Some of the important bills passed by parliament in the budget session which ended on Wednesday:
*The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill: The bill replaces an ordinance that was promulgated during the inter-session period. It hikes the foreign equity cap on domestic insurance companies from 26 percent to 49 percent.
* The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment) Bill, 2015: The bill requires every person to obtain a license or lease for carrying on mining or related activities. It provides for two methods of granting a mineral concession - competitive bidding where mineralisation is established and first-come-first-serve otherwise.
* The Coal Mines Bill 2015: The bill allows private companies to produce coal, after about four decades of these firms being left out of this segment.
* Land boundary agreement bill: A constitutional amendment bill, it amends the First Schedule of the constitution to give effect to an agreement entered into by India and Bangladesh on the acquiring and transfer of territories between the two countries on May 16, 1974.
* The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015: It brings e-carts and e-rickshaws under ambit of the parent Act, so they can ply on roads across the country. The bill defines e-carts and e-rickshaws as special purpose battery powered vehicles with power up to 4,000 watts and having three wheels. It mentions that these vehicles can be used for carrying goods or passengers.
* The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015: This bill brings parity between provisions for Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders.
* The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill: It amends the constitution to include certain castes under the list of scheduled castes.
* The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2014: It aims to provide for speedy machinery for the eviction of unauthorised occupants from public premises. The bill was amended following Supreme Court directions.
* The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2015: This bill provides for raising the number of members of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council from 50 to 58.
*The Companies Amendment Bill, 2014: The bill introduces certain amendments in relation to related party transactions, fraud reporting by auditors, making common seal optional and jurisdiction of special courts to try certain offences.
*Warehousing Corporations Amendment Bill, 2015 (passed by both houses): The bill seeks to do away with the central government's responsibility of being a financial guarantor to the central warehousing corporation by amending the original law.
*GST bill (The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Second Amendment) Bill, 2014) (passed in Lok Sabha):
The bill seeks to amend the constitution to introduce the goods and services tax (GST). Consequently, the GST subsumes various central indirect taxes including the Central Excise Duty, Countervailing Duty and Service Tax. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha and sent to a select committee of Rajya Sabha.
* The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (passed by Lok Sabha): It amends the Negotiable Instruments Act to provide that cases of bouncing of cheques can be filed only in a court in whose jurisdiction the bank branch of the payee (person who receives the cheque) lies.
* Whistleblowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (passed by Lok Sabha): This amendment bill incorporate necessary provisions in the original law to strengthen safeguards against disclosures which may prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of the country and security of the state among other things.
* The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014 (passed by Lok Sabha): This bill which paves the way for children in the 16-18 age group to be tried as adults if they commit heinous crimes by amending the original act.
* The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 (passed by Rajya Sabha): The bill calls for equal rights and reservation to transgenders and envisages creation of a national commission and state level commissions for transgender communities.
