21-member oppn delegation in manipur
A delegation of 21 MPs of the Opposition alliance INDIA will begin its two-day visit to the violence-hit Manipur on Saturday. The delegation will also meet the Manipur Governor on Sunday morning. The delegation, comprising MPs from 16 parties, will visit the hill areas, the valley and various relief camps. The 21-member delegation from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha includes Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, Kodikunnil Suresh, Rajiv Ranjan Lalan Singh, Sushmita Dev, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Sandosh Kumar, AA Rahim, Prof Manoj Kumar Jha, Javed Ali Khan, Mahua Maji, PP Mohammed Faizal, Aneel Prasad Hegde, ET Mohammed Basheer, NK Premachandran, Sushil Gupta, Arvind Sawant, D Ravikumar, Thiru Thol Thirumavalavan, Jayant Singh and Phulo Devi Netam. The visit is to send a message from Parliament to the affected people, said the leaders.
29 cases before Constitution benches
Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal informed Lok Sabha that as on July 20, 2023, there are 29 cases pending adjudication in the form of Constitution bench cases. Emphasising that the Central government has no role regarding adjudication and disposal of cases and the same lies within the judiciary’s domain, the minister said, “Out of the 29 cases, 18 are pending before a five-judge bench, six before a seven-judge bench and five before a nine-judge bench.” Answering a question put forth by MP AM Arif, Meghwal said the pendencies are not due to a lack of interest in expediting the same. “As per information from the Supreme Court, in respect of the Constitution bench cases, there are intricacies of law involved. Arguments take weeks or months. The said issues require deep analysis and thorough examination of the law. Therefore, it is not possible to set out strict parameters or timelines for their adjudication,” he said.
Organ transplants up 31 per cent post-covid
There has been an increase in organ transplant activities in India after the Covid-19 outbreak, as a total of 16,041 organ transplants were done in the country in 2022, an annual increase of approximately 31 per cent, compared to the previous year, the Lok Sabha was informed Friday. Till now this year, 7,107 organ transplants have been done, said minister of State for health and family welfare, Prof Satya Pal Singh Baghel. In 2019, 10,340 organ transplants took place. It to 7,443 in 2020, mainly due to the pandemic.
117% increase in PG medical seats
There has been a 117 per cent increase in the number of post-graduate (PG) medical seats in the country, while medical colleges have seen a rise of 82 per cent since 2014, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in Lok Sabha Friday. The total number of PG medical seats has gone up from 31,185 before 2014 to 67,802 at present. The number of medical colleges has gone up 82 per cent, from 387 before 2014 to 704 now, and the number of MBBS seats has risen 110 per cent, from 51,348 to 1,07,948 in the same period, he said.
No reforms on voting methods
Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal told Lok Sabha that the Centre is not contemplating reforms in the existing voting methods in the country. He said the parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice had examined the issue of simultaneous elections to LS and state assemblies in consultation with various stakeholders including the Election Commission of India. The committee had given certain recommendations in its 79th report and has been referred to Law Commission, he said.
Char dham road project on track
Chardham Yatra All Weather Highway Development is more than 70 per cent complete, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari informed Rajya Sabha. Out of the 825 kilometres under the project, about 601 kilometres have been completed, he said. The project involves the improvement of five National Highways connecting four religious sites, including Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri including Tanakpur to Pithoragarh section of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.