Rajya Sabha News

Congress hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday over his remarks targeting the opposition alliance, with Rahul Gandhi saying «call us whatever you want» but «we are INDIA» and will rebuild the idea of India in Manipur. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said while «we are talking about Manipur, which is burning», the prime minister is «talking about East India (Company) and saying INDIA means East India (Company)». Later, in a tweet in Hindi, Kharge said, «While we are talking about Manipur, the prime minister, outside the House, is calling 'INDIA' as 'East India Company'. The Congress party has always been with 'Mother India' i.e. 'Bharat Mata'.» «The slaves of the British were the political ancestors of the BJP. Prime Minister Modi, stop diverting the attention of the country with your rhetoric. Narendra Modiji, speak about Manipur in Parliament, do not belittle the dignity of the post of prime minister by calling INDIA, that is Bharat, good or bad,» the Congress president tweeted. Modi slammed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as the most directionless the country has ever seen and cited reviled names, such as East India Company and Indian Mujahideen, to assert that people cannot be misled merely by the use of the country's name. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the prime minister told a BJP Parliamentary Party meeting that the conduct of the opposition has been such that as if it has decided to stay in the opposition for long.

Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said the Question Hour is the «heart» of Parliamentary work as it seeks accountability and transparency from the government and is helpful for people at large. Making these remarks during Question Hour as members of the opposition kept raising uproar, he urged the members to maintain decorum and allow the House to function. The opposition has been demanding answers from the government on the Manipur situation and a statement from the prime minister and a discussion on the situation in the north eastern state.

Addressing the BJP's Parliamentary Party meeting earlier on Tuesday, PM Modi said, «From the Opposition's conduct, it seems that they have decided to remain in the Opposition. We have to work in the interest of the public and move forward.» He added that India's image has been elevated before the world and the BJP will keep putting in the hard yards in this direction. «Today, India's image before the world has improved significantly and we are committed to keep working in this direction,» PM Modi added at the BJP meeting.

alliance INDIA will continue their agitation on the Parliament premises through the night against the suspension of AAP leader Sanjay Singh and over their demand that the prime minister open the debate on Manipur in the House. The protest, which began on Monday morning, will see leaders of the INDIA alliance taking turns with a team sitting near the Gandhi statue through the night, senior leaders said, adding the protest will continue on Tuesday as well. The last time an all-night protest was organised by the opposition leaders was in July last year when 20 suspended Rajya Sabha members started a 50-hour relay protest inside the Parliament complex.

New Delhi: The financial year 2022-23 witnessed a significant boost in the per capita net state domestic product (NSDP) for several states, driven by a surge in economic activities across the country. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the minister of state with independent charge for MOSPI (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation), Rao Inderjit Singh, said that the per capita NSDP at current prices recorded an impressive annual growth rate of approximately 13-15% in most states during the mentioned period.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Monday, prompting outrage in the Opposition ranks. The RS was eventually adjourned for the day as the lawmaker remained in the House despite being barred from attending the remainder of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Protests are now set to continue through the night over the matter.

Lessors have sought deregistration of 54 aircraft of Go First and aviation regulator DGCA is closely monitoring the situation since the airline announced cancellation of flights in May, the government said on Monday. Cash-strapped budget carrier Go First stopped flying on May 3 and is undergoing a voluntary insolvency resolution process.

New Delhi: The central government has stepped up exploration and production of critical minerals in the country with number of licences given to find domestic deposits, union minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said on Monday. In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the minister said that the government has released a list of 30 critical minerals for India and would focus on exploration and subsequent production of these.

New Delhi: There is no shortage of coal in the country as of now, with domestic production up during April-June this year, said Union minister of coal, mines, and parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi on Monday. All India coal production for fiscal year 2022-23 stood at 893.19 million tonne (MT), up 14.7% year-on-year (YoY). In the current fiscal till June 2023, production was up 8.51% YoY at 223.36 million tonne.

crime against women...I would request the opposition not to run away from discussions...The opposition should not politicise such sensitive issues', ANI reported. In relation to the incident involving the parading of two tribal women in Kangpokpi district on May 4, the Manipur Police have made significant progress by arresting six individuals thus far. The investigation into the matter is ongoing, and the authorities are committed to bringing all those involved to justice, PTI reported.

Raghav Chadha, on Sunday wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankar, asking him to direct the government to withdraw the Bill replacing the Delhi ordinance. «Today, I have written a letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar opposing the introduction of the Bill replacing the Delhi Ordinance. The introduction of the Bill in Rajya Sabha to replace the Delhi Ordinance is impermissible for three important reasons,» the AAP MP said while speaking to ANI.

ANI, Raghav Chadha said," In the Rajya Sabha today, we raised the issue of Delhi ordinance. We demanded that it be withdrawn and there is no significance to it. It is against democracy and the government should withdraw it.

Chandrasekhar has said in the Parliament that government authorities had not shut down the services of American microblogging site Twitter and did not raid homes of executives of Twitter for hosting content of farmers' agitation during 2021. This allegation was first made by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a television interview, which was repeatedly denied by Chandrasekhar on his social media handle.

New Delhi: The Railways will armour 3,000 km of its network covering the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes with the protection system Kavach system, the government said on Friday. In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Kavach tenders have been awarded for Delhi – Mumbai & Delhi – Howrah corridors (approximately 3000 Route km) and work is in progress on these routes. Indian Railways is preparing Detailed Project Report (DPR) and detailed estimate for another 6000 RKM." He added that Kavach has so far been deployed on 1465 Route km and 121 locomotives (including Electric Multiple Unit rakes) on South Central Railway.

₹1.04 trillion to cane farmers so far in the current marketing year that ends on 30 September, but ₹9,499 crore worth of dues remain unpaid, according to the government. Of the total cane arrears, millers in Uttar Pradesh need to clear ₹6,315 crore worth of dues to sugarcane farmers. Cane arrears in Gujarat stand at ₹1,651 crore and in Maharashtra at ₹631 crore.

Trinamool Congress MPs visited ethnic strife-ravaged Manipur on Wednesday. The delegation comprised Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien, Rajya Sabha MPs Dola Sen and Sushmita Dev, and Lok Sabha MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Kalyan Banerjee. They visited Lamka.

Trinamool Congress hailed the coalition named 'INDIA' formed for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and asserted that the days of the NDA are numbered. The opposition alliance that will take on the NDA ruling at the Centre and an 11-member committee will be set up for coordination, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced after the meeting in the Karnataka capital. The TMC tweeted: «INDIA stands united! I — Indian N — National D — Developmental I — Inclusive A — Alliance Can NDA challenge INDIA? — Smt @MamataOfficial at the opposition party meeting in Bengaluru.

MPs in Rajya Sabha the Centre is in a good position to get the bill passed, but a lot will depend on the regional parties like Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress Party of Jagan Reddy. The BJP is likely to get its number of MPs raised to 93 after the recent round of elections in the upper house. The bill which is likely to be introduced in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament, seven seats will remain vacant in the 245-member Rajya Sabha.

Rajya Sabha elections are set to be held on 24 July, 2023.  West Bengal had nominated six TMC leaders including - Derek O'Brien, Sukhendushekhar Roy, Dola Sen, Saket Gokhale, Samirul Islam, Prakash Chik Baraik-who were announced as winners on Saturday, owing to the lack of an Opposition.  The party has dropped Sushmita Dev and Shanti Chhetri who are due to retire. Gokhale is a Trinamool Congress spokesperson.

ANI, Shinde said, “At a time when we have an absolute majority of 210 MLAs, making such a demand is laughable. Making such a statement by such a big leader is laughable." Shinde made an important announcement on Friday regarding the cabinet expansion, assigning specific departments to the newly sworn-in ministers who joined the state government on July 2. This development comes approximately two weeks after nine NCP leaders, including Ajit Pawar, took the oath as ministers in Maharashtra.

Vedanta said the Taiwanese electronic contract manufacturer Foxconn has withdrawn from a $19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture without elaborating on the reasons. Terming the Foxconn withdrawal as a ‘tragedy’ the Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said the project was completely feasible in Maharashtra and asked the Maharashtra government to clarify why it was suddenly shifted to Gujarat from a highly feasible location of Pune.