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Four-day Lok Sabha logjam over FDI ends

[email protected] (PTI)
November 29, 2012

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New Delhi, November 29: The four-day logjam in Lok Sabha over the FDI in retail ended today with Speaker Meira Kumar allowing a discussion on the subject under a rule that entails voting.

 

"I have received 30 notices for discussion on FDI in multi-brand retail under Rule 184. I have admitted the motion to allow the discussion. The date and the time will be decided later," the Speaker announced in the House.

 

Her observation came minutes after the Leader of the House Sushilkumar Shinde, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamalnath and Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj met her in her chamber before the House met for the day.

 

Government had yesterday itself given clear signals that it has no problem in having a discussion on FDI under a rule that entails voting after Nath held consultations with Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley.

 

Swaraj welcomed the decision of the Speaker. "I welcome the decision. I assure you smooth functioning of the House," she said immediately after the Speaker allowed it.

 

Parliament has not been functioning since Winter Session began on November 22 with the Left and the Right making a common cause on the demand for a discussion under a rule that entails voting.

 

An indication of a resolution to the logjam was available in the morning itself when Kamalnath told reporters that he was hopeful that Parliament will run smoothly.

 

Yielding to Opposition pressure, Government agreed to the measure to discuss the issue under Rule 184 to ensure "smooth functioning" of the House as opposition parties stuck to their demand.

 

Parliament failed to transact any business for four consecutive days 22 despite government's efforts to break the logjam over FDI through an all-party meeting.

 

The all- party meeting on Monday saw SP and BSP providing comfort to the government by not insisting on voting. UPA constituent DMK, which has been opposing FDI in multi-brand retail, also finally agreed to vote with the government.

 

Trinamool Congress, which had given a notice for no-confidence motion last week over FDI issue, had sprung a surprise by not pressing for vote during the meeting.

 

TMC MPs, however, protested against FDI at Parliament gate today and shouted slogans against the UPA government over its measures like FDI in multi-brand retail and proposed pension reforms.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: India's gold demand in 2020 is expected to fall to the lowest level in 26 years with domestic bullion prices hitting a record high and as falling disposable incomes could curtail retail purchases, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

Lower demand by the world's second-biggest bullion consumer could limit a rally in global prices, which hit a record high earlier this month, although it could also reduce India's trade deficit and support the ailing rupee.

"Fast rising gold prices could act as headwinds," said Somasundaram PR, the managing director of WGC's Indian operations.

Local gold futures have jumped 35% so far this year after rising a quarter in 2019.

India's gold consumption in the first half of 2020 plunged 56% on-year to 165.6 tonnes. Meanwhile, the coronavirus-triggered lockdown also slashed demand by 70% in the June quarter to 63.7 tonnes, the lowest in more than a decade, the WGC said in a report published on Thursday.

Millions of Indians have lost their jobs or taken a pay cut after the country imposed a lockdown on its 1.3 billion people to curb the spread of the virus that has infected more than 1.5 million Indians.

Consumption is generally high during the June quarter due to weddings and key festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya, but lockdown restrictions kept shoppers indoors this year.

The weak demand in the first half could drag down India's gold consumption in 2020 to the lowest since 1994, when demand stood at 415 tonnes, Somasundaram said, adding that it is still difficult to provide an estimate for full-year demand as the coronavirus crisis is still unfolding.

"Indian demand has previously jumped as much as 300 tonnes in a quarter. Latent demand could come out in the second half," Somasundaram said.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Lucknow, May 25: Migrant workers who wish to return to their places of work after the lockdown is lifted, may no longer find the going easy now.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that his government will lay down stringent conditions for ensuring social security of workers from the state who are hired by other states.

"Other states will also need to seek permission from his government before engaging workers from UP," he said while addressing a webinar on Sunday.

The Chief Minister stated, "If any state wants manpower, the state government will have to guarantee social security and insurance of the workers. Without our permission they will not be able to take our people," he said.

He said all migrant workers who have returned to the state were being registered and their skills were being mapped by the administration. Any state or entity interested in hiring them will need to take care of their social, legal and monetary rights.

Speaking about the challenges his administration had faced during this crisis, the Chief Minister said, "When I talk of Uttar Pradesh, then it is natural to say that it is the state with the highest population. We have faced several challenges during the lockdown. At the beginning, migrant workers and labourers started coming to the state. We deployed 16,000 buses and within 24 hours, they were brought back to their home districts and arrangements were made to screen them."

Yogi Adityanath took a dig at the opposition leaders for the migrant crisis. "During the lockdown, if those who now raise slogans for the poor had honestly cared about workers, then migration could have been stopped. This did not happen. No facilities were given. At several places, electricity connections were cut, so people had to migrate." he said.

Legal experts, meanwhile said that requiring government permission for employing people could face a legal challenge as the Constitution guarantees the freedom of movement and residence and employment of workers.

"Article 19 (1)(D) guarantees freedom to move freely, and 19(1)(e) the freedom to settled in any part of the countryso the need for permission can be legally challenged," said a senior lawyer.

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News Network
January 13,2020

New Delhi, Jan 13: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the city police, Delhi government, WhatsApp Inc, Google Inc and Apple Inc on a plea of three JNU professors to preserve data, CCTV footage and other evidence relating to the January 5 violence on the varsity campus.

The Delhi Police informed the court that it has asked the JNU administration to preserve and hand over CCTV footage of the violence.

Justice Brijesh Sethi listed the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.

The court was told by Delhi government Standing Counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra that the police has not yet received any response from the university administration.

The counsel said police has also written to WhatsApp to preserve data of two groups "Unity Against Left" and "Friends of RSS" including messages, pictures and videos and phone numbers of members, related to JNU violence incident.

The petition was filed by JNU professors Ameet Parameswaran, Atul Sood and Shukla Vinayak Sawant seeking necessary directions to the Delhi Police Commissioner and Delhi government.

The petition also sought direction to the Delhi Police to retrieve all CCTV footage of JNU campus.

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