Parliament updates live | Rajya Sabha adjourned over Amit Shah’s Tuesday’s remarks

Two key bills are set to be introduced on the tenth day of the monsoon session of the parliament. While The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 will be introduced in the Lok Sabha, The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018, will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha.

Here are the live updates:

A Manipur member wants to name the India-Myanmar boundary. Some nine pillars have to be demarcated, says MoS Kiren Rijiu. The member insists on naming the pillars. Mr. Rijiju blames the news report for the tensions in Manipur. The report was false. There is no problem on ground as such, he says.

RAJYA SABHA | 12:40 PM
Suresh Prabhu is answering questions on the second phase of UDAN scheme. The acronym Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik is a Regional Connectivity scheme has entered its second phase and plans to include helicopter services in this time.

A member asks about the status of Phase 1. Mr. Prabhu says some airlines stopped its service awarded in Phase 1. Some airports couldn’t be completed due to land availability. He tables the complete details.

M.B. Rajesh (CPI-M) speaks in Hindi, probably for the first time. He speaks about the Palakkad coach factory. The project has been scrapped recently and Mr. Rajesh urges the Ministry to honour its promise made to the people of Palakkad. The Chair complements his Hindi skills.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrives at the Parliament premises on Wednesday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrives at the Parliament premises on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

In the meantime, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the Parliament today. Apart from meeting her party members, she is learnt to have met senior BJP leader L.K. Advani as well.

Ms. Banerjee also met the floor leaders of various political parties. Ms. Banerjee has been critical of the NRC exercise in Assam and her party has raised the issue several times in both House of the Parliament.

What is the government’s stand on bringing the ATF under GST asks Anand Sharma. Dharmendra Pradhan says while the government is of the view that every petroleum product must come under GST, the matter is being discussed with the States.

K.K. Venugopal raises the issue of sea erosion and continuous rains in Kerala. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar says the Central government will provide all necessary assistance to affected people.

During Question Hour, Arjun Meghwal is responding questions on Pension under EPS-95 scheme. A member wants to raise the minimum pension to Rs. 2000. Mr. Meghwal says Rs. 1000 is the minimum amount. The pensioners can get more than that.

Rajya Sabha resumes. The Chair wants to proceed with Question Hour. Prasanna Acharya (BJD) suggests the Home Minister may make a statement on the NRC issue. BJP’s Bhupendra Yadav also agrees with Mr. Acharya. But BJP members want Amit Shah to complete his speech.

The Chair proceeds with Question Hour.

Krishnagiri member Ashok Kumar questions on misuse of online data. Minister Ravishankar Prasad says India will not allow a Cambridge Analytica-like scandal to happen in its soil. He says the Ministry has asked all social media firms to appoint a grievance officer as a point of contact with government machinery and the firm. He also says the tech firms have the onus to find out the origins of rumour or fake news. “It is not a rocket science. They must be able to find out the origin of the news spread on a single day from a State, ” he says.
On that note, Question Hour ends.

While answering a question on overhauling diesel locomotives, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal says some of these will be converted to electric locomotives. The railways plans to induct more electric locomotives in order to make the industry less-polluting.

Which stations will be modernised with the help of private participation, an AIADMK member asks. Mr. Goyal says the lease period for private players was 45 years and we weren’t allowing sub-lease. So many firms weren’t interested. We are now moving for a change. We are considering 99 year lease and allow sub-lease and mortgage. A cabinet meet will decide on these lines, Mr. Goyal says.

A Trinamool Congress member claims works started by the then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has been stopped. Mr. Goyal assures the member all development works started during his predecessors will be continued.

Question Hour continues in Lok Sabha. Professor Sugata Bose (Trinamool Congress) asks if Doklam was raised during the Prime Minister’s informal summit with China.

He begins his question welcoming back the Prime Minister who attended the BRICS summit. “I welcome him from a safe distance,” he remarks taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi’s “hug diplomacy” and the BJP’s reaction to it.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj says the Wuhan summit was to increase mutual trust and cooperation and no specific topic was discussed. Ms. Swaraj also informs the House that Doklam has been resolved diplomatically.

Prof. Bose poses more questions on freedom of navigation and also regrets asking these questions to External Affairs Minister who was not part of the Wuhan Summit. There is a parliamentary convention of the Prime Minister apprising the House on such summits but that is not followed, he says.

Sikkim member Prem Das Rai also asks about Doklam. Ms. Swaraj says Bhutan and China have boundary issues and India cannot comment on that. On the issue of Doklam, where India was involved, it has been resolved, she asserts.

Amit Shah raises to speak but Congress members protest. Mr. Shah says they can raise more Point of Orders after he speaks. The Chair objects to it and says two members can’t talk between themselves.

In Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma wants BJP chief Amit Shah’s remarks expunged. The member’s remarks insulted every Prime Minister since Rajiv Gandhi, says Mr. Sharma. The Chair says he will look into it.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu raises to speak. He says whatever happened yesterday was most unfortunate. The Chair has the power to adjourn the House. When I don’t want the unruly scenes to be seen by the people, I adjourn the House.

As an exception I allowed the suspension of Question Hour and allowed a discussion, says Mr. Naidu and allows the discussion to continue.
Both Houses assemble.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan proceeds with Question Hour even though some members want to discuss the National Register of Citizens of Assam