LS LIVE: House adjourned till 2 pm on Monday

18:26 March 20

House adjourned till 2 pm on Monday

18:15 March 20

Despite requests 2 J'khand districts not declared water-stressed: Vishnu Dayal Ram

"Around 256 districts have been placed under the water stressed category. In my constituency, two districts including - Palamu and Garhwa - fall under the rain shadow area. Every year between the months of March and May there is a serious dearth of water. People don't have access to water, even for drinking purposes. Despite request made earlier, the two districts have not been included in the water stressed category. The water in the two districts have high levels of arsenic and  fluoride, " said BJP's Vishnu Dayal Ram, who represents Palamu constituency of Jharkhand.

17:49 March 20

Will Yamuna be clean enough for us to take bath in it: BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri

"Every year thousands of crores of Rupees is allocated for improving the quality of the Yamuna River. Can we expect, over the next 3-4 years, the water of Yamuna river to be clean enough for us to take a bath in it. Will the people of Delhi be able to enjoy access to clean water, " said BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri who represents South Delhi.

16:52 March 20

Per capita water availability has reduced from 5,000 to 1,500 CBMs: Jal Shakti Minister

"We all know that the 4,000 billion cubic metres of water that we used to get in the form of rain and snow (sic) has remained more or less same over the past 70 years. But the high population growth over the same period of time reduced the per capita water availability to 1,500 cubic metres from more than 5,000 cubic metres," said Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister, Jal Shakti

16:24 March 20

Pvt members' resolution on construction of canals in Bundelkhand moved

A private members' business resolution has been moved in the Lok Sabha by RLP's Hanuman Beniwal representing Nagaur constituency of Rajasthan to discuss the "construction of canals through Ken Betwa river linking project to overcome the problem of water scarcity and stray cows in the Bundelkhand region"

16:04 March 20

IIT Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 passed in lower house

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 stands passed in Lok Sabha.

15:44 March 20

Indian IT education must also focus on hardware: AITC

"IT must consist of two parts -hardware and software...our institutes teach little about hardware, that's why while India is on the forefront in the world in software, we are very behind in hardware. We hardly manufacture (sic) all the computers are imported from abroad. So, it is necessary to develop hardware education in the country, so that we can manufacture our own computers, " said AITC's Prof. Sougata Ray representing Dum Dum constituency of West Bengal.

 

14:43 March 20

IIT Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 moved in the House

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 has been moved in the House by BJP's Brijendra Singh representing Hissar constituency in Haryana

13:58 March 20

Would GOI work with WHO to ascertain the origin of coronavirus: Manish Tiwari

Congress' Manish Tiwari, who represents Anandpur Sahib constituency of Punjab asked Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan if the Government of India would work with the WHO or some friendly countries to ascertain if coronavirus is a naturally occurring virus or it has not originated as a result of a certain scientific experiment gone wrong.

"There are a number of queries which are doing the round with regards to the origin of coronavirus...we are all aware that the World Health Organisation (WHO) is not being given access to Wuhan in order to investigate the origins of the coronavirus. My submission to the health minister is that would the Government of India talk to the WHO, talk to other friendly nations in order to ensure that the origin of coronavirus is invstigated thoroughly so that we can be reassured that this is a naturally occurring virus and it has not originated as a result of a certain scientific experiment...which may have gone astray."

13:42 March 20

COVID-19 in India limited to individuals, yet to reach community level: Health minister

"The infection in this country is travelling from one person to another. It has not yet gone into the community. Even for the community, the ICMR is picking up people from the community to see whether their is any evidence of transmission in the community. I can say with utmost confidence and authenticity that whatever tests we are doing on whoever is being done with scientific advise, " said Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister, Health and Family Welfare.

13:20 March 20

Govt must announce sops including financial package for loss of wage: Congress

Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, who represents Baharampur constituency of West Bengal suggested that the central government must announce a few sops to help combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the low-income groups.

"We are with the central government in their fight against coronavirus...Ever since PM Modi made his speech, most of the Indian cities have been witnessing a surge in the price of commodities, food items are running short in supply, masks are not available in the market. The market seems to be infested by middlemen and hoarders, " said Chowdhary.

He also made the following suggestions:

• The government must declare a financial package that will include compensation of wage losses of employees who earn daily wages such as taxi and auto drivers, agricultural labourers, construction workers, security guards....others.
• Compensation for small and medium businesses who lost their earnings.
• Provision of ration including rice, wheat, and other essential items APL and BPL categories.
• Moratorium on loans of all nature till such time when repayment can be made.
• Payment of wages under MNREGA for the next three months in advance.
• Specific sum to be paid for BPL.

13:00 March 20

House proceedings to start at 2 pm on Monday following request by MPs: Speaker

Lok Sabha session on Monday will start at 2 pm instead of the regular 11 am.  

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla made the announcement after receiving requests from several MPs stating that they will not be able to make it to the Parliament on Monday at 11 am given that the changes in the flight routes over the outbreak of coronavirus.

12:46 March 20

Help us set up Common Facility Centres for textile industry: YSRCP MP

YSRCP leader K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju, who represents Narsapuram constituency from Andhra Pradesh requested Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani to allow the Andhra government to set up 'Common Facility Centres' at his constituency and other places in the state with thriving textile industries.

"At Machilipatnam, where Kalamkari industry exists, the textile ministry has considered setting up a common facility centre with geotagging facilities. I would request assistance in setting up a similar common facility centre by the government of Andhra Pradesh. We will be keen to give the requisite land and the Common Facility Centre. We are also requesting to depute NIFT officers at an appropriate time to give training, " said Raju.

11:37 March 20

LS LIVE: IIT Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 passed in lower house

New Delhi: The Friday session of Lok Sabha is likely to be dominated by the coronavirus pandemic with the Opposition raising concerns over the handling of the virus by the central government.

The lower house proceedings on Thursday also saw a discussion along similar lines with Opposition leaders demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in the House on the efforts to combat the pandemic.

Friday's list of business also includes the introduction of Bills such as:

The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019 - to establish and incorporate Universities for teaching and research in Sanskrit

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020- to amend the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act, 2014 and to amend the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-private Partnership) Act, 2017.

Both the Bills are to moved by Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'.

The Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020 - to provide for regulation, operation and planning of Major Ports in India and to vest the administration, control and management of such ports upon the Boards of Major Port Authorities - which is to be moved by Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya.