Parliament Monsoon session highlights: The 18-day Monsoon Session of Parliament began from today (September 14) under the shadow of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The session is being held amid many firsts, including sitting of the two Houses in shifts without any off day, entry only to those having a negative COVID-19 report and compulsory wearing of masks during the session. Barring on the first day, Rajya Sabha will convene in morning shift from 9 am till 1 pm, and Lok Sabha in evening shift from 3 pm to 7 pm. It will continue till October 1. For the Monsoon Session, the government has listed 38 new legislations for consideration and passage including 11 bills replacing ordinances. There are also 20 other bills pending in either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. The issues of ongoing standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), government's handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic and economic slowdown are likely to dominate the session with the opposition demanding a discussion on them.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
Rajya Sabha adjournedfor the day. To reconvene at 9 AMtomorrow.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
Rajya Sabha adoptS the motion against starred questions (Question Hour) and Private Member Business in the House in the wake of COVID-19.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates | "
The Question Hour is the heart of democracy. It is the only hour for us to question the ministers. By doing away with the Question Hour, we have lost 18 hours. History says that it has never happened in a regular session." TMC MP Derek O’Brien on scrapping of Question Hour in the Monsoon Session.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
"The electionwas never been two individuals, because individualism is bad in politics. Politics is the art of impossible, and in the matter of possibilities we choose the lowest hanging fruit and circle our politics around him," Opposition candidate Prof Manoj Kumar Jha, after the election of Harivansh as Deputy Speaker of Rajya Sabha
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
"Harivanshji has made efforts to ensure productivity and positivity is maintained in the Parliament. He is a torchbearer of democracy. He comes from Bihar, the land known for its democratic ethos, the land that has close ties with JP (Jayaprakash Narayan) and Bapu’s Champaran." PM Modi on Harivansh being re-elected at Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson.
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"I congratulate Harivanshji on his election. The way he has carved his honest image has earneda lot of respect for him in my heart for him. He is a grassroots politician," Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the re-election of JD (U) MP as Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts speaking in Rajya Sabha. Congratulates JD(U) MP Harivansh for being re-elected as Deputy Chairman.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
JD (U) MP Harivansh elected as Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha for the second time. He was up against RJD MP Prof Manoj Jhawho was joint candidate of the Opposition.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
Rajya Sabharesumes procedings. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu thanks all the MPs, frontline workers including doctors, health workers, police, media, and essential service providers including farmers for their services towards public during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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359 members attended proceedings of Lok Sabha on the first day of Monsoon Session: Lok Sabha Secretarait
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
After obituary references, Rajya Sabha observes silence as a mark of respect to the departed members. House adjournsfor one hour. To reconvene at 4: 40 pm.
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Meenakshi Lekhi, Anant Kumar Hegde, Parvesh Sahib Singh, Sukhbir Singh Jaunpuria among 17 Lok Sabha MPs who tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the first day of Monsoon Session of parliament.
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Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu reads out obituary references to passing away of former President Pranab Mukherjee, formermembers of the House and eminent personalities.
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Rajya Sabha sessionbegins. Newly elected members taking oath. Elections for the Deputy Chairman to be held shortly. Session to continue till 7 PM
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
Twobills--The National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill and TheNational Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill- passed.Lok Sabha adjourns for the day at 1:15 PM. Will reconvene on September 15 at 3 PM. Speaker thanks members for cooperating.
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A remark on Finance MinisterNirmalaSitharamanbyTMCMPSougataRoy was expunged by the House."Commenting on attire, being a senior member, what is he talking about? He shouldapologiseunconditionally. It is an insult to the womenfolk,” Parliamentary Affairs MinisterPralhadJoshisaid.
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Finance Minister introduces a Bill to withdraw Banking Regulation Law 1949 . The motion has been adoptedby the House."The Bill proposes alterations in banks. It infringes upon the federal structure of the society," said Congress MP Shashi Tharooropposing the Bill
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Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar introduces Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020. The Bill provides for the creation of an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to sale and purchase of farmers' produce which facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels.
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moves a motion to withdraw a Billto amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was introduced on March 3, 2020. Later, on June 26, the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated. The House adopts the motion to withdraw the Bill.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
With ourendeavourto manage COVID-19, India has been able to limit its cases and deaths per million to 3,328 cases per million and 55 deaths per million population respectively, which is one of the lowest in the world as compared to similarly affected countries: Health Minister,Dr HarshVardhan, inLokSabha
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Maximum cases and deaths have primarily been reported from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Kerala and Gujarat. All these reported more than 1 Lakh cases: Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, in Lok Sabha
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Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhanspeaks inLok Sabha regarding COVID19 pandemic and the steps taken by the government of India.
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NCP'sLok Sabha member Supriya Sulesays that the biggest challenge right now in the country is the issue of economic crisisand unemployment. "I think on the first day what we should have discussed in the parliament is the state of economy, pandemic and challenges of unemployment," she said.
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BJP MP from Gorakhpur Ravi Kishan raises the issue of drugs. Blames China and Pakistan for conspiring to target youths of India using drugs.“The problem of drug trafficking is on the rise. It is a conspiracy by neighboring countries. I urge the government to check the smuggling of drugs from Pakistan and China that takes place from Punjab and Nepal,” he said.
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"Leaders of most parties agreed that we will not have Question Hour and Zero Hour will be held for30 minutes. I appeal to all members of the House to cooperate with us as the Session is being held in extraordinary circumstances," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
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Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Pralhad Joshi says the government has spoken with every party on Question Hour issue. “All assemblies including West Bengal, Rajasthan, Punjab and Kerala have run sessions for 1-2 days and passed 25 Bills. Our government under Narendra Modi has ensured that we have 18 sittings in the extraordinary circumstances,” he said.
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Opposition MPs Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Manish Tewari and Asaduddin Owaisi object to government’s move to skip the Question Hour.“Question Hour is the golden hour and suspension of it giving excuse of extraordinary situation in unacceptable. You are trying to strangulate democracy”Chowdhury says.
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Lok Sabha proceedings resume. Speaker Om Birla requests members to bear with the inconveniences due to COVID-19 safety protocols.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
“Government is accountable to the Parliament. When have they reported to us on talks between Defence and Foreign Ministers (of India & China)? Nation needs to be taken into confidence by the government. Question of support for military beyond debate we're very strongly with our Army,” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on PM remarks
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Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla starts Houseproceedings with obituary references to the passing away of eminent personalities, including former President Pranab Mukherjee,and other members of the Parliament. House adjourned for one hour.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
Prime Minister Narendra Modisalutesthe courage of soldiers guarding the borders "I believe that all members of the Parliament (MPs) will give an unequivocal message to the soldiers that the country stands with them," he said.
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The PM said there should be no laxity till there is a vaccine. “We want that a vaccine is developed at the earliest, our scientists succeed and we succeed in bringing everyone out of this problem."
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In his pre-session comments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressesgratitude to the members of parliament (MPs) for choosing the pathto duty in the COVID19 times. He said all MPs had agreed to the functioning of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabhaon weekends.
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The Congress and other opposition parties raised these demands in the first business advisory committee (BAC) meeting for Lok Sabha chaired by Speaker Om Birla yesterday, but the time for these discussions is yet to be allocated. The BAC for Lok Sabha will be held again on September 15 afternoon to further discuss the issues to chalk out the business schedule for the first week.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
The issues of ongoing LAC standoff, handling of the coronavirus pandemic and economic slowdown are likely to dominate the Monsoon session of Parliament which begins on Monday, with the opposition demanding a discussion on them, while the government has listed nearly two dozen new legislations for passage during the COVID-curtailed proceedings.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
Barring on the first day, Rajya Sabha will convene in morning shift from 9 am till 1 pm, and Lok Sabha in evening shift from 3 pm to 7 pm. The chambers of both houses along with their respective galleries will be used for sitting of the members in each shift. In between the two shifts, the entire complex will be sanitised.
Parliament Monsoon session LIVE updates |
The first-of-its-kind Monsoon Session will see Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sitting in two different shifts, while special seating arrangements have been made for MPs in adherence to social distancing guidelines.
Hello and welcome to Moneycontrol’s LIVE coverage of the 18-day Monsoon Session of Parliament starting today.
Parliament is ready for the Monsoon Session under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic with many firsts, including sitting of the two Houses in shifts without any off day, entry only to those having a negative COVID-19 report and compulsory wearing of masks.
Stay tuned to this LIVE blog for the latest updates through the day.
