The Rajya Sabha will take up The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020.
Members of the Lok Sabha will continue to participate in the motion of thanks to the President’s address. The House will take up The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
On Monday, replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister said his government was still open to talks with farmers demanding a repeal of the three farm laws passed last September. He coined two terms —‘andolan jeevi’ (professional protesters) and ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology’ to lampoon the Opposition and certain protesters and foreign individuals who have tweeted in support of the farmers’ agitation.
The Lok Sabha extended its Monday’s sitting till 12 a.m. Tuesday. Another extended sitting of the House is likely today.
Here are the live updates:
Rajya Sabha | 10.30 am
Farewell to retiring Members
“Today, we bid farewell to four colleagues from the Union Territory of J&K- Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Shamsher Singh, retiring on February 10; Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmad Laway, retiring on February 15,” says RS Chairman Naidu.
“Since the legislature is under suspended animation, no new MP will replace them in the House.”
Rajya Sabha | 10.15 am
Minister Anurag Thakur says market forces determine the value of the Indian currency. “RBI intervenes only in extreme cases. We have seen 58 billion dollar FDI and 590 billion dollars forex so far. The value of rupee has seen an appreciation of 3.39.”
MoS Finance says, “Our banks are doing well. In a country like India, we need more and stronger banks.”
“98.5% deposits in cooperative banks is safe as most people have under Rs. 5 lakh as deposit that is insured as per a policy brought by the Modi government,” says Mr. Thakur.
Question Hour ends for the day.
Rajya Sabha | 10 am
Minister Anurag Thakur says 92 Chinese companies are registered in India, of which 80 are active. “Law regarding FDI was revised during the pandemic so that Indian companies cannot be taken over,’ he says, on being asked what action was taken against Chinese companies.
“We are getting investments from Taiwan like other countries,” responds Mr. Thakur on a question regarding Taiwanese investments.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says all steps are being taken to control the pandemic, including financial support to States. PM-Cares fund is supporting the vaccination program, he says.
He says that under the PM-Garib Kalyan Yojana, there is a provision to provide Rs. 50 lakh to the kin of health workers who died due to COVID-19 in private and public hospitals.
Rajya Sabha | 9.45 am
MoS Finance Anurag Thakur says, “in the past one year, the number of errors on GSTN network has come down to 0.03%. GST portal was active 99.49% of the times from January to December 2020 and there was no incident of the entire portal crashing.”
MoS Finance says the RBI does not have a legal framework to regulate crypto currencies to a question on regulation of Bitcoins. “The existing laws are inadequate. Inter-Ministerial Committee has given a report, the empowered technology group has met, the Cabinet Secretary has given a report, a Bill to regulate crycpto currencies is being finalised and will be sent to the Cabinet soon,” he says.
“RBI took initiative and banned the use of crypto currencies,” MoS Finance says, on being asked why the government has not filed a review petition against the SC ruling on crypto currencies.
Rajya Sabha | 9.30 am
Question Hour begins
K.R. Suresh Reddy asks what relief has been given to the tourism industry affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel says he has held four meetings with tourism representatives. “Despite their losses they are standing with the country,” he says.
“7.29 lakh touristsare seen in J&K. Hotel industry will revive if domestic tourists travel,” says the Culture Minister.
Deepak Prakash of BJP asks how many people in Jharkhand have benefited from power projects. Union Power Minister R.K. Singh says Jharkhand has less power capacity than the rest of the country. “29 MW of electricity capacity in Jharkhand. Jharkhand policies are good but they must be implemented. Rs. 18,000 crore has been allotted to Jharkhand for first the phase,” he says.
Rajya Sabha | 9.20 am
Ram Gopal Yadav of the SP raises the issue of lateral induction to the posts of Joint Secretary by the government.
“The IAS fraternity is upset. Lakhs of aspirants prepare for the UPSC, they are anguished. There is no scope of reservation. In the last nine recruitments no SC or ST was inducted. Please give instructions and stop this for the administration will suffer.”
N. Gokulakrishnan of the AIADMK seeks for an increase in the budgetary grant for Puducherry.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena, says “Indian sailors are still stuck on China sea on MV Anastasia. It should be our priority to bring them back. They are stuck there since July 2020.” Union Minister Mansukh Mandavdia responds and says that two Ministries are in touch with authorities of China on the issue.
Vandana Chavan, NCP, says India will require 30 million hectares for afforestation to stop CO2 emissions.
Tiruchi Siva, DMK, says, “There are 49 Kendriya Vidyalayas in Tamil Nadu. None of them have Tamil language teachers. This is injustice to the local students. It is against the federal structure of the country. Students are enrolled into KVs because the fees is low and education level is good. The poor students are being disadvabtaged. Tamil should be made a compulsory language in KVs in the State. And also respective regional languages in other States,” he says.
Chairman says this is a matter to be looked into by the Education Ministry.
Sasmit Patra of BJD speaks in Odiya.
Rajya Sabha | 9.10 am
Home Minister Amit Shah to make a suo motu statement at 11.30 a.m. on the Uttarakhand disaster.
Zero Hour begins
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi says whatever happened yesterday is not acceptable. Heasks Vijai Sai Reddy to apologise.
Vijai Sai Reddy says his intention was not to bring disrepute. “Yesterday, I was in a state of anger, I take back my words and regret it,” Mr. Reddy says.
Mahesh Poddar of BJP raises the issue of Netflix and other OTT platforms hosting content that “affect Indian values”. “The language used in the programs reflects gender discrimination, body parts are displayed, women are objectified. The government should not delay and regulate these platforms at the earliest,” he says.
I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar says guidelines to regulate OTT platforms are ready and they will be implemented soon.
Rajya Sabha | 9 am
Rajya Sabha proceedings begin
Chairman Venkaiah Naidu condoles the death of former Member Mohinder Singh Gill; Amadou Toumani Toure, former President of Mali; Mamadou Tandja, former President of Niger; and Mr. Ambrose Madvulo Dlamini, former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Agenda
Lok Sabha
Reports to be presented:
Reports of Committee on Estimates;
Reports of Public Accounts Committee;
Reports of the Committee on Government Assurances;
Reports of Standing Committee on Water Resources.
Motion regarding the report of joint committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019- Extension of time
Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address
General discussion on the Union Budget
Bills for consideration and passing:
The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
Agenda
Rajya Sabha
Obituary references to the passing away of:
1. Shri Mohinder Singh Lather, (ex-Member);
2. Mr. Amadou Toumani Toure, former President of Mali;
3. Mr. Mamadou Tandja, former President of Niger; and
4. His Excellency Mr. Ambrose Madvulo Dlamini, former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Reports to be presented:
Report of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation;
Reports of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources;
Reports of the Public Accounts Committee.
Bills for consideration and passing:
The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill, 2021;
The Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020.
General discussion on the Union Budget
