Priya Ramani pleads not guilty in defamation case filed by M J Akbar

Hubli, Jul 12: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday said that the Monsoon session of Parliament will be held with the government ensuring all health precautions for COVID-19 are followed.

"Monsoon session (of Parliament) will certainly be held. The government will do all the formalities and take all precautions," the Parliamentary Affairs Minister told reporters here.

Earlier in March, the Parliament had passed 12 bills during the curtailed budget session with Lok Sabha passing 15 bills and Rajya Sabha 13.
During the session, 19 bills were introduced in the two Houses (18 in Lok Sabha and 1 in Rajya Sabha). The two Houses were adjourned sine die after completion of the budgetary process including passage of the Finance Bill.

The second part of the session was curtailed in view of the threat of the spread of coronavirus.
On June 1, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had held a detailed discussion on holding the ensuing monsoon session of Parliament in view of the coronavirus-induced norm of social distancing, sources said.

They said the leaders have taken note of reports suggesting that the fight against COVID-19 is likely to be a long haul.

Mumbai, Jun 27: The Shiv Sena on Saturday hit out at the BJP over its charge that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) had accepted donations from the Chinese embassy, and asked it whether the issue had any connection with intrusion by the neighbouring country in Ladakh and the martyrdom of 20 Indian soldiers.

The Sena also alleged that those raising questions against the government over the standoff with China were being labelled as Chinese agents by the BJP.

BJP chief J P Nadda had on Thursday targeted the Congress and the Gandhi family saying that the RGF had allegedly accepted donations from the Chinese embassy. Hitting back, the Congress had said that the RGF issue raised by the BJP government was a "manufactured charge" and "diversionary tactic" to deflect attention from the LAC crisis.

"What do you mean by Congress gets money from China? Instead of responding to the issues raised by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over the Chinese incursions, the BJP leaders accused the Congress of receiving funds from China," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"Will BJP's revelations about the donations stop the Chinese activities along the border? The BJP should tell what connection does these donations have with the Chinese incursion and the martyrdom of 20 soldiers," it added.

"In our country, many political leaders and parties, and not just the Congress, are beneficiaries of foreign countries. The BJP speaking about this is like throwing stones in the mud," it said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said that Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India twice in the last six years.

"He was hosted in Gujarat. But it is a fact that China has betrayed. Holding talks on the one hand and continuing with the offensive along the border on the other hand is China's old policy," it said.

In the present scenario, the entire country stands firmly with PM Modi. This crisis is not for the BJP or the Congress, but for the entire country, whose prestige is at stake, it said.

"The BJP can fight with the Congress any time later.

But now is the time to fight against China. It should speak on that," the Sena said.

New Delhi, Jun 27: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Saturday called an emergency meeting here to discuss the situation following a locust attack in neighbouring Gurugram.

The minister also directed the administration to be alert, an official said.

"After the emergency meeting, an advisory will be issued on steps to be taken to deal with the situation," Rai told PTI.

He asked the officials of the Agriculture department to make field visits to areas close to Gurugram.

The development secretary, divisional commissioner, director, Agriculture department, and the district magistrates of South Delhi and West Delhi will attend the meeting, the official said.

Earlier in the day, the skies over many parts of Gurugram turned dark as swarms of locusts descended on the town.

However, the migratory pests are likely to spare the national capital for now, officials said.

The swarms of locusts, spread across two kilometres, moved from west to east. They entered Gurugram around 11.30 am, K L Gurjar of the Locust Warning Organisation, Ministry of Agriculture, told PTI.

The pests, he said, were headed towards Faridabad and Palwal in Haryana.

Alarmed at the invasion of the locusts, which settled on trees, rooftops and plants, many residents of Gurugram shared videos from their high-rise perches.

In May, India battled a devastating desert locust outbreak. The crop-destroying swarms first attacked Rajasthan and then spread to Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

According to experts, broadly four species of locusts are found in India – desert locust, migratory locust, Bombay locust and tree locust. The desert locust is considered the most destructive.

It multiplies very rapidly and is capable of covering 150 kilometers in a day.

This insect, a type of a grasshopper, can eat more than its body weight. A one square kilometer of locust swarm containing around 40 million locusts can in a day eat as much food as 35,000 people.

Experts blame the growing menace of desert locusts on climate change. They say breeding of locusts is directly related to soil moisture and food availability.