New Delhi [India], August 3 (ANI): The Lok Sabha is expected to take up an external affairs ministry bill that seeks to create special provisions to curb piracy in the high seas when it meets on Thursday morning.

New Delhi [India], August 3 (ANI): The government on Wednesday withdrew the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 and has decided to come up with a new legislation in view of a large number of amendments suggested by the Joint Committee of Parliament towards a comprehensive legal framework on the digital ecosystem.

New Delhi [India], June 27 (ANI): Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has granted a further extension of one month (from June 22) to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice for examination and report on 'The Mediation Bill, 2021', a parliament bulletin said on Monday.

Jaipur Jan 19 PTI The Rajasthan government has decided to constitute the Rajasthan State Agro Industries Development Board to increase the income of farmers The Board will give suggestions regarding making concrete policy and its effective implementation to increase the income of farmers according to an official statement The decision was taken in the state Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday According to the statement issued after the meeting the Cabinet has approved the formation of the Rajasthan State Agro Industries Development Board with the objective of increasing the farmers income by strengthening the agricultural marketing system in the state Along with this a framework will be prepared to connect more and more farmers of the state with agro-processing and value addition To promote the processing business and export of agricultural products in the state the Rajasthan government had implemented the agro-processing agribusiness and Agriculture Export Policy-2019 According to the official spokesperson after this policy this board was formed in the direction of promoting the export of agricultural commodities produced in the state such as cumin coriander garlic isabgol pomegranate dates onion etc and to ensure their international recognition The Cabinet has also decided to amend the educational qualification for the post of curator in the Department of Archeology and Museums Similarly in the groundwater department instead of filling the posts of junior geophysicist by 75 per cent on direct recruitment and 25 per cent on a promotion basis the amendment in the Rajasthan Ground Water Service Rules 1969 has been approved to fill 50 per cent by direct recruitment and 50 per cent by promotion Along with this it has also been approved to increase the minimum experience for promotion to five years instead of two years This will provide equal opportunities for promotion in the department The Cabinet has approved the draft of Vyas Vidyapeeth University Jodhpur Bill 2021 to encourage private participation in the field of higher education After the approval of the Cabinet this Bill will now be presented in the Assembly that will pave the way for the establishment of this university PTI AG HRS hrs

Sindh [Pakistan], December 27 (ANI): Sindh opposition parties have been staging protests against the new law which tightens the provincial government control over local bodies.

Chandigarh Dec 22 PTI The Haryana government on Wednesday amended its Excise Act paving the way for lowering of the legal age for consumption of liquor its purchase or sale from the existing 25 years to 21 years in the state In this regard the Haryana Excise Amendment Bill 2021 was passed by the State Assembly here The National Capital Territory of Delhi has also recently reduced the age limit to 21 Moreover the socio-economic conditions of the day have changed drastically from the time when the above provisions were incorporated in the Excise Act the bill said The people now are more educated and participating in new endeavours and also can take rational decisions when it comes to responsible drinking states the Bill PTI SUN VSD HDA

New Delhi [India], December 21 (ANI): Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Cabinet has approved a proposal to establish the 'Delhi Teachers University'.

Guwahati Dec 20 PTI The Assam government on Monday introduced an amendment bill in the state assembly for issuing transit passes for liquor from neighbouring states passing through Assam The Assam Excise Amendment Bill 2021 placed by Excise Minister Parimal Suklabaidya seeks to replace the Assam Excise Amendment Ordinance 2021The bill said in view of long porous borders with neighbouring states the Assam excise department has to constantly struggle to check transportation and smuggling of liquor To monitor the movement of liquor transiting through Assam it was essential to introduce a system of transit pass and due to urgency of the matter an ordinance was promulgated on September 15 it said The Assam Cooperative Societies Amendment Bill 2021 was also introduced in the House by the departments minister Atul Bora It proposes to delete the provision in the principal act that disallowed registration of any society under the act in an area where there already exists another cooperative society with similar objectives except with special permission Through the amendment it is sought to bring competitiveness and professionalism among the cooperatives and end monopoly the bill said PTI SSG NN NN

Bhopal Dec 19 PTI The winter session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly will begin here from Monday and end on December 24 with the Question Hour of December 22 being reserved for queries from first-time MLAs The opposition Congress is all set to raise OBC reservation in panchayat elections as well as the shortage of fertilisers in the state and the hospital fire tragedy among other issues After an all-party meeting on Sunday Assembly Speaker Girish Gautam said the Question Hour on December 22 will be reserved for questions submitted by MLAs including women elected for the first time The Leader of Opposition Kamal Nath and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Narottam Mishra were also present in the meeting The Assembly is a platform to raise public issues and the ruling party and opposition should cooperate in running the proceedings during all the sittings Gautam said adding that the House should be convened once in three months and a total of 90 sittings should be held in a year Earlier Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Narottam Mishra said the government will present several bills including Madhya Pradesh Damage to Public and Private Property Recovery Bill 2021 in the Assembly during this session The bill will ensure the recovery of losses from the people and organisations that damage government or private property during protests and it puts the onus on the accused to prove their innocence in such acts When asked about the issues to be raised by the opposition Congress MLA PC Sharma told PTI his party will raise the issue of OBC reservation in the panchayat elections Had the BJP government decided to hold the panchayat elections on the basis of delimitation carried out in 2019 by the then Congress government the process would have been completed smoothly But they cancelled the delimitation by bringing an ordinance resulting in SC directives on OBC reservation Sharma said He said the Congress will raise fertiliser and electricity woes being faced by farmers unemployment as well as the deaths of children in the Hamidia Hospital fire incident The Congress will also raise the issue of money spent on holding programmes recently in the tribal areas instead of carrying out real work for their welfare Sharma said Mishra meanwhile held the Congress responsible for the apex court directives to re-notify OBC reserved seats in Madhya Pradesh and said the order came on the petition of opposition leaders The five-day winter session is the tenth session of the current Assembly an official said PTI ADU BNM BNM BNM

New Delhi Dec 19 PTI The productivity of Rajya Sabha hit a low of 3760 percent during the third week of the ongoing Winter Session owing to disruptions and forced adjournments over the issue of suspension of 12 member of the House officials said Sunday The continued disruptions pulled down the cumulative functionality of the House for the first three weeks to 4670 percent the RS secretariat saidAccording to the data collected by the secretariat the productivity of Rajya Sabha was 4970 per cent and 5250 per cent during the first and the second week respectivelyDuring the third week of the total scheduled sitting time of 27 hours 11 minutes the House could function only for 10 hours 14 minutes losing 6240 per cent of available time on account of disruptions and forced adjournments on the issue of suspension of 12 member of the House the officials said During the third week Question Hour which is meant for seeking the accountability of the Government has suffered the most with only four of the 75 listed Starred Questions orally answered by the concerned ministers the RS secretariat saidOnly 1140 per cent of the time available for Question Hour was utilised during the week while 6270 per cent of the functional time has been spent on the governments legislative businessThree bills were passed and returned during the week after discussing for a total of 6 hours and 25 minutes in which 33 members participatedA Short Duration Discussion on the situation arising out of the cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 taken up during the week remained inconclusive This discussion is listed for resumption Monday the officials saidChairman M Venkaiah Naidu had adjourned the House on Friday after 17 minutes of Zero Hour urging the government and the Opposition parties to resolve the stalemate on the suspension issueDuring the 15 sittings of the first three weeks of ongoing Winter Session the House functioned for less than an hour per day for six sittings according to official dataAbout 42 per cent of the functional time of the House has been spent on the governments legislative business passing a total of eight bills so far while only about 18 per cent of the time has been spent on the Question Hour with only 56 of the 217 listed questions orally answered said the secretariatSo far 81 Zero Hour and 47 Special Mentions were made in the House during the three weeks of Winter SessionThe Mediation Bill 2021 seeking to promote resolution of disputes including commercial is listed for introduction on Monday in Rajya SabhaThe Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Amendment Bill 2021 as passed by Lok Sabha has been listed for consideration and passing on Monday PTI SKC TIR TIR TIR