New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Friday passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, which has been passed by the Lok Sabha, by a voice vote. In the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a scathing attack on the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Here are the Live Updates:
- 7.36 PM
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House till 11 AM on Saturday, February 10.
- 7.25 PM
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that unemployment is decreasing. "The employment rate for graduates has also declined," she stressed.
- 7.09 PM
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi terming her as "Super Prime Minister." She also referred to the incident when former Rahul Gandhi "insulted" former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh over an Ordinance.
- 6.47 PM
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Lok Sabha that night vision goggles and bullet-proof jackets were not available during the UPA rule. The Finance Minister Sitharaman quoted former Defence Minister and senior Congress leader AK Antony and hit out at him for his attitude. "The defence Budget has increased in our tenure," Nirmala Sitharaman said.
- 6.41 PM
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar adjourned the House till 11 AM on Saturday, February 10, 2024.
- 6.40 PM
The Rajya Sabha passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024.
- 6.25 PM
Dr Fauzia Khan, the NCP member from Maharashtra, said she welcomed the Bill, which has brought to curb unfair practices in examinations.
- 6.18 PM
Dr Dinesh Sharma, BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh said that he had brought a similar Bill while he was education minister in Uttar Pradesh.
- 6.10 PM
Dr Amee Yagnik, Congress MP from Gujarat requested Union Minister Jitendra Singh to plug the loopholes in the Bill but said that she supported the Bill.
- 6.01 PM
AIADMK MP Dr M Thambidurai spoke on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024.
- 5.55 PM
V Sivadasan, CPI (M) MP from Kerala said centralisation of education should be opposed.
- 5.45 PM
BJD MP from Odisha Muzibulla Khan also spoke on the Bill. From the YSRCP, Ayodhya Rami Reddy Alla said that his party supports the Bill.
- 5.40 PM
AAP member from Punjab Sandeep Kumar Pathak levelled allegations against the BJP, to which GVL Narasimha Rao, who was in the Chair, said that the allegations would have to be proven by the end of the day else the remarks would be expunged.
- 5.30 PM
DMK member from Tamil Nadu P Wilson asked whether there was any need for any entrance exam.
- 5.19 PM
Prakash Jawadekar, BJP MP from Maharashtra and All India Trinamool Congress MP Abir Ranjan Biswas said they supported the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024.
- 5.06 PM
GVL Narasimha Rao said he thanked the Prime Minister for bestowing the Bharat Ratna on former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.
- 5.00 PM
Congress Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh said he supported the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024.
- 4.53 PM
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh moved the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 and said the job aspirant has been kept out of the Bill. "Time and again these issues are coming from 15 countries. We faced three scams and in order to prevent them (the Bill has been moved).
- 4.50 PM
The Rajya Sabha passed the 'J&K Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024' and two other Bills by a voice vote.
- 4.43 PM
Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said that when the law is implemented, it will be from Kashmir to Kanyakumari after the abrogation of Article 370.
- 4.27 PM
"We don't indulge in vote bank politics," says Dr Virendra Minister. He highlights the work done by the Centre in memory of Dr B R Ambedkar.
- 4.25 PM
Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr Virendra Kumar asked what Congress did for the Valmiki community for 60 years. He said after the passage of the Bill the Valmiki community will get several benefits.
- 3.51 PM
Shambu Sharan Patel congratulated the Narendra Modi government for bestowing the 'Bharat Ratna' on former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur and BJP stalwart LK Advani.
- 3.30 PM
Sumitra Valmiki, who is a BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Rajya Sabha spoke on the Bills and highlighted the achievements of the Narendra Modi-led government. Ramilaben Bara, BJP MP from Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha and Shambhu Sharan Patel, BJP MP from Bihar also spoke on the achievements of the Centre.
- 2.57 PM
Rakesh Sinha, BJP Nominated MP in Rajya Sabha, raises the issue of those who settled in Jammu and Kashmir after partition. He also said after the abrogation of Article 370, development has taken place in Jammu and Kashmir.
- 2.20 PM
John Brittas, CPI (M) MP, criticizes the proposed three bills and says that, as per the government, J&K’s statehood would be restored, albeit without a timeline. He also raised the question of whether the government is aware of the massive shutdown in Ladakh or not.
- 1.57 PM
Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament.
- 1.47 PM
BJP Chief Whip in the Upper House, Laxmikant Bajpai issues a three-line whip to party MPs to be present in the Rajya Sabha on 10th February to support the government's stand.
- 1.24 PM
A discussion is going on over the Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which intends the legislation aims to provide reservations to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the local bodies and bring consistency in the laws with the provisions of the Constitution.
- 1.16 PM
Arjun Munda, the Minister of Tribal Affairs and Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, moves the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in Rajya Sabha.
- 1.15 PM
Dr Virendra Kumar moved the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the Upper House.
- 1.05 PM
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar talks about the recently announced news on the Bharat Ratna award to be honoured to PV Narasimha Rao.
- 12.48 PM
Shobha Karandlaje, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare replies to the questions asked by member Kavita Patidar during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha regarding the allocation of funds under various schemes.
- 12.34 PM
Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, while responding to Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan, said that people are dependent on the internet for everything. Following this, the government is amending the intermediary rules to detect deep fakes and take immediate action, he added.
The government is bringing laws and is taking other steps to make social media platforms more accountable for any slanderous content posted on their platforms, Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Rajya Sabha. The minister, who was responding to supplementaries during question hour, said the government is amending intermediary rules for social media to tackle the menace of misinformation and deep fake.
- 12.27 PM
Sitharaman says that coal production states had gone into loss in the previous government, and the Prime Minister gave gas connections during his tenure and brought the coal states out of loss.
- 12.15 PM
Finance Nirmala Sitharaman tables the 'White Paper' motion in Lok Sabha. She said that the priority of the UPA was to put family and other considerations first and the UPA government could have handled the 2008 global crisis better. Sitharaman further said that the G20 was successful but the Commonwealth was a disaster while comparing the Modi-led government with the Congress party.
- 12.13 PM
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey to hold a debate on 'White Paper' in Lok Sabha.
- 12.09 PM
RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar sends greetings and best wishes to the neighbouring country, Bangladesh, through its Foreign Minister Muhammad Hasan Mahmud, who has arrived at the Parliament.
- 12.01 PM
Question Hour concludes in the Lower House, and papers are being laid on the table of the House.
- 11.50 AM
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Muhammad Hasan Mahmud arrives at the Parliament.
- 11.49 AM
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi says, "The 'White Paper' is nothing but an attempt to divert the attention of the public from PM Modi's failed promises...The real issues: inflation and unemployment will dominate people's minds in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections." (With Agency Inputs)
- 11.43 AM
Naresh Bansal, a BJP MP from Uttarakhand, raises concern about drug addiction and seeks a strong solution from the central government during the ongoing Rajya Sabha session.
- 11.39 AM
Sujeet Kumar, BJD MP from Odisha, urges Central to establish a branch of the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) in the state as well as across the country.
- 11.30 AM
Prakash Chik Barik, AITC MP from WB, praises state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for extending hand-holding support to the people of the poverty class.
- 11.25 AM
Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrives at the Parliament.
- 11.23 AM
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrives at the Parliament.
- 11.20 AM
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar continued the discussion on language imposition and said our languages have depth, literature, and history. "We need to respect all Indian languages," Dhankar added.
- 11.13 AM
During the ongoing Rajya Sabha session, Saket Gokhale, AITC MP from West Bengal, says, "Hindi is not our official language".
- 11 AM
Budget session proceedings begin in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.
