Page 15 - Parliament

SC refuses to entertain PIL on putting up draft laws in public domain

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking directions to the Centre and the states to publish draft laws prominently on government websites and in the public domain at least 60 days before they are introduced in Parliament and state assemblies. A bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi, however, hoped that the governments would put the laws in public domain in local languages so that citizens know about the legislations made for them. With regard to the pleas seeking a direction to put future laws in public domain, the bench said, It would not be proper on our part to direct the government to publish draft legislations. It is entirely left up to the government to take such decisions. As regards to the second prayer, we do believe that people must know the legislations made for them and such legislations must be provided in public domain in local languages. Senior lawyer Gopal Sankarnarayanan, appearing for petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, said t

Kharge's presidency of Congress in Modi era is a poisoned chalice

It's time to admit the Congress's problem is not, in fact, the Gandhis. If anything, they hold together a party that would otherwise split into multiple factions

No direction can be issued to Parliament to frame UCC: Centre tells SC

The Law Ministry has told the Supreme Court that the court cannot direct Parliament to frame or enact any law, as it sought dismissal of PILs seeking a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country

Lebanese parliament fails to elect new President twice over lack of quorum

The Lebanese parliament has failed for the second time in a month to elect a new head of state as President Michel Aoun's term is about to end in about two weeks

Ministry proposes to decriminalise law on collection of statistics

No imprisonment for offences like obstructing or deceiving officers, but fines will be increased

Malaysian PM Ismail Yaakob dissolves Parliament, calls for early elections

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that Parliament will be dissolved on Monday, paving the way for general elections that are expected to be held in early November. The elections would come nine months before Parliament's term expires, following calls for early polls from Ismail's United Malays National Organisation. UMNO, the biggest party in the ruling coalition, was feuding with its allies and is aiming for a big win on its own. The Election Commission is expected to meet within the week to announce a date for the vote, which is likely to be held before the year-end monsoon season that often brings devastating floods.

'Parliamentary illiteracy' on fiscal issues needs to be overcome: N K Singh

Former finance commission chairman calls for having a fiscal council to debate policy issues

In major rejig, Cong loses chairmanship of parliamentary panel on Home, IT

Opposition parties have not been given the chairmanship of any of the four key parliamentary panels including the committee on Home Affairs and Information Technology, which were with the Congress, in the latest rejig announced on Tuesday. With this, the chair of six major parliamentary committees -- Home, IT, Defence, External Affairs, Finance and Health -- all are with the BJP and its allies. Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi has been replaced by BJP MP and retired IPS officer Brij Lal as the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing committee on Home Affairs. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is contesting the party's presidential polls, has been replaced by Prataprao Jadhav, a Shiv Sena MP from the Shinde faction, as the head of the Parliamentary Panel on Information Technology. The Trinamool Congress, which had the chair of the Parliamentary Panel on Food and Consumer Affairs, has not been given the chairmanship of any parliamentary committee after the reshuffle. "TMC is the third

House panel flags poor placements, under-utilisation of funds in PMKVY 3.0

The committee is particularly concerned about the third edition of the scheme, as placement figures fall below 10%

Tharoor likely to make way for Shinde faction Sena MP as IT panel chief

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will likely make way for Shinde faction Sena MP as IT panel chief

Japan's Parliament to convene extraordinary session next week: Report

Japan's Diet, the country's Parliament, will convene an extraordinary session next week, lawmakers have confirmed

Australian lawmakers pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, discuss republic

Australian lawmakers on Friday paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, with some also weighing in on the republic debate, after they returned to parliament from a break taken to observe the queen's death. An obscure and longstanding protocol in Australia bars parliament from sitting for 15 days following a British monarch's death. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had decided to follow the protocol. Albanese has previously said he wants an Australian president to replace the British monarch as the nation's head of state, although he has avoided getting entangled in the republic debate since the queen's death. Each chamber of Australia's parliament the Senate and the House was spending Friday passing condolence motions for the late monarch as well as congratulating King Charles III on his accession to the throne. Albanese said it was hard to grasp the queen was now just a memory after her seven-decade reign. She was a rare and reassuring constant amidst rapid change, Albanese ...

New telecom bill may clarify on insolvency norms for stressed firms: Report

With Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, a spectrum will be held by a telco till it continues to pay the dues and provide the services. Once the service stops, the spectrum will go to the government

North India, Parliament still not conducive for women's quota: Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the "mentality" of north India and Parliament seems not conducive yet to giving reservations to women in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies. He made the remarks at a programme organised by the Pune Doctors' Association where he and his daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule were interviewed. Replying to a question on the Women's Reservation Bill, which aims to reserve 33 per cent seats in Lok Sabha and all state legislative assemblies for women which is yet to be passed, and whether this shows the country is still not mentally ready to accept the women leadership, Pawar said he has been speaking on this issue in Parliament since he was Congress MP in Lok Sabha. "The 'mansikta' (mentality) of Parliament, especially of North India, has not been conducive (on this issue). I can recall that when I was Lok Sabha MP in Congress, I used to talk about the issue of reservations for women in Parliament. Once after

Govt issues guidelines on official dealings between administration and MPs

The Centre has issued consolidated guidelines on official dealings between the administration and Members of Parliament and state legislatures, and said its violation will be viewed seriously. The Members of Parliament (MPs) and state legislatures, as the accredited representatives of the people, occupy a very important place in our democratic set-up and in connection with their duties, they often find it necessary to seek information from the ministries/departments of the Government of India or the state governments or make suggestions for their consideration or ask for interview with the officers, an official order said. The comprehensive guidelines regarding observance of proper procedure in official dealings between administration and Members of Parliament and state legislatures were issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions in 2011. These guidelines were issued to all the ministries/departments and to chief secretaries of all states/UTs, with the reque

Existing infra for testing medical devices inadequate: Parliamentary panel

The report presented in the Parliament by a standing committee stated that along with more testing labs, the country needs a robust IT-enabled and feedback-driven post-sales surveillance system

King Charles and sons follow coffin for queen's last journey from palace

Queen's coffin begins journey from palace to parliament; four days of lying in state, large queue forming

Parl panel pulls up govt for not acting on time during 2nd Covid wave

Many lives could have been saved during the second wave of the Covid pandemic if containment strategies were implemented on time, a parliamentary panel has said while pulling up the government for not being able to anticipate the gravity of the situation. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, in its 137th report presented to Rajya Sabha on Monday, said the second wave was undoubtedly marred by high cases, increased deaths, shortage of oxygen and beds in hospitals, reduced supplies of medicines and other important drugs, disruption of essential health care services, hoarding and black marketing of cylinders and medicines etc. "The committee is of the considered view that had the Government been successful in identification of the more virulent strain of virus in the population at an early stage and suitably implemented its containment strategy, the repercussions would have been less grave and many lives could have been saved," it said. The committee observed that India is o

Parliamentary panel recommends approval for AIIMS redevelopment master plan

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare on Monday recommended Union Health Ministry to give a green signal to the master plan of AIIMS-New Delhi

Court cannot stop govt from bringing law on cryptocurrencies, says SC

The Supreme Court said on Friday it cannot stop the government from bringing a legislation in Parliament on crypto currencies and dismissed a plea challenging constitution of an inter-ministerial committee to make recommendations to the Centre on virtual currencies. Crypto currencies are digital or virtual currencies in which encryption techniques are used to regulate generation of their units and verify the transfer of funds while operating independently of a central bank. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli termed the PIL filed by a private firm "misconceived" and dismissed it. "There is no actionable cause for a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution. The Court cannot interdict the Government from bringing a legislative proposal before Parliament, the bench said. At the outset, the court said, "What kind of plea is this? Government has made an inter-ministerial committee (IMC), so you filed a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution? You want to ...