The chairmen of the standing committees have a special status. They can summon any senior officer and convene a meeting at his or her will in any part of the country. The chairman can also take the committee to any state with prior intimation to have an on-the-spot study.
The much-talked about Lokpal Bill could be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with the government writing to the Speaker to waive off the two-day period required before introducing a bill.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar held talks with leaders of the opposition in her attempt to break the Parliament impasse on the 2G spectrum issue.Leaders of several parties including the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, Samajwadi Party, RJD and the National Conference did not attend the luncheon meeting called by the Speaker to find a solution to the deadlock.
The Communist Party of India - Marxist on Wednesday threatened to disrupt Parliament proceedings unless Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay apologised for shouting at a Member of Parliament of the Left party."Apologise, otherwise the House will not function," CPI-M's Leader in Lok Sabha Basudev Acharia threatened. The Lok Sabha was adjourned for over three hours on Tuesday when the entire Opposition demanded an apology from the Trinamool chief whip.
The dinner was attended by a select few guests like Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, BJD leader Jay Panda and National Security Adviser Shivshanker Menon.
On the ninth anniversary of the terror strike on the "edifice" of the country's democratic polity, Parliament on Monday paid homage to victims of the attack and pledged to resolutely combat the global malaise of terrorism.
The impasse over the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into 2G spectrum allocation disrupted the Question Hour in Parliament for the 22nd day on Monday as both government and the opposition stuck to their positions.
Suresh Kalmadi, lodged in Tihar jail in connection with alleged irregularities in Commonwealth Games, will be able to attend Parliament only if a competent court grants him permission, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said on Friday.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is expected to take a decision on the resignation of 13 members of Parliament from Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh before the Monsoon session of Parliament that begins on August 1.
The resignation of rebel Congress Member of Parliament from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has been accepted, Speaker Meira Kumar announced in the Lok Sabha on Friday. Kumar said Reddy's resignation has been accepted with effect from November 29. "I have to inform the House that I have received a letter dated November 29 from Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, an elected member from Kadapa parliamentary constituency of Andhra Pradesh.
Yet another effort to reach a consensus on the Women's Reservation Bill failed to make any progress with two major political parties staying away from an all-party meeting here today and others opposed to the measure sticking to their guns.
At a recent meeting of Parliamentary forum on Global Warming and Climate Change under the chairmanship of Speaker Meira Kumar, the idea of battery-operated vehicles was mooted with the aim of curbing vehicular emissions within the premises of Parliament, Lok Sabha sources said.
Besides Mukherjee, who is leader of the Lok Sabha, the committee, headed by Speaker Meira Kumar, will have four other members from the Congress, three from Bharatiya Janata Party each from Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal (United), Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Communist Party of India-Marxist.
Barack Obama became the second United States president to address the Parliament after Bill Clinton in 2000 on Monday and though the joint session opened to a packed central hall, the buzz, excitement and sheer charisma of Clinton was missing.
In order to ensure that the Lok Sabha is run smoothly during the winter session which will commence from Tuesday, Speaker Meira Kumar will meet leaders of all parties in the Lok Sabha at 0930 hrs on Tuesday in the Speaker's committee room in Parliament house.
When the House reassembled at noon after the first adjournment, members of Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal-United and Lok Janshakti Party rushed menacingly to the well shouting 'marshal bulao' (call the marshals), prompting Speaker Meira Kumar to immediately adjourn the House till 1400 hours.
Acts of violence were witnessed outside Congress and RJD headquarters in Bihar.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Saturday said Public Accounts Committee chairman Murli Manohar Joshi had no right to submit the draft report on the 2G scam to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as it was 'rejected' by a majority of the committee's members.
Unmindful of 'rejection' of the draft report on 2G scam by United Progressive Alliance members, Public Accounts Committee chairman Murli Manmohar Joshi on Saturday submitted it to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and insisted that it be tabled in Parliament.
BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde has been appointed Chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), a post vacated by expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh.
Members in the Lok Sabha, on Tuesday, condemned the "forcible" acquisition of land in Uttar Pradesh and firing on protesting farmers prompting the government to state that a comprehensive bill in this regard would be brought in Parliament at the earliest.
The government had a close shave on the penultimate day of the budget session of the Parliament when the Left demanded a division at the time of introduction of the Pension Regulatory Authority Bill.
National Democratic Alliance Convenor Sharad Yadav, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, BSP member Dara Singh Chauhan and RJD leader Lalu Prasad claimed that the inclusion of caste in census at the biometric stage amounted to befooling the people.
The Lok Sabha on Monday approved the Rail budget for 2011-12 after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee assured the House of effecting measures to ensure availability of adequate coaches and wagons in the coming years.
Meira Kumar said this while intervening in the discussion on priorities for the UN and its reform, at the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee of Speakers of Parliaments. The meeting was organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union at the United Nations in New York
Senior Congress member P C Chacko was on Friday made the chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G spectrum issue, setting in motion the probe into what the opposition is alleging as the biggest scam in independent India.
With Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar meeting leaders of political parties in Delhi on Thursday -- a routine drill before commencement of a month-long Lok Sabha session -- hectic political activities have begun behind the scenes.
Putting aside its winter fiasco, Parliament is all set for a smooth budget session from Monday with government telling the Opposition that an announcement on the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the 2G spectrum will be made on Tuesday.
The chairman of the committee on public undertakings, V Kishore Chandra Deo, said in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar that despite categorical instructions, Goyal did not attend the meeting, sources said.
According to the current plan in Congress party quarters to end the stand-off on a parliamentary probe into the telecom scam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to make a statement in Parliament on Tuesday, a day after it convenes, asking the Speaker to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the subject.By the rules, Speaker Meira Kumar will authorise this. A JPC generally has two-thirds of its members from the Lok Sabha and the rest from the Rajya Sabha.
Describing late Congress leader Jagjivan Ram's life as a "modern epic", Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal has said he fought battles on his own merit and helped others overcome challenges.
The transcript of the resignation letter of Justice Soumitra Sen -- -- against whom the Rajya Sabha has passed an impeachment resolution -- that was sent to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar
In an extraordinary step, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Friday served a legal notice on Press Trust of India for reporting that he appeared to be absentminded when called upon to make a statement by the Lok Sabha Speaker.
A stench of burnt wire and furniture filled the corridors outside the Speaker's chamber at around 10 am and it was cordonned of for visitors.
Ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday sought to take the sting out of Opposition attack on the 2G issue, saying Parliament should not "pre-judge" it as the matter is before courts.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday said she was considering BJP's breach of privilege notice against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for announcing outside Parliament the rejection of the demand for setting up of JPC in the IPL and phone tapping issues.
With the deadlock in Parliament continuing, Members of Parliament from non-National Democratic Alliance opposition parties on Friday approached President Pratibha Patil urging her to "advise" the government to accept the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G Spectrum scam.
The Parliamentary Forum on Children, headed by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, made the recommendations during a recent meeting of the panel and the report will soon be sent to the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, sources said. During the meeting, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath and senior Biju Janata Dal leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said "child budgeting" should be done on the lines of gender budgeting, which have provisions for women-specific schemes.
Cricketer turned politician and newly elected Congress' Member of Parliament from Moradabad constituency Mohammad Azaruddin, hit the first six of his political career when he was allowed by speaker Meira Kumar to make his maiden speech in the Parliament.
In a snub to Public Accounts Committee chairman Murli Manohar Joshi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has returned the controversial draft report filed by him on the 2G Spectrum allocation. "The draft report on the 2G issue has been returned to the PAC Chairman", sources in Parliament's PAC said on Tuesday.