| Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. Pandemonium in Rajya Sabha as farm bills passed Amid unprecedented scenes of protest by opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha, parliament today passed the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill on Sunday. The Opposition's demand for a division and vote in the Bill was rejected by Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh citing that the house was in not order. Before we move on to other aspects of this story, a brief account of how exactly those tumultuous scenes took place which included members from Opposition parties snatched and threw papers from the table and even broke the chairman's mic. It all started at around 1:10 PM when Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar started replying to the debate on the two bills. When the Deputy Chairman sought House's permission to extend the day's sitting of the House till the Bills are disposed, the Opposition started protests. They demanded that the House should be adjourned for the day. However, the Deputy Chairman continued with the proceedings of the House and asked Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to continue his response to the debate on the Bills. At this point of time, Opposition members started protesting against the Deputy Chairman's decision to extend the timing without a "consensus" of the House. When the Deputy Chairman did not accept the demand to adjourn the House, some of the opposition members arrived at the well and began snatching and throwing away papers from the table and broke the mic that was fixed on the table of the chair. The House was then adjourned for 15 minutes. After the House resumed at 1:40 pm again, the Deputy Speaker took up statutory resolutions moved by the opposition members, seeking the reference of the Bills to a Select Committee. The Deputy Chairman said this resolution by the opposition was negated and moved to start voting on the bills. Meanwhile, the opposition members surrounded the well again and started sloganeering and in the midst of the uproar, the Rajya Sabha passed both bills by voice vote. Opposition MPs claimed that the BJP violated all the rules of the House. "They cheated. They broke every rule in Parliament. It was a historic day. In the worst sense of the word. They cut RSTV feed so the country couldn't see. They censored RSTV. Don't spread propaganda. We have evidence," TMC MP Derek O'Brien later tweeted. "Mahabharat has broken out inside parliament," Congress's Ghulam Nabi Azad said. Opposition parties move no-confidence motion against Deputy Chairman Twelve Opposition parties have endorsed a no-confidence motion against Deputy Chairman Harivansh accusing him of violating the Parliamentary procedures of trying to pass the bills in haste circumventing all demands for proper voting. A no-confidence motion against the Deputy Chairman is a first in parliament and the convention is that Mr Singh should not preside over house sessions till the matter is settled. Mr. Harivansh was re-elected for the second time to post only six-days back. The resolution has been signed by Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, RJD, TRS, NCP, AAP, CPI, CPI (M), JD (S), IUML and Kerala Congress (Mani).  In this combo image, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien is seen attempting to tear the rule book amid Opposition protests in the Rajya Sabha over agriculture-related bills on September 20, 2020. Photo: RSTV via PTI "When the agitated members, on being denied the right for a division on this crucial bill protested strongly pointing out how gravely the bill is against the farmer's interest, the Deputy Chairperson packed the House with security personnel deliberately designed to overawe and outnumber the members of the Opposition," the resolution reads. The Opposition parties slammed the Deputy Chairman also for cutting short the speech by former Prime Minister Deve Gowda. The Opposition members have accused the Deputy Chairman of acting like a rubber stamp of the government. "Deputy Chairman of the RS has been a very close personal friend of mine for long. Till July 2017 he was a bitter critic of the PM, until his party abandoned the grand alliance in Bihar. Since then he has become an unthinking rubber stamp in the important position he occupies. Very sad," Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh tweeted. Modi hails bill as watershed moment, says MSP will continue Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the system of minimum support price and government procurement of crops would continue, after the passage of two farm sector Bills by Parliament amid protests inside in the Rajya Sabha and by farmers in Punjab and Haryana. Mr. Modi said in a series of tweets in English, Hindi and Punjabi that the Bills were a watershed moment in history. "I said it earlier and I say it once again: System of MSP will remain. Government procurement will continue. We are here to serve our farmers. We will do everything possible to support them and ensure a better life for their coming generations," he said in a tweet. Mr. Modi said Indian farmers had been bound by several constraints and bullied by middlemen for years. The two Bills would give them freedom from the same and help in doubling their income, he said. "Our agriculture sector is in desperate need of latest technology that assists the industrious farmers. Now, with the passage of the Bills, our farmers will have easier access to futuristic technology that will boost production and yield better results. This is a welcome step," he said. Welcoming the passage of the Bills, BJP leaders condemned the behaviour of the Opposition in the Upper House. Party president J.P. Nadda told the media that the Opposition parties had been "anti-farmer" by trying to stop their passage. He said the Opposition parties had violated the health and safety protocols in place due to COVID-19 by crowding into the well and going up to the Chairman's podium as well as the norms of the House.  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses a press conference at the National Media Centre in New Delhi on September 20, 2020. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said meanwhile, that there has been an attempt to mislead farmers. "This hasn't ever happened in Parliament history. That it happened in the Rajya Sabha is an even bigger issue. We consider the Rajya Sabha the house of elders," he said. Centre introduces amendment to FCRA Act, proposes to make Aadhaar mandatory The Centre introduced in the Lok Sabha an amendment to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and proposes to make Aadhaar a mandatory identification document for all the office bearers, directors and other key functionaries of an NGO or an association eligible to receive foreign donations. A draft of the Bill says that the amendment is required to enhance transparency and accountability in the receipt and utilisation of foreign contribution worth thousands of crores of rupees every year and facilitating "genuine" non-Governmental organisations or associations who are working for the welfare of the society. The Bill proposes to include "public servant" and "corporation owned or controlled by the Government" among the list of entities who are not eligible to receive foreign donations, the draft says. "Amendment of clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 3 to include "public servant" also within its ambit, to provide that no foreign contribution shall be accepted by any public servant," the Bill says. The draft bill also proposes that not more than 20% of the total foreign funds received could be spent on administrative expenses. Presently, the limit is 50%. Manish Tewari of the Congress objected to the bill and requested the government to relax the provisions of the FCRA. Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) also opposed the bill, saying it is an attempt to stop foreign contributions. "The idea should be to deregulate and not over-regulate foreign contributions," he said. Covid watch - Numbers and Developments  A health worker takes swab sample from a woman to test for COVID-19 virus at Mahindra Park in New Delhi on September 20, 2020. The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stands at 54,81,153 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 87,909. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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