Page 32 - Rajya Sabha

Rajya Sabha condemns violence, terror attacks across the globe

Loss of innocent lives and injury to hapless people in tragic incidents is indeed outrageous and condemnable, said Hamid Ansari

Rajya Sabha adjourned briefly following uproar

Monsoon session of Parliament began earlier on Monday

Rajya Sabha, the new happening place

As the Rajya Sabha prepares to meet on July 18, three members are expected to provide new zing to the proceedings. Amar Singh is the king of one-liners and has returned to the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party after a short interregnum. Ram Jethmalani has been nominated by the Rashtriya Janata Dal. And of course, the inimitable Subramanian Swamy is always there. The Upper House promises to be the most happening place in Parliament House in the next few weeks and months!

45 Bills pending in Rajya Sabha

Forty-five bills are pending in the Rajya Sabha, some of these introduced around 30 years ago, while the Lok Sabha is yet to dispose of five bills at the end of last session of Parliament in May. The bills pending in Rajya Sabha include the contentious Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-second Amendment) Bill, 2014, known as the GST Bill, which was moved in the Upper House in August last year after being passed by Lok Sabha. Another key bill is the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015, which was moved in December last year but the discussion on it remained inconclusive. In the Budget and Monsoon sessions this year, this bill could not be taken up. In the Lok Sabha, important bills pending include the Consumer Protection Bill 2015 and the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015. Indicating that the long-pending GST Bill can see a forward movement in the next session of Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had yesterday expressed confidence that ..

Buoyed by RS results, Congress says 'democracy has won'

Party leader P L Punia alleges BJP used money power and unfair means, but its efforts to buy MLAs failed

Rajya Sabha polls throw up some surprises

Media magnate Subhash Chandra wins, govt nominates Maratha ruler Shivaji's descendent to the Upper House

Rebellion hits Congress in Haryana, R K Anand loses

Congress suffered through heavy cross-voting by its 14 MLAs that led to the defeat of the party-backed Independent candidate R K Anand

Sitharaman, Jairam win from Karnataka, cross-voting from JD(S)

Dissidence-hit JD(S) suffered a humiliating blow with eight of its MLAs cross voting in favour of Congress

Chidambaram, Goyal and Prabhu elected to Rajya Sabha

Deadline for withdrawal of nominations for biennial polls to 58 seats of Rajya Sabha ended today afternoon

Piyush Goyal, P Chidambaram elected to Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra

Chidambaram did not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, while his son Karti had unsuccessfully fought from his native constituency

BJP prefers Brahmins in UP, shepherd in Maharashtra for Rajya Sabha

Shepherd community to get enlisted in ST list had supported party in 2014 Maharashtra elections

Revolt over Rajya Sabha nomination in Chhattisgarh

A section of Congress leaders has openly criticised the party's decision to nominate Chaya Verma, a former district panchayat president

Two Bills to face Assembly hurdles

If the Narendra Modi government is successful in steering the goods and services tax (GST) Constitution amendment Bill through the Rajya Sabha in the monsoon session, what happens next? Can the government keep to the time-line of a rollout on April 1, 2017?There are three parties now in the Rajya Sabha opposed to GST passage, the Congress with 60 members and the Tamil Nadu parties, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Tamil Nadu sends 18 members to the Rajya Sabha and 16 oppose GST.A tacit agreement has been reached, say top government sources, that AIADMK (12 members) will either abstain or walk out during voting. The other elements of the agreement are yet to become public, on what will be the quid for the pro.With Congress's apparently inflexible objection, it is likely to be isolated on the floor of the House. Its loneliness is all the more stark after the drumbeats on the Modi government completing two years in office and managing to for

BJP nominates Piyush Goyal from Maharashtra for RS election

Earlier, Shiv Sena nominated Sanjay Raut as the party nominee for the biennial elections of Rajya Sabha

RS passes bill transferring control over potable alcohol from centre to states

The latest amendment aims to excludes the production of potable alcohol from the ambit of the Act

All allegations false, have nothing to hide: Sonia Gandhi on VVIP chopper controversy

Sonia Gandhi dares government to complete inquiry impartially and reveal truth

How BJP will add at least two MPs to its Rajya Sabha strength

A little-known rule allows nominated members to be counted as party MPs if they are already members of the part at the time of being sworn in

The transition the old and the new in the Rajya Sabha

Outgoing Rajya Sabha members from the nominated category(These were the United Progressive Alliance govt's choices)Mrinal MiriEducationist and former Vice Chancellor, North Eastern Hill University (Assam)Bhalchandra MungekarDalit economist and Member of the Planning Commission (Maharashtra)B JayashreeVeteran Indian theatre actor, director and singer, who has also acted in films and television programmes (Karnataka)Javed AkhtarFilm script writer, poet and Urdu litterateur (Uttar Pradesh)Mani Shankar AiyarFormer Union Cabinet minister for Panchayati Raj, and a member of the Congress (Tamil Nadu)H K DuaFormer editor and former Ambassador to Denmark (Punjab)A K GangulyNoted industry expert and former chairman of Hindustan Lever (West Bengal)*To be replaced by(These are the National Democratic Alliance govt's choices)Subramanian SwamyPolitical activist who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (Tamil Nadu)Navjot Singh SidhuCricketer and former MP from Amritsar (Punjab)Suresh GopiMa

Swamy, Sidhu, Mary Kom among six nominated to Rajya Sabha

A nominated member is allowed six months to decide whether to join a political party after having taken the seat

Uttarakhand Rajya Sabha seat no longer a possibility for the Congress

Tarun Vijay is the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Rajya Sabha member from Uttarakhand. His term ends in July. If the Congress government in the state had managed to save itself, the seat might have gone to the party. But nine Assembly members of the Congress led by Vijay Bahuguna rebelled, leading to the imposition of President's rule in the state. Such a circumstance means that for any Congress member, who was hoping to get elected from the state, the seat is no longer a possibility. If, as the BJP has planned, elections are held soon and its government is installed in state capital Dehradun, the party will get another seat in the Upper House of Parliament.