Today in Parliament, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the SPG (Amendment) Bill in the lower house, and accused previous governments of amending the original law from time to time to “dilute” it. Later, the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha.
On the other hand, in Rajya Sabha, responding to questions raised regarding the current economic slowdown in the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that growth in India might have come down, but the country is not facing recession.
Here are the main highlights from the Parliament:
- Home Minister Amit Shah on SPG Bill in Lok Sabha said: “An effort is being made to paint a picture that government isn’t concerned about security of Gandhi family and that their protection has been withdrawn. Their protection has not been withdrawn but only changed, based on threat assessment.”
.@ManishTewari , Congress in #LokSabha: Reason given to remove SPG protection provided to former Prime Ministers is ‘number of individuals to be provided SPG cover can potentially become quite large’. Same reason was given to remove security cover of Former PM Rajiv Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/ueZbIpeiE4
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) November 27, 2019
- Lok Sabha passed the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
- Lok Sabha passed The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill, 2019.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Rs 3.26 lakh crore out of targeted Rs 6.63 lakh crore of net GST collections in FY20 collected in first 7 months. She also said that 32 steps taken to revive growth in economy is bearing fruits.
- Opposition MPs walk out of Rajya Sabha during Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s reply on the economic situation of the country.
Delhi: Opposition MPs walk out of Rajya Sabha during Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s reply on economic situation of the country. pic.twitter.com/5Jm9koh5g5
— ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2019
ALSO READ: Has the original definition of the SPG undergone too many changes?
- Congress leader Anand Sharma in Rajya Sabha: “BJP said in its manifesto that it will invest 25 lakh crores in agriculture in 5 years that means 5 lakh crores each year. But only 53,000 crores was allocated in budget. The question is of credibility. Farmers must trust what the government says.”
- Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri told the Parliament that the debt-ridden Air India (debt burden of over Rs 58,000 crore) would have to cease operations if the state-run airline was not privatised.
- BJP member Pragya Thakur referred to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a “deshbhakt” during a debate in Lok Sabha, triggering a protest by opposition members. When DMK member A Raja cited a statement of Godse on why he killed Mahatma Gandhi during a discussion on the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, Thakur interrupted and said, “You cannot give example of a deshbhakt.”
- The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Lok Sabha.