Parliament News Highlights: Lok Sabha adjourned for the day

Opposition members in the Lok Sabha have moved 98 amendments to the Motion of Thanks on the president's address, while those in the Rajya Sabha have moved 80 amendments. The two Houses are keeping separate timings to ensure social distancing on account of Covid guidelines.

Lok Sabha adjourned for the day.

98 amendments moved by Oppn in LS to Motion of Thanks on Prez address; 80 in RS

Opposition members in the Lok Sabha have moved 98 amendments to the Motion of Thanks on the president's address, while those in the Rajya Sabha have moved 80 amendments.

Sources said a total of 232 amendments have been received by the Lok Sabha Secretariat and 13 Opposition members have moved 98 amendments to the Motion of Thanks on the president's address.

These include some on the Pegasus snooping controversy, they added.

The amendments on the Pegasus issue were not admitted in the Upper House of Parliament, where such notices were disallowed by the secretariat since the matter is sub-judice, the sources said.

In the Rajya Sabha, 19 notices for amendments were not moved as the three members proposing them were not present in the Upper House when the motion was taken up.

Rajnath hits out at Rahul over Cong leader's comments in Parliament

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday for his recent statement in Parliament, blaming the BJP-led government's foreign policy to bring China and Pakistan together, and also accused him of trying to distort history.

Addressing a rally in Punjab's Dasuya ahead of the February 20 state Assembly polls, Singh urged people to bring the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) alliance to power, assuring them that the state will see fast development under the new regime.

In an apparent reference to Gandhi, he said there are some forces that speak whatever comes to their mind.

"Whatever Rahul Gandhiji said in Parliament, it hurt a lot. Rahulji tried to distort history in Parliament and alleged that because of our wrong foreign policies, Pakistan and China became friends," Singh said.

He wondered if the Congress leader was not aware of history and said when the Shaksgam valley was handed over by Pakistan to China, Jawaharlal Nehru was the prime minister of India.

"When the Karakoram highway was built in PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), Indira Gandhi was the prime minister.

"You (Rahul Gandhi) are blaming the BJP government's policies for the friendship between China and Pakistan. It is a baseless allegation," Singh said.

Owaisi rejects 'Z' security, asks govt to file case under UAPA

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Owaisi urged the government to charge those who attacked him with stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and appealed to end radicalisation in the country.

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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor flags data security concerns over e-passports that Centre has announced in the Union Budget 2022.

BJD MP Prasanna Acharya criticises Centre for not fulfilling its promise of doubling farmers’ income

BJD MP Prasanna Acharya on Friday criticised the Union government for paying only lip service on women empowerment and not fulfilling its promise to double the income of farmers by 2022.

Participating in the discussion on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address in the Rajya Sabha, he also raised concerns about the attempts being made by the Centre to “weaken” the federal structure of the country.

Acharya also pointed out that the central government was not accepting Odisha’s demand to give special category status to the state.

Though the senior BJD leader supported the motion, he said there were some contradictions in the words and deeds of the Union government.

At the outset, Acharya said, the government has taken the right decision to start the Republic Day celebrations from January 23, which is the birthday of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

He appreciated the Centre for taking a “nationalistic approach in some respect”.

Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day, Lok Sabha proceedings to resume at 4 pm.

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Tamil Nadu CM met Governor 2 times and urged him to send the NEET bill to Central Govt but he didn't. He acted against federal spirit. We wanted to highlight this in Rajya Sabha but were not allowed. In protest, Congress, CPI(M), CPI, TMC, RJD & IUML walked out: DMK MP Trichy Siva

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Govt had written to EC, which said MSP Committee can be formed after polls are over: Tomar in RS

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Question Hour begins in Rajya Sabha

Congress, DMK, and TMC stage walkout from Rajya Sabha following sloganeering over Tamil Nadu Governor returning the Bill exempting the state from NEET medical exam

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Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi gives a Zero Hour Submission in the Rajya Sabha, to raise the matter of rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.

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'Nirmala', 'Bitcoin founder' protest tax on crypto in lecture for MPs

In an exclusive online briefing session for MPs on cryptocurrency by the Parliament's research wing, a certain 'Nirmala Sitaraman', 'Modi' and 'Satoshi Nagamoto' (founder of Bitcoin) among others created a 'hungama' over the Budget proposal to impose 30 per centtax on digital assets.

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We don't tell oil marketing companies to raise or lower prices, says Puri in Lok Sabha

Amid petrol and diesel prices remaining unchanged for three months now, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that the government does not tell oil marketing companies to raise or lower the prices.

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Security scenario at Sino-India border grim: Cong MP

India is facing a hostile environment from its neighbours and the security scenario along the country's border with China is grim, a Congress MP alleged in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the president's address to a joint sitting ofParliament, N Uttam Kumar Reddy of the Congress alleged that the Narendra Modi government has failed to defend the country's borders and the Chinese have entered the Indian territory.

Rahul got real pulse of India: Opposition members

At least two Lok Sabha members lauded Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on centralisation of power under the BJP government, contending that he had accurately reflected the pulse of the people of the country.

Common voter list would reduce costs, efforts: Rjiju

A common electoral roll to identity voters for Lok Sabha, assembly and local body polls would reduce the cost and effort involved in the process of preparing separate lists, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in the Rajya Sabha.

While several states use the electoral roll prepared by the Election Commission to hold Lok Sabha and assembly polls, some states use their own lists for local body elections.

Govt wants to alter history; fearful of future, mistrusts present: Mahua Moitra

TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday hit out at the government claiming it wants to alter history, is "fearful of the future" and "mistrusts the present", adding that while the president, in his address, spoke about freedom fighters, it was just "lip service".

Participating in the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, she referred to the government's recent announcement of installing a statue of Subhash Chandra Bose beneath the canopy at India Gate and asked if the iconic leader would have approved of the Dharma Sansad in which hate speeches were made.