Rajya Sabha

Sachin Tendulkar has not attended Budget Session for a single day

Cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar may not be able to attend the first half of the Budget session of Parliament due to his engagements in the on-going India Australia cricket series. The Rajya Sabha on Friday granted him leave from February 21 to March 7. Tendulkar has not attended the House for a single day in the ongoing Budget session and only one week is left for the...  

Parliament tells Pak to keep off Kashmir, condemns resolution on Afzal

Parliament on Friday rejected Pakistan Assembly's resolution on Afzal Guru and said that it amounts to interference in India's internal affairs. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar moved the draft resolution in the House and while unanimously adopting the resolution said, "House rejects the interference into internal affairs of India. The entire J&K including the illegally occupied part of Kashmir is and shall always be an integral part of India." ...  

Rajya Sabha adjourned over harassment of fishermen

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till noon on Thursday as AIADMK members sought an immediate reply from the government on the alleged harassment of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy. ...  

Uproar in Parliament over Vadra's land deals, SL war crimes

Both the Houses of Parliament had to be adjourned twice on Tuesday after the Opposition took on the government over Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's land deals. Questions have earlier been raised over Vadra's land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan. ...  

Centre will work with states to create NCTC, says Prime Minister

The central government will work with states to evolve broad consensus on the proposal to create the anti-terror hub NCTC, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Friday and hoped that all parties will speak with one voice on the issue of combating terrorism. ...  

PM takes on Jaitley, says no two point of views on dealing with terrorism

In a fresh effort to break the logjam over the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday offered to work with states to evolve a consensus on this crucial security measure. ...  

Reforms initiated by Cong are now followed by NDA, Left: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday in his address in the Rajya Sabha defended the UPA's record on reforms introduced in the country. Replying to President Pranb Mukherjee's address to the Parliament during the Budget Session, Manmohan said that he agreed with the President that India needs high growth rate to solve the problems of poverty and unemployment. ...  

RS members for early passage of Women's Reservation Bill

As the world observed Women's Day, Rajya Sabha members on Friday transcended party lines to demand passage of a bill providing 33 per cent reservation for women in the Parliament and state assemblies. As soon as the House met for the day, Chairman Hamid Ansari mentioned that Friday was International Women's Day to celebrate and honour the untiring commitment and persistent efforts of women. ...  

Jairam Ramesh agrees to universal pensions

Union Minister Jairam Ramesh has agreed to universal pensions by doing away with the BPL criteria. This means if the Cabinet approves this decision, 6 crore more people will get pensions. ...  

PM rejects Mulayam's demand for scrapping MNREGA

Rejecting Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's demand that "corruption-hit" MNREGA be scrapped, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said UPA's ambitious flagship social sector programme "provides a safety net to a very large number of rural families in times of distress." ...  

75,000 children have gone missing in India: Govt

Around 75,000 children have gone missing in the last three years in the country and are still untraced, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Of the about 2.36 lakh children who went missing in the last three years, 1,61,800 have been traced, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Paban Singh Ghatowar said during the Question Hour. ...  

PM assures action if irregularities are found in farm loan waiver

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday assured that action will be taken if irregularities are found in the farm loan waiver scheme. The Prime Minister's statement in the Rajya Sabha came after loud protests by the Opposition in the House. The Lok Sabha, too, witnessed a demand from the Opposition to discuss the CAG report on farm loan waiver scheme. ...  

Bhandara rape: Shinde likely to make fresh statement

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is likely to make a fresh statement on the triple rape and murder in Bhandara. This comes a week after his faux pas in the Rajya Sabha. The Home Minister had ended up naming the three minor victims in Parliament in his statement. ...  

Uproar in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha over hike in petrol price

arliament on Monday was adjourned till noon amid vociferous protests by the Opposition over the recent hike in petrol prices. Members of Left parties, Trinamool and AIADMK trooped into the Well of the Lok Sabha while BJP members shouted slogans from their seats against the hike. ...  

Suryanelli rape: Kerala court rejects plea against Kurien

Even as the Kerala High Court was yet to decide on a PIL seeking orders to make Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien an accused in the 1996 Suryanelli gangrape case, a lower court in the state has backed him saying there were no grounds to accept a case against him. ...  

Jaitley phone tapping case: Who is to blame?

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress had a heated exchange in Rajya Sabha on Friday over the issue. ...

Left MPs boycott PJ Kurien in Rajya Sabha

Left parties on Friday boycotted Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien by staging a walkout to protest his presiding over the proceedings of the House when it was debating the Bhandara rape incident in Maharashtra. ...  

Bhandara rape: Govt turns down Oppn's demand for a CBI probe

The government on Friday turned down Opposition's demand in Rajya Sabha for a CBI probe into rape and murder of three Dalit minor girls, all below 11 years, in Maharashtra's Bhandara district, saying Centre does not intervene in state affairs. "This is a very serious issue and concerns the jurisdiction of Maharashtra government," Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said, adding the Centre did not intervene in state matters "be a...  

Bhandara rape: Shinde withdraws statement naming three victims

There was outrage in Parliament on Friday over the Bhandara rape and murder case as Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's written statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs mentioned the three victims' names. However, Shinde later withdrew the statement and said, "I have withdrawn the statement. Rajya Sabha Chairman has also withdrawn the statement. Have asked the secretary to conduct an enquiry into the matter." ...  

Jaitley call records: Cong points at BJP infighting

The Congress and BJP are caught in another war over alleged attempts to access BJP leader Arun Jaitley's phone records. While the Congress has blamed it on BJP infighting, the BJP has said it couldn't have happened without the government's co-operation. However, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has said that though Jaitley's call records were sought, they were not provided. ...