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Last day of Parliament winter session: Both houses adjourned sine die; no triple talaq bill in Rajya Sabha this time
Both houses of Parliament were adjourned on Friday, bringing the winter session to an end. A debate on the triple talaq bill was scheduled, but did not take place in the Rajya Sabha. Here’s what happened in Parliament today:
The winter session of Parliament came to an end on Friday, with both houses being adjourned sine die. The Rajya Sabha did not take up the triple talaq bill, with the government earlier rejecting the opposition’s insistence on sending the bill to a Select Committee for detailed scrutiny.
A few bills were introduced, and a few motions were adopted. Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu congratulated the members on the work done, but also said members should retrospect on the time wasted in disruptions over various important bills.
Here’s what happened on the last day of the winter session:
• Budget session from January 29, budget on February 1
The budget session of Parliament will start on January 29 and the budget will be tabled on February 1, parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said on Friday.
President Ram Nath Kovind will address a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on January 29. The Economic Survey will also be tabled on the same day.
The session will go on a break on February 9. The second part of the budget session will start on March 5 and conclude on April 6, the minister said.
• World Bank to give $500 mn for skill development programme
A skill development programme with the World Bank’s assistance of $500 million will be implemented in the country under a six-year schedule, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.
The Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood (SANKALP) was a project with an estimate of $675 million, Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha. The World Bank assistance of $500 million will come in two tranches of $250 million each.
“The first tranche has been approved for implementation. Accordingly, a loan agreement with International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for an amount of $250 million has been signed by the government on December 13, 2017,” he said during Question Hour.
The total repayment period of this loan amount is 18 years including a grace period of 6 years.
• Venkaiah to decide on privilege notice against Rahul
Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday he will take “necessary decision” at the earliest on a privilege notice served by BJP MP Bhupinder Yadav against Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
However, he said the matter fell under the purview of the Lok Sabha.
On December 28, Yadav had given notice alleging that the Congress president had “intentionally, maliciously and disrespectfully twisted” the name of leader of the house and finance minister Arun Jaitley in a tweet.
Gandhi had tweeted in connection with Jaitley’s statement after an agreement to end an impasse in the Rajya Sabha was reached between the treasury and opposition benches over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh during the Gujarat assembly election campaign.
On the last day of the winter session, Yadav wanted to know the fate of his privilege notice, to which Naidu said it was under his consideration.
• Modi walks up to Manmohan in Rajya Sabha, shakes hands
Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook hands on Friday with former prime minister Manmohan Singh soon after the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die.
The handshake came just weeks after the duo was locked in a bitter war of words over the Gujarat election.
After chairman M Venkiah Naidu adjourned the house, Modi was seen moving towards the opposition benches shaking hands with some members. He reached the seat of the former prime minister, shook hands with him for quite some time and spoke to him.
Among others with whom Modi was seen shaking hands were deputy chairman PJ Kurien and veteran Congress leader Karan Singh, who was bid farewell by the upper house as his tenure ends on January 27.
• Man raises slogans inside Lok Sabha, whisked away
A man raised slogans in the visitors’ gallery of the Lok Sabha on Friday morning, but was immediately whisked away by security personnel.
As soon as finance minister Arun Jaitley ended his reply on farm loan waiver during Question Hour around 11.30am, the man raised “Bharat mata ki jai” slogan twice. He was immediately taken away by three security personnel present in the visitors’ gallery.
The proceedings were not disrupted, and security personnel said the speaker would decide on whether the person should be let off or a case registered against him with Delhi Police.
• Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday, bring the winter session to an end.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu congratulated the members on the work done, especially in condemning the treatment by Pakistan to the family members of Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is in a jail in Islamabad.
Naidu, however, said members should retrospect on the time wasted by the house in disruptions over various important bills.
• Bill for international arbitration centre introduced
A bill for establishing an international arbitration centre in Delhi was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2018, was introduced by minister of state for law PP Chaudhary. The bill proposes the establishment of an independent and autonomous regime for institutionalised arbitration and for acquisition and transfer of undertakings of the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution.
• Lok Sabha adjourned sine die
The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday, bringing the winter session to an end. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the lower house sat for 61 hours over 13 sittings. The session started on December 15.
• Congress doing injustice to Muslim women: Ananth Kumar
Union parliamentary affairs Ministers Ananth Kumar accused the Congress of doing injustice to Muslim women by opposing the triple talaq bill, saying the party should learn from the past and let the legislation pass.
“They are not thinking about ensuring justice to Muslim sisters. They are doing injustice the same way they did in the Shah Bano case,” Kumar told reporters outside Parliament on Friday.
Condemning the Congress’s demand to refer the bill to the Select Committee, Kumar said: “Every day, they bring a new excuse and their demand to refer the bill to the Select Committee is just a trick to misguide all. I condemn this.
• Rajya Sabha bades farewell to retiring members
The upper house bade farewell on Friday to three retiring members -- Karan Singh, Janardan Dwivedi and Parvez Hashmi -- all three representing the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad convey their wishes.
• Panel tables report on customer satisfaction with airlines
The parliamentary standing committee for transport has laid a report on the table of Rajya Sabha on issues related to improving customer satisfaction with airlines, reports ANI.
The committee deliberated on issues of exorbitant fares during festival seasons, holiday seasons, natural disasters and political and social unrest.
It also noted that there were many incidents of manhandling, and discourteous and rude behaviour by airline staff. Majority of the committee members said the attitude of airline staff was very condescending, often uncooperative and on many occasions, downright rude.
• BJP questions credibility of Jadhav video
The BJP slammed Pakistan over the release of a video of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.
“Such videos will be taken seriously only if those circulating the video are credible enough. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not understand that their credibility has reached a nadir. Nobody is now ready to believe what Pakistan is saying, no matter how many such videos they decide to bring out,” BJP vice president and Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe told ANI.
Another BJP MP Prabhat Jha also questioned the credibility of the video. “It would be a mistake to think that Pakistan could release a credible video of Kulbhushan Jadhav,” Jha told ANI.
• BJP, Congress issue whip
The BJP issued a whip asking all its MPs to remain present in both the houses of Parliament on Friday.
The Congress also issued a whip on Friday for its members in the Rajya Sabha, asking them to remain present in the house on the last day of the session.
• Bills to be introduced, or taken up for debate and discussion
The Rajya Sabha will take up for consideration the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill, 2017, the triple talaq bill or the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013, the Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
In the Lok Sabha, the government will seek to withdraw the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015 and introduce the Consumer Protection Bill, 2018. The lower house will also take up the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2018, the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2017.