Rajya Sabha News

YSRCP, the opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, continues to suffer a steady stream of desertions from the party's top leaders, Rajya Sabha members, corporators and others. This exodus phenomenon started prior to the 2024 general elections and continues to be unabated even after four months of the new NDA alliance of TDP, BJP and Janasena forming the government in the southern state. Nearly half a dozen MPs quit the party before the polls, some of whom, such as L Sri Krishnadevarayalu and M Srinivasulu Reddy, went on to be re-elected as TDP MPs. The latest high-profile exit, by B Srinivasa Reddy, is a major jolt to the party.

TMC leader Derek O'Brien on Sunday alleged parliamentary standing committees had not been formed despite the 18th Lok Sabha completing 100 days since its constitution and said Parliament was being turned into a «deep, dark chamber». In a post on X, the Trinamool Congress' (TMC) leader in the Rajya Sabha said seven out of 10 Bills were sent to department-related standing committees of Parliament in the 15th Lok Sabha while only two out of 10 Bills were sent to the panels in the last Lok Sabha. «Parliamentary standing committees have not yet been formed. In the 15th Lok Sabha, seven out of 10 Bills were sent to committees for scrutiny. In the last Lok Sabha, only two out of 10 Bills got scrutinised ,» O'Brien said. «Parliament is being turned into a deep, dark chamber,» he added.

National Conference’s manifesto promise to restore Article 370 if voted to power, alleging that there was in fact a “jugalbandi (coordination)” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Pakistan defence minister Khwaja Asif as the latter made his controversial remarks on a day the PM was campaigning in Jammu and Kashmir. The main opposition also raked up the Pulwama terrorist attack and Modi’s surprise visit to then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif’s home to attend a family function in December 2015. Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari countered the BJP attack that Pakistan has welcomed the NC’s manifesto promise of restoring Article 370 that gave special status to J&K and that this promise has caused a lot of enthusiasm in the neighbouring country.

Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday attacked the collegium system for appointing judges and alleged that it prevented those from backward groups from being appointed in the higher judiciary. The Rashtriya Lok Morcha leader, who recently took oath as a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar, said at a press conference that the «lack of democracy in the judiciary» would be among the issues he would raise in Parliament.

Sudha Murthy on Sunday said although she has read a book set in Parliament way back in the 1980s, about Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, since so much has changed about India and the Parliament since then, that she would not mind writing about it. «Although, I have to finish my term as a Rajya Sabha member first, before I could attempt to do that,» said Murthy on Sunday. Murthy was in conversation with fellow author and actor Twinkle Khanna, at the celebration of the launch of her 300th book title — and 46th book — 'Grandpa's Bag of Stories' here. The event was organised by Bengaluru-based Lit Spirit Foundation. But in her immediate list of wishes is a book on 'shlokas' that her grandfather used to recite, she said.

Trinamool Congress president Ripun Bora on Sunday resigned from the party, claiming that the people of the northeastern state consider it as a «regional party» of West Bengal and are not willing to accept it as their own. In a letter to All India Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Bora, the former Rajya Sabha member, said he had offered many suggestions to party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to make TMC acceptable in Assam, but those were «not implemented». "Assam TMC has great potential, but several recurring issues have hindered our progress, including the perception of TMC as a regional party of West Bengal. To counter this perception, we made several suggestions," Bora said in his resignation letter.

Anoop Dhanak, Ram Kumar Gautam and Jogi Ram Sihag, who quit the party recently, joined the BJP on Sunday giving the ruling party in Haryana a boost ahead of the October 5 Assembly bypoll. The three leaders along with Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma were welcomed into the BJP fold by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the party's state unit chief Mohan Lal Badoli and its Haryana affairs co-incharge Biplab Kumar Deb at a rally in Jind. Sharma is the wife of Haryana Janchetna Party chief and former Union Minister Venod Sharma. Her son and Independent Rajya Sabha member Kartikeya Sharma was also present at the Jind event. Dhanak, Gautam and Sihag were Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) MLAs when they abandoned the party.

Peoples Conference and People's Democratic Party (PDP) released fresh lists of candidates for the upcoming assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir. Both parties are contesting the polls alone and have decided to field candidates on select seats across the Union Territory. The Peoples Conference issued its first list of seven candidates, including former Rajya Sabha member Nazir Ahmad Laway from Kulgam in southern Kashmir and former legislator Abid Ansari from Zadibal constituency in Srinagar.

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh surrendered before a special court here on Wednesday in connection with a 2001 street-protest case and was granted bail. «Sanjay Singh surrendered in the MP-MLA court here. The court granted him bail on a surety bond of Rs 50,000,» his advocate Madan Singh said. The surety was deposited on the directions of the Allahabad High court which had on August 22 stayed the execution of the sentence awarded by the Sultanpur court. The special court had on January 11 last year sentenced the AAP leader to three months of rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine for obstructing traffic and inciting violence during a protest in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district.

TMC and BJP on Monday engaged in a war of words after TMC MP Saket Gokhale shared an alleged video of a girl dancing in a 'protest for RG Kar'. Taking to social media platform X, Gokhale shared a video of a girl dancing in the backdrop of posters that read 'justice for our sister'. He accused the BJP of hijacking a protest for political agendas. «Sickening! This is allegedly from a “protest for RG Kar” organized by BJP in Bengal. Is THIS BJP’s idea of “respecting women”? Creepy BJP misogynists hijacked a protest for political agendas with ZERO concern for the victim or any woman,» Gokhale stated.

A survey conducted by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) puts a number to the alarming extent of stress and fear among doctors. According to the survey, 82.7% of doctors experience significant stress in their profession, 62.8% fear violence and 46.3% identify violence as a major source of their stress. These figures illustrate the growing concern regarding the safety and well-being of medical professionals, reported ToI. «The present Bill not only merely focuses on punishment but also addresses the other parameters which lead to violence. It will ensure that all the healthcare service personnel have the right to work in a safe and secure work place which is free of violence and also secure the rights of patients,» said the official document.

Stay tuned for Live Updates. Vinesh Phogat CAS Hearing Verdict Live: Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi from Maharashtra has condemned the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for its handling of Vinesh Phogat's disqualification on Monday.She took to X and wrote, "Wow.

joint parliamentary committee will examine the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and submit its report in the first week of the winter session of Parliament. The committee will have 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha members to be part of the panel are Jagdambika Pal, Nishikant Dubey, Tejasvi Surya, Aparajita Sarangi, Sanjay Jaiswal, Dilip Saikia, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, DK Aruna, Gaurav Gogoi, Imran Masood, Mohd Javed, Maulana Mohibbullah, Kalyan Banerjee, A Raja, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayulu, Arvind Sawant, Matre Balya Mama Suresh Gopinath, Naresh Ganpath Mhaske, Arun Bharti and Asaduddin Owaisi. The panel will submit its report on the last day of the first week of the next session of Parliament, said minorities affairs minister Kiren Rijiju. As he moved a motion to adopt the names of 21 members, Congress member Kodukkunil Suresh said the Indian Union Muslim League, his party's Kerala ally, should be included in the panel.

manufacturing sector during 2014-24 rose by 69 per cent to USD 165.1 billion, Parliament was informed on Friday. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said that India is rapidly emerging as a preferred country for foreign investment in the manufacturing sector " FDI equity inflow in the manufacturing sectors in the last ten financial years (2014-24) has increased by 69 per cent to USD 165.1 billion as compared to USD 97.7 billion in the previous ten financial years (2004-14)," he said. He also said that the total FDI inflow of USD 383.50 billion has been reported in the country during the past five financial years (2019-20 to 2023-24).

Gulf countries during the June to September holiday season have risen five-fold, causing financial hardships to poor labourers and the middle class migrants who want to visit India, a Rajya Sabha member said on Monday, asking the government to stop this "organised loot". Raising the issue +through a Zero Hour mention in the House, Jebi Mather Hisham (Congress) said June-September is normally a school holiday season in the Middle East countries but this has turned into a «horror season» due to the «exorbitant, exploitative and extortionist» airfares implemented by the airlines. «We call it organised loot because it (the fare hike) has not doubled or tripled but has increased by more than five times,» she said. Against the one-way fare of Rs 8,000 from Gulf countries to Kerala, a poor labourer is now having to shell out Rs 46,000 one-way and about Rs 1 lakh for return fare.

Rajya Sabha by the government to a question on the MGNREGS, TMC MP Derek O'Brien on Sunday claimed the BJP-led Centre in its response has «finally» accepted that West Bengal has been given «zero» funds under the 100-day rural employment guarantee scheme. The TMC and its Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee have been demanding a white paper on the scheme to prove what the Centre had paid to West Bengal since the BJP's loss in the 2021 state assembly polls, Rajya Sabha member O'Brien said in a post on X. «Finally! Modi govt admits inside Parliament that Bengal's been given zero for MNREGA funds,» O'Brien said in a post on X, sharing the July 26 reply that gave state and UT-wise data of the last five financial years on the number of households that have completed 100 days of employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). In West Bengal, the number of households that completed 100 days of wage employment was «zero» in 2023-24, according to the written reply given by Union Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan in the Upper House of Parliament.

Health Minister J P Nadda on Friday defended the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), which is under the scanner over paper leak cases, saying medical education had become an open business before the NEET was introduced and PG seats were sold for Rs 8 crore-13 crore each. The minister intervened during a discussion on a private member resolution moved by DMK Rajya Sabha member M Mohmed Abdulla on the NEET. The minister said corruption was rife in medical education before the NEET was brought in during his first stint as health minister. «Medical education had become the den of a business. When I was health minister and was bringing NEET, one seat of post graduation was sold for Rs 8 crore each and if you had to opt for a discipline like radiology then it was Rs 12-13 crore,» Nadda said.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging that he «misled» the Rajya Sabha by his emphatic statements on early warnings issued by the Centre to the Kerala government ahead of the Wayanad landslides «which have been proven to be false». Ramesh, who is the Congress' chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, said in his letter to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar that in his response to a Calling Attention on the Wayanad landslides in the Rajya Sabha on July 31, 2024, the home minister made several claims on early warning systems and how they were not utilized by the Kerala government inspite of alerts issued by the Union government well ahead of the tragedy. «These claims have been extensively fact-checked in the media. One such detailed fact-check published in The Hindu dated August 2, 2024 is attached,» Ramesh said in his letter, which was also signed by Congress' deputy leader in the House Pramod Tiwari and senior leader Digvijaya Singh.

Nirmala Sitharaman Wednesday said the budget seeks to strike a fine balance among several overriding priorities and will provide impetus to local manufacturing, boost employment and raise India's share in global growth. «Growth, employment, welfare spending, capital investments, and fiscal consolidation are given equal place,» she said in Rajya Sabha.

Kerala government was warned seven days ahead of the tragic landslide which claimed more than 150 lives. Speaking about the early warning system in Rajya Sabha, Union Home Minister said that Government of India had alerted the government of Kerala seven days before the incident, and then on July 24 and 25 too early warning was given.

UPSC aspirants at a coaching centre in Delhi, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said on Monday that coaching has become «virtually commerce.»