Rajya Sabha has passed the Constitution (126th Amendment) Bill, 2019 which seeks to extend the reservation for SCs & STs in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies by another 10 years till January 25, 2030.
The House also passed the Constitution (scheduled tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 through a voice vote. The legislation specifies the tribal communities which are deemed to be included in the Scheduled Tribes list.
The House also passed International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019. It seeks to set up a single authority to regulate the financial services market in the International Financial Services Centres in India set up under the SEZ Act, 2005. The Bill has already been cleared by the Lok Sabha.
The Rajya Sabha has returned the Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2019, which seeks to authorise appropriation of funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2019-20, to the Lok Sabha.
The Lok Sabha passed the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019, which aims to convert three existing Sanskrit deemed universities in the country into Central universities.
Today is the penultimate day of the winter session.
Here are the live updates from today's session:
Rajya Sabha is adjourned till December 13, 2019.
The Rajya Sabha accepts the Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2019, which seeks to authorise appropriation of funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2019-20, and returns it to the Lok Sabha.
A money bill, after being passed by the Lok Sabha is sent to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations. It has to be returned to the lower house within a period of 14 days, with or without its recommendations.
The House is now taking up special mentions.
We will honour our commitment and pay the GST dues to the States, says Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Rajya Sabha.
Jairam Ramesh counters her and says that the dues have not been paid since August and Ms. Sitharaman should honour it.
Lok Sabha is adjourned till December 13, 2019.
Lok Sabha passes the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019.
Manish Gupta of the AITC says that government borrowings have increased alarmingly. Already a lot has been spent on recapitalisation of banks, which are reluctant to lend further due to previous NPAs and other risks.
Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Union Minister of Human Resource Development says that the path to a new India is through this Bill. These Central Sanskrit universities are being set up so that the 'granthas' within the Sanskrit language can be explored.
The Centre will take steps to consolidate all languages, he says.
The Rajya Sabha passes the International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019.
It is now discussing the Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2019, which seeks to authorise appropriation of funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2019-20.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says that the Bill provides for setting up of a single regulatory body for financial products approved by other regulators.
As a result, some sections of the acts governed by the SEBI Act, Pension Regulatory Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority will be amended, she says.
The CAG will audit the International Financial Services Centres Authority, she adds.
Jairam Ramesh of the Congress party says that we have only one international financial services centre right now that is going to be regulated. The Bill is needed for a much-wanted project in Gujarat - GIFT - a centre planned by the then-CM in 2005 to create a Singapore-like city on the Sabarmati front under the SEZ Act, he adds.
The Bill is meant to regulate the GIFT city. However, after 9 years of existence, out of 62 million square feet, less than 3 million square feet of commercial property has been developed. Hence the project has seen abysmal progress and has created a ripple effect in India's NBFC sector, Mr. Ramesh adds.
Hence this Bill will be a 'gift to the GIFT project', he adds.
Rajya Sabha passes the Constitution (scheduled tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 through a voice vote.
The House is now taking up International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019 for consideration and passing.
Renuka Singh Saruta, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, says that the Centre has received proposals from 21 States to include some tribal communities in the Scheduled list.
But the Centre has to take into consideration several criteria like their economic and social situation, geographical bounds, etc, she says.
The House is now taking up clause by clause consideration of the Bill.
Binoy Viswam of the CPI says that across India, tribal lands have been snatched away either by the government or land mafia. Kerala is also affected by this. The Forest Rights Act, brought in by the UPA-1 government with the Left's support is also being diluted in many places, even by way of legal orders, he says.
The Chair interrupts Mr. Viswam and he ends his speech.
Ganesh Singh of the BJP says that the Sanskrit language gave us knowledge of traditions and the alphabet. The country will progress only when the language is preserved, he adds.
Arvind Ganpat Sawant of the Shiv Sena in his support for the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill says that whoever learns Sanskrit will be able to learn other languages too.
The House unanimously decided to extend the session till the passing of the Bill.
The Constitution (scheduled tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 is taken up for consideration and passing.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu says if we take up the Constitution Amendment, it needs atleast 2/3rd of the votes. "I appeal to all members to join and take part in the voting and see that the House takes up the issue as per the expectation of the people. If any unparliamentary is there, it will be removed from the records."
Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of Opposition says there is no disrespect to the House. "We get hurt sometimes. There has to be mutual respect. Respect begets respect. While we fully go by the direction of the Chair, we also expect some respect from the Chair. We were humble and we created institutions. My submission to the govt would be, you can't compete with the Opposition."
Mr. Naidu says everyone has a good experience and members should play their role in a responsible way.
The Bill is put to vote.
Desh Deepak Verma, Secretary General explains the voting procedure and then begins the voting.
Clause by clause voting taken up by the House.
Result: There were 163 ayes and 0 noes and 0 abstains for all clauses.
The Constitution (126th Amendment) Bill, 2019 is passed.
The Bill seeks to extend the reservation for SCs & STs in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies by another 10 years till January 25, 2030.
"I am disappointed that more than 80 members are not present in the House," says the Chair.
Beesetti Venkata Satyavathi (YSRCP) bats for Sanskrit to be included in research, computer science, mathematics and social sciences.
The Constitution (126th Amendment) Bill, 2019 seeks to extend the reservation for SCs & STs in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies by another 10 years till January 25, 2030.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of Opposition says political empowerment is necessary for all communities and religion. "I seek the reservation for Anglo-Indians to be taken up in Lok Sabha and Assembly. Anglo-Indians are the ones who have worked on empowerment for women. Atleast 33% reservation is needed."
Thaawarchand Gehlot, Leader of the House says that the citizens will know what the govt has done for SC/STs.
Om Birla is in Chair.
Members list their grievances and questions on crop losses from their respective states.
Ramesh Pokhriyal, Human Resource Development Minister says let this bill be passed and make India better.
K.K. Ragesh of CPI(M) says he should be supporting The Constitution (126th amendment) Bill, 2019 since it helps SC/ST. But he wants to oppose for the fact that it doesn't help Anglo-Indians.
P. Wilson (DMK) mentions that yesterday, a bill was against Muslims and today, this bill is against Christians.
V. Vijaysai Reddy (YSRCP) says that even after 70 years, there is no perceptible change in the status of SC/ST. "It is due to the party that has ruled this country for 50 years. The Congress party has not done anything for SCs and STs. I hope that the present govt would achieve this goal."
Stake in Air India
The government has decided to sell its entire 100% stake in Air India under the proposed disinvestment process, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
The national carrier, which has a debt burden of more than ₹50,000 crore, has been making loss for long and as part of revival efforts, the government has decided on disinvestment.
“After formation of the new government, Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) has been reconstituted and the re-initiation of the strategic disinvestment of Air India has been approved.
“AISAM has approved the 100 per cent sale of Government of India stake in Air India for the re-initiated strategic disinvestment of Air India,” the Minister of State for Civil Aviation said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
Air India’s net loss in 2018-19 is provisionally estimated to be ₹8,556.35 crore.
The minister said various measures, including enabling swift transition of Jet Airways aircraft to other airlines, have been taken to improve the aviation sector.
Full service carrier Jet Airways shuttered operations in April due to cash crunch.
“Airports Authority of India (AAI) has embarked upon a capital investment of over ₹25,000 crore in next five years for development/ upgradation/ modernisation of various airports and air navigation infrastructure,” Mr. Puri said. - PTI
Policies on non-personal data
A committee of experts has been constituted to study and recommend policies on non-personal data, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Sanjay Dhotre said it was decided that a committee of experts will be constituted under the chairmanship of Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan “to deliberate on a Data Governance Framework and recommend measures...”
According to a document (dated September 13, 2019) provided by the minister, the committee has been mandated to study various issues relating to non-personal data, and to make specific suggestions for consideration of the central government on regulation of non-personal data.
The committee includes members like Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh, National Informatics Centre DG Neeta Verma, DPIIT Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary and others, it added.
On a query about what data sets constitute non-personal data and whether the government would respect the protection to proprietorial data and commercial data as protected by the WTO and the Intellectual Property Rights, Dhotre said these topics are part of the issues being deliberated upon by the said committee of experts. - PTI
3.13 lakh cyber security incidents
More than 3.13 lakh cyber security incidents were reported in India this year up to October, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
“As per the information reported to and tracked by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), 49,455, 50,362, 53,117, 2,08,456 and 3,13,649 cyber security incidents were reported during the year 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 (till October) respectively,” Minister of State for Electronics and IT Sanjay Dhotre said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
He added that service providers, intermediaries, data centres and body corporate are mandated to report cyber security incidents to CERT-In within a reasonable time of occurrence or noticing the incident to have scope for timely action.
Mr. Dhotre said security incidents that shall be mandatorily reported to CERT-In as early as possible to leave scope for action include targeted scanning/probing of critical networks/systems, compromise of critical systems/information, unauthorised access of IT systems/data, and defacement of website or intrusion into a website and unauthorised changes such as inserting malicious code, links to external websites etc.
Apart from these, malicious code attacks, attacks on servers, identify theft, spoofing and phishing attacks, denial of service and distributed denial of service attacks, attacks on critical infrastructures, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and wireless networks, and attacks on applications such as e-governance, e-commerce etc also need to be reported, he said. - PTI
Legislative Business (Bills for consideration and passing) - The Constitution (126th amendment) Bill, 2019
Sukhendu Sekar Roy is in Chair.
N. Gokulakrishnan (AIADMK) says the population of SC/ST is 10 crores, but their reservation is low.
Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) says there should have been a reservation for Anglo-Indians.
Sarojini Hembram (BJD) says SCs constitute 70.12% of Odisha's population. She wants the backlogs on development schemes to be looked into.
The Lok Sabha is holding a discussion on crop loss and its impact on farmers.
Suresh Kodikunnil is in Chair.
Narendra Singh Tomar, Agriculture Minister lists the government's schemes for farmers and crop insurance.
He said, "Of the 201 recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee report on farmers, 200 have been accepted by the government, including the one on giving them 50% more MSP than the production cost of the crop."
A shortfall in production by over 15.8 lakh tonnes has led to the spike in onion price, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the Lok Sabha on Thursday, stating that the Union government has taken several measures to deal with the issue. "MSP has been increased for 22 crops."
Replying to a discussion on crop loss and its impact on farmers, Mr. Tomar said states had given an estimate of about production of over 69.9 lakh tonnes of onion by November 30 in this season but the actual production is likely to be 53.67 lakh tonnes.
“There is definitely a shortage of onions...The current problem (price rise) is due to this. And this is natural. Our government has taken several measures, including banning its export and allowing import,” he said.
The government is serious in dealing with the issue and has also written to chief ministers of the states over it, he added.
His response to the concerns expressed by opposition members on the issue of onion price rise was interjected by some lighter moments when TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee asked the minister if he ate onions.
Mr. Tomar reacted in affirmative to which Mr. Banerjee said “you then belong to our group” amid laughter in the House.
Speaking on other farmer-related issues, Mr. Tomar said the government is working to make the ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna’ more beneficial for farmers.
He, however, asserted that its outcome has been “very satisfactory” and added that over 80% claims made under the scheme have been accepted.
Mr. Tomar also spoke about climate change and its impact on the agriculture sector.
The government through various schemes and research is tackling it, he added.
Over 40.2 million farmers are getting real time information about weather through mobile text messages, the minister said, adding that many varieties of crops have been introduced as they are seen to be better adapted to changing weather pattern. - PTI
Kirodi Lal Meena (BJP) speaks about the SC/ST representatives in Rajya Sabha during the debate on continuing reservations for SC/STs for ten more years.
He says Opposition parties said that if Modi comes to power, reservations will be abolished. This Bill defies that, he says.
House adjourned till 2.15 p.m.
"There is no power crisis in the country"
R.K. Singh, Union Power Minister says India has installed power generation capacity of around 365 GW, double the peak demand.
"States meet their demand from their own generating sources and share from central generating stations. The maximum peak demand experienced during the current year was around 183 Giga Watt (GW) whereas the installed generation capacity in the country is around 365 GW which is double our peak demand,” he said during Question Hour.
Apart from long-term power purchase agreements, states have the option to purchase power at any time from power exchanges and meet the electricity requirements fully, the minister said.
There is more than sufficient power available and states and distribution companies can draw as much power as they need, he said. - PTI
An advanced software, assisted by artificial intelligence, has been developed to translate Supreme Court judgements in nine vernacular languages and there are plans to expand it, Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Rajya Sabha on Thursday. “Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software (SUVAS), a machine learning tool trained by Artificial Intelligence to be used for translating Supreme Court Judgments into vernacular languages, was introduced on November 26, 2019,” Mr. Prasad told the Upper House during Question Hour.
He said the software is for translating Supreme Court judgments into nine vernacular languages -- Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odiya, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
It “will be further expanded”, he said.
Currently cases related to Labour, Rent Act, Land Acquisition and Requisition, Service, Compensation, Criminal, Family Law, Ordinary Civil, Personal Law, Religious and Charitable Endowments, Simple money and Mortgage, Eviction under the Public Premises (Eviction) Act, Land Laws and Agriculture Tenancies and Consumer Protection are being translated, he said.
He said the judgements are also being uploaded on the SC website and the high courts need to follow it.
In reply to another supplementary asking whether PILs will also be translated, Mr. Prasad said the Justice Department will talk to the Supreme Court in this regard but at the same time, he asserted, such petitions are misused also.
To another supplementary, the Minister said so far 16,000 courts have become e-courts. - PTI
House adjourned till 2.00 p.m.
Promotion of Indian languages in the draft New Education Policy, Notification of new rules under the RTI Act, Differential tax issues in the textile industry, construction of nuclear power plants, were discussed.
All India Judicial Service
It is high time to have an All India Judicial Service on the patterns of central civil services such as IAS and IPS to rope in talent in the judiciary, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Mr. Prasad said the exam for the judicial services can be conducted “at the national level, something like the UPSC (and) obviously under the Supreme Court’s control, where we can induct the best talent.”
“As India has IAS, IPS, Indian Revenue Service (IRS) it is high time we must have a proper All India Judicial Service conducted at the national level,” Mr. Prasad said in the Upper House during the Question Hour.
This is needed to utilise and bring talent in the judiciary, the law minister said while replying to a supplementary.
Mr. Prasad said that "as far as emphasis on more induction of talent is concerned, we are proposing to have an All India Judicial Service".
Besides all-India postings, the jobs can have the provision of reservation for those from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and other marginalised communities so that their talent can also be used ultimately in the judiciary, he said.
In reply to another supplementary, the law minster said there is no proposal to appoint retired judges.
“But as far as judiciary is concerned, both on the judicial side of judges and also on the administrative side for staff judge, recruitment is done in various High Courts, district courts and Supreme Court,” he said. - PTI
Reports on agriculture, committee on welfare of other backward classes, external affairs, urban development, chemicals and fertilisers, social justice and empowerment, human resource development, are being laid.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister speaks about The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019.
Some members oppose the bill. She says there is an amendment now to bring clarity, since there is a doubt about the bill, as members raise their voice against the amendment.
Ms. Sitharaman introduces the bill to amend insolvency law.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
The amendments in the law seek to remove bottlenecks and streamline the corporate insolvency resolution process, wherein successful bidders will be ring fenced from any risk of criminal proceedings for offences committed by previous promoters of companies concerned.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which came into force in 2016, has already been amended thrice.
The latest changes pertain to various sections as well as introduction of a new section. - PTI
"Congress instigating violence"
The Centre accused the Congress of instigating violence in the Northeast by Parliament.
Adhir Chowdhury of the Congress raised the issue of violence in parts of the Northeast, after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed, saying the entire region was in flames barring a few places.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi hit back, saying Congress was instigating violence in the region and the government condemns it.
After Joshi’s remarks, Congress members walked out of the proceedings. - PTI
The government is creating an enabling framework for deployment of affordable and secure 5G services in India, he said. No case of any first world countries disapproving 5G spectrum services due to security reasons has come to its notice, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad added.
He said the standards for IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) 2020, also known as 5G technologies are being finalised.
In reply to a question on a company being banned by some countries owing to security concerns over 5G technology equipment, Mr. Prasad said India being a sovereign country has every right to take a decision about the adoption and application of technology consistent with market conditions and also in accordance with its security needs.
“Therefore this is a question where I can only say neither yes or no. That decision is going on. Till date we have not allotted 5G spectrum to anyone nor denied to anyone,” said the minister in the upper house.
Besides, he said, an inter-ministerial High Level Forum for 5G India 2020 was constituted in September 2017 to articulate the vision for the technology and to recommend policy initiatives as well as action plans to realize this.
“The High Level Forum submitted its report titled as ‘Making India 5G Ready’ in August 2018. Based on the report, the Government is creating an enabling framework for deployment of affordable and secure 5G services in India,” Mr. Prasad said.
He observed that the radio spectrum and telecom licenses awarded by the government are technology neutral and can facilitate deployment of any network/services.
“The eligibility criteria for bidders to participate in next auction of spectrum will be decided by the Government prior to the auction." - PTI
M. Venkaiah Naidu tells that he had on December 5 constituted an informal group to study the issue of pornography on social media and its effect on children and society as a whole. He asks for a report to be submitted one month from today.
The members of the group include Amar Patnaik, Amee Yajnik, Dola Sen, Jaya Bachchan, Kahkashan Perween, Rajeev Chandrashekar, MV Rajeev Gauda, Roopa Ganguly, Sanjay Singh, Tiruchi Siva, Vandana Chavan, Vijila Sathyanath and Vinay P. Shasrabuddhe.
Mr. Naidu’s suggestion came after AIADMK MP Vijila Sathyananth raised the issue in the House.
Question Hour begins.
Tiruchi Siva (DMK) presides the Chair.
Roopa Ganguly (BJP) asks if we can get a report on cases updation.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications and IT, Law and Justice, says many courts are e-courts and he will fetch the information on this.
Vaiko (MDMK) asks about the steps taken towards the slowdown of GDP growth rate. He asks why is the implementation of flagship programmes so poor and that it doesn't reflect on GDP growth, automobile, construction sector, and infrastructure sector.
Rao Inderjit Singh, MoS (IC) Statistics and Programme Implementation replies that Indian economy is resilient and there is no cause for any apprehension. He mentions that IMF continues to underline a positive outlook for India.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Jal Shakti Minister says that the Ministry will work on increasing groundwater levels and National rural drinking water programme.
Shankar Lalwani (BJP) takes up pending national highway projects.
"Road engineering one of the key factors for large number of accidents"
Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways tells the steps taken to save trees while building highways. He says the govt will bring a move to transplant trees instead of cutting them.
He says, "Road engineering is one of the key factors for a large number of accidents in the country. Ministry is getting around ₹14,000 crore to fix problems in the 'black spots' of highways where repeated accidents take place. Drivers and vehicles are not alone responsible for the large number of accidents which take place in the country every year. Road engineering is also responsible for many accidents.
Ministry had taken up detailed review of the national highway network to develop road connectivity to border areas, development of coastal roads including road connectivity for non-major ports, improvement in the efficiency of national corridors. Development of economic corridors, inter-corridors and feeder routes along with integration with Sagarmala and others, under the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’ have been reviewed.
Under this proposal, the ministry has identified stretches for development of about 26,200 km length of economic corridors, 8,000 km of inter-corridors, 7,500 km of feeder routes, 5,300 km border and international connectivity roads, 4,100 km coastal and port connectivity roads, 1,900 km expressways." - PTI
Rama Devi (BJP) speaks about use of drone technology.
Hardeep Singh, MoS, Housing and Urban Affairs replies to questions on unauthorised colonies and mentions that the process is well underway. "DDA plans to use drone technology to prepare for the 'Master plan 2041'. On encroachment on public land, now it is possible for any citizen of Delhi to upload a picture of the encroachment on the app, and DDA will clear the issue."
Unauthorised drones issue
The Centre has taken up with respective state governments and union territory administrations the issue of unauthorised drones, according to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri.
Aviation regulator DGCA has launched the preliminary verison of Digital Sky Platform, which provides for registration of RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems), issuance of their permits as well as their flight path approvals, among others.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Mr. Puri said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) keeps track of the registered civil RPAS.
“Regarding unauthorised drones, Government of India has taken up the matter with respective state governments/ Union Territory administrations,” he noted.
All RPAS need to have a Unique Identification Number (UIN) and all such operators required to get Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP) from the aviation regulator.
To a question on whether the government plans to use drone technology for mapping, monitoring, disaster management and to increase productivity in agriculture sector, the minister replied in the affirmative.
“Drones have multiple uses like mapping, monitoring, surveying, disaster management, delivery of payload, etc,” he added. - PTI
Members then discuss road side plantation along NHs.
Narendra Jadhav (Nominated) speaks about food testing and food borne hazards. He requests Ministry of Health and Welfare to put up a mechanism to monitor.
P.L. Puniya (INC) speaks about under trials in scheduled caste and tribes that are in prison, and that they make up more than 34% of the prisoners. He says cases are being filed on them after manipulation.
A. Vijayakumar (AIADMK) speaks about Manalakurichi's mining of sand.
Abir Ranjan Biswas (AITC) speaks about different water bodies that are unfit for the supply of drinking water, bathing. He requests for those water bodies to be cleaned, like the Namami Gange project.
Sanjay Singh (AAP) speaks about punishments for rape case accused.
Many members take up their special mentions after which a statement of the public accounts committee comes up.
Lok Sabha assembles. Speaker Om Birla is in the Chair. He proceeds to Question Hour. Members speak on compensation for farmers, dams and reservoirs near National parks, irrigated area under CADWM programme.
Rajya Sabha session begins. M. Venkaiah Naidu is in the Chair. Papers are being laid on the table. Reports of the department related to Parliamentary Standing Committee on agriculture, chemicals and fertilizers, External Affairs, Ministry of Railways, Social Justice and empowerment.
MoS Communications, Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao gives a statement.
Later, matters are raised with the permission of the Chair.
