Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge is expected to decide the strategy
The Shiromani Akali Dal leader alleged that the Centre prevents the opposition from speaking in Parliament
Govt lists banking law Bill for Lok Sabha discussions on Day 1
Priyanka Gandhi is up against Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Satyan Mokeri and Navya Haridas of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
The government has listed a total of 18 Bills, including 13 pending ones, in its tentative list of business sent to the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats
Russian troops also struck Sumy with Shahed drones overnight, killing two people and injuring 12 more, the regional administration said Friday morning
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in his inaugural address to the newly convened parliament, on Thursday pledged to fulfil his pre-election promises by ensuring the supremacy of law and addressing past wrongdoings. Staying true to his National People's Power (NPP) party's commitment to austerity, Dissanayake made a modest ceremonial entry to parliament, foregoing the usual pomp of motorcycle outriders, motorcades, and military gun salutes. Clad in a simple white tunic, the 56-year-old President addressed the parliament from the Speaker's chair, marking the first session since his party's landslide victory. The NPP created history in the November 14 election by winning 159 seats in the 225-member assembly. This was the first time that a government had won two-thirds control or over 150 seats in a parliamentary election held since 1989. It is our duty to make everyone accountable and equal before the law," Dissanayake said, adding, We will deliver justice to everyone ...
A proposed law that would redefine New Zealand's founding treaty between the British Crown and Maori chiefs has triggered political turmoil and a march by thousands of people the length of the country to Parliament to protest it. The bill is never expected to become law. But it has become a flashpoint on race relations and a critical moment in the fraught 180-year-old conversation about how New Zealand should honour its promises to Indigenous people when the country was colonised -- and what those promises are. Thousands of people were gathering in the capital, Wellington, on Tuesday morning for the final stretch of the weeklong protest -- a march through the city streets to Parliament. It follows a Maori tradition of hikoi, or walking, to bring attention to breaches of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. Considered New Zealand's founding document, the treaty was signed between representatives of the British Crown and 500 Maori chiefs during colonisation. It laid out principles guiding the
The government plans to repeal a 65-year-old law which lays the ground for disqualification of MPs for holding office of profit and bring a new one which is in sync with present requirements. The legislative department of the Union law ministry has floated the draft 'Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Bill, 2024' prepared on the lines of recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Offices of Profit (JCOP) then headed by Kalraj Mishra in the 16th Lok Sabha. The proposed bill seeks to rationalise section 3 of the existing Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 and to remove the negative list of offices provided in the schedule containing offices, the holders of which would incur disqualification. It also proposes to remove the conflict between the existing Act and certain other statutes which have an express provision for not to incur disqualification. The draft bill also proposes to omit section 4 of the existing law relating to "temporary suspension" of .
A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence was held in Chennai yesterday to review the working of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in ensuring coastal security along India
Union Minister Kiren Rijuju on Saturday said that the standard of debates in the Lok Sabha has gone down since Congress leader Rahul Gandhi entered Parliament. Addressing a press conference, the Union minister of parliamentary and minority affairs, who is here to campaign for the November 20 Maharashtra election, said there is an undercurrent in favour of the BJP and Mahayuti, and the Ladki Bahin scheme will benefit the ruling alliance. "The standard of debates in the Lok Sabha has gone down since Rahul Gandhi's arrival. We have people who can talk and debate, but the Congress seems to have no one, and those who want to debate are afraid of Rahul Gandhi," he said. Rijiju claimed that many senior Congress MPs have told him they want debates and discussions, but the Leader of Opposition is not concerned because he cannot debate and reads chits given by some NGOs. He further criticised Gandhi, saying he didn't have the right to speak about Dalits, tribals, the Constitution and Dr ...
The ruling National People's Power party led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is poised for a sweeping victory in the Sri Lankan parliamentary election held on Thursday. As of 11 pm local time, with partial results declared, the NPP has secured a substantial 70 per cent of the vote. The main opposition, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and the National Democratic Front (NDF), backed by former president Ranil Wickremesinghe, have been reduced to just 11 and 5 per cent of the vote, respectively. In the only polling division result announced so far, the NPP won decisively in the southern province capital of Galle with over 70 per cent of the vote. Analysts note that the NPP has increased its vote share compared to the September presidential election. If this trend continues, the party will surpass the 150-seat mark, achieving an absolute majority in the 225-member parliament. Thursday's election was the first major test for NPP. The snap parliamentary polls were the first after the
Sri Lanka's National People's Power, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has secured a parliamentary majority, as per official results announced by the country's elections commission
Sri Lankans are voting in a parliamentary election Thursday that is key for the country's new Marxist-leaning president to consolidate his party's power and follow through on promises of economic recovery. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won the presidential election on September 21 in a victory that marked a rejection of the traditional political parties, which have governed the island nation since its independence from British rule in 1948. However, Dissanayake's failure to secure more than 50 per cent of the votes has fuelled concerns over his party's outlook in Thursday's election. His National People's Power party must increase its votes significantly from the 42 per cent it won in the presidential election if it is to acquire a minimum of 113 seats to take control of the 225-member Parliament. The biggest challenge for the NPP which was founded in 2019 and is a relative newcomer on Sri Lanka's political scene is that many of its candidates are new faces in politics ...
A Parliamentary Standing Committee will take up the issue of the age of marriage for men and women next week as a bill aimed at bringing uniformity in the matter has lapsed with the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha. The secretary of the Women and Child Development Ministry (WCD) and representatives of the National Coalition Advocating for Adolescent Concerns (NCAAC) and the Young Voices Campaign will appear before the panel at its November 22 meeting on the proposed changes in the marriage age for children and other women-related legislation. According to the agenda of the meeting, the panel on education, women, children, youth and sports headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh will also hear the WCD secretary on the functioning of various statutory and autonomous bodies such as the National Commission for Women, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Central Adoption Resource Authority, and the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development. The ...
Sri Lanka is set to hold its parliamentary election on Thursday with all arrangements in place to ensure a fair and transparent process, a top election commission official has said. Voting will take place at over 13,314 polling stations across the country, from 7 am to 4 pm local time on Thursday. Director General of the Elections Commission Saman Sri Ratnayaka on Tuesday said that all ballot boxes and other equipment needed at the polling stations would be dispatched on Wednesday. The polling station officials will carry out rehearsals from 7 am on Wednesday," Ratnayaka said. Over 17 million voters from the island's 21 million population are eligible to vote. 225 members would be elected from voting based on proportional representation. The western province district of Gampaha would elect the highest number of Members of Parliament 19 with the capital district of Colombo from the same province having 18 MPs elected. The eastern province district of Trincomalee will elect the lo
A parliamentary committee headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has called media bodies -- News Broadcasters and Digital Association and Editors Guild of India -- to depose before it on the issue of curbing "fake news". An official statement said the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology will meet on November 21 on the subject of "Review of mechanism to curb fake news". The panel will hear the views of the News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) and Editors Guild of India (EGI), it said. The committee had earlier decided to review the mechanism to curb fake news as well as the issues related to the emergence of OTT platforms. With cryptocurrency making its presence felt in India, the committee will also examine the emergence of new forms of currencies and their impact. The panel has selected the impact of the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and related issues as one of its subjects. It is mandated to examine the functioning of the ministries of
Contending that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill does not recognise their special status, the Dawoodi Bohra community, an affluent but microscopic minority sect among Muslims, told the parliamentary committee examining the proposed law that they should be kept out of the purview of any Waqf board. Senior advocate Harish Salve appeared for them before the panel headed by veteran BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, and a written submission made by the community noted that it is a "small and tightly-knit" denomination. "Its affairs do not need the kind of regulation that may be considered necessary or even desirable in relation to other denominations that do not believe in any such religious tenet," it said, according to sources. It is necessary that the community members are permitted to establish, maintain, manage and administer such properties in accordance with their beliefs and essential religious practices, it stressed. The power of the Waqf board undermines the community's founding faith, it claim
The meetings of the JCP are part of a broader initiative to reform the Waqf Act, which has faced criticisms of mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments
According to an official communication from Joint Secretary JM Baisakh, the study visit program is designed to assist committee members in their review of the proposed bill