Rajya Sabha News

data and AI labs in tier 2 and tier 3 cities across the country and has invited proposals from all 36 states as well as Union Territories for the same, Parliament was informed on Friday. Minister of state for electronics and IT Jitin Prasada in a written reply to Rajya Sabha said that besides proposals expected from states and UTs, IndiaAI in collaboration with National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) also plans to establish 27 data labs in tier 2 and tier 3 cities across the country. «All the 36 states and Union Territories (UTs) have been requested to submit their nominated list of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs)/Polytechnics located in tier 2 and tier 3 cities for the setting up of data labs. Additionally, IndiaAI in collaboration with NIELIT plans to establish 27 data labs in tier 2 and tier 3 cities across the country,» Prasada said. The data and AI labs are part of the skilling initiative of the government under IndiaAI mission.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Jaya Bachchan on Friday alleged that the BJP MPs, undergoing treatment in a hospital in the city, are doing «drama» and said they should be given all the awards for their «acting performance». Speaking to reporters during a protest march carried out by opposition parties here, the Rajya Sabha member also claimed that she has never seen in her career as an actor a «better performer» than BJP MPs Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Mukesh Rajput and S Phangnon Konyak. The BJP hit back and said this is the «true culture» of the SP and the opposition INDIA bloc with Bachchan standing with the «aggressor», not with the victim, survivor and the tribal woman MP who has made «grave» allegations against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. The acrimonious face-off between the opposition and the ruling NDA over alleged insult to B R Ambedkar took an unprecedented ugly turn in Parliament premises on Thursday with claims of pushing and shoving involving MPs, leaving two BJP members Sarangi and Rajput hospitalised.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar does not allow them to speak, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Parliamentary Party Leader Derek O'Brien on Friday alleged that the Rajya Sabha chairman spoke for around 30 per cent of the time the Upper House functioned. Slamming the chairman on the last day of the Winter Session, O'Brien in a brief statement said that the Upper House ran for a total of 43 hours till December 18 and Dhankhar spoke for around four and a half hours. There are no official records of speaking time of the Rajya Sabha chairman or its members.

Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, the House on Friday adopted a resolution recommending the two bills on holding simultaneous polls to a joint committee of the two Houses.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said although the RSS and the undivided Shiv Sena were bound by a common thread of Hindutva, their ideologies have always been different. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Raut said in 1975, Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray was pressured to merge his party with the Congress, but he thwarted such attempts to ensure its independence. «The Shiv Sena and the RSS were bound together by a common thread of Hindutva, but they have always been different ideologically,» Raut said.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien on Wednesday submitted a privilege notice against Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on B R Ambedkar, a source said. According to the source, the notice has been filed under Rule 187 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha. The notice also quoted the statement the home minister made in the Upper House on Tuesday during his reply to a debate on the 75 years of the Constitution. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed protests from the Congress and some other opposition parties over Shah's alleged insult of Ambedkar, resulting in both the Houses being adjourned.

Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, had recently addressed a press conference in Delhi where he allegedly made allegations against Sulakshana Sawant, the wife of CM Pramod Sawant. Sulakshana Sawant filed a complaint in the civil court at Bicholim in north Goa. The ad-hoc civil judge heard the suit and issued a notice to Sanjay Singh, returnable on January 10, 2025.

Kiren Rijiju during the on-going winter session of Parliament, the Opposition on Thursday submitted a notice for moving a Privilege Motion against him. TMC Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghosh initiated the process with 60 MPs of the Upper House signing the notice which was handed over to the secretary general for censuring the minister. «The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju, instead of doing his job of running Parliament smoothly, has chosen to repeatedly insult Opposition members. Yesterday (11/ 12/24), Rijiju insulted the Opposition by saying that the entire Opposition is „not worthy“ of being members of the House. Rijiju has insulted opposition members and used personal terms against opposition MPs both inside and outside the House,» Ghosh said in the notice to the Rajya Sabha secretariat. Amid the tussle between Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Opposition (which has submitted a notice for impeaching the Vice-President), Rijiju backed him in the House on Thursday and attacked the Opposition in what the latter termed «derogatory language». Rijiju had said the Opposition is not worth of being in the House. He also praised Dhankhar and expressed his gratitude that a leader like him is Chairman of the House.

INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice to bring a motion in the Rajya Sabha for the removal of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, accusing him of 'partisan' conduct as chairman of the Upper House. If the motion is accepted, these parties need a simple majority to get it passed. However, they do not have the requisite numbers in the 243-member House. Opposition members, however, insisted that it was a 'strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy'. On behalf of the Opposition, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice, signed by 60 MPs from Congress, RJD, Trinamool, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, DMK, Samajwadi Party, to Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody.

BJP on Tuesday termed INDIA bloc's move to submit a notice for removal of Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar as «extremely regrettable», saying the government was very proud of him. Addressing a press conference here, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said that they were happy with the work of the Rajya Sabha chairman while assuring that the NDA has the majority in the House. «The Opposition disrespects the dignity of the chair, be it in the Rajya Sabha or the Lok Sabha. We all know that in the parliamentary tradition, the Speakers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are our guides. Whoever sits on the chair, we have to obey them. Congress party and their alliance partners continuously behaved wrongly by not following the direction of the chair,» he said. Rijiju said that Dhankhar comes from a humble background and talks about farmers' and people's welfare inside and outside the Parliament. «He guides us. We respect him,» Rijiju said.

Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj is undertaking several measures, including the use of community radio, to spread awareness against the "Sarpanch Pati" system, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The «Sarpanch Pati» system is a practice in which the husband of an elected woman sarpanch wields the actual power. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj SP Singh Baghel said various modes of information, education and communication activities, media engagement, conferences, seminars, training programmes, screening of public service awareness films, broadcasting of programmes through community radio were being done to spread awareness on issues such as the «Sarpanch Pati» system.

Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said discussions over Gautam Adani's indictment in United States over alleged bribergy charges worth $256 million will not be allowed in the Upper House. Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman in opening session said that he has received 13 notices from Members of Parliament (MPs) for discussion over allegations against Adani Group. Amid furour, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 11:45 pm.

Central Apprenticeship Council for a period of three years with effect from October 16, after the term of the previous council came to an end.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, contesting assembly polls from Baramati, has movable assets worth more than Rs 8.22 crore, while his immovable assets were valued at Rs 37.15 crore, according to an affidavit submitted by him before the Election Commission. The movable assets of Ajit Pawar, who heads the ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), include two cars — Toyota Camry, Honda CRV — a tractor, silver articles, FDs, shares and bonds, among others, as per the affidavit submitted by him along with nomination papers from the seat in Pune district for the November 20 polls. Ajit Pawar (65), seeking an eighth term from his home turf, filed his nomination papers as the NCP candidate on Monday. His spouse Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha member, owns movable assets worth Rs 14.57 crore, while the value of immovable assets in her name stood at Rs 58.39 crore, according to the document.

Worli assembly constituency as Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora belonging to the ruling Shiv Sena on Tuesday filed his nomination and will take on sitting MLA Aaditya Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT). Deora, a former Congress leader and Union minister of state, joined the Sena before the Lok Sabha polls this year and was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Sudha Murty has quietly built a temple in a remote village in Tamil Nadu, fulfilling her long-cherished desire. A temple has come up at Ivanallur village in Mayiladuthurai district with Lord Shiva as the presiding deity. The village, with about 2000, had a few ancient idols of Shiva, Parvathi, Ganesha, Subramanya, Nandi and others placed in a small hut. The villagers regularly offered pooja, though the site lacked a proper roof or structure. “When I was young, my grandfather used to tell me stories from the Vijayanagar empire. Scholars believed a person’s life becomes complete if he or she imparts knowledge to others, helps the needy, builds tanks and temples alike. I have the satisfaction of being part of many of these, like rejuvenation of ancient tanks and temples, but never built a temple from scratch. With the Ivanallur temple, my desire is fulfilled,” Murty, also a Rajya Sabha member, told ET.

Mithun Chakraborty on Sunday asserted that the «masnad» (throne) of West Bengal will be of BJP after the 2026 assembly elections in the state, promising to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal. Chakraborty, who has received India's highest film honour Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year, was felicitated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the inauguration of a membership drive of the BJP in West Bengal. Speaking at the programme at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) here, Chakraborty said, «In 2026, the masnad will be ours and we will do everything to achieve the goal.» Stating that he had campaigned for the party for 37 days in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the former Rajya Sabha member said that he was pained at the results in which BJP had come down from 18 seats in 2019 to 12 out of 42 constituencies in West Bengal.

influential leaders in some segments reflects its risk-aversion approach in the wake of the poor show in general elections in the western state. Sreejaya Chavan, daughter of former CM and Congress turncoat Ashok Chavan who joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, is among the kin of regional satraps picked by the BJP for the November 20 contest. Sreejaya, who holds a law degree, will make her electoral debut from the home turf Bhokar segment, represented by the senior Chavan, in Nanded district. The BJP has renominated Nitesh Rane, son of former Union minister and Konkan strongman Narayan Rane, from the Kankavli seat in Sindhudurg district.

National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) is likely to take place in the first week of October in New Delhi. An NSCN-IM leader said, “We are asked to come to New Delhi to resume talks which have stalled for quite some time.The ball is currently in the court of the Centre. The NSCN-I-M leadership is waiting for the Centre’s decision about our demands.” On September 12, an all-important consultative meeting, convened by the state Home Department, in Kohima, discussed the long pending Naga political issue and demanded the appointment of a new ministerial-level interlocutor to take forward the talks with all the Naga groups.