Tag: Lok Sabha

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LS Speaker withdraws suspension of 4 MPs

The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Indian Antarctic Bill 2022 amid sloganeering by the opposition MPs which forced the adjournment of the House…reports Asian Lite News

The Lok Sabha Speaker withdrew the suspension of four Congress MPs on Monday after the Opposition assured that they will not bring placards into the House.

Speaker Om Birla gave the ruling and asked the members to respect the sanctity of the House. The proposal for the withdrawal of the suspensions was moved by parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi.

The four Congress MPs — Manickam Tagore, Ramya Haridas, Jothimani and T.N. Prathapan — were suspended last Monday for the entire Monsoon Session ending August 12 for holding protests with placards inside the House. Speaker Om Birla had earlier warned them to behave and not to wave the placards inside the House if they wanted to protest.

As the proceedings began in the Lok Sabha last Monday after the swearing-in ceremony of President Droupadi Murmu, the opposition members started sloganeering on the issue of price rise and hiked GST rates. Some MPs were seen holding placards and banners and some Opposition MPs reached the well of the House.

Antarctic Bill passed in RS before adjournment

The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Indian Antarctic Bill 2022 amid sloganeering by the opposition MPs which forced the adjournment of the House.

The Lok Sabha had given its approval to the bill on July 22.

The Indian Antarctic Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh. The bill was passed with a voice vote after a brief discussion amid protests by the opposition members.

The bill seeks to protect the environment of the Antarctic along with dependent and associated ecosystems and to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty. India has two active research stations in the Antarctic — Maitri and Bharti.

The bill proposes to prohibit Indian expedition to Antarctica without a permit or written authorisation of another party to the Antarctic Treaty. It also provides for inspection by an officer appointed by the government and for a penalty for contravention of certain provisions of the legislation.

The Upper House also listed the widely-demanded price rise issue for discussion on Tuesday. Both the Houses witnessed repeated adjournments on Monday amid protests by the opposition members.

Trinamool MP bites raw brinjal in Lok Sabha

Trinamool Congress member Lok Sabha Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, participating in a debate in the house on Monday. pulled out a raw brinjal and bit it to show the plight of common people due to hike in the prices of LPG (cooking gas) cylinders.

“Do they want us to eat raw vegetables,” she said, targetting the government in a debate on price rise initiated by Congress member Manish Tewari.

Dastidar said that the cost of LPG has risen from Rs 600 to Rs 1,100 per cylinder which has disturbed the budget of a household.

Beginning the debate, Tewari had said that during the past 14 months, the inflation rate has been in double digits, making it the highest in 30 years.

He also noted that GST has been increased on daily items like rice, curd, paneer and unfortunately, even the children have not been spared as stationary prices have also gone up. Speaking in Hindi, he concluded the debate with a Punjabi couplet saying that since demonetisation, the country’s economy is on a downward trajectory.

Defending the government, BJP’s Nishikant Dubey said in the neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan, the inflation is rising and so is unemployment, but “despite such a bad situation in India, the poor are still getting two-time meal for free…”

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Family Court Amendment Bill passed in Lok Sabha

However, the opposition is slamming the government, alleging that it is not willing to hold discussion and is trying to corner the opposition…reports Asian Lite News

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Family Court Amendment Bill.

The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 18, 2022. It allows state governments to establish Family Courts, and the Central government is empowered to notify dates for the Act to come into force in different states.

Speaking in the Parliament, Law Minister Kiren Rijuju has expressed concern over the pendency of cases which are reaching 5 crore despite fast disposal of cases.

He said the rate of disposal is also high but the cases are being filed as well.

The Minister also that the government does not interfere in the appointment of judges but it can’t appoint anyone as it has also the process of due diligence and the government has every right to do that.

The Bill seeks to extend retrospectively the Act to the state of Himachal Pradesh, with effect from February 15, 2019, and to the state of Nagaland, with effect from September 12, 2008.

The establishment of Family Courts in both the states will be retrospectively valid from these dates. All actions taken under the Act in both the states, including the appointment of judges, and orders and judgments passed by the Family Courts, will also be deemed to be valid from these dates retrospectively.

Meanwhile, the Central government seems to be in a confrontation mode in Parliament and has alleged that the opposition is not willing to let the House run, hence the decision to suspend ‘unruly’ MPs.

The government on Tuesday again emphasized that it is ready for discussion and will hold it as soon as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers from Covid-19.

Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal, said, “We are ready for discussion but despite that the opposition members are repeatedly disrupting the House proceedings. We have been saying that we are hopeful that as soon as the Finance Minister comes the discussion on price rise will take place.”

However, the opposition is slamming the government, alleging that it is not willing to hold discussion and is trying to corner the opposition.

Trinamool Congress MP Mausam Noor, who was one of the suspended MPs, said, “The suspension is very unfortunate, and the MPs only wanted to have discussions on inflation.”

She alleged that the “government does not want to have a discussion and this is the reason we have been suspended, we will continue the protest outside Parliament”.

A total 19 MPs were suspended as the government was in no mood to relent. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “With the suspension of Opposition MPs from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, it is abundantly clear that Modi Sarkar is in no mood to allow the Opposition to raise Real, URGENT issues being faced by the people of our country in Parliament.”

The 19 members include seven from the Trinamool Congress, six from the DMK, three from Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), two from CPI-M and one from CPI.

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Lok Sabha begins discussion on climate change

Trinamool Congress’ Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said that this is an important issue for all human beings…reports Asian Lite News.

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday took up the discussion on climate change under Rule 193.

Speaker On Birla said this is an important subject for all human beings, and it is a matter of great pride that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advocated the conservation of the climate on all international forums.

Initiating the debate, DMK’s Kanimozhi cited the excessive flooding in recent weeks in south India and how Chennai has badly affected again, as she stressed that the government needs to act on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

BJP’s Sanjay Jaiswal said that Prime Minister Modi has initiated a series of steps in this direction soon after he took over in 2014 and equally voiced his concerns on all international forums. Even in the Glasgow summit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had widely praised him a lot for his pro-active role played for climate change, he added.

However, Leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the time has come when we need to think globally but act locally. India has the lowest rate of emission at five percent only compared to other countries of the world, but climate change was “the most under-reported failure of the Modi government”. “The assault on climate began as soon as Modi government took over in 2014,” he added.

Trinamool Congress’ Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said that this is an important issue for all human beings.

“In India, we cannot put on a mask all the time. Some rich people use air fresheners in their rooms but poor people cannot and they are forced to inhale the polluted air,” she said.

She also said that one should not plainly blame the farmers for burning the stubble as they have been doing it for ages. “We should teach them alternate ways first.”

She noted that unplanned development, not in keeping with the sustainable development goals, is causing Climate Change.

“The area of Sunderban in Bengal is under constant threat as the water level in the Ganga is rising and the sea level is also rising due to the melting ice in Antarctica.

“We need to certainly think on the issues… We need to reduce the carbon emissions, we need electric vehicles. The frequency of the cyclone has increased substantially in recent times.

“We need to have renewable energy as Denmark has 100 percent renewable energy. Solar energy could be a substantial replacement but 80 percent of the energy in India comes from fossil fuels,” she said.

She also suggested that the MPLAD funds can be used for setting up solar panels in rural areas, hospitals and other places and the government should amend the law to allow this.

Dileswar Kamait of the Janata Dal-United said that unplanned development of the cities, the impact of climate change can be seen in every part of the world but this is more seen in India. For infra projects, around 69 lakhs trees have been cut in recent years, he added.

BSP member Ritesh Pandey said that we need to be serious about climate change and economic development and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

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