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United News of India
an hour ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm amid Opposition protest over Bihar electoral roll revision
Parliament New Delhi, Aug 11 (UNI) The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm today, shortly after the day's proceedings commenced, as Opposition members raised slogans over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. As soon as the House convened for the day and official papers were laid on the table, several Opposition MPs entered the aisles and moved into the well of the House, disrupting proceedings. Rajya Sabha Chairman Harivansh informed the House that 29 notices had been received under Rule 267, requesting discussions on five different topics. Of these, 11 notices were not worded properly for a formal decision to be made by the House, while the remaining 18 were related to matters currently under judicial consideration and also lacked proper wording, he said. He made it clear that, as a result, none of the notices were accepted. Urging members to allow the House to function, the Chair reminded them that Zero Hour and Question Hour are important tools available to MPs to raise public issues. He also expressed concern over the repeated disruptions, stating that 'we have lost 62 hours and 25 minutes in this session' due to adjournments. However, Opposition members refused to budge as they continued protesting about the SIR in Bihar. Amid continued sloganeering and noisy scenes, the Chair adjourned the House till the post-lunch session. The Opposition has been demanding a detailed discussion on the issue, alleging manipulation and discrepancies in the voter list revision exercise being undertaken in Bihar. UNI AJ AAB
Deccan Herald
an hour ago
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm amid noisy Opposition protests
Initially, Speaker Om Birla tried to continue the business of the House -- Question Hour -- by allowing members to ask questions related to the Ministry of Environment and Forests amid the din.
India Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Funds flow but India's air foul: The big gaps in pollution battle
Despite the government pumping more than Rs 13,000 crore since 2019 over the implementation of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), India's capital is one of the slowest movers in the nation's pollution war. It could spend only 22 per cent of the money sanctioned since then. While Delhi's air is three times dirtier than the safe threshold of 60 g/m (micrograms per cubic metre), for the rest of the country too, clean air remains a pipe results advertisementThe latest data from the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change paints a conflicting picture nationwide. Mumbai reduced pollution by 44 per cent since 2019 while Kolkata improved only by 37 per cent. Cities with a smaller population, such as Bareilly and Varanasi, witnessed remarkable reductions—50-75 per the progress has been uneven—PM10 (particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less) levels are more than 30 per cent higher in Visakhapatnam and Maharashtra's Aurangabad and Jalgaon than seven years ago. Between 2017-18 and 2024-25, Mumbai led the four major metros in reducing PM10 concentrations, bringing levels down by 44 per cent—from 161 g/m to 90 g/m. Kolkata followed with a 37 per cent drop, lowering its average from 147 g/m to 92 g/ despite being at the centre of India's clean air conversation, managed just a 15 per cent decline, from a dangerously high 241 g/m to 203 g/m. Chennai saw the smallest improvement, with PM10 levels falling only 12 per cent, from 66 g/m to 58 g/ policymakers concede that smog has reached 'unhealthy levels' in more regions, they do not openly attribute fatalities to pollution. Asked about the impact of air pollution on public health during Question Hour in Parliament recently, the government said health effects depended on people's diet, immunity and socio-economic factors, not just investment, limited returnsThat hedging sits awkwardly with the huge taxpayer-funded investment. So far, Rs 9,200 crore has been used up from the Rs 13,036 crore issued to 130 cities over five years for battling pollution. But only 22 cities have attained PM10 levels safe for public despite its emergency response protocols to curb hazardous pollutants, old vehicle scrapping efforts and pollution monitoring, remains plagued by one of the highest PM concentrations. The monsoon season will be over soon and the time for burning the harvested crops to clear farms for new sowing will be here. So the city's environment department has announced it would be attempting to cloud seed—a method generally used for fighting drought—to tackle the anticipated spike in air progressProgress is steadier in other cities. Surat in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli, Kanpur and Lucknow have shown steady PM level improvement, though not as much to central funding as to better implementation and administration. For all the attention its air gets, Delhi, since 2019, has spent under Rs 14 crore of the Rs 62 crore the Centre allocated it under NCAP and the 15th Finance it's not that there have been no interventions The government attributes the improvements to Bharat Stage VI fuel norms, vehicle scrapping policies, control of dust pollution at construction sites, provision of electric buses through the PM E-bus Sewa project as also cleaner brick kilns in the National Capital Region (NCR), switch of industrial units to piped natural gas (PNG) or biomass, and directives to power plants to burn crop residue. Despite the claims, however, the Delhi government has yet to submit a common timeline to end the national Level 2, or 'red', rating of the Air Quality Index that stands above the 50 point level denoting safe air. No one is committing to a target number for the next five years. As Delhi waits for the annual November smog season, its gamble on artificial rain is starting to resemble a meteorological version of throwing chaff in a desperate attempt to gain traction to create a short-term breathing to India Today Magazine- EndsMust Watch
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
India records 260 positive cases for doping in 2024
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) is likely to top the charts for doping cases in 2024, with the Sports Ministry revealing during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha that 260 Indian athletes have tested positive. These 260 cases, from 7,466 tests conducted, are expected to be the highest ever recorded in the country, surpassing the previous mark of 224 in 2019. READ | India tops doping charts with 213 positive cases in 2023 It was only in June that it was revealed India had registered 213 positive cases in 2023, according to a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Responding to Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi's question on whether the government is aware of the rising number of anti-doping violations involving Indian athletes in recent years, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the government 'is fully committed to curbing the menace of doping in sports.' Athletics once again topped the list of sports with the most positive cases, recording 76 compared to 61 in 2023. Weightlifting followed with 43, wrestling with 29, and boxing with 17.
United News of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Logjam in Lok Sabha continues: House adjourned till 3 PM
New Delhi, Aug 8 (UNI) Lok Sabha was today adjourned till 3 PM after Opposition members continued to protest over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar demanding a discussion on the issue. This is the second adjournment of the House on the issue. The House adjourned at 11 immediately after it assembled for the day. However, it was adjourned till 12 noon amid protests by the Opposition. As soon as the House reconvened at 12 noon, presiding officer Krishna Prasad Tenneti informed the House that Speaker Om Birla has not allowed any adjournment notices submitted by MPs. Meanwhile, Opposition members continued to protest, demanding a discussion on SIR. Amid the commotion, Tenneti asked the Opposition members to maintain dignity in the House. The visibly upset officiating Chair said, "You cannot bang the table like this. This is Parliament, this is Lok Sabha. People have elected you to represent them decently. You are suppose to behave responsibly. This is not the way. This is not done. Entire country is watching". "I take very strong objection to the banging of table of the Hon'ble Speaker. This will go on record," he warned. "I am again requesting you that very important bill are to be taken up in this session. You cannot storm the Well like this. You are not allowing the business to be taken up. There are very objectionable behaviour patterns that I am observing," Tenneti said. He again urged the protesting members to allow the House to function and amid commotion, he adjourned the House till 3 PM. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla informed the House about the demise of former member Satyapal Malik. The House paid tribute to Malik. Birla also informed the House about the Quit India Movement that began on August 9, 1942, and paid homage to the martyrs. After that, the Speaker initiated the Question Hour. However, Opposition members entered the Well of the House holding placards and shouting slogans, leading to a ruckus. Despite the commotion, the Speaker tried to continue with the Question Hour, but the noise kept escalating. Birla while appealing to the protesting members, to go back to their seats, said that the Question Hour was important and the House should be allowed to function. He stated that shouting slogan in the House is not in line with parliamentary tradition. He added that members were deliberately disrupting the House, and the whole country was watching. When the Speaker's appeal had no effect on the protesting members and the uproar continued, he adjourned the proceedings of the House till 12 noon. UNI RBE RB 1307
