News Analysis India

Tag: Rajya Sabha

  • Parliament passes Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Parliament Wednesday passed the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill that seeks to allow investigators to collect certain identifiable information of convicts and other persons for purposes of identification and investigation in criminal matters.

    The Rajya Sabha passed the bill by a voice vote after Home Minister Amit Shah allayed concerns raised by the opposition which claimed that the draft law was draconian.

    Earlier, the bill was passed by Lok Sabha.

    The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 replaces the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920.

    Shah said the bill has been brought in to ensure that police and investigators remain two steps ahead of criminals.

    He said the biometric data of political detainees will not be collected if they have been detained during participation in any agitation.

    “I want to assure that this is not going to violate privacy of anyone,” Shah said.

    He said that the data collected will remain completely secure and the government will make sure there are no loopholes in the bill that can lead to the violation of privacy and human rights.

    PTI PRS PRS TIR TIR 04061924 NNNN

  • Congress raises instances of hate speech against minorities in Rajya Sabha

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The opposition Congress on Wednesday raised in the Rajya Sabha increased instances of hate speeches against minorities in the country, including controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand’s call to Hindus to take up arms.

    Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not allow the issue to be raised under rule 267 and even ordered expunging from records the references to the alleged call by the priest for the killing of a particular minority community.

    ALSO READ: Hate speech against Muslims again by Yati; mediapersons roughed up

    “This shall not go on record. No community name will go on record,” Naidu ruled on Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge seeking to raise the issue through a notice under rule 267 which calls for suspension of the business of the day to take up the issue being raised.

    Kharge said he has given notice under rule 267 about instances of hate speech against minorities in the country and alleged harassment of journalists of certain online media outlets.

    Swamijis are giving instigating speeches from Haridwar to Delhi, he said in an oblique reference to Narsinghanand’s speeches.

    “On Sunday, one Swami said that all… (community name expunged on Naidu’s order) should be butchered.”

    Naidu said, “We should not quote his words if he has uttered a meaningless word. Again raising in the House and then having a discussion on who spoke what. That is not going to solve the problem. I have not allowed it.”

    “Nobody should indulge in hate speech against any community, minority, or majority. Communities should not be taken nobody should make any speech against anybody.”

    Yati Narsinghanand, the controversial head priest of the Dasna Devi temple, sparked yet another row on Sunday with his comment exhorting Hindus to take up arms to “fight for their existence”.

    Earlier, Naidu said he has not allowed notices by Kharge and Sushmita Dev, both of the Congress and Luizinho Joaquim Faleiro and Mohd.

    Nadimul Haque, both of TMC, under rule 267 on issues of rising prices and instances of hate speeches.

    “They do not come under the purview of 267,” he said, adding, “Even if you give notices every day, if it is not worth to be taken up under that rule, I will not do it.”

  • RS proceedings adjourned till 12 noon amid opposition protest over price rise

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for nearly 50 minutes till 12 noon on Monday amid protest by opposition parties who wanted the House to discuss issues related to price rise.

    Several opposition members had given notice to discuss the price rise situation, but Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not accept the demand.

    Several opposition party members then started protesting. As the protest continued, the Chairman adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon.

  • DMK moves Bill in Rajya Sabha to fix two-month time limit for Governors to decide on Bills

    Express News Service

    CHENNAI: A day after Chief Minister MK Stalin strongly took up the delay being caused by Governor RN Ravi in forwarding the Bill seeking exemption from NEET for medical admissions in Tamil Nadu to the President, DMK MP P Wilson on Friday introduced a private member’s Bill in the Rajya Sabha to amend Article 200 of the Constitution setting a two-month time limit for Governors to decide on Bills.

    “Some of the Governors are impeding the functioning of democratically elected Governments by acting as stumbling blocks in processing the Bills passed by the Legislative Assemblies. They sit over the Bills indefinitely and some Governors are even usurping the powers of the President, passing unwarranted comments while returning the Bill to the Legislatures. The returning of the NEET Bill in our state is one such act of a Governor,” Wilson told The New Indian Express.

    The Bill introduced by the DMK MP said the absence of a time limit in Article 200 gives the Governor unbridled power to delay the fate of the Bill. Thus, non-prescription of a time limit is an impediment to the welfare of the people. Governors taking a long time to decide on the Bills defeat the will of the people since the State Legislature represents the mandate of the people.

    Pointing out that as the Constitutional Head of the State, the Governor owes a responsibility to the people of the state, the Bill said, “It is trite in law that any constitutional authority must perform its duties within a reasonable time frame.  However, in the recent past, we have seen several instances of Governors sitting over Bills passed by the State Legislatures for an inordinate amount of time, without deciding one way or the other,” the Bill explained.

    “All Bills passed by the State Legislature are for the welfare of the people of the state. The state government’s functioning cannot indirectly be curtailed and rendered inutile by the actions of the Governor, a Union appointee. That infringes the balance of power between the Union and states established by the Constitution,” the Bill added.

    Meanwhile, DMK mouthpiece Murasoli, in its editorial, took exception to a further delay being caused by Governor RN Ravi in forwarding the NEET Bill to the President. “The State Assembly has passed this Bill for the second time and it is pending before the Governor nearly for around two months. When Chief Minister MK Stalin called on him on March 15 and urged him to forward the Bill to the President, the Governor had assured him that it would be done. However, till now, it has not been forwarded to the President,” the editorial said.

    The editorial of Murasoli further said the way the Governor delays the NEET Bill goes against the Cabinet system being followed in India. “The Governors cannot function in a manner similar to what prevailed during the Dual Rule system in the 1920s,” the editorial added.

  • BJP, ally United People’s Party Liberal win both seats from Assam in Rajya Sabha polls

    By ANI

    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday announced that the BJP and its ally United People’s Party Liberal won one seat each, thus bagging both the seats from the state in the ongoing Rajya Sabha elections.

    BJP candidate Pabitra Margherita secured 46 votes while its ally party UPPL’s candidate Rwngwra Narzary secured 44 votes. Congress candidate Ripun Bora secured 35 votes whereas 1 vote was cancelled. With this victory, the BJP’s number in the Upper House reached the 100 mark and it is the first party to do so since 1988.

    Assam Chief Minister took to Twitter to announce the victory and said, “We won both the Rajya Sabha seats from Assam (one by the BJP and other by UPPL, our partner) by a huge margin of 11 and 9 votes respectively.”

    The Chief Minister also extended greetings to the winners and said that the state has reposed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi by electing two NDA candidates to the Rajya Sabha.”Assam has reposed its faith in PM Sri @narendramodi ji by electing two NDA candidates to the Rajya Sabha by huge margins – BJP’s Sri Pabitra Margherita (won by 11 votes) & UPPL’s Sri Rwngwra Narzary (won by 9 votes). My compliments to winners,” Sarma tweeted.

    Assam has reposed its faith in PM Sri @narendramodi ji by electing two NDA candidates to the Rajya Sabha by huge margins – BJP’s Sri Pabitra Margherita (won by 11 votes) & UPPL’s Sri Rwngwra Narzary (won by 9 votes).My compliments to winners @AmitShah @JPNadda @blsanthosh pic.twitter.com/Lozn8hkNGg
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) March 31, 2022
    For the first time, Congress will have no Rajya Sabha MP from Assam.

    The poor performance of the Congress in assembly polls across five states will impact its Rajya Sabha numbers and the party is now staring at the possibility of losing the Leader of Opposition status in the upper house of Parliament.

    After binneial polls to Upper House are held this year, Congress numbers will be at a historic low and likely to be close to the minimum strength required to maintain the Leader of Opposition status. If the party is unable to do well in Gujarat polls later this year and the Karnataka assembly polls next year, it could lose this status in the subsequent binneial elections to the upper House.

    Earlier, the Congress party had filed a complaint before the Election Commission of India that some BJP MLAs had violated the rules of Rajya Sabha polls and the Congress party demanded that those MLAs votes should be cancelled.

    After complete verification, the ECI has directed the Election officials to start the counting of votes.

  • PM Modi urges retiring RS members to inspire coming generations

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged MPs retiring from the Rajya Sabha to share their experiences gained in the House with people across the country and inspire coming generations.

    Bidding farewell to 72 Rajya Sabha members retiring till July, the prime minister said experience has its own importance, and the MPs should take it forward in the service of the nation.

    “When experienced people go, the responsibility of those remaining increases and they have to take the House foward,” Modi said.

    “In the 75th year of India’s independence, our great men have given us a lot, and now it our responsibility to make our contribution to the nation,” the prime minister added. “I urge the retiring members to inspire our coming generations,” he said.

    Of the 72, 65 retiring members represent 19 states while seven are nominated members.

  • RS to continue discussions on Finance Bill 2022

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday will continue discussions on the ‘Finance Bill 2022’ and ‘Appropriation Bill, 2022’ moved by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman the previous day.

    The two the bills were moved for consideration and also for it to be returned.

    “The Bill to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2022-23, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration,” said the Rajya Sabha business list.

    Regarding the Finance Bill, the list said: “That the Bill to give effect to the financial proposals of the Central Government for the financial year 2022-23, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration.”

    MPs Naresh Bansal and Vivek Thakur will lay on the table, a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the statements showing further action taken by the Centre on the observations, recommendations of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development, contained in the different reports.

    Union Ministers Rao Inderjit Singh, Shripad Yessor Naik, Krishan Pal, Pankaj chaudhary, Rameshwar Teli, Bhagwant Khuba, Bhagwat Karad, Bharati Pravin Pawar, Shantanu Thakur and Munjapara Mahendrabhai will lay papers related to different Ministries.

  • Rajya Sabha members express concern over rising cases of cancer

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha members on Wednesday expressed concern over the rising cases of cancer in the country and suggested various measures, including regular check-up camps in rural areas and mandatory warning on processed meat packets, to tackle the disease.

    Raising the issue during Zero Hour, BJP’s Mahesh Poddar demanded that cancer warning should be made mandatory on packets of processed meat in line with tobacco products.

    He said the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) had announced in 2015 that consumption of processed meat and red meat may cause cancer.

    Expressing concern over the increased consumption of processed meat in India, the BJP member said the country could witness as high as 16 lakh cases annually by 2025.

    He suggested that in line with tobacco products, the government should make cancer warning mandatory on processed meat packets as well.

    Senior SP member Rewati Raman Singh too expressed concern over the rising cases of cancer, saying about 1,400-1,600 people are losing their lives due to the disease everyday.

    He warned that if preventive measures are not taken, the disease could “become a Tsunami.” Stating that 60 per cent of India’s population lives in the rural areas, Singh suggested that regular check-up camps should be organised for early detection of cancer among people.

    He also made a case for removal of GST on medicines used for treatment of cancer.

    Congress member L Hanumanthaiah demanded that a special grant should be given to Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Bengaluru to establish of a full-fledged proton therapy facility.

    He said the institute needs Rs 550 crore to set up the facility, and it is only seeking Rs 230 crore under special grant from the central government. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said that Rajya Sabha MPs can contribute to the institute.

    In his Zero Hour mention, Jose K Mani of KC (M) expressed concern over “unregulated rise” in fares of air tickets, especially to Gulf countries, which is affecting millions of Indians working there.

    He said the air ticket which normally cost Rs 15,000-Rs 25,000 (two way journey), rises to Rs 50,000-Rs 70,000 during the vacation times (April-August) and festivals.

    Due to the high ticket cost, Indians working in Gulf countries cannot afford to come to India to meet their families, he said. He urged the Civil Aviation ministry to impose a ceiling on the ticket prices.

    NCP member Vandana Chavan expressed concern over instances of misinformation during health crisis situations, and demanded that the government should develop a credible platform that provides “fast, accurate, authentic information” that is easily understandable.

    This, she said, will also safeguard the interest of the government as well as people. She said during the Covid pandemic, there was a spate of fake news, rumours and disinformation, that was spread among people through social media platforms.

    Ashok Bajpai of the BJP said it has been noted that vehicles even in good conditions are scrapped after 10 years, which is a loss for the country. He suggested that vehicles should be permitted even after 10 years if they are in good condition.

  • Second part of the Budget session 2022 resumes on Monday

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI: The second part of the Budget session will resume on Monday and will last until April 8, 2022.

    The House will sit from 11 am till 6 pm during the scheduled 19 sittings whereas it sat from 10 am till 3 pm during the first part of the Budget session due to Covid-19 protocols during the first part of the Budget session.

    The Rajya Sabha is likely to get over 64 hours to transact the legislative business besides taking up the issues of public importance during this part of the session.

    The second part of the Budget session is resuming after a 30-day recess and during this the ‘Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committees (DRSCs)’ examined the Demands for Grants of various Ministries and Departments.

    The Upper House will have four days for Private Member’s Business and the hour long ‘Zero Hour’ and ‘Question Hour’ to continue as usual. During the last session, the ‘Question Hour’ was reduced to half an hour because of the reduced timing of the sitting.

    Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu is likely to give an account of the working during this recess of the DRSCs of Rajya Sabha in the House on Monday.

    External Affair Minister S. Jaishankar is likely to make a statement in the Upper House on the evacuation of the Indian nationals from war torn country Ukraine under Operation Ganga.

    During the last session, the duration of the question hour was reduced to half an hour because of the reduced time of the sitting, now this will be of one hour along while the Zero Hour will be of usual one hour at the beginning of the sitting.

    Four days have been allotted for the Private Member’s Business on each Friday barring 18 March which is holiday on account of the festival.

    The first part of this budget session was concluded on February 11, 2022 with 10 sittings and the productivity of the House was 101.40 per cent.

  • EC announces RS poll schedule for five seats in Punjab

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: As the term of five Rajya Sabha members elected from Punjab is going to expire in April, the Election Commission (EC) has announced the schedule for the biennial election to the Upper House of Parliament from the state.

    The term of office of Rajya Sabha members Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (Shiromani Akali Dal), Partap Singh Bajwa (Congress), Shwait Malik (BJP), Naresh Gujral (SAD) and Shamsher Singh Dullo (Congress) is due to expire on April 9.

    Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju on Sunday said according to the schedule, the notification for the biennial election will be issued on Monday (March 14).

    The last date for filing nominations is March 21, while a scrutiny of the nominations will be carried out on March 22, according to an official release. The last date for withdrawal of candidature has been fixed on March 24.

    Polling will be held from 9 am to 4 pm on March 31 and the counting of votes will be taken up at 5 pm on the same day. The poll process shall be completed before April 2, Raju said.

    He further informed that the nomination papers are to be filed with the secretary of the Assembly, who is the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha election.

    Nomination papers cannot be presented on March 18 because of the festival of Holi and on March 20 (Sunday).

    However, nomination papers can be filed on March 19.

    In order to become a member of the council of states, a candidate should be registered as a voter in any parliamentary constituency in the country.

    To satisfy the returning officer on this count, the candidates should produce a certified copy of the relevant entry of the electoral roll in force, the release said.