Parliament highlights: Govt harming HAL to benefit Anil Ambani, says Rahul

BJP and Congress issued three-line whips for party parliamentarians to be present in Lok Sabha today. Here are LIVE updates from the Parliament session

8:20 PM

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8:17 PM

6:57 PM

Akhilesh violated e-tendering norm, cleared 13 mining leases in a day: CBI

 

Drawing flak from opposition parties, the CBI laid out details about the illegal mining case in Uttar Pradesh on Monday and claimed that then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's office had cleared 13 projects on a single day. The agency said Yadav, who also held the mining portfolio for sometime, had cleared 14 leases, of which 13 were cleared on February 17, 2013, in violation of the e-tendering process. (Read more here)

 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that on February 17 the leases were granted by the district magistrate of Hamirpur, B Chandrakala, after getting approval from the chief minister's office in violation of its 2012 e-tender policy, which was ratified by the Allahabad High Court on January 29, 2013.   

6:43 PM

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6:31 PM

Cabinet approves Citizenship Amendment Bill

 

The Union Cabinet on Monday approved the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 that aims to give citizenship to illegal migrants of six minority groups from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, a move that has stoked a major row in Assam. (Read more here) 

6:28 PM

LS passes Bill to remove leprosy as ground for divorce

 

A Bill seeking to remove leprosy as a ground for divorce was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday. "Leprosy is being removed as a ground for divorce as it is now a curable disease as against the earlier notion of it being incurable," said Minister of State for Law P P Chaudhary while replying to a discussion on 'The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018. (Read more here) 

 

The Bill seeks to remove leprosy as a ground for divorce in five personal laws -- Hindu Marriage Act, Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, Divorce Act (for Christians), Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act. 

 

The Bill was passed by a voice vote amid din as Congress and SP members protested over Rafale and CBI issue, respectively.

6:21 PM

Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar introduced the "Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018", which was passed by Mahajan. 

6:19 PM

Amid the furore, two Bills -- "Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018" and "The personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018" -- were passed in the Lok Sabha. 

6:03 PM

LS adjourned for day

 

The Lok Sabha was on Monday adjourned for the day after witnessing three brief pre-lunch and one post-lunch session adjournments due to protests by the Samajwadi Party and Congress members over a CBI probe against former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on alleged illegal mining, and the Rafale fighter jets issue. (Read more here) 

5:35 PM

AGP ends ties with BJP over Citizenship Bill

 

The AGP on Monday quit the alliance with the BJP over the Modi government's decision to go ahead with the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Asom Gana Parishad President Atul Bora said this here on Monday after an AGP delegation led by him met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. (Read more here) 

5:33 PM

Referring to the concerns in many quarters over the amendment to Section 6A in the proposed Citizenship Bill to give citizenship to minority groups from neighbouring countries, the 440-page report said the Department of Legal Affairs has opined that the proposal to legalise the minority migrants who entered Assam till December 2014 without valid travel documents appears to be contrary to the Assam Accord. (Read more here) 

5:32 PM

The Citizenship Bill, which aims to give citizenship to six religious minority groups from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, has stoked a political controversy, with BJP's partner in the Assam government, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), registering its strong opposition to the provisions. (Read more here) 

5:32 PM

The dissenting MPs are Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJD), Javed Ali Khan (SP), Saugata Roy and Derek O'Brien (TMC), Mohammad Salim (CPI-M), and Bhubaneswar Kalita, Pradip Bhattacharya, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Sushmita Dev (Congress). 

5:32 PM

Eight MPs in the 30-member Committee, headed by Rajendra Agaerwal of the BJP, have appended their notes of dissent to the report of the JPC that was tabled in Parliament on Monday saying the provisions of the Citizenship Bill went against the spirit of the Assam Accord and will accentuate divisions and discontent among the people of the state. (Read more here) 

5:31 PM

JPC report on Citizenship Bill tabled in LS with dissent notes

 

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill has endorsed the move to legalise minority immigrants who entered Assam till December 31, 2014, but asked the government to tread with caution in view of the matter being sub judice and take all legal steps, lest it causes embarrassment at a later stage. (Read more here) 

5:16 PM

As many as 24 AIADMK members were suspended last Wednesday. On Thursday, Mahajan suspended 21 members of AIADMK, TDP and an 'unattached' YSR Congress member. Action against such a large number of MPs is unusual.

5:16 PM

AIADMK MP M Thambidurai, who is also the Deputy Speaker, urged Mahajan to revoke the suspension of his party MPs for their behaviour. He said the Speaker has the power to take action against them, but added that they were raising issues that concerns the state's welfare.

5:16 PM

Sumitra Mahajan ordered suspension of the four members for "abusing the law of the House".

5:15 PM

As the House reconvened at noon, the members continued to protest in the Well despite warning from the Speaker. TDP MP Naramalli Sivaprasad, this time, was seen playing a Khartal, a percussion instrument mainly used for devotional songs. 

5:15 PM

TDP MP Naramalli Sivaprasad, known for sporting different costumes in the House, was dressed like former Tamil Nadu chief minister M G Ramachandran and held a whip in his hand.

5:15 PM

AIAMDK MPs K N Ramachandran, P Venugopal and K K Gopal were protesting over the proposed construction of a dam by Karnataka on the Cauvery river, while TDP MP Naramalli Sivaprasad, whose party has been raising the issue of special status to Andhra Pradesh, played a Tamil song in the house. 

5:15 PM

Speaker suspends four more MPs for disrupting proceedings

 

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday suspended three AIADMK MPs and one TDP lawmaker for two days for disrupting proceedings of the House. The Speaker had last week suspended 45 members for unruly behaviour. The Winter session of Parliament is scheduled to conclude on January 8. (Read more here) 

5:04 PM

Three Bills moved for withdrawal

 

Naik also moved three Bills for Withdrawal including the The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2005; The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2005; and The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2015. (Read more here) 

5:04 PM

Homeopathy Bill explained

 

The Homeopathy Bill provide for a medical education system that improves access to quality and affordable medical education, ensures availability of adequate and high quality Homoeopathy medical professionals in all parts of the country. (Read more here) 

5:03 PM

Medicine Bill explained

 

The Medicine Bill provides for a medical education system that improves access to quality and affordable medical education and ensures availability of adequate and high quality medical professionals of Indian System of Medicine in all parts of the country. It promotes equitable and universal healthcare that encourages community health perspective and makes services of such medical professionals accessible to all the citizens. (Read more here) 

5:03 PM

The House was adjourned for 15 minutes but the protests resumed as soon as the Rajya Sabha reconvened, forcing the Deputy Chairman to adjourn proceedings for the day. 

5:03 PM

Two Bills introduced in RS

 

However, amid the din, Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik introduced two Bills -- the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill 2019 and the The National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill, 2019. (Read more here)