The committee stressed that local heroes, both men and women, who have been ignored over the years, should be highlighted with their contributions to the country's history and unity.
Tag: Parliamentary Panel
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Cryptocurrencies can lead to dollarisation of economy: RBI officials to parliamentary panel
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Cryptocurrencies can lead to “dollarisation” of a part of the economy which would be against India’s sovereign interest, top officials of the RBI have told a parliamentary panel, according to sources.
Briefing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance chaired by former minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha, top officials of the RBI, including its governor Shaktikanta Das, clearly expressed their apprehensions about cryptocurrencies and said these pose challenges to the stability of the financial system, sources told PTI.
“It will seriously undermine the RBI’s capacity to determine monetary policy and regulate the monetary system of the country,” a member of the panel quoted RBI officials as saying.
Pointing out that cryptocurrencies have the potential to be a medium of exchange and replace the rupee in financial transactions both domestic and cross border, central bank officials said these currencies “can replace a part of monetary system it will also undermine the RBI’s capacity to regulate the flow of money in the system”.
Cautioning that besides being used for terror financing, money laundering and drug trafficking, cryptos pose a bigger threat to the stability of the financial system of the country, the central bank officials said.
“Almost all cryptocurrencies are dollar-denominated and issued by foreign private entities, it may eventually lead to dollarization of a part of our economy which will be against the country’s sovereign interest,” the officials told the members.
Discussing the impacts of cryptocurrency, the RBI officials said it will also have a negative impact on the banking system as these being attractive assets people may invest their hard-earned savings in these currencies which may result in banks having lesser resources to lend.
In Union Budget presented earlier this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a tax on trading in cryptocurrencies and related assets like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) at a flat 30 per cent and one per cent of tax will be deducted at source (TDS) when any such transaction takes place.
There are an estimated 15 million to 20 million crypto investors in India, with total crypto holdings of around USD 5.34 billion.
No official data is available on the size of the Indian crypto market.
The Sinha-led panel which has former GST council head Sushil Modi, former Union Ministers Manish Tewari and Saugata Roy as its members have been holding comprehensive deliberations with financial regulators.
As statutory bodies, both RBI and SEBI report to Parliament and the panel has the parliamentary responsibility to call upon the officials of these regulators over the financial and economic issues of the country.
Sinha, a pass out of IIT Delhi and MBA from Harvard Business School, was the Minister of State for Finance during the previous Modi government.
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Parliamentary panel raises concern over delay in projects in J&K, Ladakh
By IANS
NEW DELHI: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, in a recently concluded visit to both Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, have raised serious concern over the delay and red tapism in the bureaucracy.
According to the sources, the panel members were reported about the delay and red tapism in the bureaucracy which has been hampering the pace of development in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and many new schemes announced by the Union government were getting affected.
“Both the UTs are waiting for development that has been hampered by bureaucratisation of the process and a monopoly over releasing funds,” a source familiar with the development said.
The Committee, headed by Congress Rajya Sabha Member Anand Sharma, was on the visit to J&K and Ladakh from August 17 to 21 and met with officials from the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, the administration of both UTs and also some industry leaders.
Expressing satisfaction over the militancy which is at an all-time low and there have been no instances of stone pelting in the Valley, the members also visited the CRPF camps and the border areas.
The sources also said that Committee members were not happy to see the living conditions of the CRPF personnel and quality of the food being provided to them and noted that these should be improved at the earliest.
The panel members also visited border areas on the ‘Line of Control’ and raised concern over the pathetic conditions of the roads leading to ‘Border Out Posts’.
“The panel also observed that in a tense situation, the army has to mobilise in a short period of time, thus, the roads have to be improved,” the sources said.
In Ladakh, the panel members were reported about delay in releasing funds for development works which generally underutilised because of the delay, the sources further said.
With an aim to review the administration and development of the region and review the working conditions of central police forces, the parliamentary panel visited the two UTs after two months when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met top politicians of Jammu and Kashmir on June 24.
It was the first high-level interaction between the Central Government and political leaders from J&K after August 5, 2019, when the Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories.
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Parliamentary panel likely to visit J&K and Ladakh in August
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs is likely to visit Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh from August 17 to 21. They will assess development and security situation in border areas of the UTs.Members of the committee will hold meetings with the two Chief Secretaries, Lieutenant Governors (LG) and their advisors, said MHA sources. They are also expected to interact with security officials and look into people’s welfare and projects in the pipeline.
Congress leader Anand Sharma heads the panel of 31 members. The panel will visit the Border Out Posts (BOPs) near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to assess the condition of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Officials of ITBP will brief the panel in Leh.
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BJP’s Nishikant Dubey demands Shashi Tharoor’s removal as head of Parliamentary panel on IT
By PTI
NEW DELHI: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday demanded the removal of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor as the head of the Parliamentary panel on Information Technology, alleging that he was using his position in a discriminatory manner.Dubey raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, saying a letter has already been submitted to the Speaker in this regard on Tuesday.
The parliamentary panel’s meeting that was set to question government officials on Wednesday on the Pegasus spyware issue was postponed due to lack of quorum.
A number of members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology sat in Parliament to discuss ‘Citizens’ safety and date protection’. However, BJP members of the panel who were present in the meeting room didn’t sign the attendance register in protest leading to a lack of quorum required for holding the meeting.
The panel’s chair Tharoor had said the panel members will question officials from the Information and Technology Ministry and the Home Ministry who will depose before it on the Pegasus issue.
BJP members opposed this alleging that when the Congress is not allowing discussion on this issue in Parliament then it can’t be discussed in the committee meeting.
“BJP members come to the IT Committee and refuse to sign the attendance register to deny a quorum. Further, all the witnesses called from MiEIT and MHA wrote in excuses and didn’t appear as called to testify. It’s very clear that Pegasus is a no go area for this government,” the Congress’ Karti Chidambaram, who is a member of the panel, said on Twitter.
Since the beginning of the Monsoon Session on July 19, both Houses have seen repeated disruptions as opposition parties have been demanding a Supreme Court-monitored judicial probe in this matter.
The 32-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, for which the listed agenda was — Citizens’ data security and privacy — according to a notification by Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The panel, which has the maximum members from the ruling BJP, had summoned officials from the Ministry of Electronics, Information and Technology and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on a list of potential targets for surveillance using Israeli firm NSO’s Pegasus spyware.
Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, two union ministers — Prahlad Singh Patel and Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, businessman Anil Ambani, a former CBI chief, and at least 40 journalists are on the list on the leaked database of NSO.
It is, however, not established that all the phones were hacked.
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Parliamentary panel meeting to question govt officials on Pegasus postponed due to lack of quorum
By PTI
NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel meeting that was set to question government officials on Wednesday on the Pegasus spyware issue was postponed due to lack of quorum.A number of members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, sat in Parliament to discuss ‘Citizens’ safety and date protection’.
However, BJP members of the panel who were present in the meeting room didn’t sign the attendance register in protest leading to a lack of quorum required for holding the meeting.
The panel’s chair Tharoor had said the panel members will question officials from the Information and Technology Ministry and the Home Ministry who will depose before it on the Pegasus issue.
BJP members opposed this alleging that when the Congress is not allowing discussion on this issue in Parliament then it can’t be discussed in the committee meeting.
“BJP members come to the IT Committee and refuse to sign the attendance register to deny a quorum. Further, all the witnesses called from MiEIT and MHA wrote in excuses and didn’t appear as called to testify.
It’s very clear that Pegasus is a no go area for this government,” the Congress’ Karti Chidambaram, who is a member of the panel, said on Twitter.
Tharoor on Tuesday said the parliamentary panel on information technology will question government officials on allegations relating to suspected phone tapping of politicians, journalists and others using Pegasus spyware, while asserting that it was the “most important issue” for many members.
Since the beginning of the monsoon session on July 19, both Houses have seen repeated disruptions as opposition parties have been demanding a Supreme Court-monitored judicial probe in this matter.
The 32-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, for which the listed agenda was — Citizens’ data security and privacy — according to a notification by Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The panel, which has the maximum members from the ruling BJP, had summoned officials from the Ministry of Electronics, Information and Technology and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on a list of potential targets for surveillance using Israeli firm NSO’s Pegasus spyware.
Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, two union ministers — Prahlad Singh Patel and Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, businessman Anil Ambani, a former CBI chief, and at least 40 journalists are on the list on the leaked database of NSO.
It is, however, not established that all the phones were hacked.
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Parliamentary panel on IT summons Google, Facebook on June 29
By ANI
NEW DELHI: Parliament Standing Committee on Information Technology is scheduled to hold a meeting on June 29 to hear the views of Facebook India and Google India on safeguarding citizens’ rights and prevention of misuse of social online news media platforms.The Committee has called the representatives of the two IT giants to register their views on the matter.
Earlier on June 18, the Committee had called Twitter to appear before the panel to give representation on how to prevent misuse of social media and online news.
On June 20, India’s permanent mission at the United Nations had clarified that India’s new IT rules are “designed to empower ordinary users of social media” and that they were finalised after the government held broad consultations with civil society and other stakeholders in 2018.
The Central government has framed the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (‘new IT Rules’) and notified the same on February 25, 2021. The Rules have come into effect from May 26, 2021.
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Rule of land is supreme, not your policy, Twitter told by Parliamentary panel on IT
By Online Desk
Twitter India officials on Friday deposed before a parliamentary panel chaired by Shashi Tharoor of the Congress on preventing the misuse of social media.The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology, chaired by Tharoor, had last week summoned Twitter over issues related to misuse of the platform and protection of citizens’ rights.
Twitter India’s public policy manager Shagufta Kamran and legal counsel Ayushi Kapoor deposed before the panel on Friday.
Coming against the backdrop of the faceoff between the Union government and the microblogging platform, the panel told the Twitter officials that the rule of land is supreme and not its policy, reported PTI.
According to sources, members of the panel have asked Twitter why it should not be fined for ‘violating’ the rule of the land.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday sent a legal notice to the Managing Director of Twitter India Manish Maheshwari regarding the viral video of the assault on an elderly man in Loni. The MD has been asked to record his statement after the microblogging site “let the anti-social messages go viral”.
This is the second time the Twitter MD has been called for an inquiry in the last 20 days.
The police reportedly had also questioned Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari on May 31 and visited the Twitter India offices in Delhi and Gurgaon on May 24 over the toolkit issue.
Recently, Twitter also lost its legal indemnity over its failure to comply with the new IT norms.
(Further details awaited)
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Parliamentary panel members question top government officials over rising prices of petroleum products
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Several members of a parliamentary panel on Thursday questioned top Petroleum Ministry officials over rising prices of petroleum products and what is being done to check it, sources said.Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor and top officials of state-run firms IOCL, BPCL, HPCL and GAIL appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas Affairs.
Several committee members, primarily those from opposition parties, posed questions on the frequent rise in prices of petroleum products and said that it was severely impacting household budget of common people, according to the sources.
Ministry officials told the panel that prices of petroleum products are linked to international crude prices, sources said.
A member from the opposition strongly countered the officials’ argument and said that even when the international crude prices come down, the prices in domestic market remain on the higher side, sources said.
Some members also said the decision on revising petroleum prices is often taken based on elections.
According to the sources, it was raised in the meeting that petrol price is above Rs 100 per litre in as many as seven states while it is hovering around Rs 100 in many others.
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COVID -19: Parliamentary panel had asked govt in March to ramp up vaccine production capacity
By PTI
NEW DELHI: A parliamentary standing committee had in March suggested ramping up of production capacity of the two COVID vaccines manufactured in India for ensuring their availability to a wider population as soon as possible after it was informed that there could be a “shortage” if the inoculation is opened beyond the priority groups.The recommendation was made by the 31-member committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, chaired by senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, in its report on Demand for Grants for Department of Biotechnology that was tabled in Parliament on March 8.
The panel has as many as 14 members from the ruling BJP.
“The Committee recommends to strengthen the efforts for ramping up the production capacity of the two approved vaccines as well as provide all research, laboratory infrastructure and capacity building support to the other vaccine candidates in the pipeline, in order to ensure the availability of a safe, affordable, and efficacious vaccine to the wider population as soon as possible,” the report said.
According to sources, during the standing committee meeting on February 17, members of the panel had asked as to how soon the vaccination exercise can be opened beyond priority groups, to which it was conveyed that there could be a shortage if it is opened beyond the priority groups.
When asked about the recommendation of the committee, Ramesh said it was clear to the panel from the submissions made by the government that the current production would be inadequate to meet the demand for vaccines.
“India needs around 1.9 billion doses to fully vaccinate all adults. It was clear to the Standing Committee from the data presented by the government that the current production capacity is inadequate to meet that demand.
“That’s why we recommended that the production capacity must be ramped up as soon as possible. Alas, this wasn’t done, and now we are facing a massive vaccine shortage,” the house panel chairman Jairam Ramesh told PTI.
However, BJP MP from Jhansi Anurag Sharma, who was part of the panel, said the Centre had worked on the committee’s recommendations by allocating funds to both Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India.
Several states have decided to issue global tenders for procurement of COVID vaccines as the domestic supply has failed to keep up with the rising demand amid the fierce second wave of the pandemic.
These include Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha.
The parliamentary panel report tabled in March also mentions that Covaxin, developed jointly by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has a planned production capacity of 150 million doses per year.
The estimated manufacturing capacity of Covishield manufactured by the Serum Institute of India is about 70-100 million doses per month.
The Department of Biotechnology had also informed the standing committee that the Centre launched ‘Mission COVID Suraksha’ for research and development of Indian COVID-19 vaccines which are affordable and accessible.
The mission aims to accelerate the development of approximately 5-6 vaccine candidates.
It is being implemented by BIRAC, a PSU.
The total budget allocated to it is Rs 900 crore for 12 months.
India started the world’s largest vaccination drive on January 16 this year in a phased manner with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated first.
The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 from April 1.
Implementation of the Liberalised and Accelerated Phase 3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination to inoculate those in the age group of 18-44 years started from May 1 amid the outbreak of the second COVID wave.
The Centre had also allowed states to directly procure vaccines from manufacturers at a pre-decided rate.