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The government is likely to bring three bills, including two to amend the Constitution, to put in place its plan to hold simultaneous elections. One of the proposed Constitution amendment bills, that deals with aligning the local bodies elections to that of the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies, will require an endorsement from at least 50 per cent of the states. Moving ahead with its 'one nation, one election' plan, the government earlier this month accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise. The proposed first constitutional amendment bill would deal with making provisions for holding Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly elections together. Citing recommendations of the high-level committee, sources said the proposed bill would seek to amend Article 82A by adding sub-clause (1) relating to the 'appointed date'. It will

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Wednesday stressed the need to have strong communication skills, especially in his ministry as he cited mistakes in the draft women's reservation bill which resulted in officials sitting past midnight to rectify the flaws. He said communication skills have a major role in the legislative department which helps ministries draft bills, ordinances and key policy documents. Small mistakes in the application of commas and full stops can create problems, he said. "We saw this in Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's reservation bill). There were so many mistakes. We had to make officials sit late in the night... perhaps till 2 am... this is not what was said, how did you reach such a conclusion (such issues were pointed out)... you have to understand and learn the communication part more," he told a gathering of legislative department officials. He was addressing officials after a motivational speech delivered by an expert. Responding to certain ...

The government is likely to reconsider the contentious provisions of the Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill that had raised concerns among online content creators as it sought to club them with OTT or digital news broadcasters. The Bill was released for consultations in November last year and a fresh draft was circulated among select stakeholders for their views. An official said that the government may be open to reviewing certain clauses of the Bill as it had drawn sharp reactions from a section of media representatives. Addressing a press conference here last week, representatives of DigiPub News India Foundation, an organisation representing more than 90 digital news publishers, and the Editors Guild of India said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting held closed-door consultations with selective stakeholders and larger discussions with digital media organisations and associations of civil society have so far not taken place. They had written to the Ministry seeking .

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday signed a bill that bans bullfights in the South American country, further reducing the short list of nations around the world where the centuries-old tradition is still legal. Petro signed it in front of hundreds of animal rights activists during a ceremony held in Bogota's bullring, after a supporter in a bull costume handed him a copy of the legislation. We cannot tell the world that killing living and sentient beings for entertainment is culture, Petro said in a speech after signing the bill. That kind of culture of killing an animal for entertainment would also lead us to killing human beings for entertainment, because we are also animals. The bullfighting ban was approved by Colombia's Congress in May, after months of heated debates. The bill calls on the government to completely ban bullfights across the nation by 2027, and orders the government to turn more than a dozen bullrings into cultural and sporting venues. Bullfights have

A Punjab bill that seeks to replace the state governor with the chief minister as the chancellor of state-run universities has been returned by the President without giving her assent, official sources said on Wednesday. Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and three others bills were passed by the Punjab Assembly in the two-day session in June last year but the governor had called the session "patently illegal." Later in November last year, the Supreme Court held that the June 19-20 session was constitutionally valid and had directed the Punjab governor to decide on the Bills passed by the legislative assembly session. The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was for replacing the governor with the chief minister as the chancellor of state-run universities. However, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit reserved this bill along with two others -- the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023 -- for the consideration of th

Taiwan's opposition-controlled legislature passed changes on Tuesday that are seen as favouring China and diminishing the power of the island's president. The changes pushed by the opposition Nationalist Party and its allies give the body greater power to control budgets, including defence spending that the party has blocked in what many see as a concession to China. The Nationalists took control of the legislature with a single-seat majority after elections in January, while the presidency went to Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party, which favours Taiwan's de facto independence from China. The Nationalists officially back unification with China, from which Taiwan separated during a civil war in 1949.

A bill, which seeks to deal sternly with malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations with provisions for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine up to Rs 1 crore, was passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Piloting The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, Union minister Jitendra Singh said its provisions are meant to safeguard the interest of meritorious students and candidates. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha after rejecting amendments proposed by the opposition members. Singh said the government "will not allow meritorious (candidates) to be sacrificed at the alter of organised crimes". He added that the students and candidates do not fall in the purview of this bill and there will ne no harm to job aspirants. The move comes against the backdrop of cancellation of a series of competitive tests such as the teacher recruitment exam in Rajasthan, Common Eligibility Test (CET) for Group-D posts in Haryana, recruitment exam for junior cle

Pakistan's Senate on Monday adopted a unanimous resolution to recommend severe punishment for all those found involved in the "negative and malicious propaganda" against the armed forces and other security agencies of the country. Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi of the Pakistan Peoples Party had moved the resolution which acknowledged that a strong army and other security agencies are indispensable for the defence of the country, especially because of the hostile neighbourhood. The resolution expressed deep concern over the negative and malicious propaganda against the armed forces and other security agencies on various social media platforms. It highlighted the huge sacrifices of armed forces and other security agencies in the war against terror and for the defence and protection of the country's borders", acknowledging that a strong army and other security agencies are indispensable for the defence of the country, especially because of the hostile neighbourhood. The Senate, therefor

Broadband India Forum (BIF) on Wednesday said the new telecom bill brings clarity on a slew of important issues facing the sector, including the regulator's power and functions, protection and duties of telecom users, and exclusion of OTTs from the purview of telecom regulations. In a statement, the industry body said its executive council, at its recent meeting, praised the bill, and termed it a historic milestone and extremely progressive. The bill, BIF said, is consumer-centric and investor-friendly, and will propel the growth of the sector. BIF said the bill brings in clarity on a plethora of key issues, including Trai's power and functions, protection and duties of telecom users and clarity in definition of telecommunication services. There is also clarity on issues such as exclusion of OTTs from the purview of telecom regulations, administrative allocation of satellite spectrum and certain other types of spectrum, right of way issues, spurring of Universal Service and ...

In question: Though certain aspects of proposed law have been appreciated, members of Oppn and civil society have flagged infringement of independence of top poll officers. Aditi Phadnis explains

A Bill which aims to regulate the legal profession by a single Act and seeks to target "touts" was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday with Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal saying there should be no role of touts in the country's courts. "The legal profession is a noble profession. The law commission was given a mandate to bring judicial reforms as per new circumstances. There should be no role of touts in the court premises in the country. Hence, it was felt that in the amendment there should be provisions related to touts," Meghwal said. Initiating the debate, Karti Chidambaram of the Congress said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice and touts thrive because of the complexity in dealing with our legal system. "Because of the asymmetry in our society in terms of education, access to people in authority and wealth, sometimes people do not know how to navigate the legal system. This is what is being exploited and some people step in as touts. Touts thrive because of the ...

The Cape Town Convention Bill will make it compulsory for the resolution professional to return the aircraft to the lessor within two months from the beginning of the bankruptcy process

The Karnataka Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a Bill enhancing reservation for SC/STs in government educational institutions and State government services. The Bill proposes to increase the quota for the Scheduled Castes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from three per cent to seven per cent. The Bill aims to replace the ordinance passed by the government in October this year. Welcoming the Bill, the Opposition said the new reservation policy would not benefit the targeted people as government jobs have been curtailed due to privatisation. The Opposition said the government should make provision for reservation in the private sector too.

This may ensure no single mandatory export commitment

An analysis from shows that while overall bills are lower in India in absolute terms, they are a larger share of monthly income than in many economies

Revised telecom bill will aim to list guidelines for satellite spectrum, say officials; several stakeholders have argued for separate provisions

How disruptive will the draft telecommunication bill be?

The draft Indian Telecommunications 2022 bill, which seeks to address problems in the telecom sector, may have far reaching effects on OTT services, spectrum allocations and other fields. Find out how

People prefer making transactions online but regard service charges as unjustified and costly

The Centre plans to introduce a bill to replace the 155-year-old 'Press and Registration of Books Act' with a simplified version that brings digital media under its ambit

It proposes to rationalise and amend the schedules, which list out wildlife species, for the purposes of clarity, and ensure better care of seized live animals