The Evening Wrap: Budget session concludes ahead of schedule
| | The Evening WrapThursday | 25 March, 2021 |  |
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Budget session of Parliament concludes two weeks ahead of schedule |
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Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Thursday, nearly two weeks before schedule keeping in mind requests made for curtailment of the second part of the Budget session by MPs belonging to West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry and Kerala owing to the Assembly polls. The session that started on January 29 (first part) was to run till April 8 in the second part after having recommenced on March 8 after a break. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, briefing after the end of the session, said: "It was curtailed ahead of schedule due to the demands made by various political parties and Assembly elections in four States and one Union Territory." The overhang of the contests of the Assembly polls was seen during the session with frequent references to poll issues in West Bengal during the debates. Earlier in the day, Bhratruhari Mahtab, who was presiding officer in the Lok Sabha, gave a valedictory address in which he revealed that despite disruptions, the session clocked 114% in productivity with 24 sittings, which lasted over 132 hours. Seventeen government bills were introduced and 18 passed, including the finance and appropriations Bills. Around 171 reports were tabled by various parliamentary committees and 84 starred questions were answered orally. The tally for the Rajya Sabha was also impressive with again, 23 sittings, in which the House sat for 104 hours and clocked 90% productivity. The Upper House passed 19 Bills, spending 42% of the functional time on legislative business. Though attendance was sparse in both the Houses as members mainly from election-bound States were absent, the treasury and the Opposition went head to head on the strike by farmers against the three controversial farm laws and even more so with the Government of the National Capital Territory (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which seeks to add to the powers of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. The Bill was passed after repeated adjournments, especially in the Rajya Sabha, with even neutral parties like the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) staging a walk out from the Rajya Sabha terming it an assault on the rights of elected State governments. In his valedictory address, Rajya Sabha chairperson and Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu reminded the members that the country was "entering the 75th anniversary of Independence" and that it was "a moment of introspection". Supreme Court asks government to clarify on 55 pending High Court appointmentsThe Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to clarify on the status of 55 recommendations made by the Collegium for judicial appointments to various High Courts six months to nearly a year-and-a-half ago. Forty-four of the pending recommendations were made to fill vacancies in the Calcutta, Madhya Pradesh, Gauhati, Rajasthan and Punjab High Courts. These recommendations have been pending with the government for over seven months to a year. The remaining 10 names have been pending with the government despite their reiteration by the Collegium. They include five for the Calcutta High Court pending with the government for one year and seven months. The recommendations of four names made by the Collegium to the Delhi High Court have been pending for seven months. The total sanctioned judicial strength in the 25 High Courts is 1,080. However, the present working strength is 661 with 419 vacancies as on March 1. The Supreme Court has been repeatedly conveying to the government its growing alarm at the judicial vacancies in High Courts. "This is a matter of grave concern... When do you propose to take a decision?" a Special Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde asked Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the government. The court asked Mr. Venugopal to enquire with the Union Ministry of Law and Justice and make a statement on April 8 about their status. The Bench handed over to Mr. Venugopal a chart containing the details of the 55 recommendations. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said on the 10 recommendations, some of which date back to a year-and-a-half, that "neither have they been appointed nor have you (government) given us a response". He added that a time frame needed to be fixed for both the Collegium and Ministry to complete the appointment process. The Bench said it would take up this matter on April 8. Army's evaluation process discriminates against women seeking permanent commission, says SCThe Supreme Court on Thursday held that the Army's selective evaluation process discriminated against and disproportionately affected women officers seeking permanent commission. A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud observed that the pattern of evaluation inherently caused economic and psychological harm to short service commission women officers. The judgment, authored by Justice Chandrachud, said what appeared to be harmless on the face hid "insidious" patriarchy. "We must recognise here that the structures of our society have been created by males for males. Superficial face of equality does not stand true to the principles enshrined in the Constitution," the top court said. The court said the case of women officers who had applied for permanent commission should be reconsidered in a month and a decision on them should be given in two months. The Supreme Court had recently expressed annoyance at the roadblocks placed by bureaucrats in the way of women officers seeking permanent commission, promotion and consequential benefits. The court was exasperated with a medical criterion by which women officers with 10 to over 20 years of service and in the age bracket of 35 to 50 had to compete with gentlemen officers aged between 25 and 30 for permanent commission. "All these women have served the nation and are still serving. They are in the saddle today. Army cannot be oblivious to the fact that after 26 years of service, they are only saying that at 52 don't expect us to compete with men at the age of 25 and 30... If you apply the medical standards of a 25-year-old man to a woman officer who has gone through childbirth, how do we protect the rights of these officers?" Justice Chandrachud had asked. On February 17, 2020, the Supreme Court declared that women officers in the short service commission should be provided an equal opportunity with their male counterparts for a shot at permanent commission and promotions. The verdict had dismissed as "sex stereotype" views that women were physiologically weaker than men. Supreme Court quashes hate crime proceedings against Shillong Times EditorThe Supreme Court on Thursday quashed hate crime proceedings initiated against Padma Shri awardee and senior journalist Patricia Mukhim for a Facebook post. A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao agreed with Ms. Mukhim, Editor of Shillong Times, that her social media post was only an expression of truth in the face of persecution. The decision came in Ms. Mukhim's appeal against the Meghalaya High Court's refusal to quash the proceedings against her under Sections 153a (hate), 500 (defamation) and 505(c) (incite a community or caste to commit an offence against another). The offences are non-bailable. Ms. Mukhim, represented by advocates Vrinda Grover, Soutik Banerjee and Prasanna S., said her Facebook post had only alerted the authorities to enforce the law against the perpetrators of a brutal attack against six non-tribal boys in the State. "A plain reading of the petitioner's Facebook post makes it clear that the intent and purpose of this post is to appeal for impartial enforcement of rule of law; equal treatment before the law of all citizens; condemnation of targeted violence against members of a minority group; and end to impunity for violence," Ms. Mukhim had argued. 67 coal mines offered for sale in second tranche of auctionThe government on Thursday offered 67 coal mines for sale, launching the second tranche of commercial coal mining auction and termed it a step towards 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'. This is the highest number of mines on offer in a particular tranche after commencement of the auction regime in 2014. "India launched its 2nd tranche of auction for commercial coal mining, offering 67 mines for sale of coal, today. Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi launched the auction process in a programme held in New Delhi," Ministry of Coal said in a statement. Out of the total 67 mines offered by the ministry, 23 are under Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act and 44 under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act. The blocks on offer are a mix of mines with small and large reserves, coking and non-coking mines and fully and partially explored blocks spread across 6 States - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Covid Watch: Numbers and DevelopmentsThe number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,18,39,274 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,60,907. Maharashtra reported 35,952 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, its single-highest surge in 24 hours since the beginning of the pandemic, along with 111 deaths. Mumbai alone reported 5,504 new coronavirus cases. The new cases pushed the city's total count to 3,80,115. In Brief:The Centre has ordered State welfare boards for building and other construction workers (BOCW) not to distribute household and other articles to workers and instead stick to transferring monetary assistance into their bank accounts. The Labour and Employment Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it issued an order to States on Monday directing the boards not to distribute articles. The BOCW boards are meant to carry out welfare activities for workers from the cess on construction collected by States. The Ministry said it had come to its notice that some State boards had issued tenders or incurred expenditure on distribution of articles like lanterns, blankets, umbrellas, cycles and utensils, instead of spending on "tangible welfare measures" like insurance, disability cover and maternity benefits. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. |
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