Indian Maritime University Bill, 2007 introduced in Parliament

New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) The controversial Indian Maritime University Bill, 2007 was today introduced in Parliament.

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Minister for Surface Transport T R Baalu, after the Lower House witnessed frequent adjournments over the introduction of the Bill, with a scuffle breaking out between members of the Left parties and the DMK besides other parties from Tamil Nadu.

Normal busines resumed in the Lok Sabha after senior CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia tendered an apology on behalf of the members of his party.

The government also assured the Left parties that the controversial Bill would be referred to the Standing Committee of Parliament.

Mr Acharia said, ''I deeply regret the incident and apologise to on behalf of my party.'' External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also regretted the incident.

He said, ''Mere introduction a Bill does not necessarily mean its passage and discussion is customary.'' Leader of the Opposition L K Advani (BJP) said it was highly ''regrettable'' since the entire thing involved partners of the UPA.

He said the situation came to such a situation that marshalls were called to protect the Minister from the agitated members.

He described the incident as ''civil war'' within the UPA.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said, ''The entire country is watching us and we should behave like role models and should not act in the manner as it happened.'' Earlier, the Left members had tried to prevent Mr Baalu from introducing the Bill which proposes to set up a maritime research and studies centre of the national level in Tamil Nadu instead of Kolkata. One Left member even tried to snatch a copy of the Bill from the Minister.

The first adjournment was for ten minutes while the second adjournment was for 45 minutes, third for an hour while the fourth was for 30 minutes.

UNI