Page 7 - Parliament

Joint Parliament Committee on Waqf bill to visit 5 cities for study tour

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

Iraq's Parliament elects Mashhadani as new speaker, ends yearlong vacuum

After a nearly yearlong vacuum, Iraq's Parliament elected a new speaker Thursday, selecting a prominent Sunni lawmaker who has a close relationship with Iran. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who served a previous stint as speaker from 2006 to 2009, was elected by a vote of 182 of the 269 legislators who attended the session, a surprise move after months of deadlock between political factions. Former Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi was dismissed by a Federal Supreme Court last November against the backdrop of a lawsuit filed by then-lawmaker Laith al-Dulaimi. Dulaimi claimed that the speaker had forged Dulaimi's signature on a resignation letter, an allegation that Halbousi denied. The court ruled to terminate both Halbousi and al-Dulaimi from their parliamentary posts. It did not elaborate on why it was issuing the decision. The position of speaker of Parliament is assigned to a Sunni according to convention in Iraq's power-sharing system, while the prime minister is always Shiite and the ...

EU Parliament reaffirms support for Taiwan amidst China's war games

Report further indicated that European Parliament had previously suggested establishing bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan; however, many experts consider this move to be 'too ambitious'

What does a shocking parliamentary loss for Japan's long-ruling party mean?

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling party and its junior partner lost their majority in Sunday's parliamentary election. The loss, much bigger than expected, is bad news for a leader who's only been in power for a month. It's largely a reflection of voters' anger at the repeated financial scandals that have hit the Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled Japan nearly without interruption since 1955. The big loss throws the nation's politics into turmoil, and will make it difficult for Ishiba to push through the changes he needs to win back voter support. The Associated Press explains how the election results could weaken Ishiba's hold on power, and what the poor showing means for Japan's diplomatic, economic and security goals. What happened Sunday? The governing Liberal Democratic Party lost its sole majority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan's two-chamber parliament. Even adding the Buddhist-backed Komeito party, which has partnered with the LDP for a

Waqf (Amendment) Bill: Opposition MPs walk out of meet over witness list

Opposition MPs stage walkout from Waqf Bill panel, alleging witnesses lack relevance to the legislation; return briefly after protest

Govt floats draft bill to amend arbitration law; adds emergency provision

Seeking to provide "further boost" to institutional arbitration and reduce court intervention in such cases, the government has come out with a draft bill seeking views on the proposed amendments. The Department of Legal Affairs in the law ministry has invited comments on the draft Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2024, saying "the aim and purpose is to provide further boost to institutional arbitration, reduce court intervention in arbitrations and ensuring timely conclusion of arbitration proceedings". The draft bill comes months after an expert committee headed by former law secretary and former Lok Sabha secretary general T K Vishwanathan submitted its report on proposed reforms in the arbitration sector to the law ministry. The draft bill proposes the concept of 'emergency arbitration'. The proposed amendment says arbitral institutions may, for the purpose of grant of interim measures, provide for appointment of "emergency arbitrator" prior to the constitution of

Sebi Chair Madhabi Puri Buch's meeting with Parliament committee postponed

Madhabi Puri Buch and three to four senior Sebi officials are likely to be questioned by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee

Meeting of Parl PAC to be held tomorrow, Sebi chief to appear: Report

The meeting will be held in Delhi on Thursday at 11 am. The PAC is headed by K C Venugopal of the Congress

Waqf Bill panel meet: TMC MP smashes glass bottle during heated exchange

At the meeting, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee smashed a glass water bottle and threw it away during a heated exchange of words with Bharatiya Janata Party's Abhijit Gangopadhyay

JPC to hold meeting on Waqf Bill, aims for community-focused reforms

The committee met on Monday, inviting officials from the Ministry of Minority Affairs to provide oral evidence regarding the bill

Minority affairs ministry gives presentation on Waqf bill, oppn MPs protest

The Minorities Affairs Ministry on Monday made an extensive presentation at a parliamentary panel meeting to address the queries of MPs on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, with some opposition members arguing that the ministry's consultations over the years never called for a new law. A batch of petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the insertion of words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Constitution in 1976 also cast a shadow on the meeting as heated words were exchanged after opposition MPs questioned the panel's decision to seek depositions from some lawyers behind the plea, drawing reaction from BJP members. A BJP MP said all Indians are stakeholders in any proposed law, and the committee in its wisdom can call anyone it deems fit to offer any valuable suggestion. The Waqf law has impacted a large number of non-Muslims, he claimed. Advocates Ashwini Upadhyay, a BJP member, and Vishnu Shankar Jain are among those behind the SC pleas. They had last week appeared before the committe

Work on 10 more nuclear reactors underway in country, parl panel told

At least 10 nuclear reactors are being installed in the country while two reactors in Gujarat's Kakrapar have started generating power commercially, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology was informed on Monday. According to sources, the new nuclear reactors coming up in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana are of 700 MW capacity and will start operating in the next few years. The details of the new nuclear reactors were provided to the members of the Standing Committee of Parliament on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change during a meeting here. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who is a member of the committee as well as its former chairman, said members of the panel were informed during the meeting that the Kakrapar-3 and Kakrapar-4 nuclear reactors in Gujarat have been fully synchronised with the grid and are generating power commercially. "This is a major accomplishment since these are indigenously designed 700-megawatt ...

Pak parl passes constitutional amendment bill capping chief justice's term

Pakistan's National Assembly passed the controversial 26th Constitution Amendment Bill, capping the chief justice's tenure for three years, early on Monday following an overnight debate, the country's media reported. During the voting in the 336-member National Assembly, 225 members supported the bill, the Dawn reported. The government needed 224 votes to pass the amendment. The Senate voted 65-4 on Sunday to approve the amendment with the required two-thirds majority. The ruling coalition needed the support of 64 members in the upper house of the parliament. Following its passage in both Houses of parliament, the bill will be sent to the president for his assent under Article 75 of the Constitution, according to Geo News. The bill, approved by the cabinet on Sunday with the consensus among the ruling coalition partners, was presented in the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar. The bill included 22 clauses of amendments. The upper house passed the bill clause-wise and all cla

Parliament using AI to make House more people-friendly: LS Speaker Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said Parliament was using artificial intelligence and related technologies for record-keeping and making speeches by members and other information available to the people in their mother tongue. Addressing the concluding session of the 149th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Birla said in a multi-lingual society like India, it is necessary to facilitate parliamentarians to speak in their preferred languages. He highlighted the imperative of using technology/AI for record-keeping, making debates and speeches, and other information available to the people to make Parliament people-friendly. He said he was happy to note that the world parliamentary fraternity had appreciated India's initiatives of a green, tech-driven and paperless Parliament. Birla also participated in the Governing Council meeting of the IPU. He said the IPU was a productive forum for advancing global commitments to inclusive growth through parliamentary ...

MPs raise safety issues as railway officials brief Parliamentary panel

The issue of recent train accidents and overall passenger safety was raised at a parliamentary panel meeting on Wednesday, with some opposition members questioning the "delay" in rolling out 'Kavach', an automatic train protection system. Officials representing the railway ministry assured the members of the Estimates Committee, which is headed by BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal, that the government has been taking a series of steps to ensure that the vast network of Indian railways will have world-class safety measures in place by 2030, sources said. All trains will have anti-collision LHB coaches by that time, they said. Some members, the sources said, questioned the officials over recent cases of train accidents and wondered if sabotage was behind them. An opposition MP asked why the ministry does not acquire land in advance for doubling the tracks knowing well that it will be done in future as the land acquisition process later often delays projects. Officials added that the rate of ...

As Trudeau seeks support from UK, pro-Khalistan groups see an opening

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a call to UK PM Keir Starmer on October 14 to discuss the diplomatic rift between India and Canada

Singapore to block Allianz deal for income but open to new offer, says PM

Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong had earlier told parliament it would not be in the public interest for the government to approve the deal in its current form

Parliamentary panel on IT to review mechanism to curb fake news, OTT issues

The parliamentary committee on Communications And Information Technology has 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 headed by the BJP's Nishikant Dubey has also selected the impact of the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and related issues as one of its subjects. The panel is mandated to examine the functioning of the ministries of information and broadcasting, electronics and information technology, and communications. According to a Lok Sabha Bulletin issued on Tuesday, the department-related standing committee has also selected for examination a review of the implementation of laws related to all forms of media as well as a review of the functioning of public broadcaster Prasar Bharati. As hundreds of people every day fall victim to digital and c

After PAC, Parliament's finance panel set to review Sebi's functioning

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is already slated to undertake such a review at its next meeting on October 24

MPs unhappy with BSNL service; telco promises improvement in 6 months

A parliamentary committee on Monday expressed its displeasure at the quality of service and falling subscriber base of the government-owned BSNL, with some MPs citing the example of poor service they receive on their own mobiles to make a point, sources said. In their briefing to the Estimates Committee headed by BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal, officials assured the panel of improved service in the next six months, with nearly one lakh mobile towers set to be equipped with 4G service from the existing about 24,000 towers. The BSNL, sources said citing the statement of officials representing the company, has relied on the concept of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" by resorting to indigenous technology. "We were told that the results will be visible in six months," an MP said. Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited's CMD were among the senior officials who attended the meeting which focussed on the organisation's performance, especially on its 4G and 5G services. The sources s