Parliament updates: LS debates bill on inter-state water disputes, DMK says Centre toothless without nationalisation of rivers

JD(U) supports Inter-State river water disputes (Amendments) Bill 2019 

The JD(U) has decided to support the inter-state river water dispute amendment bill. However, party MP Mahabali Singh suggested that there should be a provision to punish non-compliance by states. 

Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJD) says he had opposed the introduction of the Bill, because States were not consulted.

Make health a basic right, says Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD

Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD) says that the government is deciding policies only for 5-10 percent of the country. “Can’t we have our own barefoot doctors in primary health centres for early detection,” he asked. Healthcare should be a fundamental right, he added.

Rajya Sabha adjourned, will reconvene at 2 pm 

 DMK says Centre toothless without nationalisation of rivers

Dayanidhi Maran of the DMK said that he expected the Ministry to come up with a proper Bill and not settle for an eyewash. Citing the case of Karnataka, which he claimed has always been in contempt of the Supreme Court order, Maran said, “When it comes to Cauvery, Karnataka has always been in contempt of court. The government should first nationalise the rivers otherwise the Centre is toothless.”

“We have no issues when rain is proper. The problem happens when there is a deficit. He says that for the last eight years Tamil Nadu has not seen Kuruvai crops at all. He asks if Cauvery Management Board will remain even after the passage of this Bill. Tamil Nadu has had enough,” he said.

‘Are we delivering Pizza?,’ Derek O’Brien says govt rushing through bills in Parliament 

#Parliament is supposed to scrutinize Bills. This chart explains the bulldozing this Session. Are we delivering pizzas or passing legislation? #ConstructiveOpposition pic.twitter.com/DKPDygpoV5

— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) July 31, 2019

Lok Sabha debates Inter-State river water disputes (Amendments) Bill 2019 

The Lok Sabha is debating the inter-state river water disputes (Amendments) Bill 2019. The bill proposes to set up a permanent tribunal to solve the inter-state disputes over sharing of river water.

Unnao accident case rocks Lok Sabha, Opposition walks out

Several opposition parties, including the Congress, walked out of Lok Sabha on Wednesday demanding a reply from the government on the alleged attempt of life on the Unnao rape survivor. Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the issue, saying Home Minister Amit Shah has not responded to the issue despite the opposition raking up the matter repeatedly.

He said though a CBI probe is on, the family members of the survivor have claimed that they face a threat to life. Later, Congress, DMK, NCP and IUML members walked out. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi too walked out.

Doctors threaten pan-India medical strike tomorrow if NMC bill tabled in RS

Doctors across the country went on a 24-hour medical strike from 6 am on Wednesday, withdrawing all non-essential services against the National Medical Council Bill. The Lok Sabha passed the NMC Bill on Monday. It seeks to create the National Medical Commission (NMC) in place of the Medical Council of India (MCI). The Bill was passed with 260 members voting in its favour and 48 against it. It also proposes a common final-year MBBS examination, known as National Exit Test (NEXT), for admission to post-graduate medical courses and for obtaining a licence to practice medicine.

Besides this, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), common counselling and NEXT would be applicable to institutes of national importance like AIIMS in order to achieve a common standard in medical education in the country.

Opposition accuses govt of passing bills in clandestine manner in Rajya Sabha

Leader of Opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the government was trying to hoodwink the opposition and pass bills by keeping them in dark. Azad said that out of the six bills that the Opposition wanted referred to a standing committee, the government had agreed to revert to them their views in three to four days. However, instead of communicating it to the opposition, the government chose to pass all those bills late on Monday night, without sufficient prior notice so that the Opposition MPs cannot be present. 

Following this Derek O’Brien chimes in and says that the Bills were in fact listed just the night before they were introduced in Parliament. 

Derek O’Brien raises a point of order. He says that Bills are being passed too soon, without giving Members time to peruse the Bill. The Chair tries to begin a short duration discussion. Prakash Javadekar says that eight out of 10 Bills have been sent to Standing Committee.

Manish Tewari raises issue of VG Siddhartha’s suicide 

Congress MP VG Siddhartha raised the issue of VG Siddhartha’s suicide demanding that a free and fair probe should be conducted to determine the veracity of the claims made in the purported suicide note.

DMK’s Tiruchi Siva questions comment about subsidy on railway tickets

Amit Shah says NDA govt will ’end terrorism’ in India

During the debate on the contentious legislation in the Lok Sabha last week, Home Minister Amit Shah had said, “We are bringing in the laws that will end terrorism in the country and we promise that the government will never misuse it. Terrorism has to be dealt with, with strict laws.”

The home minister was responding to vehement objections from the Opposition, led by the Congress, regarding the amendments proposed in the bill.

What is the UAPA bill?

The Unlawful Activities Prevention Amendment (UAPA) Bill is an anti-terror legislation that seeks to label an individual as a “terrorist”.

Amit Shah to introduce UAPA bill in Rajya Sabha today

Home minister Amit Shah will introduce the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019, for consideration in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday after it was passed in Lok Sabha last week.