Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 receives Parliamentary approval - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 receives Parliamentary approval.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 received Parliamentary approval with its passage in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on March 17, 2020.

The amendment enhances the upper gestation limit from 20 to 24 weeks for special categories of women which will be defined in the amendments to the MTP Rules and would include survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women (like differently-abled women, minors) etc.

The opinion of only one provider will be required up to 20 weeks of gestation and that of two providers for termination of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks of gestation.

Upper gestation limit not to apply in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by Medical Board. The composition, functions and other details of the Medical Board are to be prescribed subsequently in Rules under the Act.

Name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed except to a person authorised in any law for the time being in force.

The ground of failure of contraceptive has been extended to women and her partner.

An official press release said the Bill is aimed at expanding access of women to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian or social grounds.

The amendments include the substitution of certain sub-sections, insertion of certain new clauses under some sections in the existing Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, to increase upper gestation limit for termination of pregnancy under certain conditions and to strengthen access to comprehensive abortion care, under strict conditions, without compromising service and quality of safe abortion.

"It is a step towards the safety and the well-being of the women. Recently several petitions were received by the Courts seeking permission for aborting pregnancies at a gestational age beyond the present permissible limit on grounds of foetal abnormalities or pregnancies due to sexual violence faced by women.

"The amendments will increase the ambit and access of women to safe abortion services and will ensure dignity, autonomy, confidentiality and justice for women who need to terminate the pregnancy," the release added. (Source: defencenews.in)

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Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 receives Parliamentary approval.

Year End Review 2020: Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs - Parliament passed total 39 bills during 2020 - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Year End Review 2020: Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs - Parliament passed total 39 bills during 2020.

Legislative Business :

A total of 41 bills (9 Bills in the Lok Sabha and 32 Bills in the Rajya Sabha) were pending at the conclusion of 2nd Session of Seventeenth Lok Sabha and 250th Session of Rajya Sabha. 41 bills were introduced (34 in the Lok Sabha and 7 in the Rajya Sabha) during the period, making a total of 82 bills. Out of these, 39 bills were passed by both the Houses. 7 Bills, (4 in Lok Sabha and 3 in Rajya Sabha) was withdrawn. A total of 36 bills (6 bills in the Lok Sabha and 30 bills in the Rajya Sabha) were pending in both Houses of Parliament at the conclusion of 4th Session of Seventeenth Lok Sabha and 252nd Session of Rajya Sabha.

The Monsoon Session 2020 of Parliament:

The Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shri Prahlad Joshi in a statement on the Monsoon Session, 2020 informed that the productivity of Lok Sabha was approx. 167% and that of Rajya Sabha was approx. 100.47% during the Monsoon Session, 2020. He said that the Monsoon Session, 2020 of Parliament which commenced on 14th September, 2020 was scheduled to culminate on 1st October, 2020 but due to COVID-19 pandemic risks after transaction of essential business Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine-die on Wednesday, the 23rd September, 2020 yielding 10 sittings spread over 10 days

He further informed that during the Session, 22 Bills (16 in Lok Sabha and 06 in Rajya Sabha) were introduced. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha individually passed 25 Bills each. 27 Bills were passed by both the Houses of Parliament which is best ever rate of passage of Bills per day i.e. 2.7 Bills. While mentioning about the 11 ordinances , he said that all the 11 Ordinances which were promulgated during inter session were replaced by Acts of Parliament during the Monsoon Session, 2020. Four old pending Bills in Lok Sabha and one old Bill in Rajya Sabha were withdrawn, the Minister added.

Financial Business:

The Union Budget for 2020-21 was presented to the Lok Sabha on 1st February, 2020. General Discussions on Union Budget were held in both the Houses. The Lok Sabha also discussed and voted the Demands for Grants 2020-21 and Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2019-20, Supplementary Demand for Grant in respect of the State of Jammu and Kashmir for 2019-20, Demands for Grants in respect of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the year 2020-21 and Demands for Grants in respect of the Union Territory of Ladakh for the year 2019-20. Rajya Sabha also returned all the Appropriation Bills, and the entire Financial Business was completed before 31st March, 2020.

Budget Session 2020:

The Budget Session, 2020 of Parliament which commenced on Friday, 31st January, 2020 has been adjourned sine die today i.e. Monday, the 23rd of March 2020. In between both the Houses also adjourned for recess on Tuesday, the 11th February, 2020 to reassemble on Monday, the 2nd March, 2020 to enable Departmentally related Standing Committees to examine and report on the Demands for Grants relating to various Ministries/Departments.

In a statement on Budget Session, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shri Prahlad Joshi informed that the first part of the Budget Session yielded a total of 9 sittings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He added that in the second part of the Session there were 14 sittings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. "During the entire Budget Session, 2020 there were in total 23 sittings in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha", Shri Joshi said. During this Session a total of 19 Bills (18 in Lok Sabha and 01 in Rajya Sabha) were introduced. 15 Bills were passed by Lok Sabha and 13 Bills were passed by Rajya Sabha. Total number of Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament is 12. Further, 2 Bills were withdrawn in the Rajya Sabha.

PM lays foundation stone of New Parliament Building

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the New Parliament Building today. The new building is an intrinsic part of the vision of ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ and will be a landmark opportunity to build a peoples’ Parliament for the first time after independence, one which will match the needs and aspirations of ‘New India’ in the 75th anniversary of independence in 2022.

The Prime Minister remarked that democracy elsewhere is about election procedures, governance and administration. But democracy in India is about life values, it is the way of life and the soul of a nation. He added India's democracy is a system developed through centuries of experience. There is also a life mantra, an element of life as well as a system of order in the democracy in India. He said it is India's democratic strength that is giving new energy to the development of the country and giving new faith to its countrymen. He said democracy in India is constantly being renewed every year and it is seen that voter turnout is increasing with every election.

Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs celebrates the Constitution Day:

The Union Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs celebrated the Constitution Day here today to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India. 60. The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, joined the Hon’ble President in reading out the soul of the Constitution i.e. the Preamble to the constitution from Kevadia, Gujarat. A self-pledge on Fundamental Duties and Swachhata was also undertaken after reading of the Preamble to the Constitution. A Webinar on “Fundamental Principles and Values of the Constitution – an interface among Legislature, Judiciary and Executive” was also organised in New Delhi.

Special Multi-Media Exhibition on the Constitution Day at Kevadia draws appreciation of Parliamentarians and Legislators: Even as India celebrated the 71st Constitution Day with enthusiasm with nation-wide reading of the Preamble led by the President Shri Ram Nath Kovind, a Special Exhibition on the Constitution Day at Kevadia in Gujarat, drew appreciation of Parliamentarians and Legislators. This Exhibition, organized by the Bureau of Outreach Communication of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in collaboration with the Parliamentary Museum and Archives, as part of the 80th All India Conference of Presiding Officers at the Statue of Unity site in Gujarat, was inaugurated by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Shri Om Birla on Wednesday. The Exhibition traced the journey of democratic tradition in the country, right from Vedic Times, through the Lichchavi republic to the making of Modern India.

80th All India Presiding Officers’ two-day Conference

80th All India Presiding Officers’ two-day Conference was addressed by Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi on 26th Nov, 2020 in Kevadiya, Gujarat inaugurated by the President of India. On the occasion of celebration of the Constitution Day, the PM’s address assumes significance as the theme of the event is harmonious relationship between the three wings of the state—legislature, judiciary and executive.

While addressing the Conference, the Hon’ble Prime Minister inter-alia, urged all the Presiding Officers of all the legislative bodies all across the country to make headway towards the complete digitisation of the legislatures so as to make the functioning of the legislatures paperless legislative and to adopt innovative and technology in Legislatures. PM also urged Presiding Officers to adopt the system wherein not only the legislators but all the citizens of the country will also have the access to the central database and all the important real time information. To fulfil this goal, National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) has already been developed under the auspices of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs , Government of India as one of the MMPs under Digital India programme to make the working of the all the legislatures paperless.

One Nation One Application :National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA)

‘e-Vidhan’ is one of the 44 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) under Digital India Programme launched by Government of India with a vision to transform the country into a Digitally Empowered Society and knowledge economy. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been made the ‘Nodal Ministry’ for the implementation of e-Vidhan MMP re-designating it as National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) in all the 31 States/ UTs with Legislatures on the line of Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly to make the functioning of State Legislative Houses paperless.

e-Vidhan software of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha was upgraded as National eVidhan Application (NeVA), a single application covering all 39 Houses (Lok Sabha+ Rajya Sabha+ 31 Assemblies+ 6 Councils) to bring all the legislatures of the country together, on one platform thereby creating a massive data depository without having the complexity of multiple applications.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has recently completed the development of the new modules of ‘Digital House’ application suite for all the legislatures along with the Bills, Committee Module and the Reporter’s Module. The other modules which were earlier developed have also been upgraded namely, Question Processing, User Management, Department Module, Member’s Module, Minister’s Module, Master Data, etc. The mobile application in both android and IOS version has also been upgraded and modified with new features.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for implementation of NeVA has been signed with the States/UTs viz. Bihar (Assembly), Bihar (Council), Punjab, Odisha, Meghalaya, Manipur, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Puducherry, Tripura. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for sanction of the NeVA Project has been submitted by Bihar (Assembly & Council), Punjab, Odisha, Nagaland, Manipur. Further, the NeVA Project has been sanctioned for Punjab, Odisha, Bihar (both the Houses), Nagaland and the first installment of Central financial assistance has been released to them.

Web-portal of National Youth Parliament Scheme:

A new portal based National Youth Parliament Scheme (NYPS) https://nyps.mpa.gov.in/ was developed on 26th November, 2019 for better implementation of the Youth Parliament Programme by improving upon process. This Portal serves the whole programme end to end digitally beginning with the registration of educational institutions on the portal to training on the basis of contents available on the website and putting report of the Youth Parliament conducted and in the end taking out participation certificates digitally. An urgent need was felt to introduce a new programme of youth parliament by using the power of ICT to expand its outreach to every nook and corner of the country and all the students so as to achieve the objectives of strengthening the roots of democracy, inculcating the healthy habits of discipline, developing tolerance of views of others and enabling the student community to understand about the functioning of parliamentary and democratic institutions.The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been conducting youth parliament competitions around 8000 schools/ Universities and colleges in the country to inculcate democratic values and ethos among youth.

MPs take 30 per cent salary cut over Covid-19

India, as the rest of the world, is grappling with Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic which has severe health and economic ramifications for the people of the country. Immediate expeditious relief and emergency assistance measures are being taken to prevent and contain the spread of said pandemic. In order to manage and control such situation, it became necessary to raise resources from different sources including by reduction of salary of Members of Parliament.

The Cabinet in its meeting held on 06.04.2020 approved the proposal of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to reduce the Salary of Members of Parliament by 30 per cent for one year commencing from 01.04.2020 to meet the exigencies arising out of Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic. Consequently, an Ordinance namely, the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 (No.3 of 2020) was promulgated on 7th April, 2020 for enabling the salary of Members of Parliament to be reduced by thirty per cent for a period of one year commencing from 1st April, 2020 to meet the exigencies arising out of Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic.

To replace the above Ordinance, the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 14.09.2020 and passed by it on 15.09.2020. The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 18.09.2020. The Bill was assented to by Hon’ble President of India on 24.09.2020 as Act No 19 of 2020.

In addition to above, the Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament in its sittings held on 5th and 6th April, 2020, recommended for (i) 30 % deduction per month from the constituency allowance for one year period effective from 01.04.2020 and (ii) 30% deduction per month from the office expenses allowance (only from stationary component and not from the salary component for employees) for one year period effective from 01.04.2020. Ministry gave its concurrence and thereafter the following Notifications to this regard were issued by Lok/Rajya Sabha Secretariats of Parliament on 7th April, 2020

Consultative Committees

The Ministry constitutes Consultative Committees of Members of Parliament and makes arrangements for holding their meetings during sessions and inter session periods. After the constitution of 17th Lok Sabha 37 Consultative Committees had been constituted for various Ministries/Departments. The following activities were undertaken during the year-

• One Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Labour and Employment was constituted on 28th July, 2020.

• 16 meetings of the various Consultative Committees were held and 7 scheduled meetings were postponed due to Covid-19.1

• 13 Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha) were nominated on various Committees/Councils/Boards, etc., set up by the Government of India.

• Deletion of membership of 63 MPs were done from the list of various Consultative Committees due to their Resignation/Retirement/demise etc. (Source: pib)

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Year End Review 2020: Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs - Parliament passed total 39 bills during 2020.

Over 40% govt. schools don’t have power, playgrounds: parliamentary panel - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Over 40% govt. schools don’t have power, playgrounds: parliamentary panel.

Parliamentary panel identifies shortfalls in budgetary funding and utilisation, resulting in critical infrastructure gaps

Almost half of government schools in the country don’t have any electricity or playgrounds, according to a parliamentary panel on education. It identified shortfalls in both budgetary funding and utilisation, resulting in critical infrastructure gaps.
In its report on the 2020-2021 demand for grants for school education submitted to the Rajya Sabha last week, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development (HRD) expressed concern that budgetary allocations saw a 27% cut from proposals made by the School Education department. Despite proposals for ₹82,570 crore, only ₹59,845 crore was allocated. Noting similar 27% reductions for the Central and Centrally Sponsored Schemes as well, the panel recommended that these core schemes get additional funds at the revised estimates stage.
Stark deficits
The panel “expressed dismay” at the stark deficits in government school infrastructure, citing the latest survey data.
Only 56% of schools have electricity, with the lowest rates in Manipur and Madhya Pradesh, where less than 20% have access to power. Less than 57% of schools have playgrounds, including less than 30% of schools in Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2017-18 survey. Almost 40% of schools did not have a boundary wall, endangering the safety of students and school property.
The panel recommended that the HRD Ministry collaborate with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to construct boundary walls, and work with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to provide solar energy and other renewable energy sources so that schools have access to power.
'Dismal progress’
The parliamentary panel also slammed the government for its “dismal” rate of progress in building classrooms, labs and libraries to strengthen government higher secondary schools. Out of 2,613 sanctioned projects for 2019-20, only three had been completed in the first nine months of the financial year, said the panel, warning that such delays would alienate students from government schools.
In government higher secondary schools, not a single additional classroom had been built by December 31, 2019, although 1,021 had been sanctioned for the financial year 2019-20. Only three laboratories had been built — one each for physics, chemistry and biology — despite sanctioned funds for 1,343 labs. Although 135 libraries and 74 art/craft/culture rooms had been sanctioned, none had been built with just three months left in the financial year.
The record is better at secondary schools, where 70-75% of such facilities had been finished by December, although less than 5% of the facilities aimed at disabled students — ramps and special toilets — had been completed. At primary schools, there was a 90-95% record of infrastructure completion.
Samagra Shiksha Scheme
Overall, for the core Samagra Shiksha Scheme, the department had only spent 71% of revised estimates by December 31, 2019.
“The committee would like to impress upon the department to look into the factors impeding the infrastructure development and resolve them at the earliest so as to ensure that the students get the best possible facilities,” said the report, recommending that the Centre replicate the model of States which have done well in creating and maintaining such facilities.
“The committee is aware of the fact that delay in completion of infrastructure not only leads to students getting alienated from the government schools but also leads to cost overruns and cause an additional strain on the financial resources of the country,” the report said. (Source: The Hindu),


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Over 40% govt. schools don’t have power, playgrounds: parliamentary panel.

Parliamentary panel asks RBI to ease bank capital requirements - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Parliamentary panel asks RBI to ease bank capital requirements.

Parliamentary panel says such stringent norms stipulated by the RBI for banks ... is unrealistic and unwarranted.

A parliamentary panel on Thursday asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ease its rules on capital requirements for banks so that they can increase lending.
“Such stringent norms stipulated by the RBI for our banks ... is unrealistic and unwarranted,” said a report tabled in parliament by the Parliamentary Committee on Finance.
The report comes after the government and some of the board members of the RBI have put pressure on the central bank to relax capital requirements for banks as they seek to boost credit and economic growth.
Former RBI governor Urjit Patel, who quit last month, opposed the government’s demand for lowering capital requirements and warned about the need for a cushion to offset unexpected risks.
Indian banks are required to maintain a minimum capital to risk weighted asset ratio (CRAR) at 9%, against the global Basel-III requirement of 8%. On top of that, they have to keep a capital conservation buffer that is supposed to climb to 2.5% by March 2019.
The rollback of additional capital requirements could release about Rs5.34 trillion ($76 billion) into the economy by releasing capital for lending.
On Friday, the RBI in a report opposed the call to relax current risk weighting rules which are used to calculate capital requirements, saying they fortified banks against the risk of failure. However, it did announce its intention to review capital regulations.
The rating agencies have warned against dilution of capital norms for banks.
Saswata Guha, country director, financial institutions, at Fitch Ratings, said capital ratios for many banks were well below global standards and any relaxation could prove detrimental to banks and their ability to absorb unexpected losses.
In India, the recovery on loans that go into default was historically only about a quarter of the outstanding loan amount, he said.
“Given such low recovery ratio, any kind of dilution of capital norms will be credit negative for Indian banks,” Guha said.
According to Fitch’s previous estimates, Indian banks need nearly $65 billion in new bank capital by March 2019 to meet current regulatory requirements.
In 2017, the government announced a plan for an infusion of Rs2.11 trillion ($30.06 billion) into 20 state banks by March 2019 to meet Basel-III global demands.
But last month it increased its capital infusion into some state-run banks to Rs1.06 trillion ($15.13 billion) in the current fiscal year ending in March. That is because many banks have fallen well short of a target to raise about Rs58,000 crore themselves. (Source:Livemint)


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Parliamentary panel asks RBI to ease bank capital requirements.