News Analysis India

Tag: Budget Session of Parliament

  • Budget Session ends as both Houses adjourned sine die

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Thursday was adjourned sine die ahead of the assembly polls in four states and one union territory, thus bringing an end to the Budget Session of the Parliament. The Lok Sabha too was adjourned sine die earlier in the day.

    The month-long second part of the Budget session had started on March 8 was earlier scheduled to end on April 8.

    Several MPs at the behest of their parties had earlier approached the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Chairman of Rajya Sabha M Venkaiah Naidu to curtail the session, citing elections as the reason.

    Trinamool Congress leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O’Brien had written respectively to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman, requesting them to adjourn the proceedings.

    The first part of the Budget Session commenced with the address of President Ram Nath Kovind on January 29 and concluded on February 29.

    Elections are due to be held in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry from March 27 to April 29. The results for the same will be announced on May 2.

  • Inequality rising under NDA govt: Congress during debate on Finance Bill

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday alleged that economic inequality in the society has been increasing under the NDA government, a charge refuted by the BJP, which said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been sincerely working for the welfare of the poor.

    Initiating the debate on the Finance Bill, 2021, Congress member Amar Singh said the economic situation in the country is deteriorating and charged that 73 per cent of the country’s wealth is going to just 1 per cent of the population.

    “Inequality is increasing very fast,” he said.

    Singh said except agriculture, all sectors have been suffering due to “wrong” policies adopted by the central government.

    He said if the central government does a sample survey of the unorganised sector, which contributes 45 to 50 per cent to the economy and provides employment to a similar number of people, it will find that the sector is the worst sufferer.

    Singh charged that the government has given tax relief only to the rich whereas the common people have been suffering because of the price rise of essential commodities and petroleum products.

    The Congress member claimed that allocation to the health and agriculture sectors has reduced which will create problems for the poor.

    He also demanded that the three agricultural laws should be withdrawn as demanded by the agitating farmers.

    BJP member Rajendra Agrawal said the BJP-led government has been working relentlessly for the welfare of the poor, deprived, backward and women.

    “Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed charge in 2014, he has been working for the all round development of the poor and downtrodden without taking any break,” he said.

    Agrawal said the three agricultural acts enacted last year have been been beneficial for farmers and many peasants have already benefitted from them.

    He also blamed the Congress and Left parties for the poor condition of the country’s agriculture and industrial sectors.

    The BJP member charged the Congress cannot go beyond the prism of votes bank politics and when in power, carried out development where it would get votes.

     

  • 130 people still missing in Uttarakhand glacial burst: Govt in Lok Sabha

    Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the government of Uttarakhand has also constituted a committee to review the glacial natural lakes and their effects.

  • This mindset encourages crimes against women: Jaya Bachchan on Uttarakhand CM’s ripped jeans remark

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Actor-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan has expressed her disappointment over Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat’s ripped jeans comment, saying this is the “mindset that encourages crimes against women”.

    “Such statements don’t befit a chief minister. Those on higher posts must think before making public statements. You say such things in today’s times. Will you decide who’s cultured and who’s not on the basis of clothes? Rajya Sabha MP from Samajwadi Party, Jaya Bachchan said on Thursday while talking to ANI.

    “It’s bad mindset and encourages crimes against women,” she added.

    The newly appointed Uttarakhand chief minister recently stirred a row by saying that women wearing ripped jeans send the wrong message to society and children.

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    Speaking at a workshop organised by the Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in Dehradun, Rawat said that he was shocked to meet a woman, who runs an NGO, wearing ripped jeans on a flight with her kids. “What kind of message are we giving out to society,” he said.

    Amid widespread condemnation of Rawat’s comments, several women, including politicians and celebrities, posted photos in ripped jeans with the hashtag #RippedJeansTwitter.

    “Rapes happen not because women wear short clothes but because men like Tirath Singh Rawat propagate mysogyny and fail to do their duty. Stand in solidarity with the women in #RippedJeansTwitter (sic),” tweeted Swati Maliwal. 

  • Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari announces vehicle scrappage policy in Lok Sabha

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the vehicle scrappage policy in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

    In case of failure to get a fitness certificate, commercial vehicles will be de-registered after 15 years. Private vehicles will be de-registered after 20 years if found unfit or in case of a failure to renew registration certificates, the Minister said.

    He added that under the new vehicle scrappage policy, owners of old vehicles will get strong incentives to scrap old and unfit vehicles.

    “We have issued an advisory to all vehicle manufacturers to offer 5 per cent discount while selling a new vehicle against a scrapping certificate,” the minister said in Lok Sabha.

    “In the interest of a clean environment and rider and pedestrian safety, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is introducing the ‘Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program’ or ‘Vehicle Scrapping Policy’, which is aimed at creating an eco-system for phasing out of unfit and polluting vehicles,” said the Union Minister in a suo-moto statement.

    “The objectives of the policy are to reduce the population of old and defective vehicles, achieve a reduction in vehicular air pollutants to fulfill India’s climate commitments, improve road and vehicular safety, achieve better fuel efficiency, formalize the currently informal vehicle scrapping industry, and boost the availability of low-cost raw materials for automotive, steel and electronics industry,” Gadkari added.

    The criteria for a vehicle to be scrapped is primarily based on the fitness of vehicles through Automated Fitness Centres (AFCs) in case of commercial vehicles and non-renewal of Registration in case of private vehicles.

    “The Ministry shall promote setting up of AFCs on a PPP model by state government, private sector, automobile companies etc.,” he said.

    All vehicles of the central government, state government, municipal corporations, Panchayats, State Transport Undertakings, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and autonomous bodies with the Union and state governments may be de-registered and scrapped after 15 years from the date of registration.

    The tentative date for scrappage of government and PSUs vehicles above 15 years of age is April 1, 2022.

    The new scrappage policy was proposed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget speech last month.  

  • Cabinet clears Development Finance Institution with capital infusion of Rs 20000 crore

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet has cleared the setting up of a Development Finance Institution (DFI) with a capital infusion of Rs 20,000 crore, announced Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.

    “During the Union Budget, we had mentioned that we will be setting up a national bank to fund infrastructure and developmental activities. Past attempts to have alternative investment funds were taken up, but for various reasons, we ended up with no bank which could take up long-term risk (which is very high) and fund development. Following this, Union Cabinet has cleared the setting up of a Development Finance Institution (DFI), in acknowledgement of the realisation that both development and financial objectives will matter for setting up a DFI,” said Sithraman while addressing a press conference.

    Earlier, Sitharaman attended the meeting of the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA).

    “DFI will help raise long-term funds; the Union Budget of 2021 will provide an initial amount. The capital infusion will be of about Rs 20,000 crore this year; the initial grant will be Rs 5,000 crore, additional increments of the grant will be made within limit of Rs 5,000 crore,” the Finance Minister said.

    “Union government is also planning to issue some securities to Development Finance Institution, by which cost of funds will come down. All this will help DFI leverage initial capital and draw funds from various sources; will also have a positive impact on the bond market in India,” she said.

    On February 1, Sitharaman had announced that the central government will set-up a “professionally managed” DFI capitalised with Rs 20,000 crore, aiming to have a lending portfolio of at least Rs five lakh crore within three years time.

    While presenting the budget 2021-22, Sitharaman had said that the government would introduce a bill in the budget session of Parliament to set up a new DFI.

    “The National Infrastructure Pipeline which I had announced in December 2019 is a first of its kind. The NIP was launched with over 6,835 projects, now it has expanded to over 7,400 projects. Around 217 projects worth Rs 1,01 lakh crore have been completed,” she said. 

  • PM Modi to chair all-party meeting on Jan 30, to put forth legislative agenda for Budget Session

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair an all-party meeting on Saturday to put forth the government’s legislative agenda for the Budget Session of Parliament.

    This time the customary all-party meeting is being held after the beginning of the session.

    The Budget Session began on Friday with President Ram Nath Kovind addressing the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament.

    Usually such all-party meetings are held ahead of parliamentary sessions to ensure smooth functioning of both the Houses.

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    During the virtual meeting, opposition parties are likely to demand a debate on the farmers’ agitation underway at various border points of Delhi.

    The opposition parties had raised a similar demand at an all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday, but the government suggested that the issue of farmers’ agitation can be raised during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address for which 10 hours have been allocated in Lok Sabha on February 2,3 and 4.

    Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha are meeting in shifts of five hours each to ensure distancing norms.

    While Rajya Sabha will meet in the morning, Lok Sabha will meet in the second half of the day.

  • Keeping Covid in mind, Venkaiah Naidu reviews arrangements made for Budget Session of Parliament

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday reviewed preparations for the Budget Session of Parliament starting January 29.

    Naidu held a meeting with the secretary general and senior officers of the Rajya Sabha secretariat and discussed seating arrangements made for its members in chambers of both Houses and galleries to ensure a gap of six feet between chairs due to COVID-19 restrictions.

    He also enquired about other COVID-19 preventive measures being taken by the secretariat.

    He stressed that COVID-19 guidelines should be strictly followed.

    The chairman said that apart from the members and Parliament officers and staff, COVID-19 test should be made mandatory for personal staff of ministers, members and officers of ministries who enter Parliament during the session.

    Naidu was informed that necessary arrangements for COVID-19 test of members and Parliament staff have been made and necessary instructions have been issued to various ministries through the cabinet secretariat for test of ministry officials.

    He was also informed that all the state chief secretaries have been asked to give priority for RT-PCR tests of members of Parliament.