Parliament Winter Session LIVE: Citizenship Amendment Bill to be introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday

A BJP member on Thursday offered to provide opposition members a truck full of onions at Rs 25 a kilogram from his constituency in Uttar Pradesh while speaking on the price rise of the bulb in Lok Sabha.

Virendra Singh 'Mast', MP from Balia and also president of BJP Kisan porcha, said onions are also produced in Uttar Pradesh in large quantity besides Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Superior quality onions are produced in Muhammadabad town in his constituency, Singh said and told opposition members that he was ready to provide them a truck loaded with onions at Rs 25 per kg.

Singh told opposition members to accompany him to his constituency and will provide them onions at lower prices.

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on Thursday said the fee hike in Jawaharlal Nehru University was done in order to meet the increased expenditure on the maintenance of hostels and to run them on a "no profit no loss" basis.

In a written reply to a question over the JNU hostel fee hike, which has led to an agitation by students, the minister said that the varsity has increased room rents after around 40 years.

The varsity has been witnessing protest over hostel fee hike for over a month. P

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said the states should come up with an action plan to curb the rising incidents of digital banking frauds in the country after a Member of Parliament raised the issue in the House.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Arvind Kumar Sharma of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on one hand the nation was moving towards Digital India while on the other hand, such fraudulent activities were taking place.

BJP MP Nisith Pramanik said on Thursday cattle smuggling had "considerably increased" in West Bengal and alleged that the state government was protecting people involved in such "anti-social" activity.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, the MP from West Bengal's Cooch Behar constituency said a BSF soldier had lost his life in August on account of cow smuggling.

"These (BSF) people sacrifice their lives for the country and we are losing them," Pramanik said.

He also alleged that cattle smuggling had considerably increased in the state and people who raised their voice against it "had to lose their lives".

The government has spent Rs 193 crore to renovate and repair bungalows of MPs in the last four years, Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.

In a written response to a question, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that there is no expenditure limit prescribed for such renovation and repair of residences of Members of Parliament by Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 9 and will be taken up for passage the next day, official sources said on Thursday.

The bill, which seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution there, will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha after being dealt with by the Lower House of Parliament.

Its passage in the Lok Sabha is all but certain due to the massive majority the BJP and its allies have, and the Union government is confident of its passage in the Rajya Sabha as well with the support of several non-aligned regional parties which have often joined the treasury benches in the past.

As many as 485 candidates who had chosen Hindi or other regional languages as mother tongue were selected through civil services examination in 2018, the government said on Thursday.

A total of 812 candidates were recommended for central civil services on the basis of the 2018 test, it said.

The civil services examination is conducted annually to select officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.

Members of Parliament have unanimously decided to let go of the subsidy that they avail at the Parliament canteen, sources said Thursday.

The decision was taken after a suggestion from Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, according to the sources.

TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay on Thursday said the Centre should ask states to ensure that there was no hoarding of onions.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Bandyopadhyay said the price of onion had reached an extreme height and it was a serious issue.

The Trinamool Congress leader said hoarding was the cause of price rise of onion and added that enforcement department should check on hoarding of onions.

He was also of the view that price monitoring division should be more active.

Bandyopadhyay termed it a failure of the government, saying rising prices had gone out of limit and "we all condemn it".

Prices of onion in many places have crossed Rs 100 per kg because of less production.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha that the government had taken several steps to check rising prices of onion and also initiated steps to improve technology for better storage of the kitchen staple.

Attributing shortage to low production, the minister had said there were severe "structural problems" related to onions.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari expressed regret in the Lok Sabha on Thursday over hurdles like land acquisition and environment clearance faced by various road projects, saying the country must have a positive approach towards development.

Gadkari also asked all MPs to remain aware about road projects in their respective constituencies and help in resolving problems coming on the way of constructing roads and bridges.

"Everyone says 'stop the work'. No one says 'do the work'. The country has to have a positive approach and attitude towards development projects," he said during the Question Hour.

Over 220 corrupt government employees, including 96 senior officials, have been given premature retirement in the last five years, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

During the period from July 2014 to October 2019, provisions of Fundamental Rules or FR 56(j) have been invoked against a total number of 96 Group 'A' officers and 126 Group 'B' officers (totalling 222) of different ministries and departments, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.

The FR 56(j) gives absolute right to the government to retire government officials prematurely on the ground of lack of integrity and ineffectiveness, in public interest.

"The provisions under FR 56(j) also to ensure improving efficiency in government," he said.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiaha Naidu on Thursday pulled up MPs of both Houses for their low attendance in parliamentary standing committees' meetings and urged the leaders of all political parties to ensure "quantitative and qualitative functioning" of these panels.

After holding a meeting with chairpersons of these panels in the morning, Naidu said only 18 members each from both houses of Parliament attended eight Rajya Sabha committees' meetings since being reconstituted in September this year.

There is no proposal to put retirement age at 60 or after completion of 33 years of service for central government employees, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

"There is no proposal to reduce retirement age below 60 years," Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.

The government was asked whether it was actively considering to retire government officials either at the age of 60 years or after completing 33 years of service, whichever is earlier.

Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury on Thursday raised the issue of fatricide at an ITBP camp in Chhattisgarh and flagged rising incidents in central forces where colleagues kill each other.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour at the in Lok Sabha, Chowdhury said while such incidents were unheard of in the Navy and the Air Force, the Army had reported similar incidents.

He claimed that such incidents were on the rise in central armed police forces (CAPF) and "may be due to lack of facilities".

Chowdhury said psychological help should be extended to CAPF personnel to address such issues.

An ITBP soldier had allegedly opened fire at his colleagues in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Wednesday, killing five and injuring two before shooting himself dead in a suspected case of fratricide, police said.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram reacted to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's comments on not eating onions. "Finance Minister said yesterday that she doesn't eat onions. So what does she eat? Does she eat avocado?" he asked reporters in the Parliament premises.

The Thursday List of Business in the Lok Sabha includes the introduction of the International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move the Bill for consideration of the House.

The Bill is to provide for the establishment of an authority to develop and regulate the financial services market in the International Financial Services Centres in India and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Thursday List of Business in the Rajya Sabha will see Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman move the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 for consideration and return. Also, papers will be tabled by several ministers and reports by Standing Committees will also be submitted.

Sitharaman will move the Taxation Bill further to amend the Income-tax Act, 1961 and to amend the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019, as passed by the Lok Sabha. The Bill will be put up for consideration and return.

However, a Statutory Resolution will be moved by members K. K. Ragesh, T. Subbarami Reddy and Elamaram Kareem: "That this House disapproves the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance,
2019 (No.15 of 2019) promulgated by the President of India on September 20, 2019.

Papers will be tabled by ministers on various subjects concerning their ministeries: Smriti Irani for Ministry of Textiles; Rao Inderjit Singh for Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Jitendra Singh for Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space; V. Muraleedharan for Ministry of External Affairs; and Renuka Singh Saruta for Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers will present report by members
G.C. Chandrashekhar and Ahmad Ashfaque Karim on 'Pricing of Drugs with Special Reference to Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013' of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers (Department of Pharmaceuticals).

Naranbhai J. Rathwa and Lal Sinh Vadodia will lay on the Table reports of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development: "First Report on Demands for Grants (2019-20) of the Ministry of Rural Development (Department of Rural Development; second Report on Demands for Grants (2019-20) of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj; and third Report on Demands for Grants (2019-20) of the Ministry of Rural Development (Department of Land Resources).

The Upper House members Sardar Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Harshvardhan Singh Dungarpur to Table reports of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources: "First Report on Demands for Grants (2019-20) of the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation); and second Report on Demands for Grants (2019-20) of the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation).

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who arrived in Parliament on Thursday after spending 106 days in Tihar jail, said the government will not be able to suppress his voice in the House.

Speaking to reporters in the Parliament complex while joining other Congress MPs protesting against the steep hike in onion prices, Chidambaram said he will address the media in the afternoon.

"I am happy to be back. The government cannot suppress my voice in Parliament," he said.

Congress leaders P Chidambaram, who is out on bail after 106 days in jail, Adhir Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi and others protested at the Parliament premises on Thursday against rising onion prices.

Holding banners and shouting slogans demanding that the government reduce the prices and "stop harassing" the poor, the Congress MPs protested with a basket full of onions.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Wednesday said the government had taken several steps to check the rising prices of onions and initiated steps to improve technology for better storage of the kitchen staple, whose price in many places have crossed Rs 100 per kg