Parliament roundup: LS witnesses heated arguments over issue of farm loan waivers & more

New Delhi, Aug 02: Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed heated arguments between the Treasury and Opposition benches over the issue of farm loan waivers with Speaker Om Birla making an intervention and telling the members that advances under the Kisan Credit Card scheme are not written off.

While Rajya Sabha proceedings on Tuesday were adjourned for almost an hour as Shiv Sena MPs protested against the alleged misuse of probe agencies while citing the arrest of their leader Sanjay Raut.

The Sena MPs also sought a discussion on the arrest of Raut by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said he has rejected notices given under Rule 267 seeking setting aside of the business of the day to discuss the issue. But Shiv Sena MPs and some other opposition members tried to raise the issue, forcing Naidu to adjourn the proceedings till 12 noon.

Check out the Major Highlights of the day:

There is no collapse of Indian rupee: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Amid concerns over the decline in the value of the rupee against the US dollar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asserted there is no collapse of the unit and it is actually finding its natural course.

Sitharaman informed the Rajya Sabha that the RBI is continuously monitoring the local currency and intervening only if there is volatility. "The RBI interventions are not so much to fix the value of the Indian Rupee because it is free to find its own course," the minister told the Rajya Sabha during Question Hour. Replying to supplementaries, she said interventions that are happening from the RBI side are more for containing volatility that is happening between the Indian rupee and the US dollar and so on.

"Even the interventions being made by RBI are not so much to determine the value - increase or decrease, of the Indian rupee. It is not for that. It is more to avoid the volatility and allow it to find its course. "India, like many other countries, is not pitching its currency at a level extraneously. So the ways and which we want to strengthen... the RBI and the Ministry are fairly engaged in it," she said as members expressed concerns over the decline in the value of the Indian currency.

Monkeypox scare: Mansukh Mandaviya advises people not to panic
In the wake of the rising cases of Monkeypox in the country, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday assured citizens not to panic and said that an awareness campaign is being run in collaboration with the state governments to prevent the spread of the infection.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha today during the ongoing Monsoon session of the Parliament, the Union Minister said, "There is no need to be afraid of monkeypox, an awareness campaign is being run in collaboration with the state governments: Public awareness is very necessary in the context of monkeypox. We have also formed a task force under the chairmanship of a member of NITI Aayog on behalf of the Government of India."

"On the basis of the observations of the task force, we will assess and study the further action to be taken. If the state government of Kerala needs any kind of help from the Central government, it will be given.

Also, an expert team of the Central government is guiding the state government from time to time," he said. The Union Minister highlighted that when (Monkeypox) cases started appearing in the world, India had already started preparations.

"Before the first case in Kerala, we had issued guidelines to all the states," he said. The Health Minister said that it has been written to the governments at the international level that the screening report of the travellers should also be sent to the respective authorities concerned. "If someone in the family has had Monkeypox, then keeping a distance from him for 12-13 days is advised and thus, the spread can be controlled. With constant vigilance, we can control it well," he said.

84,659 vacancies in armed forces, govt to fill it by Dec 2023: MoS Rai to LS
The Union Government on Tuesday informed that it has decided to fill up the existing vacancies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles by December 2023. "There were a total of 84,659 vacancies in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles till July 31, 2022, and the government has decided to fill up existing vacancies by December 2023," Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Of the total, a maximum of 27,510 vacancies are noted in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) followed by 23,435 vacancies in Border Security Force (BSF), 11,765 in Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), 11,143 in Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), 6,044 in Assam Rifles, 4,762 in Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), said the Minister while giving a written reply to a query of three Lok Sabha members.

81 Chinese nationals given 'Leave India Notice' from 2019-2021, informs MoS Home
From 2019 to 2021, 81 Chinese nationals were given the "Leave India Notice" while 726 others were placed on the adverse list for violating visa conditions and other illegal acts, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday. MoS Home further said that 117 people were also deported.

Taking action against dubious digital loan apps: FM
The government is taking action against dubious digital loan apps, including those originating from outside the country, and also Indians who helped in setting them up, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Most of the dubious apps are originating from one particular country and as a result a lot of borrowers are harassed and money is being extorted from by these apps, she said during the Question Hour while replying to a supplementary question. The minister was asked about reports of dubious digital loan apps backed by Chinese entities which do not follow RBI guidelines in giving loans.

20 sites identified for 'national importance' tag: Govt
Twenty heritage sites, including two ancient mounds at Haryana's Rakhigarhi and the age-old Anangtal in Delhi, have been identified for the national importance tag, the government has said.

Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy shared the details in a written response to a question in Lok Sabha on whether the central government has identified new historical and religious places in the country that can be declared as monuments/sites of national importance during the last three years.

The other sites include rock painting at Chintakunta, Andhra Pradesh; rock art site Murgi at Rdanag, Leh; Kaleshwar Mahadev Temple, Kalesar (Manyala Panchayat), Himachal Pradesh, as per the informaton shared. Seven mounds (RGR 1-RGR 7) scattered around two villages (Rakhi Khas and Rakhi Shahpur) in Hisar district of Haryana are part of the Harappan-era Rakhigarhi archaeological site. RGR 7 is a cemetery site when this was a well-organised city, ASI had said in May.