Monsoon Session Highlights: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned till tomorrow

Thank you for joining our coverage of the Monsoon Session. We will now wrap the blog. Do tune in to our LIVE blog tomorrow. Goodnight.

Rajya Sabha adjourned 

Rajya Sabha adjourned to meet at 11am tomorrow

FM Sitharaman on GST

There is no GST on withdrawal of cash from banks. The GST tax only on bank purchasing cheque book from printer; no tax on customer cheques. The poor's consumption of any food item not taxed: Five percent GST levied only on pre-packed, labelled items and not on those items sold loosely. Debates are something that we respect and want to participate and I am glad today that we had this debate. Every state taxed some or the other food items such as cereal, pulses, curd, lassi, buttermilk. Indian economy, compared to situation prevailing in many of our peer groups and in many of developed economies, is definitely much better. No GST on hospital bed or ICU, tax only on room with Rs 5,000 per day rent.  No GST on crematorium; tax only on construction of new crematorium. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

TMC walks out as FM replies to the price rise discussion in the Rajya Sabha

Piyush Goyal intervenes in the price rise debate as the FM is being heckled. TMC walks out of Rajya Sabha as FM Nirmala Sitharaman replies to the discussion on price rise in the House.

Lok Sabha passes Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021

The Lok Sabha passed the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021. It is adjourned till tomorrow. 

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: Nobody is in denial about price rise, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman replying to debate on inflation in Rajya Sabha

Finance Minister on GST

Today’s economic distress throughout the world needs to be looked at holistically. The more I listen to issues on GST I am worried that information is not reaching, rather there is misinformation. There’s no GST on cash withdrawals; GST is paid by the bank which takes the cheque books from its printer. It’s a matter of record that all states agreed to the proposal of GST on pre-packaged items. There wasn’t one person who spoke against it, there wasn’t a single disagreement: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

FM Sitharaman on inflation

Ideally we should keep inflation below 6 percent. The government has a targeted approach to reach sections that desperately need help. We are not saying we will not do anything more: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Adequate power generation capacity available in India: Union Power Minister

At present, there is adequate power generation capacity available in India. As on June 30, India's power generation capacity was 403.76 GW, the peak power demand was 215.89 GW.  Gap between energy requirement, energy supplied was 4.2 percent in 2013-14, brought down to 0.4 percent in 2021-22. Share of non-fossil fuels in power generation to rise from 41 percent in June 2022 to over 64 percent by 2029-30: Union Power Minister RK Singh to Parliament

8 Monkeypox cases in India: Union Health Minister tells Rajya Sabha

“As of today, a total of eight cases of monkeypox have been detected in the country. Of these, five have had a history of foreign travel,” said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in Rajya Sabha today.

In first Lok Sabha speech, 'Nirahua' demands including Bhojpuri in Eighth Schedule

BJP MP Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua' Tuesday made a strong pitch in the Lok Sabha for the inclusion of Bhojpuri in the list of official languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. In his maiden speech in the Lok Sabha, Yadav said Bhojpuri was spoken in 16 countries and the 'Geet Gawai' tradition has been recognised by the UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage at the request of Mauritius.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Rajya Sabha: The ED is investigating two cases related to cryptocurrency against WazirX under the provisions of FEMA. In one of the cases, the probe has revealed that the Indian crypto-exchange platform Wazirx, operated by Zanmai Labs Private Limited in India, was using the walled infrastructure of Cayman Island based exchange BINANCE. Further it has been found that all crypto transactions between these two exchanges were not even being recorded on the blockchains and were thus cloaked in mystery. A showcause notice has been issued under the provisions of FEMA against WaxirX for allowing outward remittance of crypto assets worth Rs 2,790 crore to unknown wallets. In another case, the Indian Exchanges namely WazirX has allowed the foreign users’ request to convert one crypto into another on its own platform as well as by using transfer from third party exchanges namely FTX, BINANCE, etc

FM Sitharaman on cryptocurrency: 

RBI has registered its concern over the adverse effect of cryptocurrency on the Indian Economy. At present, cryptocurrencies are unregulated in India. The government has brought a comprehensive taxation regime for the transfer of virtual digital asset (VDA) including gifting of VDA. Cryptocurrencies are by definition borderless and require international collaboration to prevent regulatory arbitrage. Any policy framework on cryptocurrency can be effective only after
significant international collaboration on evaluation of the risks and benefits and evolution of common taxonomy and standards: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Rajya Sabha

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Rajya Sabha: According to the list of business for Monsoon Session 2022 of the Parliament, no such bill (banking law amendments for privatisation of PSBs) has been listed for introduction, consideration and passing

Finance Minister Sitharaman talks about action taken against errant companies

A showcause notice demanding Rs 4403 crore has been served on Oppo Mobiles, five cases of customs duty evasion have been booked against Xiaomi Technology, Vivo Mobiles India Pvt Ltd has remitted 0.62 lakh crore, mainly to China and its controlled territories out of total sales of 1.25 lakh crore during the July 2017 to March 2021 period. During 2019 to 2022, CBIC has booked cases against 43 other such companies, search and seizure actions initiated in cases of five groups in the telecom sector in which tax evasion has been detected: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tells the Rajya Sabha