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Big Story
Monday saw the highest ever suspensions from Parliament in a day, with 78 Opposition MPs — 33 from Lok Sabha and 45 from Rajya Sabha – getting suspended. A total of 92 MPs have now been suspended this session.
👉 The MPs faced action for disrupting House proceedings. Protesting against the Parliament security breach on December 13, the Opposition members have been demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
👉 While the Congress has alleged that the government wanted to “bulldoze” important Bills in an “Opposition-less Parliament”, the BJP, on the other hand, has alleged a “pre-planned strategy” to “block important Bills”.
👉 Congress Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is amongst the 33 suspended, in an interview with The Indian Express said, “Narendra Modi is heading towards striking a century in terms of suspensions of Opposition MPs. It will be a new record… let them suspend all of us.”
👉 The highest number of Lok Sabha MPs suspended in a single day took place in the Budget Session in March 1989 during the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress regime. Here’s what went down.
Only in Express
Deputy Editor of The Indian Express Liz Mathew writes on how Prime Minister Narendra Modi is shaping BJP organisationally and redefining “party democracy”. Many in the party feel that the “top brass is making themselves indispensable while everyone else is dispensable”, while other BJP insiders argue that Modi’s “democratic style” was different.
From the Front Page
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday, has opened the door for administrative allocation of spectrum for satellite broadband services, which is the global norm for assigning spectrum to entities. Here’s what you should know.
The Enforcement Directorate has once again summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on December 21 for questioning in the excise policy case. The CM, like last time, may not appear for questioning as he is scheduled to go for Vipassana meditation between December 19 and December 30, sources said.
Must Read
With a new variant of Covid-19 doing the rounds in Kerala, the Centre has directed all states and Union Territories to be on guard. So, what do we know about the JN.1 variant and should you be worried? Read our explainer.
This week, India will start around-the-year manning of the Arctic with the launch of its maiden Arctic winter expedition. With this, India’s Himadri will be only the fourth research station in the Arctic to be manned around the year. Here’s everything you need to know about the mission.
In our opinion section today, Rinku Ghosh writes on menstrual leaves and the male gaze in policymaking: “In a scenario where any reform that benefits women looks like a minority to be placated rather than an earned right, talk of paid menstrual leave does indeed look like entitlement.”
And Finally…
Ramati Sathyanarayana was different things to different people — a loving father, a small-time broker, a generational herbalist and a discreet treasure hunter. But as far as Nagarkurnool district police are concerned, the unassuming 47-year-old is a serial killer who murdered 11 people in three states over four years. This is his story.
Delhi Confidential: Delivering a lecture in Delhi last week, ISRO chairperson S Somanath reminisced about a star atlas given to him by his father when he was in school. He said it were books like these and discussions about planets and the Sun that made him curious about space science and motivated him to pursue it.
In today’s episode of the ‘3 things’ podcast, we look at the implications of Supreme Court’s Article 370 verdict, the demand for period leaves, and the rise in Covid cases.
Until tomorrow,Sonal Gupta and Rahel Philipose
Business As Usual by EP Unny
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