Parliament Winter Session 2023 Live Updates: Ethics panel report on Moitra likely to be tabled in LS on Friday

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, while the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 provides amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

The government on Wednesday sought Parliament's nod to spend a net additional Rs 58,378 crore in the current fiscal ending March 2024, with a large chunk going towards MGNREGA and subsidy on fertiliser. The gross additional spending sought by the government is over Rs 1.29 lakh crore, of which Rs 70,968 crore would be matched by savings and receipts. The net additional spending by the government would be Rs 58,378.21 crore in the current fiscal, as per the Supplementary Demands for Grants tabled in Parliament.

Delhi Police has taken several measures to improve law and order situation, like the dynamic identification of crime-prone areas, deployment of police pickets, foot patrolling, PCR Vans and Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs), Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Wednesday informed Rajya Sabha.

Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday accused the government of being cut off from the ground reality of the economic situation but treasury benchers hit back, asking them not to rely on selective facts and planted questions. During the discussion on the economic situation in the country after MoS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary laid on the table a statement on the Supplementary Demands for Grants 2023-24, Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) alleged the ruling members were only indulging in propaganda and publicity.

Terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir have shown a declining trend over the last about six years with 2023 registering all-time low numbers, government told the Parliament on Wednesday. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said the government has a "policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and its approach is to dismantle the terror ecosystem".

Internet connectivity in government schools in India improved from 5.5 per cent in 2017-18 to 24.2 per cent in 2021-22, with Bihar, Mizoram, Odisha and Telangana being the only states with fewer than 10 per cent government schools having Internet connectivity. The information was shared by Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi in a written reply to a question asked by the BJP's Dhananjay Bhimrao Mahadik in the Rajya Sabha.

The railways has eliminated all unmanned level crossings on its broad gauge track network, but metre gauge and narrow gauge track sections still have 559 such crossings with Gujarat having the highest at 262, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Sharing data on level crossings, both manned and unmanned, in the country in a written reply, Railway Minister Ashwini Vishnaw said that "all unmanned level crossings (UMLCs) on running lines of the broad gauge (BG) network of the Indian Railways have been eliminated by 31.01.2019".

President of India Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday paid floral tributes at the statue of BR Ambedkar in Parliament House Complex on his Mahaparinirvana Diwas, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said in a statement. Vice-President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also paid floral tributes at the Ambedkar statue.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) does not differentiate between India and Bharat, and duly acknowledges the spirit as enshrined in the Constitution that recognises both, according to the Union Education Ministry.

The BJP Parliamentary Party will hold its first meeting during Parliament's Winter Session on Thursday and is likely to felicitate Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leading the party to massive wins in three assembly polls. The BJP Parliamentary party, which includes all its Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, generally meets every week during the session. In the meetings, its leaders, including Modi, speak on different issues germane to the agenda in Parliament and also to its organisational and political campaigns.

The 5G networks have rolled out in 738 districts across the country, and around 100 million subscribers are using these services, marking one of the fastest fifth-generation rollouts in the world, Parliament was informed. Telecom service providers have also committed a total investment of Rs 2 lakh crore, including a commitment of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for spectrum acquired through auction in July-August 2022, minister of state for communications Devusinh Chauhan said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

The Indian Railways offered a subsidy of Rs 59,837 crore on passenger tickets in 2019-20 and the concession still continues, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. Vaishnaw shared the information in response to a question by Congress MP Anto Antony from Kerala regarding restoring pre-Covid concessions for different categories of railway passengers.

Shiv Sena (UBT) member in Lok Sabha Vinayak Raut pressed for reservation for the Maratha community and various socially and educationally backward castes in Maharashtra. Participating in a debate on Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Raut said that just like socially and educationally backward communities in Jammu and Kashmir were being given reservation through the bills, the Union home ministry should bring legislation for the benefit of Maratha, Dhangar and Mahadev Koli communities of Maharashtra.

A total expenditure of Rs 4.10 lakh crore has been made under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I (BPP-I) as on October 31, 2023, and the difference in actual project cost and normative cost is due to increase in cost of raw material and land acquisition, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said comptroller and auditor general (CAG) has made observation about the increase in cost of Phase I of the pariyojana.

he government has set up three counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist schools in Odisha for training police personnel, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Union minister of state for home Nityanad Rai responded in a written reply to a query whether the National Bureau of Police Research and Development (NBPR&D) has considered setting up a Central Detective Training School in Odisha to improve training methods of State Police while investigating and dealing with cases in Left Wing Extremist (LWE) areas due to a high incidence of LWE insurgency in the state.

Union Territory of Ladakh has introduced a new technology namely "Ladakh Green House" to cultivate vegetables in limited quantities in controlled conditions throughout the year, ministry of home affairs (MHA) informed the Rajya Sabha. Union minister of state for Home Nityanand Rai shared the input in a written reply when asked by a parliamentarian whether the Union Territory of Ladakh is an area characterized by extremely harsh winters and crop growing season lasts approximately five months and it has introduced any new techniques to deal with this issue.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday pointed out "two big mistakes" committed by late former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru due to which Jammu & Kashmir "had to suffer" for many years. Shah was responding to discussion on J&K Reservation Amendment Bill and J&K Reorganisation Amendment Bill in the lower house. The bills were later passed by the Lok Sabha.

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to nominate two members from the Kashmiri migrant community and one representing the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the legislative assembly. The House also passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to change the nomenclature of a section of people who are eligible for quota in appointment and admission.