Parliament Monsoon Session 2021 LIVE updates on day 2: Wrapping up his reply in the Rajya Sabha, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Centre is planning to to set up 1,573 oxygen plants of which 316 have already been commissioned
File photo of the Parliament. PTI
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Briefing on #COVID19 situation | PM Narendra Modi arrives, meeting begins. AIADMK, Shiv Sena, NCP, BJD, Tamil Manila Congress, TMC, JD(S), TRS, YSRCP, LJP, BSP, JDU, NDPP are attending the meeting.
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2021
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Rajya Sabha adjourned till July 22
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2021
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Wrapping up his reply in the Rajya Sabha, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Centre is planning to to set up 1,573 oxygen plants of which 316 have already been commissioned.
He added that the Centre has already prepared a Rs 23,000 crore package on how to handle pandemic if the third wave comes and states have been asked to submit plans. "Money will be shared with them ASAP. We are prepared," Mandaviya concluded.
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"Centre compiles and publishes the data sent in by state govts. Our work is to publish that data and nothing else. We haven't told anyone to show fewer numbers (of deaths) or fewer positive cases. There's no reason for that. Prime Minister had said the same in meetings with CMs," said health minister Mansukh Mandaviya in Rajya Sabha.
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Centre compiles & publishes the data sent in by state govts. Our work is to publish that data, & nothing else. We haven't told anyone to show less numbers (of deaths) or less positive cases. There's no reason for that. PM had said the same in meetings with CMs: Health Min in RS pic.twitter.com/Rod1osppD7
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2021
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Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said predictions that children will be worst affected in the third COVID-19 wave are incorrect. He also said that children have seen the lowest infection rate during the previous waves.
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Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Centre is receiving 11 12 crore vaccine doses from SII every month. Bharat Biotech is working hard, we will get 2.5 crore doses in July, 3 crore doses in August. "The process takes time. We asked Bharat Biotech to transfer tech to other companies and some PSUs will also enter MOU," he added.
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Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, "When there's need to work together and implementation has to be done by the states, at that time we never said that this state failed or that state didn't do this. I don't want to do politics but many states have 10-15 lakh doses of vaccines with them, I have data."
When there's need to work together & implementation has to be done by the states, at that time we never said that this state failed or that state didn't do this. I don't want to do politics but many states have 10-15 lakh doses of vaccines with them, I have data: Health Min in RS pic.twitter.com/IzZFQuPW6z
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2021
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When we speak of the third wave, the 130 crore people - the common people, all state govts - should make a collective decision that we won't let a 3rd wave hit our country. Our resolution & PM Modi's guidance can save us from a third wave: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in RS
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2021
Parliament Monsoon Session 2021 LATEST updates: Wrapping up his reply in the Rajya Sabha, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Centre is planning to to set up 1,573 oxygen plants of which 316 have already been commissioned
Addressing the Rajya Sabha, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Centre is receiving 11 12 crore vaccine doses from SII every month.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said lockdown was imposed so that supplies could be arranged
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, "Our government has always said that this crisis shouldn't become a reason for politics. There shouldn't be politics in this crisis...Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that when 130 crore people of India take one step forward, the country can move forward by 130 crore steps."
Addressing the Rajya Sabha, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the government and system were not the enemy. The country's enemy is the coronavirus
, he added.
Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya is expected to make a reply to the debate in the Rajya Sabha on COVID-19 around 5 pm today.
The Shiv Sena will be represented in the briefing by its MP Vinayak Raut, while Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O'Brien will attend the meet on the behalf of the TMC. Earlier, Sukhbir Badal told ANI his party SAD would be boycotting the briefing.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal told ANI the party will be boycotting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's COVID-19 briefing. Badal added that it will only be attended after the prime minister calls a meet to discuss farm issues.
In the Rajya Sabha, the Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut said that there is a shortage of vaccines in the country and that this is not a political issue. "One health minister has alread been made a scapegoat. We have all lost a loved one," Raut added.
The Lok Sabha has adjourned till 22 July. Tomorrow will be a holiday on account of Eid.
The AIADMK's M Thambidurai, addressing the Rajya Sabha on COVID-19 , said that while vaccines can't be made mandatory there is a need to spread awareness.
The TMC's Santanu Sen claimed that the Centre took unilateral decisions on COVID-19 , that there was no preparedness for the second wave and that the government bought faulty testing kits from China.
"I pay tribute to COVID warriors including doctors and paramedics," Mallikarjun Kharge said. "I salute people who helped others by running 'oxygen langer' in Delhi during second wave of COVID19. I also want to salute plasma donors, who came out in support," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha added.
Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha proceedings were till 4 pm and 2 pm respectively on Tuesday after uproar by Opposition members over various issues including the Pegasus snooping issue and COVID-19 .
Proceedings resume in Rajya Sabha after Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh gives consent to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country.
"All leaders met with the chairman as they wanted to have a discussion on COVID-19 . Rajya Sabha Chairman has given his consent. It will be discussed at 1 pm," said Harivansh, Dy Chairman of RS
In the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, a stormy second day on Tuesday can be expected with the Pegasus spyware row being gleefully lapped by the Opposition to corner the treasury benches.
Pegasus spyware row
The Trinamool MPs staged a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament and also submitted notices to discuss issue in both Houses. Abhishek Banerjee MP, Trinamool’s all-India general secretary, among those whose phone was allegedly hacked.
The issue of "snooping" using Pegasus spyware snowballed into a massive political row in Parliament and outside as various parties demanded a thorough investigation and sacking of Home Minister Amit Shah, while the government maintained it had nothing to do with it.
Both TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and AAP MP Sanjay Singh have given a notice in Rajya Sabhe under Rule 267, seeking suspension of all business to discuss the Pegasus issue and Zero hour Notice in Rajya Sabha over Pegasus issue respectively.
"I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance. Reports have pointed out that the Government of India has procured the surveillance tool Pegasus developed by Israeli company NSO group for surveillance of journalists, Civil Society Activists, Politicians and Supreme Court Judges. It should be noted that this kind of surveillance classifies as hacking, which is what a spyware does and it would very much qualify as “unauthorised interception” or hacking as per Information Technology Act, 2000. The fact is that the government has not categorically denied that Pegasus has been used officially. Sir this is a matter of grave concern and therefore I wish to raise the same," Congress MP from Ludhiana Manish Tewari wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker seeking an adjournment motion on the issue.
The Congress accused the government of "treason" and held Shah responsible for the snooping and hacking of phones of journalists, judges and politicians, and demanded a probe into the "role of the prime minister" in the entire matter as well.
The demand for a probe came from opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC, NCP, Left parties, RJD and Shiv Sena.
The BJP hit back at the Congress and claimed "there is not a shred of evidence" to link either the ruling party or the Modi dispensation with the matter.
BJP leader and former IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the credentials of those behind the story as well as its timing, coming a day before Parliament's Monsoon Session that began on Monday, as he accused the opposition party of hitting a "new low" in making baseless allegations.
The government, on its part, categorically rejected the charges, with IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw asserting in the Lok Sabha that illegal surveillance was not possible with checks and balances in the country's laws, and alleged that attempts were being made to malign Indian democracy. Vaishnaw's name also figures in the list.
Home Minister Amit Shah also lashed out at the opposition Congress and international organisations, saying such "obstructers" and "disrupters" will not be able to derail India's development trajectory with their conspiracies.
The issue also rocked Parliament, where opposition parties raised the issue and disrupted proceedings of both Houses. Several opposition members gave adjournment notices to discuss the issue, but were rejected by the chair.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter, saying, "We know what he's been reading -- everything on your phone." Gandhi wrote this as a reply to his own tweet two days ago in which he had asked people, "I'm wondering what you guys are reading these days."
What lies ahead in the day?
Goyal, a two-time Rajya Sabha MP, is currently the deputy leader of the NDA and holds various portfolios in the Cabinet including textiles, commerce and consumer affairs
Replying to a short discussion on COVID-19 management in Rajya Sabha, the minister said technology transfer to several companies has started and they will begin production in the coming days
One of the ordinances issued on 30 June prohibits any agitation and strike by anyone engaged in the essential defence services