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Opposition parties are likely to move privilege motions against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the Rajya Sabha on Friday for allegedly misinforming the House on India’s foreign policy. According to sources, leaders of different political parties will move two privilege motions against Swaraj for allegedly “providing wrong information on the Bandung Asia Africa relations conference and about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lahore visit in 2015”. The sources said that while Swaraj claimed that she had not delivered any speech in the Bandung conference, the opposition parties have downloaded a purported speech and will attach it as proof. [caption id=“attachment_3882025” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] The second privilege is for allegedly “misinforming the House on Modi’s 2015 Lahore visit, claiming that there was no terror incident after that”. The opposition, however, seeks to differ saying the Pathankot terror attack happened immediately after Modi’s visit and there were five other incidents after that too. Incidentally, the issue was raised in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday with Congress leader Anand Sharma and Trinamool leader Derek O’ Brien saying that Swaraj had delivered her speech at Bandung despite claims to the contrary. Swaraj on Thursday participated in debate on foreign policy and the Doka La border stand-off with China. She slammed the Opposition for alleging that the foreign policy was faulty and vehemently rejected the charge that India was standing isolated at the world stage. A combative Swaraj asserted in the Rajya Sabha that the country’s foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was so strong that India was setting the world agenda. Replying to a discussion on ‘India’s foreign policy and engagement with strategic partners’, she answered point-by-point the questions raised and concerns voiced by the Opposition parties, mainly targeting the Congress. She said the “concerns” voiced by the Congress regarding Chinese involvement in construction of Gwadar port in Pakistan and Hambantota in Sri Lanka were “born” during the previous UPA rule and the present government was settling these. She also rejected the Opposition contention that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not taking her into consideration with regard to the foreign policy. “You say that India stands alone. This is far from the truth… All countries are with India… What I am saying is with evidence,” she told the opposition. Swaraj said it was due to the success of the new foreign policy that both the US and Russia are with India and so are Israel and Palestine as also Saudi Arabia and Yemen. With inputs from agencies
Monsoon Session of Parliament highlights: BJP, Opposition spar over bribery allegations; Lok Sabha adjourned
Swaraj on Thursday participated in debate on foreign policy and the Doka La border stand-off with China.
 "Monsoon Session of Parliament highlights: BJP, Opposition spar over bribery allegations; Lok Sabha adjourned")
Lok Sabha proceedings cut short due to uproar in House
Lok Sabha proceedings were cut short on Friday as noisy scenes prevailed after a BJP member made bribery allegations against the Congress.
As the House was discussing matters of public interest, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya claimed that payments worth Rs 4 crore made by a hawala operator had allegedly reached the Congress, PTI reports.
The issue sparked an uproar and shouting from the benches as some Congress members sought to counter it Somaiya’s submission was not fully audible amid the din. With the uproar continuing, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the proceedings for the day.
Lok Sabha sessions will resume on Tuesday
The Lower House has been adjourned until 8 August i.e. Tuesday. Parliamentary session will not take place on Monday due to Raksha Bandhan. Tensions were rife as BJP and Congress sparred over bribery allegations, leading to the Lok Sabha getting adjourned.
#LokSabha adjourned for day after heated exchanges between BJP, Cong members over bribery allegations made by #BJP MP #KiritSomaiya.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 4, 2017
Private Members’ Business starts in Parliament
Central Himalayan States Development Council Bill, 2016 is up for discussion in Rajya Sabha
Lok Sabha pays tributes to victims of Hiroshima, Nagasaki
The Lok Sabha on Friday paid tributes to the victims of the World War II atomic bomb attack on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, recalling the attack, said India has always believed in non-violence. She said the pledge to destroy weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) should be renewed.
Read more here .
All party meeting decides to send Motor Vehicles Bill to Rajya Sabha’s select committee, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari says
The all party meeting has decided to send the Motor Vehicles Bill to Rajya Sabha’s select committee, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said according to PTI. He added that the select committee will be appointed on Friday. The committee will submit its report on the first day of Winter Session of Parliament, he added.
All party meeting decides to send Motor Vehicles Bill to Select Committee of Rajya Sabha: Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.(1/2)
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 4, 2017
Select Comm to be appointed today; to give report on first day of Winter Session of Parliament: Gadkari. (2/2)
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 4, 2017
Lok Sabha passes the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy Bill
The Lok Sabha on Friday passed a bill to establish an Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy in the port city Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and declare it as an institution of national importance.
According to IANS, the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy Bill will help establishing the institute that aims to provide high quality education and research focussing on the themes of petroleum, hydrocarbons and energy.
Vice-presidential elections to be held tomorrow in Parliament House: Watch an explainer on how polling is done
Dharmendra Pradhan on oil and gas economy
While making his concluding remaks over the bill, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, said that the US discovery of shale gas has changed the dynamics of the oil and gas economy across the world. He said that had the US not discovered shale gas, the situation in the Arab world — the centre of the oil economy — would have been much worse. Price of crude oil would have also been higher, he added.
Lok Sabha MPs push for renewable energy
While discussing on the new research institution on petroleum, Opposition MPs have asked the government to focus on developing renewable energy too. Pappu Yadav also asked the NDA government to increase the number of institutions across the country, in order to boost research in India.
Meanwhile… Vice-Presidential polls to be held tomorrow; results in evening
Ruling NDA’s candidate M Venkaiah Naidu is tipped to be India’s next vice president as members of Parliament gear up to cast their ballot tomorrow.
The name of the next vice president of India will be known tomorrow evening after members of Parliament cast their ballot during the day in Parliament House.
The ruling NDA, which has a majority in the Lok Sabha, will find it easy to place its candidate as the next vice president.
The opposition has fielded Gopal Krishna Gandhi against Naidu.
Pak increasing attempts to push in terrorists: Govt tells LS
Pakistan has increased attempts to push terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir through the border but there is a high number of casualties on their side, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said today.
Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha that the Indian Army has “domination and impact” along the western border and all steps have been taken to check infiltration from across the border.
“Pakistan has increased efforts of infiltration,” he said during Question Hour. Jaitely said due to the heightened vigil of the security forces, many infiltration attempts have been foiled and infiltration has been down.
“There is record high in the casualties on the other side,” he said. There have been 285 incidents of ceasefire violation so far this year through the LoC compared to 228 such incidents in the entire 2016 along the LoC in which eight people had lost their lives, Jaitley said.
He said there were 221 ceasefire violation along the International Border which is guarded by both the Border Security Force and the Army.
After Vinod Khanna’s demise, Gurdaspur LS seat heads for Congress-BJP tussle
With the Election Commission (EC) likely to announce anytime now the date for the by-election to the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat in Punjab, which fell vacant in April following the passing away of veteran actor Vinod Khanna due to cancer, it could be a tough fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the state’s ruling Congress — with the AAP playing the spoiler.
The BJP, which is the party in power at the centre, has made the first move by announcing the appointment of poll in-charges for the nine assembly constituencies falling under the Gurdaspur parliamentary seat that Khanna held from 1998 to 2004 and then from 2014 till his demise.
The Congress, fresh from its emphatic win in the Punjab assembly elections in March, cannot easily let the seat, which it held from 2009 to 2014, go back to the BJP easily. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will have a lot riding on this bypoll, especially after the Congress won the by-election in the neighbouring Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency, which Amarinder had quit in last November, in March.
As of now, none of the parties have any big name that is sure to be fielded for the by-election. While several aspirants in all three parties are vying to get the respective party tickets, the race will intensify after the poll panel announces the election date.
IANS
SP, BSP oppose renaming of Mughalsarai railway station in Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha proceedings were briefly adjourned after opposition Samajwadi Party and BSP created a furore over the renaming of the historic Mughalsarai
railway station in Uttar Pradesh after Deen Dayal Upadhayay.
SP members trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans and disrupted taking up of listed business, forcing Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to adjourn the proceedings for 10 minutes.
The railway station came into being in 1862 when the East India Company linked Howrah to Delhi by rail. While Agarwal said the government was trying to change character of the country, his other party colleagues said the names of persons “who have made no contribution to the freedom struggle” are being given.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi objected to it, saying the opposition parties have no objection to Mughal names but cannot see the name of a great thinker.
Ruckus in Lok Sabha over schedule of Zero Hour
Petroleum Minister requested Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to take up the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy Bill 2017 before the Zero Hour, adding that the academic session has already begun so the bill must be taken up urgently. To this, Leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Zero Hour could not be taken on Thursday due to legislative business. Loud disagreements were aired on the issue briefly, before Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s interventon who ruled that the regular break for Lunch will be cancelled and the House will function to take up Zero Hour.
Left MPs to meet Union minister Arun Jaitley over political violence in Kerala
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will visit the house of an RSS worker murdered by alleged CPM activists when he visits Kerala on Sunday, a BJP leader said on Thursday. Jaitley will also hold consultations with CPM MPs on the issue, CNN-News 18.
Meanwhile… PM Modi addresses BJP MPs from various states in Delhi
Delhi: PM Modi interacted with BJP MPs from Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Tamil Nadu & Telangana. pic.twitter.com/TWJIcMY0Uq
— ANI (@ANI) August 4, 2017
Amit Shah blames Congress for non-passage of OBC panel bill
BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday squarely blamed the Congress for the non-passage in the Rajya Sabha of a bill that sought to give constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes.
He accused the Congress of harbouring an “anti-OBC mindset” and said the bill was not passed due to the Congress opposition.
“The BJP government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is committed to the welfare of the backward classes and held out an assurance that a bill on according constitutional status to the OBC Commission will be passed in Parliament at any cost,” Shah told the media in this Haryana town, 70 km from Delhi.
“Since 1955, people belonging to the OBCs have been demanding constitutional recognition to the commission but due to the anti-OBC mindset of the Congress, the bill could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha.”
He said the Congress created hurdles in its passage.
IANS
List of Business in Rajya Sabha
Private Members’ Business.
Bill for consideration and passing:
The Companies (Amendment) Bill.
List of legislative business in Lok Sabha
Bills for consideration and passing:
The Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy Bill.
The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Bill.
Private Members’ Business.
BJP overtakes Congress as largest political party in Rajya Sabha
The BJP today overtook Congress to become the largest political party in the Rajya Sabha, where it now has 58 members against 57 of the main opposition party. BJP MP Sampatiya Uikey, who was elected to the Upper House following a bypoll in Madhya Pradesh took oath today.
His election was necessitated by the death of Union Minster, Anil Madhav Dave. This is the first time that the saffron party has become the number one formation in the RS after the Narendra Modi government came to power in May 2014.
The BJP-led NDA, however, is still short of a decisive majority in the house but the joining of JD(U) to the ruling block has further boosted its numbers.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi places several key bills in RS, Naresh Agarwal objects
Parliamentary affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi placed several bills on the table of the Rajya Sabha, to which Samajwadi Party naresh Agrawal objected.
He told the chair that with few days remaining in the Monsoon Session, it will not be possible for the Upper House to deliberate upon so many bills. Agarwal said that the MPs are not labourers ho would work till 10 pm to pass the bills. He said that the Monsoon Session should be extended for a week.
Opposition to move privilege motions against Sushma Swaraj in Rajya Sabha
Opposition parties will on Friday move privilege motions against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the Rajya Sabha for allegedly misinforming the House on India’s foreign policy.
According to sources, leaders of different political parties will move two privilege motions against Swaraj for allegedly “providing wrong information on the Bandung Asia Africa relations conference and about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lahore visit in 2015”.
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