Page 2 - Winter Session

UPI transactions up 118% in semi-urban, rural retail stores in 2023: Study

UPI is a driving force in the overall growth of digital payments in India, says government separately

PM, BJP want to establish 'single-party rule': Kharge on suspension of MPs

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday charged that the prime minister and the BJP want to establish a "single party rule" in the country and the suspension of MPs from Parliament is for that. While 141 MPs have been suspended because they wanted a statement from the home minister on the grave security breach in Parliament, the BJP MP who facilitated the entry of the intruders, remains scot-free and has not yet been questioned, the Congress leader said. "What sort of an investigation is this," he asked in a statement posted on X. "Why haven't senior officers responsible for Parliamentary security made accountable? Heads should have rolled by now," he said. Kharge said apparently the intruders have been planning this since months and asked who is responsible for this massive intelligence failure. Given the multi-layered security of Parliament, how did two intruders manage to hide yellow gas canisters in their shoes and enter the building and almost reach the sanctum ...

Winter Session: After disruptions, suspensions, Parl to reconvene today

As the session resumes at Rajya Sabha, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move for leave to introduce a Bill to amend the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

They want to do politics in everything: Pralhad Joshi attacks Oppn parties

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also reacted on the seat distribution of INDIA bloc and said that whatever happened in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, everyone saw

Share of agriculture in India's GDP declined to 15% in FY23: Govt

Share of agriculture in India's GDP declined to 15 per cent last fiscal year from 35 per cent in 1990-91 due to rapid growth in the industrial and service sector, the government informed on Tuesday. "The share of agriculture in total Gross Value Added (GVA) of economy has declined from 35% in 1990-91 to 15% in 2022-23. The decline is brought out not by the decline in agricultural GVA but a rapid expansion in industrial and service sector GVA," Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. "In growth terms, agriculture and allied sector has registered an average annual growth of 4 per cent during last five years. As far as global experience is concerned, share of agriculture in the world's GDP has also declined over the decades and stands at about 4 per cent in recent years," he added. The minister said the government has adopted/implemented several developmental programmes, schemes, reforms and policies towards increasing agricultural productivity, ...

It's not MPs but democracy that has been suspended: AAP's Raghav Chadha

"I would not say that some MPs were suspended but democracy has been suspended," the AAP leader added

Telecom Bill drops OTT reference, retains regulator Trai's powers

Seeks space spectrum allocation; keeps Trai powers intact

45 Oppn MPs suspended in Rajya Sabha, 33 in LS over security breach row

As many as 45 opposition members in Rajya Sabha were on Monday suspended from the House for unruly behaviour and disregarding the directions of the Chair after they raised slogans over the Parliament security breach issue and disrupted proceedings. Among those suspended were Congress MPs Pramod Tiwari, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala and Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav. The development occurred soon after 33 opposition members, including leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK's T R Baalu and TMC's Sougata Ray, were suspended in Lok Sabha following similar scenes in the Lower House. While 34 of the Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended for the remainder of the Winter session, 11 have been directed to stay away from the House pending an inquiry report on their conduct by the Committee of Privileges. The members were suspended after the House adopted a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal for suspension of 34 MPs for the remainder of the session

Just 2 out of 15 board directors in NSFDC from SC community: House panel

A parliamentary panel has pointed out that the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), mandated to work for the economic uplift of Scheduled Castes, only has two members out of 15 in the Board of Directors from the SC community. In its response, the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry said that a proposal for four directors from the SC community has been approved by the Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, but the parliamentary panel called the reply "vague" and unconvincing. "The Committee are not convinced with the vague reply of the NSFDC in response to their recommendation that vacant posts in the Board of Directors of NSFDC should be filled at the earliest while ensuring adequate representation of Scheduled castes therein," the panel said. The Committee on the welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes tabled its report in Parliament on Monday. In the report, the Committee pointed out that out of the total 15 members, there are ...

RBI imposed monetary penalties worth Rs 40 crore on 211 entities in 2022-23

Out of 211, 176 penalties worth Rs 14.04 crore were alone imposed on cooperative banks, Bhagwat Karad told Lok Sabha on Monday

Oppn MPs insist on Amit Shah's statement on Parliament security breach

Raghav Chadha, AAP Rajya Sabha MP said that the opposition parties are just asking that the investigation report be presented in the Parliament

RS adjourned till 2pm, Dhankhar warns MP's for disrupting proceedings

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha also faced pandemonium, leading to its adjournment for the day as the opposition stirred a massive ruckus

LIVE: PM Modi to interact with beneficiaries of Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra

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MP O'Brien suspended from RS for remainder of winter session for misconduct

TMC member Derek O'Brien was on Thursday suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the Winter session for his "unruly behaviour" and "misconduct". Soon after the House assembled at noon after an initial adjournment, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar named O'Brien and warned him for his conduct. He was named earlier in the morning also for his "unruly behaviour" and was asked by the chairman to leave the House. Accusing O'Brien of violating the directions of the chair and for disrupting the proceedings of the House, the chairman allowed Leader of the House Piyush Goyal to move a motion in this regard. The motion was adopted with a voice vote and the chairman announced that O'Brien stands suspended from the House for the remainder of the session. Dhankhar then adjourned the proceedings till 2 PM as members of the opposition protested the suspension.

India exported 7.3 MT non-basmati, imported 1.9 MT pulses in Apr-Oct: Govt

India has exported 26.08 lakh tonnes of basmati rice and 73.18 lakh tonnes of non-basmati rice during the April-October period of this fiscal year. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda shared export data of major foodgrains. As per the data, the exports of basmati rice stood at 45.61 lakh tonnes in the entire 2022-23 financial year while the shipments of non-basmati rice stood at 177.92 lakh tonnes. Exports of basmati rice stood at 44.15 lakh tonnes in 2018-19; 44.55 lakh tonnes in 2019-20; 46.30 lakh tonnes in 2020-21; and 39.44 lakh tonnes in 2021-22. The data showed that exports of rice (other than basmati) were at 76.48 lakh tonnes in 2018-19; 50.56 lakh tonnes in 2019-20; 131.49 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, and 172.89 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 fiscal. India's total rice production stood at 1,357.55 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 as against 1,294.71 lakh tonnes in the previous year. Rice output stood at 1,164.84 lakh tonnes in 2018-19; 1,188.70 lakh tonnes in 201

LIVE: Industrial output rises 11.7% in Oct against 4.1% contraction yr ago

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Winter session: Parliament to move bills relating appointments at EC today

Meghwal will also move the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2023, in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday for consideration and passage to repeal certain enactments and amend an enactment

Maharashtra Winter Session: Oppn stages protest against ban on onion export

Opposition legislators on Monday staged a protest on steps of the Vidhan Bhavan building here in Maharashtra against the ban on export of onions by the Centre. Some of the legislators wore garlands made of onions as a mark of protest, before the House proceedings began on the third day of winter session of the state legislature. Leader of opposition in the legislative assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, LoP in the legislative council Ambadas Danve, NCP leader Anil Deshmukh and many other leaders participated in the protest. They raised slogans against the government while demanding a roll-back of the ban on export of onions, proper price for the key kitchen staple and assistance for farmers. The Centre has banned onion exports till March 31, 2024, to increase domestic availability and keep prices in check. Talking to reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan premises, Danve claimed the central government's policy of ban on onion export was "anti-farmer". The onion farmers were suffering, he said, ad

LIVE: Cong holds meeting to review party's performance in Assembly polls

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Making technical changes: MEA on Hamas designation question in Lok Sabha

A technical correction is being made mentioning V Muraleedharan's name as the minister who replied to a Parliament question on the designation of Hamas, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday. The clarification from MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi came hours after Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi said she did not approve any answer to the question. Both Lekhi and Muraleedharan are ministers of state in the MEA. Responding to a post on X, Lekhi on Saturday said she did not approve any answer to the question and said an "inquiry will reveal the culprit". "We have noted that Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 980 answered on December 8 needs a technical correction in terms of reflecting V Muraleedharan as the Minister of State replying to the Parliament question. This is being suitably undertaken," Bagchi said. His response came on media queries on the matter. The written answer to the unstarred question number 980, uploaded on the Lok Sabha's website, was attributed to