Sources said the committee is also expected to underline its unhappiness at the conduct of some opposition members during its proceedings and make a mention of it in its recommendations to the House.
Some of them also flagged a lack of consultation before finalising the reports.
Gyanesh Kumar, a 1988-batch Kerala Cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. Kumar, who was previously an Election Commissioner, will serve until January 26, 2029. His appointment comes amidst controversy as the Congress party demanded the government defer its decision until the Supreme Court concludes its hearing on a petition challenging the composition of the selection panel. Kumar's tenure will see him oversee several state assembly elections, including Bihar, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.
'They want to snatch the land and give it to their friends'
Twitter on Friday said it 'stands prepared' to work with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT on safeguarding citizens' rights online, even as the panel categorically told the microblogging platform that rule of the land is supreme and not the company's policies.
The privileges committee of the Lok Sabha on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution to revoke the suspension of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the lower house.
Dubey demanded the removal of Tharoor, alleging that he was using his position in a discriminatory manner.
It noted that the government could not accurately anticipate the gravity of the possible resurgence of the pandemic and its subsequent waves.
In a report tabled in Parliament recently, it said several complaints are being disposed of by the Lokpal on the ground that they are not in the prescribed format and asked it not to reject genuine complaints.
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra on Tuesday claimed that the meeting of the ethics committee of the Lok Sabha was postponed to keep a Congress member away from the proceedings and adopt the report by a majority, prompting a sharp retort from Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey.
The government must develop a legally tenable mechanism in order to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections.
It was perhaps for the first time that any parliamentary panel deliberated on a film before it had been approved by the censor board.
Uniform Civil Code is aimed at replacing personal laws based on religions, customs, and traditions with one common law for everyone irrespective of religion, caste, creed, sexual orientation, and gender. Personal laws and laws related to inheritance, adoption and succession are likely to be covered by a common code.
The Privileges Committee said that 'notwithstanding the overriding effect' with regard to applicability of the Right to Information Act, 2005 vis-a-vis other laws, the right to information accruing to a citizen under the RTI 'cannot abrogate privileges conferred under Constitutional provisions'.
Posting a copy of her letter to the speaker on 'X', Moitra said, 'Have not received any replies from my previous letter to Hon'ble Lok Sabha Speaker but am placing this on record anyway.'
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sougata Roy has demanded the removal of Kalyan Banerjee as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha after a spat with fellow MP Mahua Moitra. Roy accused Banerjee of "uncivilised" behaviour on multiple occasions and cited incidents of Banerjee breaking a bottle and throwing it at the chairman of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting and making inappropriate remarks about Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The spat between Moitra and Banerjee reportedly occurred on April 4 when a TMC delegation met the Election Commission over duplicate voter ID numbers. Banerjee was tasked with collecting signatures from TMC MPs on a memorandum to be submitted to the Election Commission, and Moitra alleged that she was not included in the signatories, leading to a heated exchange. Roy, who was present at the time, said he saw Moitra crying and complaining about Banerjee's behaviour. Roy believes that Banerjee's actions warrant his removal as chief whip and left the decision to Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee. The incident has also been highlighted in leaked WhatsApp messages, where Banerjee engaged in heated exchanges with another TMC MP, Kirti Azad, leading to further accusations of uncivilised behaviour.
Expressing concern over frequent internet shutdown without any empirical study, a Parliamentary panel has pulled up the Department of Telecommunications for not maintaining the record of incidents and inaction on several of its recommendations. The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology on 'Suspension of Telecom Services and Internet and its impact' tabled in Lok Sabha on Thursday, the panel has asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) to lay down a clear cut principle of proportionality and procedure for lifting of shutdown in coordination with the home ministry to prevent any misuse of the suspension rules. The panel rejected the logic of the DoT and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for not maintaining the record of the shutdown, saying it cannot simply take the plea that police and public order are essentially state subjects and suspension of the internet does not actually come under the ambit of crimes.
Sources said the report of the law panel on simultaneous polls is not yet finalised. They said "some more things are required to be done", indicating that the law panel will be invited again by the high-level committee.
Kumar, who played a key role in implementing decisions following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir during his stint in the Union home ministry, took charge as an election commissioner on March 15, 2024.
The TDP and the LJP also supported the Bill being sent to a parliamentary committee for further examination.
It also suggested that the IPC provision related to adultery should be retained in the Sanhita by making it gender neutral "for the sake of protecting the institution of marriage".
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has demanded that the Election Commission (EC) accept its error in issuing duplicate voter card numbers within 24 hours, threatening to release more documents on the issue if the EC fails to do so. The party alleged that the EC issued the statement after the TMC announced it would hold a press conference on the issue, and termed it an "Epic Scam." The EC had said it would rectify the issue and update its technology-driven platform, but the TMC insists the EC must accept the error. The party also demanded an in-depth probe into the matter.
The Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament, will debate the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday. The bill has been met with strong opposition from several parties who claim it is unconstitutional. The government, however, insists the bill aims to improve the management of Waqf properties in India by bringing transparency and efficiency.
'Proud to go down in parliamentary history as 1st person to be unethically expelled by Ethics Comm whose mandate doesn't include expulsion'
Last week, Twitter had blocked Union Information and Technology Minister Prasad from accessing his account which ratcheted up tensions with the government as it came under renewed attack for not following local laws.
The Union Budget 2025-26 has allocated over Rs 1,400 crore to the law ministry to meet carry forward expenditure for holding the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and purchase of new electronic voting machines for the Election Commission. The allocation includes Rs 500 crore for the elections, Rs 300 crore for voter identity cards, Rs 597.80 crore for "other election expenses", and Rs 18.72 crore for new EVMs. The law ministry is the nodal agency for the Election Commission, polls, electoral laws, and appointment of members to the poll panel.
The meeting was attended by CMs of Kerala, Punjab and Telangana -- Pinarayi Vijayan, Bhagwant Manna and A Revanth Reddy, Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar, and senior BRS leader KT Ramarao among others.
Some members of a parliamentary panel looking into the issue of hate speech on Facebook on Monday expressed the view that whistle-blowers Sophie Zhang and Frances Haugen, who have flagged bias and lack of proper regulation on the social media platform, be called to depose before it, sources said.
Tharoor questioned about the alleged hacking of phones using spyware Pegasus, to which the officials responded that the matter is subjudice.
The 62-year-old former deputy chief minister was first elected the party president in 2008. His re-election at the outfit's general delegate session in Amritsar comes barely four months after he quit after he was declared 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht for "mistakes" committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its government from 2007 to 2017.
The Janata Dal (United), an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has sought an extension in the tenure of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) scrutinising the bills proposing simultaneous elections. The party argued that the committee, which has only met once, requires more time for extensive consultations. Meanwhile, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), another BJP ally, has demanded a "special industrial package" for Bihar, highlighting the state's low per capita income compared to the national average.
A parliamentary panel on Thursday questioned the Delhi police chief over the gang-rape incident in the capital and pointed out deficiencies like vacancies at officer level and lack of vehicles to patrol the streets.
The Indian Parliament will introduce a constitutional amendment bill on Tuesday that seeks to hold Lok Sabha and state assembly elections simultaneously. The bill, popularly known as "one nation, one election", will be introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and is likely to be referred to a joint committee of both houses for wider consultations. The bill also aims to align elections in the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry, and the NCT of Delhi. The move has been met with mixed reactions, with some supporting the idea of reducing election-related expenses and others expressing concerns about its impact on democratic processes.
Presentations were given by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the principal scientific adviser to the government before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Climate on the Centre's COVID-19 preparedness.
The report on the Lokpal Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Public Grievances and Personnel.
The Election Commission of India has released detailed statistical data from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, revealing a record voter turnout of 64.64 crore, with women outnumbering men. The data also highlights the participation of women candidates and the use of postal ballots, along with insights into overseas Indian electors.
The visit by the MPs comes nearly two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met top leaders of Jammu and Kashmir on June 24.
Highlighting the low representation of women in the Central Armed Police Forces, a parliamentary committee has asked the Union home ministry to take steps to encourage them to join the services, besides recommending a reservation for transgenders.
A Parliamentary panel has recommended amendments in Constitution to empower the National Commission for Backward Classes, observing that OBCs are still languishing behind other sections of society.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday pleaded innocence to the 'cash-for-query' allegation levelled against her and told a parliamentary committee that the charge is motivated by animus of advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai after she broke off her personal relations with him, sources said.
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