Parliament Highlights: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11am tomorrow

#Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been adjourned till 11am tomorrow

#The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Thursday said that operating crew declared emergency in seven flights since January 1 this year. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said emergency was declared by the operating crew of two flights each of IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India Express, and 1 was of Air India.

# The government on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that there is no proposal at present to grant constitutional status to the National Commission for Minorities. In a written response to a question in the lower house by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani said the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) was established as a statutory body with the enactment of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 by Parliament. This Act came into force with effect from May 17, 1992, she said. "Under section 2 (c) of the said Act, the central government has notified five religious communities namely, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians (Parsis) as minority communities," she said. Subsequently, the central government further notified the Jain community as a minority community vide notification on January 27, 2014, the minister said. "Further, there is no proposal, at present, to grant constitutional status to the National Commission for Minorities," she said.

#The translocation of some Asiatic lions from Gir in Gujarat to the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh will be done only after mutual consultations between state-specific empowered committees covering all aspects, the government informed Parliament on Thursday. In April 2013, the Supreme Court had ordered the shifting of some of Gujarat's lions to the Kuno sanctuary in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, saying the species is under threat of extinction and needs a second home.

#Elections have become a "big budget affair" and holding polls simultaneous to Lok Sabha as well as state assemblies will result in a lot of saving to the exchequer, the government said. Kiren Rijiju, the law minister, said the need for elections to Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies simultaneously has been felt as polls have become "expensive and a big budget affair".

# The Ministry of External Affairs said that it is aware of the challenges being faced by the Indians in getting US visas and added that the government is closely engaged with the concerned authorities in the US to ease the visa issues.

# Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas in Parliament: "The prices of Petrol and Diesel not increased by public sector OMCs since April 6 despite record high global prices. The Centre reduced Central Excise duty twice to insulate Indian consumers from impact of high global crude oil prices. Modulation of effective price of domestic LPG for consumers causing huge losses to public sector OMCs. To compensate these losses, the government recently approved one-time compensation of Rs. 22,000 crore to OMCs. Saudi contract price for LPG rose from $236/MT in April 2020 to 952 $/MT in April 2022, continues to prevail at elevated levels."

# Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday urged Housing and Urban Development minister Hardeep Singh Puri to speak to states to try to come out with a framework so that homeless could get houses. Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Puri said the capacity of government shelter homes is 1.25 lakh but occupancy is 50 per cent.

# Seven opposition members had given adjournment notices under Rule 267 for discussing various issues of importance, which were not allowed by the chair. As the deputy chairman urged members to allow the Zero Hour to function, members raised strong objections leading to disruption of the proceedings.

#Opposition rakes up India-china border clash issue in Lok Sabha

# Congress-led opposition parties in the Lok Sabha walked out of the House as they were not satisfied with the reply of Petroleum Minister Puri about the petrol price hike.

# Recommend 'quality names' for appointment of judges in SC and HCs: Law minister in Rajya Sabha

"We have taken several steps to address vacancies in courts...send quality names and also include names of lawyers from different communities, especially names of women," said law minister. He also demanded reform in the system.

# Parliament latest updates: A ruckus erupted in the Rajya Sabha after BJP's Biplab Deb demanded discussion over deaths in Bihar hooch tragedy

# Rajya Sabha adjouned till 11:30 am

# Effects of global warming, need for remedial steps to be discussed in Rajya Sabha today

# Congress MP Pramod Tiwari gives Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss "misuse of CBI, ED and other govt agencies against political rivals and others."

# BJP MP Biplab Kumar Deb gives Zero Hour Notice in Rajya Sabha to discuss the need to reopen the border-haat on Tripura-Bangladesh border.

# CPI MP P Santhosh Kumar has given Zero Hour Notice in Rajya Sabha to discuss the need to reinstate concession to senior citizens in Railways.

# Congress leader Manish Tewari has given adjournment motion notice in the Lok Sabha for 'detailed' discussion on India-China border row

# Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has given Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss "the subversion of independence of institutions like ED, IT, CBI, EC, CVC and CIC."

# The serious effects of global warming and the need for remedial steps to tackle it will be discussed in the Rajya Sabha this afternoon. The issue will be raised by DMK, Congress and CPI MPs Tiruchi Siva, Pramod Tiwari and P Santhosh Kumar, respectively.

# Opposition parties want Parliament to discus these issues

TMC leader Derek O'Brien tweeted on Thursday, listing out issues that "Opposition parties want Parliament to discuss". These include: federal structure, economic blockade destabilising state governments; North-East issues, Meghalaya; unemployment; price rise; misuse of central agencies and China. But he accused the government of avoiding these issues and discussing global warming.

# "Is it not allowed to speak against China in the Indian Parliament?" asks Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge

# AAP MP Raghav Chadha has given a Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha to discuss "Central Government’s attempts to interfere in appointments to higher judiciary and delays/obstructions in judicial appointments."

# Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla is likely to chair a high-level meeting on airport rush at the Ministry of Home Affairs at 11 am today.

Parliament passed a bill to rename the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre as the India International Arbitration Centre on Wednesday. The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was piloted by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in the Rajya Sabha.

The Parliament also passed a bill that seeks to include the Gond community in the Scheduled Tribes category in parts of Uttar Pradesh. The Rajya Sabha passed by a voice vote the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022, which was introduced by Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda on Tuesday.

As many as 17 opposition parties staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, accusing the government of not holding a discussion over the December 9 clashes along the Line of Actual Control between the Indian and Chinese forces at the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.