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Jethmalani Jr. said that he has been nominated to Rajya Sabha

Mahesh Jethmalani

Noted lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani said that he has been nominated to Rajya Sabha, the upper house in parliament. He told PTI, “I have been intimated about my nomination to Rajya Sabha.”

His father Ram Jethmalani, was a renowned lawyer who fought several high-profile cases, was also a Rajya Sabha member.

Nomination of Mahesh Jethmalani came days after two seats in the nominated category became vacant. In March this year, Swapan Dasgupta resigned from the upper house after the BJP fielded him as a candidate in the West Bengal assembly elections and Raghunath Mohapatra succumbed to Covid-19 earlier this month.

On advice of the Centre, the President can nominate 12 members to Rajya Sabha.

The nominated members for the upper house are drawn from fields such as literature, science, sports, art, and social service.

Also Read: Suspension of Question hour- A closer look into a parliamentary practice allowing representatives of citizens to ask questions

What does constitution say on nomination

Article 80 of the Indian Constitution provides that the upper house or the Rajya Sabha shall consist of 250 members. Out of the total strength, 12 members shall be nominated by the President from amongst persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service. The house shall not more have than 238 representatives of the States and of the Union Territories. Fourth Schedule of Indian Constitution describes the allocation of seats in Rajya Sabha.

By adopting the principle of nomination in Rajya Sabha, the Indian Constitution has ensured that the nation must also receive services of the most distinguished persons of the country who have earned distinction in their field of activity.  The State through nomination not only recognizes their merit and confers honour on them, but also enables them to enrich the debates by their expertise and knowledge that they have in different areas.

The feature of nomination of members to Rajya Sabha, present in Indian constitution, was borrowed from constitution of Ireland.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Both houses of Parliament adjourned over protests on rising fuel prices

Budget Session

On Monday, the opposition’s persistent protest over rising fuel prices led to adjournment of both Houses of Parliament without transacting any legislative business.

Both Houses met for the first time in the second part of Budget Session and saw repeated adjournments as the Opposition continued protests.

Rajya Sabha witnessed four adjournments, first around 10.05 am till 11 am and again till 1 pm and then two quick adjournments of 15 minutes each before it was adjourned for the day.

Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge gave a notice for suspension of business for Monday and demanded a discussion on the “huge and frequent” rise in prices of petrol, diesel and LPG even when global prices were “low”.

The Chairman disallowed the discussion, saying that the issue can be discussed during the course of discussion on the Appropriation Bill, but asked Kharge to mention the subject of his notice considering his seniority.

Kharge said that price of petrol was touching Rs 100 and diesel Rs 80 per litre, while LPG rates have increased and prices of petroleum products have gone up.

He claimed that that there has been nearly 820 per cent increase in the prices of petrol and around 258 per cent in excise duty after 2014. He said that the central government has made a “profit” of Rs 21 lakh crore in the last six years from tax and cess on petroleum products.

Describing it as a “burning subject”, he said that people are agitating across the country.

“That is why we are requesting you to suspend all the rules under Rule 267 and give us a chance to speak on this subject. Ultimately, what is the government going to tell about this,” he said.

When the Chairman asked him to stop raising the issue and take up the Question Hour, the Opposition members began shouting slogans demanding a debate.

Naidu kept asking members to return to their seats and not deprive members of Question Hour, but the Opposition members were relentless in their demand and kept on shouting.

As members continued to shout, he adjourned the House till 11 am.

When the House re-assembled at 11 am, Congress members again raised their demand forcing another adjournment till 1 pm.

When the House met again, Congress members asked about the fate of their demand and Vandana Chavan, who was in the chair, adjourned the House twice for 15 minutes each at 1 pm and 1.15 pm.

Lok Sabha was adjourned at 5.15 pm till 7 pm amid protests by the opposition over rising fuel prices. When the House reconvened at 7 pm, the Chair announced a discussion on the issue of women empowerment on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

The discussion continued for about 20 minutes amidst continued protest by Opposition members. The Opposition did not yield prompting the chair to adjourn the House for the day to meet on Tuesday 11 am.

Earlier, the House was adjourned twice on the first day of the second part of the Budget Session. The House was first adjournment for an hour after paying tributes to two sitting and seven former members who died recently.

When the House convened at 5 pm, Speaker Om Birla had to adjourn the House till 7 pm following protests by opposition members over rising prices of petrol, diesel, and LPG.

 (PTI)

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Farmers with a planned tractor rally for Republic day announce plan to march to parliament on budget day-clash ensued between farmers & police on R-day

On Tuesday, Farmers protesting against the farm-laws breached barricades and clashed with police in the capital, who fired tear gas to restrain them, shortly after a convoy of tractors trundled through the Delhi’s outskirts.

Ahead of their proposed tractor parade on Republic Day, protesting farmer Unions on Monday announced that they will march towards Parliament from different locations on February 1 when the annual Union Budget is scheduled to be presented, PTI reported. Darshan Pal of the Krantikari Kisan Union said that the protesting farmers remain firm in their stand of repealing the three new farm laws and their agitation will continue till their demands are met.

Hitting out at Centre for not paying attention to the demands of protesting farmers at Delhi border, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Monday said that those in power do not care about farmers in the country. Pawar commented on the centre while addressing a rally at Azad Maidan in Mumbai where over 6,000 farmers from across 21 districts in Maharashtra arrived in a convoy of 500 vehicles to begin their three-day sit-in in solidarity with protesting farmers at the Delhi border.

Also See: An overview of Farmers’ protests-role of Charan Singh

The farmers from the 21 districts have gathered under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha’s (AIKS) Maharashtra unit. The rally is part of the call given by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is leading the Delhi protests, to intensify and broaden the struggle from January 23 to 26. More farmers are expected to join the gathering on Monday. The farmers taking part in the vehicle rally converged at Azad Maidan on January 24 and began a three-day sit-in. On January 25, a massive rally was taken to Raj Bhavan and a memo was submitted to the Governor. On January 26, there will be a Republic Day flag hoisting at Azad Maidan.

Also See: An overview of Farmers’ protests-role of Charan Singh

On Monday, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee said that they will meet the Delhi Police at 10 am to decide a time and route for their tractor rally as they were not satisfied with the kind of permission granted to them. “We feel that the kind of permission granted to us for tractor rally is not right. We wanted to go to the old Ring Road but we were given conditional permission & assigned the portion that comes largely under Haryana,” said Sukhwinder Singh Sabhra.

The Delhi Police had on Sunday allowed the farmers’ tractor march in the city on Republic Day and finalized three routes after a week of meetings between farmers and senior police officers, putting in place adequate security arrangements. Haryana authorities have also advised people to avoid travelling to the national capital.

Huge security arrangements have been made for the rally, which was scheduled to begin at 10 am

A day ahead of the farmers’ big tractor rally on Republic Day, one of the key participants, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, declared that it would not stick to the route agreed upon by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and the police. Their parade, the group said, will approach Delhi’s Outer Ring Road, raising a possibility of conflict with the police which has chalked out the routes from three locations at the border after a series of meetings with farmers’ groups. The rally will mark the completion of two months of protest against the Centre’s contentious farm laws by farmers camping at the borders of Delhi. On Budget day, February 1, the farmers are planning a foot march to Parliament.

(Source: PTI, IE)

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Women too, apart from students are taking active participation in the farmers protest in Punjab

While the fight over new farm bills 2020 has led the political parties to quarrel over who is right and who is wrong, the people protesting against these bills are the ones to face the real struggles of opposing a decision taken against them. In Punjab, a wide diversity was seen among the protestors, from old men to young students coming on the streets to show their support towards the farmer community who will have to bear the impact of the bills. A similar rise was seen in the number of female activists coming forward in this battle to support the farmers. This participation has gained widespread appreciation from people all over the country.

These women irrespective of their age are putting their best foot forward to bring about a change in the system. They believe that female involvement in the farmer’s battle can make this movement even stronger. Interesting point in this protest is that an appreciable number of men are cooking food near the protest sites to morally support the women in their joining the protest movement.

Here is a list of several women from various farmer unions who explained about the importance of women activists in such crucial movements meant to revolutionize the outlook of the society and the government.

Amarjeet Kaur – Member of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Dakaunda.

The 65-year-old BKU chief of Barnala-based girl’s wing, Amarjeet Kaur is a former lecturer of history. She has been highly appreciated for introducing numerous girl’s wings in many villages of Barnala.

She believes in helping the girl child by making them aware of their rights and bringing about a change in society’s perspective towards women. She was involved actively in the Kiranjeet rape and homicide case to provide justice. She stated that she had actively fought in battle of Kiranjeet rape and homicide and later to get life sentence in opposition to farmer chief Manjeet Dhaner pardoned.

Jasbir Kaur Natt – state committee member of Punjab Kisan Union (PKU)

Jasbir is a 60-year-old social activist who is overwhelmed by the large number of female participants taking part in active protests such as the farmer’s battle against the new bills. She has been an integral member of ‘Istri Sabha’ for a long time now. Istri Sabha is a women’s support organization based in Punjab dealing with health and education of the girl child and offers services such as family counseling, awareness about the specific needs of a girl child among others.

In a statement, she mentions how stunned the entire organization of PKU is after seeing the response from thousands of female activists taking part in the farmer’s protests.

Harinder Kaur Bindu – state secretary for BKU, Ugrahan

Bindu has been participating as a state normal secretary for the BKU and claims to have helped in the establishment of girl’s wings in approximately seven districts of Punjab. She is 40 years old and is a class 12th pass-out. In an interview, she shared her life story about how her father who was a social activist, was killed by terrorists when she was just 14 years old. She said that she was 14-year-old when her father was killed by terrorists during the troubled days in Punjab. She added that he was a social activist and therefore, since then, she had been hooked up to unions. Earlier, she worked with Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union and later she joined BKU (Ugrahan). She has a 12-year-old son and is a single parent.

Paramjeet Kaur Pitho – block president of Rampura Phull, BKU, Ugrahan

Another BKU member, Paramjeet Kaur Pitho is a 40-year-old activist who does intensive traveling to various villages and districts of Bathinda, Punjab. She is a mother of an adolescent and a wife to a marginal farmer.

She has been enrolling female members in the union actively from her block. She says that her husband visits farmer union conferences in close by areas and that she has taken a bigger position within the union. She confidently adds in her comment that she has been actively enrolling girl members and each day 20-25 devoted members are becoming a member of the union from her block.

The author is a student member of Amity Center of Happiness.

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Congress slams the decision of Rajya Sabha Chairman of adjoining the Covid-19 debate with the Health Minister’s statement clarifications

Today the Upper House of the Parliament is set to have its first debate on the Covid-19 pandemic in response to the continuous criticism it has been receiving from the opposition parties. The government will be focusing upon its successful response to the pandemic in terms of recovery rate and low mortality rate for Covid-19 in comparison to other countries.

The chairman of Rajya Sabha, Venkaiah Naidu, has decided to adjoin the Covid-19 debate with the Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan’s clarifications on his statement. This move has come under a furor from opposition parties especially the Congress.
On September 15th, 2020, India accounted for 91,136 new cases of Covid-19 making the total number of active cases cross 5 million. The number of cases has been increasing rapidly for the past few months disproving the prediction by NITI Aayog, signifying that at present, the rate of transmission of this virus is very high in India. It also accounts for the worst-ever daily infection rate in the world.

India is the second-worst hit country by the Covid-19 pandemic followed by Brazil. USA remains the worst-hit country with 6.69 million cases. In this context, Congress aims at raising the questions of a rapidly contracting economy of the country which has contracted by 23.9% in the first quarter of this financial year. The party also seeks a full-grown separate discussion on the loss of livelihoods for millions hit by the pandemic.

Jairam Ramesh, the Congress Chief whip, said in a letter to the Rajya Sabha chairman that if the parties cannot have a full-fledged discussion on the Covid-19 situation without being circumscribed by the minister’s statement then there was no point of having the Rajya Sabha session. He also added that the decision of combining the debate discussion with the health minister’s statement clarification runs contrary to the assurance given by junior minister for parliamentary affairs, V Muraleedharan to him, that the two will be taken up separately.

He also demanded a 4-hour debate for a proper discussion on the Covid-19 pandemic, stating in his letter referring the Business Advisory Committee meeting held on September 13, where it was mentioned that it is very important to have a discussion on the prevailing public health situation.

Some bills have been listed to be passed onto the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, including the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, and the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill.

While in the lower house of the Parliament, the Lok Sabha has listed 3 debatable bills for passage, which includes Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, and the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill.

Opposition parties including Congress in Haryana and Punjab have raised their objections to these bills in view of the farmers’ protests going on against these new laws.

Congress made a statement last week stating that if the ordinance becomes law, all key financial intermediaries will come under the control of the Central Government, which will mean more centralization. Congress Party representatives stated that the party stands for decentralization and for empowering states. This statement was made regarding the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill and other ordinances.

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Monsoon session: MPs to face questions on lockdown, drug in Bollywood, economic slump

On Monday, when Parliament meets for the 18-day uninterrupted monsoon session, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will be answerable for all the questions on strict restrictions imposed for 68 days during the nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, excess action which has been taken by the police to enforce the measures, several guidelines related to the viral outbreak issued by it, the investigation in the Kerala gold smuggling case and a rise in crime graph amid the contagion.

Based on queries received from various members of Parliament (MPs), the MHA is prepared with a list of unstarred questions for the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

On the imposition of nationwide lockdown restrictions from March 25, Several questions are likely to be raised, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines issued by the ministry periodically, handling of lockdown by police, treatment of migrant labourers, individual restrictions imposed by various states and the stimulus package announced following the Covid-19 outbreak.

The MHA will also be answerable regarding drug trafficking in Bollywood. The question becomes apposite following the ongoing separate inquiries by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput (34), he was found dead in his apartment in Mumbai on June 14.

Some MPs will have to answer on the number of deaths in the police and central paramilitary forces due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the monsoon session, several issues which were raised in previous sessions will also be figured, such as the detention of political leaders in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, voting rights to west Pakistan and Bangladesh refugees, caste-based census, infiltration of terrorists via the India-Pakistan border, the impact of the removal of Article 370 from J&K, steps taken to check left-wing extremism (LWE) activities etc.

Some MPs will also raise other issues for the MHA such as an increase in online fraud, dissemination of fake Indian currency notes (FICNs), overpopulation in prisons and foreign funding of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Two junior ministers in the MHA, G Kishan Reddy and Nityanand Rai will answer most of the queries raised by the MPs, since home minister Amit Shah hasn’t been keeping well.

Two shifts have been decided for the two houses of Parliament to sit which starts from 9 am to 1 am and from 3 pm to 7 pm, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Only those who have Covid-19 negative reports will be allowed to enter Parliament and wearing masks is mandatory.

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BJP gears up to face Oppn in Parliament

The Bharatiya Janata Party is poised to face an aggressive opposition that will try to surround the government on issues ranging from the covid-19 epidemic to the Facing between Indian and Chinese forces in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh. It is likely to be on 14 September when the Parliament will reorganize for the monsoon session.

The opposition, mainly Congress, has been attacking the government over the response to the epidemic and accused the government of not doing enough to stabilize the economic recession following the nationwide lockdown n March.

The Congress has accused the government of not allowing 20 soldiers to be transparent, citing the details of the Galwan clash. A BJP official said, “The questions raised by the opposition regarding China and the epidemic have already been answered and they are only using these issues for petty politics.”

According to the party official, 10 ordinances were passed this year and came up for consideration after the last session in March.

In December 2019, the Data Protection Bill, 2019, introduced in the Winter Session, deals with data collection and sharing rules, and defines rights to citizens on their personal information.

The Official said, “The government hopes that all four codes will implement wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, health and working conditions.”

Occupational Safety, Health and Work Conditions Code, 2019; The Code of Industrial Relations, 2019, and the Social Security Code have all been referred to parliamentary committees.