their dissent notes.
Khelo Bharat Niti: Regulatory bodies for better sports administration but will IOA, NSFs play ball?
According to an analysis by PRS Legislative Research, 172 bills were discussed and passed during the term of 17th Lok Sabha, of which 86 bills in the Lok Sabha and 103 bills in the Rajya Sabha were discussed for less than two hours each.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and some other members sought that the bill be referred to a standing committee for scrutiny.
A day before her scheduled appearance before the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case, Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha led a hunger strike here on Friday seeking the passage of the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill in this Budget session of Parliament.
The Congress on Tuesday claimed the bill on holding simultaneous polls was against federalism and 'anti-constitutional', and said the voting at its introduction stage in Lok Sabha showed the Bharatiya Janata Party lacks the two-thirds majority required to pass a constitutional amendment.
Several opposition MPs, who had previously criticized former Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, are now praising him following his sudden resignation, with some even requesting him to reconsider.
The Parliament on Tuesday passed the much talked about Bill to hike the salaries of Members of Parliament by over three times from Rs 16,000 to Rs 50,000 and doubling two of their key allowances to Rs 40,000 each, with the Rajya Sabha approving the measure. The Salary, Allowance and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2010, has already been passed by the Lok Sabha.
The need for finding options for proper functioning of Parliament is of paramount importance as the frequency of the passage of Budgets and other economic Bills without discussion or debate has only increased in the last few years, notes A K Bhattacharya.
Banerjee said she will protect the minority people and their property.
The winter session of Parliament is likely to commence in the second week of December and could conclude ahead of Christmas, sources said on Wednesday.
Proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were disrupted on Monday as the treasury benches accused top Congress leaders of colluding with billionaire investor George Soros to destabilise the country, triggering protests from opposition members.
Introducing the 128th Constitution Amendment Bill, which was approved by a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Meghwal recounted the measures initiated by the Narendra Modi government for the empowerment of women over the last nine years.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
Several petitions were filed in the apex court challenging the Act, contending that it was discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violated their fundamental rights.
The bill provides for severe punishment ranging from 1 year to 10 years and pecuniary fines ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 50 crore to act as deterrent.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the government has taken care of the interests of everyone and 'the interest of India'.
There are no major legal complications in implementing the bill right now but the Narendra Modi government putting it off for 10 years, he said.
Parliament on Tuesday passed amendments to the Banking Regulation Act to bring cooperative banks under the supervision of the RBI, a move aimed at protecting the interest of depositors.
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, which was passed by a voice vote after a short debate, also allows the Centre to take possession of a telecom network in case of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety.
However, Rajya Sabha being a continuing chamber is not subject to dissolution, and bills introduced and pending in this House remain on the live register, unless withdrawn by the government.
AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi made the allegations against the agency at a press conference and called the entire probe a "scam" in itself.
The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the government over the women's reservation bill, saying the only appropriate description of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done with the matter is "it is a post-dated cheque drawn on a failing bank".
Pakistan on Tuesday increased its defence budget by 20 per cent, allocating PRs. 2,550 billion ($9 billion) for the fiscal year 2025-26, amid tensions with India.
