Parliament Winter Session Day 3 Live: Lok Sabha passes the Central Excise Amendment Bill

"This is not a new law, this is not an additional tax, or something that the Centre is taking away. Many ministers here made the comment that this is a cess. Excise is not a cess. Excise duty existed before GST. Compensation cess is reverting back to the Centre to be collected as Excise duty, which will be redistributed to the States at the 41% allocated," Nirmala Sitharaman said.

"Tobacco rates increased as a deterrent to health concerns," she added.

Karnataka High Court has rejected expelled JDS leader and former MP Prajwal Revanna's plea seeking bail after the lower court had suspended the order.

During the hearing of the petition held on December 1, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra had argued on behalf of Prajwal Revanna. When Prajwal left the country on April 24, 2024, no case was registered against him. He had told the court that a case was registered against Prajwal on April 28.

"The Government with an intent to provide access to cyber security to all citizens had mandated pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi app on all smartphones. The app is secure and purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world...Given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance, Government has decided not to make the pre- installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers," says Ministry of Communications.

On privilege motion being brought against her, Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury says, "... There is no law which prohibits dogs from entering the Parliament premises. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee once came on a bullock cart..."

Parliament Winter Session Day 3 Live: Deepender Hooda arrives in Parliament wearing mask

Parliament Winter Session Day 3 Live: Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrives at the Parliament

Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia assured the Lok Sabha that the Sanchar Saathi app cannot be used for snooping, emphasising that such surveillance is not possible and will never be allowed.

For the first time during the ongoing Winter Session, the Lok Sabha conducted the Question Hour without any disruptions on Wednesday. This followed a resolution of a deadlock regarding the opposition's demand for a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). In a meeting chaired by Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday evening, it was decided that the House would discuss the 150th anniversary of the national song "Vande Mataram" next Monday, followed by a debate on election reforms on Tuesday.

As the House convened, members paid tribute to former members who had recently passed away. Following this, the Question Hour proceeded smoothly. Earlier in the session, the proceedings had been repeatedly disrupted by opposition members seeking a debate on the SIR exercise being conducted in nine states and three Union territories.

Parliament Winter Session 2025 Live Updates: Oppn MPs wear gas masks as protest against air pollution

Parliament Winter Session 2025 Live Updates: On Wednesday, some MPs from Opposition parties arrived at Parliament wearing gas masks to protest against Delhi's deteriorating air quality, which has fallen into the ‘very poor’ category and is on the brink of becoming hazardous. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi had previously stated that issues like air pollution need to be addressed in Parliament, but the government is unwilling to discuss them.

Opposition leaders protest against Labour laws in Parliament premises

Sessions of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha start.

Chennai: Heavy rainfall continues due to Cyclone Ditwah, causing widespread flooding in low-lying areas

A head constable of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) was shot dead allegedly by a colleague at their outpost in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district early on Wednesday, officials said. The incident occurred at around 4 am at the RPF outpost at Raigarh Railway Station, they said.

According to preliminary information, head constable KS Lader allegedly fired four rounds from his service pistol at head constable PK Mishra, following an argument over an unknown issue. Mishra died on the spot, Station House Officer (SHO) Kuldeep Kumar stated. -- PTI

Nine people have been arrested in Krishna district and ganja weighing 3.1 kg and valued at around Rs 1 lakh was seized from their possession, officials said. Gudivada Rural Circle Inspector S L R Someswara Rao on Tuesday said the youths from Dokiparru village were addicted to ganja and were making acquaintances with people from other states to purchase marijuana at a low price for peddling purposes.

Acting on a tip-off, police arrested the youths from near the Kautavaram railway station following a raid, he said. A motorcycle and nine cellphones were also recovered from them. -- PTI

Counting for the bypolls in 12 MCD wards started at 8 am on Wednesday. The outcome will reflect the current political mood in Delhi, revealing whether the BJP can strengthen its hold, whether AAP can regain lost ground, and whether Congress can bounce back.

Delhi’s air quality took another hit on Tuesday, sliding back into the severe category as winter conditions tightened their grip on the city.

Fresh data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed the capital’s overall AQI at 390, a sharp rise from 304 on Monday and 279 on Sunday. Out of 39 monitoring stations, 19 recorded AQI levels above 400, a threshold associated with serious health risks.

Several neighbourhoods saw pollution spike to alarming levels. Burari (407), Anand Vihar (421), Chandni Chowk (471), Bawana (418), Vivek Vihar (437), Rohini (420), Sonia Vihar (411), Ashok Vihar (418), Punjabi Bagh (412) and parts of Mundka were among the worst affected.