Commonwealth Parliamentarians to hold global meet in B'lore

Bangalore, Feb 22 (UNI) Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman V R Sudarshan has said that the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association would hold a six-day meet on ''Globalisation and its Impact'' in the city from May 13.

Talking to reporters here yesterday, he said over 50 delegates from across the world were expected to participate in the meet.

Referring to amendments made to extend the time period given to House committees to submit reports on various issues, Mr Sudarshan said these amendments would be adopted during the coming six-day session of the Legislature, beginning on February 24 with the Governor's address.

He informed that a new committee on panchayat raj institutions had also been formed to share the responsibilities of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). It would only look after the reports of the PAC and not monitor the functioning of the panchayat raj institutions, he added.

To a question, Mr Sudharshan assured that the new committee would in no way affect the decentralisation process of the panchayat raj institutions.

He said a new Parliamentary device of a Special Mention would be introduced in the House proceedings in case there was no Question Hour for raising matters of public importance. This procedure was already in practice in the Rajya Sabha, he pointed out.

Mr Sudharshan also informed that President A P J Abdul Kalam's address to the joint session of the Legislature on November 20 last, would be taken up for discussion in the House on March two and three.

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