LS adjourns sine die as 'productive and satisfactory' monsoon session ends

The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday as the Monsoon Session ended after 17 sittings for 112 hours, during which 21 laws, including one to amend the SC/ST Act, were passed.

While 8 hours 26 minutes of the session were marred by disruptions, the House sat almost 21 hours extra to discuss major issues during the session that began on July 18.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the session has been "more productive and safisfactory" than the previous Budget Session and last year's monsoon session.

The session witnessed a discussion on no-confidence motion against the government brought by TDP and other Opposition parties. The motion was defeated later. As many as 51 members discussed and debated the motion for 11 hours 46 minutes, she said.

Government seeks Parliament nod for Rs 117 bn additional expenditure

The government today sought Parliament's approval for additional gross additional expenditure of Rs 116.97 bn for the current fiscal.

As per the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants, 2018-19 tabled in the Lok Sabha, the net cash outgo totals Rs 5.95 trillion and gross additional expenditure aggregates to Rs 5.74 trillion.

Besides, the government has sought a token provision of Rs 10 million for enabling re-appropriation of savings in cases of new service or new instrument of service.

The government is seeking Parliament's nod to spend Rs 17.91 bn for the Agriculture Ministry, Rs 15 bn of the Textiles Ministry and Rs 10.57 bn for the Defence Ministry.

The government is also seeking Rs 17.08 bn for the Petroleum Ministry. The money would be given towards grants for the creation of capital assets under various schemes.

Under the head 'technical supplementary demands for grants', the government has sought Rs 9.8 bn for infusion of equity in Air India under the "turn around plan".

CAG to submit reports on Namami Gange, railway bio-toilets in Parliament

Apex auditor CAG is likely to submit around 11-12 reports, including on railway bio-toilets, Ganga rejuvenation and Kudankulam nuke plant, in Parliament this session, according to official sources.

"Around 11-12 reports are expected to be tabled in Parliament during the ongoing winter session of the Parliament. There will be audit reports on the Namami Gange project, status on bio-toilets usage in railways and Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant," an official said.

Namami Gange is the government's pet project for rejuvenation of river Ganga for which it had allocated Rs 20,000 crore in 2014.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has sanctioned projects worth about Rs 17,000 crore for sewerage management, effluents management, biodiversity conservation, solid waste management, afforestation, rural sanitation among other.

Besides, there will be around 4-5 compliance reports on the finance ministry, including on customs and excise, the official added.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on bio- toilets in railways is a actually a performance report, which is likely to be placed in Parliament next week, another official who worked closely in preparing the report told PTI.

"The report will present the status how the bio-toilets have been functioning in trains as well as recommendations," the official added.
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Cong to take on Modi over charges against Manmohan as Winter Session begins

The government is ready to discuss all the issues, including those to be raised by the Opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said here on Thursday, adding that he would request all the MPs to work "full time" to dispose of the business. 

"The government is ready to discuss and debate any issue. Several issues would be raised by the opposition and the government would obviously give its response," he said when asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's allegations against his predecessor Manmohan Singh and others vis-a-vis their meeting with Pakistani diplomats would disrupt the Houses.

"It is also the opposition's responsibility to run Parliament. The Prime Minister has sought opposition's cooperation for smooth functioning of Parliament," he said.

Ananth Kumar said 25 Bills are listed in the Lok Sabha and 39 Bills are pending in the Rajya Sabha which would be taken up and disposed of "according to priority".

The most important business would be the Supplementary Demands for Grants, which is the first one after the implementation of GST; the 123rd Constitutional Amendment for setting up of National Commission for Backward Classes as a constitutional body; and the Bill against triple talaaq, he said.
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Victoria becomes first Australian state to legalise voluntary euthanasia

An Australian state parliament has legalised voluntary euthanasia 20 years after the country repealed the world's first mercy-killing law for the terminally ill.

The final vote in the Victorian parliament today means that doctor-assisted suicide will be allowed in Australia's second-most populous state since mid-2019.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who became a euthanasia advocate after his father died of cancer last year, said the reform showed compassion.

Australia's sparsely populated Northern Territory in 1995 became the first jurisdiction in the world to legalise doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. But the Australian Parliament overturned that law in 1997 after four people had been helped to die.

The Australian Parliament does not have the same power to repeal the laws of states such as Victoria.
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Catalan crisis: Thousands rally in Madrid, urge jailing of deposed leader

"Prison for Puigdemont," shouted thousands of people in central Madrid, gathered under a giant Spanish flag on Saturday in anger at Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence under secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont.

As music blared from giant speakers -- from British band Coldplay to Spanish singer Manolo Escobar's "Y viva Espana" ("And long live Spain" in Spanish) -- pro-unity protesters banded together on the square.

Unhappy with Catalonia's secession bid, many also directed anger at Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whom they accuse of having been too soft on the region's separatist leaders.

"It is a disgrace what happened in Catalonia, and it's a disgrace what happened after," said Carlos Fernandez, a 41- year-old mining engineer.

On Friday, the Catalan parliament declared unilateral independence.

Rajoy replied by axing Puigdemont and his executive, dissolving parliament, and calling snap December 21 regional elections to quash what he termed an "escalation of disobedience."

"Nothing is going to change in two months," said Fernandez of Rajoy's intervention, "it's just prolonging the problem."

Sitting on a concrete ledge clutching a large red and yellow national flag, he said he was disappointed at the low pro-unity turnout.
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Spain crisis: Independent Catalonia wakes up under Madrid's control

Catalonia woke up on Saturday under the direct control of Madrid as the Spanish prime minister took drastic measures to quash secession, deposing the region's leaders and dissolving its parliament hours after lawmakers declared independence.

In a dramatic escalation of a political crisis that has stoked alarm in Europe and sent shockwaves through Spain, Mariano Rajoy also decided to call snap Catalan elections on December 21 to "restore normality" to a region in turmoil.

All eyes this weekend will be on whether Catalonia's separatist executive willingly steps down and independence supporters carry out their threat of peaceful resistance to Madrid's takeover.

In the Spanish capital, protesters were due to hit the streets today against Catalonia's declaration of independence, which while lacking any legal basis has caused strife in a region deeply divided on whether to split from Spain.

On Friday in Barcelona and other Catalan cities, thousands celebrated their regional parliament's motion for independence, which passed with 70 votes for, 10 against and two absentions in a 135-seat chamber that anti-secession MPs had deserted in protest.

Demonstrators in Barcelona broke out in ecstatic shouts of: "Independence!" as the result was announced, while separatist MPs cheered, clapped and embraced before breaking out in the Catalan anthem.
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85% Indians trust government, 55% favour autocracy: Pew survey

More than four-fifths of Indian citizens trust their government, but interestingly, a majority of Indians also support military rule and autocracy, a latest Pew survey said on Tuesday.

"In India, where the economy has grown on average by 6.9 per cent since 2012, 85 per cent (of people) trust their national government," Pew Research said in a report based on its survey on governance and trust among key countries across the world.

Notably, in India, which has strong democratic credentials since the last seven decades, according to Pew, a majority (55 per cent) of its people support autocracy in one way or the other.

In fact, more than one-fourth (27 per cent) of them want a strong leader.

Nearly half of Russians (48 per cent) back governance by a strong leader, but rule by a strong leader is generally unpopular, it said.

A global median of 26 per cent say a system in which a strong leader can make decisions without interference from parliament or the courts would be a good way of governing.
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Iran lawmakers raise missile spending amid 'Death to America' chant

Chanting "Death to America," Iran's parliament voted unanimously today to increase spending on its ballistic missile program and the foreign operations of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, part of a sanctions bill mirroring a new U.S. Law targeting the country.

While offering hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding, the lawmakers' bill offered a tactic as old as the slogan shouted since the 1979 Islamic Revolution - using America's own tactics against it.

The vote salves public anger in Iran over US President Donald Trump's constant threats to renegotiate or abandon the nuclear deal struck by world powers under his predecessor.

While lawmakers stressed the bill wouldn't violate that agreement, it ensures those both home and abroad know Iran will continue confronting America either in the Persian Gulf or legislatively, analysts say.

"They want to show that the pressure that the US is exerting on Iran, they can respond with similar measures," said Adnan Tabatabai, an Iran analyst based in Germany who is the CEO of the Centre for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient. "It's not that important that those measures may not hurt the US in the same way. ... They want to show they are not just standing still and watching this happening."
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French President Emmanuel Macron marches to parliamentary majority

“Bien joué” – or “well played” – was sprawled across a picture of Emmanuel Macron on the cover of the newspaper Libération the day after he won the French presidential election.

And more congratulations are in order after the first round of the legislative elections. Today’s Libération cover shows Macron resting his chin on what looks like his fist – with the letters OPA, the French acronym for “corporate takeover” sprawled across the picture.

Since Macron founded his party, En Marche!, in April 2016, he has wiped out the French political establishment and captured the imagination of a large segment of the voting public despite a historic abstention rate of 51 percent in the legislative elections.

So what is the basis of Macron’s political allure?

A presidency of the future

At the end of round one of the legislative elections, Macron and his party are on pace to win more than 400 seats out of 577 in the French Parliament. This number of seats is likely to hold, or even increase, in the June 18 second round that French election law mandates in electoral districts where no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.

The populist National Front came in third place – and they will get three to five seats, which is well below what party leader Marine Le Pen had hoped for, but more than the two seats that the National Front currently occupies. Le Pen herself seems on track to win a seat in the northern city of Henin-Beaumont during the second round. The National Front’s momentum has slowed, but it is far from gone, and Marine Le Pen is not abdicating her role as a political figure any time soon.

The far left party La France insoumise, or “France Unbowed,” led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, came in fourth place, and the French Socialists dropped to fifth. The Socialists, the party of the last president, Francois Hollande, imploded during this election cycle and may end up with as few as 15 seats. The centre right Republicans are the only former establishment party that is still a plausible political force. They came in second and trailed Macron’s party by 15 percentage points.
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Brexit and US trade protectionism: catalyst for India-EU FTA

With the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) failing to reach a conclusion for a decade now, changed geopolitical circumstances could infuse a sense urgency in striking the deal. Brexit and trade protectionist policies of the US are beginning to play in favour on the deal, according to top representatives of the European Union Parliament in charge of relations with India.

Last week, at the fourth India-Germany Intergovernmental Consultations in Berlin, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reiterated the need for a successful dialogue for an India-EU FTA. Unlike previous discussions, the call for an FTA this time was more than a rhetoric.

“Since 2007 there has been efforts of FTA between EU and India. There has been a lack of vitality on both sides. Now, there is a bit more willingness to get things moving. One of the incentives has been Brexit. There are a lot of vital interest at stake,” Geoffrey Van Orden, Chair of The European Parliament Delegation for relations with India, told Business Standard.

Notably, Orden, a member of the European Parliament, belongs to the Conservative Party in the UK and is also batting for an India-UK FTA. However, an India-UK FTA is unlikely to be without hitches, for the UK is likely to maintain a tough stand on issues like the movement of people and outsourcing of jobs, hinted Orden.

We will have a UK-India trade relationship based on what we have negotiated with the wider EU. In UK India FTA, India places a lot of importance to transfer of personals. I feel quite sure this will continue, but it will be more controlled as the UK would like to see more highly-skilled people. There will be a reluctance to have unskilled labourers,” said Orden.

One of the demands of the British government was deeper cuts on tariffs on wines and spirits, particularly Scotch Whisky. Even with a tariff of close to 150 per cent, India is the third-biggest export market for Scotch at 41 million bottles, according to data from The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA)

Germany, by far the strongest leaders of the EU, has been pushing for an FTAs at the regional levels in the face of protectionist policies of the US government, as evident from the US pullout from Trans-Pacific Partnership and Paris Accord.
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United Opposition attacks government over note ban in parliament

Lack of sanitation facilities puts high burden on women: Economic Survey

Latest News - Stating that lack of access to sanitation facilities puts a disproportionate burden on women and girls, including the threat to life besides nutritional risks, the Economic Survey on Tuesday pitched for ensuring toilets in each household.

The pre-Budget Economic Survey 2016-17, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, also said to ensure safe and adequate sanitation, water security and hygiene — the objectives of Swachh Bharat — as part of a broader fundamental right to privacy for women is becoming a serious policy issue.

Stating that there is 'disproportionate burden' on women in households without (Read More)

GST Council meet today to try and bridge differences

Latest News - A fortnight ahead of the start of the Budget session of Parliament, the goods and services tax (GST) Council will on Monday try to find the resolution to issue of administrative turf between the Centre and states, as well as definition of coastal states.

Sources said shortage of time due to the coming elections in five states could come in the way of finding an early solution.

Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu hoped a solution to both issues might be found out at the meeting. He will not attend the meeting but will send an officer to represent the state as he is going to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Uttarakhand’s Indira Hridayesh told Business Standard some solution to (Read More)

GST now set for July 1 roll-out, dual control hurdle finally over

Latest News - The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Monday broke a deadlock over issues of administrative control over assessees and broadly agreed to roll out the GST from July 1, instead of the earlier deadline of April 1. 

Whether a state or the Centre will assess an entity would be decided by a computer programme. The Council also resolved a logjam over the right to tax economic activities within 12 nautical miles from India’s coasts.

Against the earlier proposals of reserving administration of assessees up to Rs 1.5 crore in annual turnover for states, or of allowing both the Centre and states to jointly administer these, the Council decided to blend the two suggestions. The entire tax base would be shared between the (Read More)