Prime Minister Narendra Modi was greeted with black flags and protests over the contentious Citizenship Bill, which will be discussed in Rajya Sabha today.
Parallel negotiations for purchase of Rafale fighter jets were believed to have been conducted by the Prime Minister’s Office, The Hindu report reveals.
With months to go for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Narendra Modi government is cracking down on high-profile cases of alleged corruption and money laundering.
The Mamata Banerjee government versus Centre confrontation has once again put the spotlight on the CBI, an agency that has been dubbed a ‘caged parrot’....
The CBI Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to the West Bengal government and the state police to cooperate in the Saradha chit fund case...
Move to bring down differences in commodity prices with neighbouring states, says government. Oppn, dealers blame it on welfare, Congress's guarantees.
Two-day visit by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan seen as critical to both countries' focus on convergences in the relationship rather than differences.
Occasional lovers’ tiffs have marked history of RSS-BJP relations. To think that Nagpur will bring about any change in leadership is a misreading of both its intent and its power.
1. These views provoke readers like me to think about effectiveness of Parliament as a platform of people’s wishes. 2. We must endeavor to make Lok Sabha a platform for good governance, irrespective of party/parties in power. I think we need to consider a few reforms to make Lok Sabha more effective. 2. Our Parliament must introduce new rules of conducting business of both houses of Parliament; disrupting proceedings of Parliament must be punishable with immediate suspension for a day. Those who disrupt proceedings often and more than once should be barred from entering the House for an entire session. 3. As per our existing election law, First Past the Post (FPTP) is a rule under which a winner is declared. We know that the FPTP rule creates many distortions: a candidate securing as low as 25 % votes may be a winner in a Lok Sabha election. This is hardly a satisfactory situation. 4. Question is this: has time come to reconsider FPTP and think about having ‘System of Proportional Representation’ (SPR) at least for some 33% of total Sabha seats? I believe our political parties should debate having SPR, which I believe can be a major election system reform. 4. Lastly, we must restrict tenure of a MP to say 15 or 20 years.
The political capital that was expended on trying to amend the land acquisition law – giving rise to the Suit boot jibe that did so much harm – should instead have been used to get GST airborne very early in the term, allowing for a thoughtfully drafted scheme that would have been at fruit bearing stage today. The government should have reached out to Dr Singh and Shri P Chidambaram, told them, Bhai Saheb, yeh toh aapka idea tha, isse anjaam par laane mein sahkarya kijiye. Shri Kharge should have been conferred LoP status, no need to refer the issue to AG Mukul Rohatgi. The Speaker should have been less openly partisan, whether on classification of Money Bills or a hundred other things. Consensus building to get the people’s work done becomes impossible if the declared intent is a Congress mukt Bharat. One cannot the Rajya Sabha ever having been an implacable foe in the past, standing in the way of well drafted laws that are in the public interest. As the sun sets on the sixteenth Lok Sabha, one feels no nostalgia.
1. These views provoke readers like me to think about effectiveness of Parliament as a platform of people’s wishes. 2. We must endeavor to make Lok Sabha a platform for good governance, irrespective of party/parties in power. I think we need to consider a few reforms to make Lok Sabha more effective. 2. Our Parliament must introduce new rules of conducting business of both houses of Parliament; disrupting proceedings of Parliament must be punishable with immediate suspension for a day. Those who disrupt proceedings often and more than once should be barred from entering the House for an entire session. 3. As per our existing election law, First Past the Post (FPTP) is a rule under which a winner is declared. We know that the FPTP rule creates many distortions: a candidate securing as low as 25 % votes may be a winner in a Lok Sabha election. This is hardly a satisfactory situation. 4. Question is this: has time come to reconsider FPTP and think about having ‘System of Proportional Representation’ (SPR) at least for some 33% of total Sabha seats? I believe our political parties should debate having SPR, which I believe can be a major election system reform. 4. Lastly, we must restrict tenure of a MP to say 15 or 20 years.
One cannot recall the Rajya Sabha …
The political capital that was expended on trying to amend the land acquisition law – giving rise to the Suit boot jibe that did so much harm – should instead have been used to get GST airborne very early in the term, allowing for a thoughtfully drafted scheme that would have been at fruit bearing stage today. The government should have reached out to Dr Singh and Shri P Chidambaram, told them, Bhai Saheb, yeh toh aapka idea tha, isse anjaam par laane mein sahkarya kijiye. Shri Kharge should have been conferred LoP status, no need to refer the issue to AG Mukul Rohatgi. The Speaker should have been less openly partisan, whether on classification of Money Bills or a hundred other things. Consensus building to get the people’s work done becomes impossible if the declared intent is a Congress mukt Bharat. One cannot the Rajya Sabha ever having been an implacable foe in the past, standing in the way of well drafted laws that are in the public interest. As the sun sets on the sixteenth Lok Sabha, one feels no nostalgia.