JOIN USMaintain attendance in Parliament
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has a word of advice for heads of Parliamentary Standing Committees— table the committee reports on demands of grants of various ministries well before the Budget is passed by Parliament. Parliamentary panels scrutinise the demands of grants thoroughly but often, the reports are submitted late. Naidu feels delay in submission of such reports would not give time for the government to consider the recommendations. In the winter session, Naidu had taken up the issue of absence of MPs in Parliament panel meetings and wrote to party leaders asking them to ensure that the lawmakers attend the meeting.
This time too, he had repeated the issue with floor leaders during a meeting he had with them ahead of the start of the Budget session. A situation of lack of quorum should not arise as it reflects poorly on the functioning of legislatures, he said.
Shemin Joy, New Delhi
Advani left in tears
‘Shikara’, has created a lot of buzz and is the subject of extensive debate. The movie is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley and has received mixed reviews last week. The poignant tale of the pain of Kashmiri Pandits and how they rebuilt their lives in different parts of India has left many in tears. BJP veteran L K Advani was no exception. At a special screening, the 92-year-old Advani got emotional while watching the movie. In a video clip shared by the producers of the movie, Advani is seen trying to hold back his tears and filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra rushing to console him. Advani is a known movie enthusiast and was a film critic before taking the political plunge.
Sagar Kulkarni, New Delhi
Ministers taken to task
It is not only the prime minister but also union ministers who have found themselves on the wrong side of the presiding officers in both Houses of Parliament. Last week, the Rajya Sabha chairman ordered a certain word spoken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be expunged from Parliamentary records, union ministers were at the receiving end in the Lok Sabha. Union Minister Babul Supriyo’s attempts to “discipline” the leader of the Congress, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury drew the ire of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi to keep union ministers under check. Another Minister Harsh Vardhan’s remarks targeted at Rahul Gandhi were also not appreciated by the Speaker.
Sagar Kulkarni, New Delhi
Technological ‘advancements’
The Kerala Assembly has recently switched over to paperless mode with digital screens being installed for the benefit of all MLAs in the House. All proceedings, documents and communications will be done digitally. The other day an MLA of the Opposition Congress was presenting a notice for an adjournment motion over a recent murder in the state capital and alleged lapses in procedure by the police. Typically, almost all adjournment motion notices would be rejected by the government. As per procedure, the Speaker formally rejects the demand after listening to government’s reply. However, on this particular day, even before the government’s reply arrived, a message from the Speaker appeared on the monitors stating that permission was denied to the adjournment motion after the government’s reply. Even though the Speaker swiftly clarified that it was a technical glitch, some Congress MLA’s raised objections in a light manner.
Arjun Raghunath,
Thiruvananthapuram
Debut in Bollywood
Yet another star-kid is set to make waves in Bollywood. This time it is Kaveri, the daughter of Shekhar Kapur and Suchitra Krishnamoorty. “Kaveri, daughter of Suchitra and Shekhar Kapur. .. her new single .. her first International release under Swedish American label Snafu ..All good wishes,” actor Amitabh Bachchan tweeted. Shekhar Kapur is the nephew of late evergreen hero Dev Anand.
Mrityunjay Bose, Mumbai