Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla conducts proceedings in the House, during ongoing Budget Session of Parliament | PTI/fileParliament Budget Session 2022 Live Updates: The situation in Afghanistan is of natural concern for neighbouring countries like India and in broad terms the central Asian countries share same concerns and similar objectives, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Friday. India in January hosted the first India-Central Asia Summit in virtual format which was attended by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. To a question in Lok Sabha by TMC member Saugata Roy over the broad consensus on Afghanistan at the Central Asia Summit, according to PTI, Muraleedharan said, “The issue of Afghanistan was discussed during the summit and the situation in Afghanistan is of natural concern for neighbouring countries like India and central Asian countries and I would say that in broad terms we share same concerns and similar objectives.” India and the five Central Asian countries also decided to establish a joint working group on Afghanistan, the minister said.
Members of the Opposition led by the Congress and TMC staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha on Friday protesting against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s remark that the state would turn into “Kashmir, Bengal or Kerala” if the BJP does not return to power. While Congress MP T N Prathapan gave notice for an adjournment motion to take up the matter, his party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the issue as soon as the House met on Friday afternoon. Chowdhury said it was shameful that the UP chief minister made such a statement and urged the House to take up the matter, following which Congress and TMC members left their seats to protest. But Speaker Om Birla proceeded to the Question Hour. He said the MPs could raise the issue after the Question Hour. The MPs, however, insisted that they should be given a chance to speak. When the Speaker did not budge, the members staged a walkout. Members from the Congress, DMK, Left and the RSP walked out first, after which the TMC members followed as another group.
Taking a swipe at the Congress, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that while the party was responsible for MGNREGA, it was also responsible for the manner in which it has been misused. “Take the entire credit for the misuse of MGNREGA. We use the scheme transparently and properly,” she said in Rajya Sabha. Responding to the discussion on the Union Budget 2022-23 on Friday, Sitharaman said that the Budget this year “stands for continuity, which will bring in stability to the economy and predictability in taxation.” “The continuity point is critical at a point when the economy is coming out of the pandemic,” she added. The first part of the Budget Session of Parliament ended today.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrives in Parliament on Thursday. (PTI)
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said in the Rajya Sabha that the government has no plan to reintroduce the three repealed farm laws in future. Asked whether the government has any plan of reintroducing the three repealed farm laws in future, the minister said: 'No Sir'.
Replying to a written question, he said 'the subject of compensation etc. to the families of the deceased farmers in the farmers movement is with the concerned state government.' On November 19 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation announced the withdrawal of the three farm laws, saying the government could not convince protesting farmers about the benefits of the agriculture sector reforms. (PTI)
The situation in Afghanistan is of natural concern for neighbouring countries like India and in broad terms the central Asian countries share same concerns and similar objectives, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Friday. India in January hosted the first India-Central Asia Summit in virtual format which was attended by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. To a question in Lok Sabha by TMC member Saugata Roy over the broad consensus on Afghanistan at the Central Asia Summit, according to PTI, Muraleedharan said, “The issue of Afghanistan was discussed during the summit and the situation in Afghanistan is of natural concern for neighbouring countries like India and central Asian countries and I would say that in broad terms we share same concerns and similar objectives.” India and the five Central Asian countries also decided to establish a joint working group on Afghanistan, the minister said.
More than 40 lakh cancer cases were reported and 22.54 lakh people died of the disease in the country between 2018 and 2020, the government informed Lok Sabha on Friday. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that 13,92,179 cancer cases were reported in 2020; 13,58,415 in 2019; and 13,25,232 cases in 2018.
As many as 7,70,230 people lost their lives due to cancer in 2020; 7,51,517 in 2019; and 7,33,139 people in 2018, he said in reply to a written question. The minister said cancer is a multifactorial disease, the risk factors of which include ageing population, sedentary lifestyle, use of tobacco products, alcohol, unhealthy diet and air pollution.
He said that screening of common cancers is an integral part of service delivery under Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centres (HWC). (PTI)
Rajya Sabha functioned half an hour more than its scheduled sitting time during the first half of the Budget session as there was no forced adjournment during its proceedings, Deputy Chairman Harivansh said on Friday. In his concluding remarks at the close of the first half of the Budget session, Harivansh on behalf of Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, he expressed happiness over the disruption-free proceedings in the Upper House.
"The House has not witnessed any forced adjournments during the entire first part of this Budget session and it functioned nearly half an hour more than the scheduled sitting time. The credit for this goes to every member in this House," he said.
He said as a result, members were able to participate effectively in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address and general discussion on the Budget and were also able to raise 51 starred questions. The deputy chairman complimented all sections of the Upper House for its effective functioning and hoped that it continues to be guided by the same spirit in the future. (PTI)
In the first part of the budget session, despite the situation of corona epidemic, the work went on till late night and in Lok Sabha 131 per cent work was done: Speaker Om Birla
There are more than 8500 Jan Aushadhi stores in the country. Jan Aushadhi arrangements have been made to get cheap cancer medicine at the store. To control the price of cancer drugs, trade margin has been fixed: Union Minister of Health Mansukh Mandviya in Lok Sabha
Members of the Opposition led by the Congress and TMC staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha on Friday protesting against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s remark that the state would turn into “Kashmir, Bengal or Kerala” if the BJP does not return to power.
While Congress MP T N Prathapan gave notice for an adjournment motion to take up the matter, his party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the issue as soon as the House met on Friday afternoon. Read More
Loksabha takes up Question Hour as the proceedings begin.
Proceedings of the Lok Sabha to start at 4 pm.
The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned. With this, the first phase of the Budget Session of Parliament has drawn to a close till March 14.
Taking a swipe at the Congress, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that while the party was responsible for MGNREGA, it was also responsible for the manner in which it has been misused. “Take the entire credit for the misuse of MGNREGA. We use the scheme transparently and properly,” she said in Rajya Sabha.
Addressing the issue of inflation induced by the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "CPI inflation of that time (before BJP) was 9.1%, for a reduction of only Rs 2.12 lakh crores. Global financial crisis hit us. But when pandemic hit us, loss to GDP was 9.57% &our management of inflation was such that it was only 6.2%. Opposition couldn't handle lesser crisis."
Responding to the discussion on the Union Budget 2022-23 in Rajya Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "Coming 25 yrs are going to be important for India. No wonder we're calling it Amrit Kaal. If we don't have a vision for India at 100, we'll suffer similarly as first 70 yrs, when 65 yrs were with Congress that had no vision except supporting, building and benefitting one family."
Speaking about agriculture reforms, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said: 'By bringing in drones, we are able to bring in efficiencies in the use of fertilisers, pesticides and also make a good technology-driven assessment of the crop density and also possibly predicting the size of the output."
Responding to the discussion on the Union Budget 2022-23 in Rajya Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "The last budget also we had focussed on growth because that's how we could get people out of the difficult situation caused by the pandemic. That growth focus continues in this budget too. In order to attain growth we wanted to undertake public expenditure for building public infrastructure for a modern 21st century India and an India which is going towards India at 100."
Responding to the discussion on the Union Budget 2022-23 in Rajya Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "We went in for Budget that stands for continuity, which will bring in stability to the economy and predictability in taxation and also a vision for India at 100. The continuity point is critical at a point when the economy is coming out of the pandemic."
Rajya Sabha proceedings have commenced.