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Rajya Sabha continues discussion on incidents of lynchings; Lok Sabha adjourned for the day.

Both Houses of Parliament convened today, the fourth day of Monsoon session. While the Rajya Sabha will continue its discussion on reported increase in incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and Dalits across the country, the Lok Sabha should be taking up the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

Sloganeering and protests by Congress members led to repeated adjournments of the Lok Sabha.

Wednesday’s session, though marred by repeated disruptions and adjournments, was a productive one. The lower House passed the The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the upper House kickstarted the discussion on lynching incidents.

Live updates:

2.15 pm: Kapil Sibal of the Congress speaks in the discussion. He says if the violence is done on cow, the most non-violent animal, then it means killing of the cow, of non-violence, of ahimsa.

“If you are talking about the Mahatma, aren’t you supposed to follow him too?” he says.

Quoting from the statements of the Parivar outfits like the VHP, Mr. Sibal builds his case that the BJP-Sangh leadership is condoning gau rakshaks.  He says a climate of fear has been spread so that no one even wants to speak over phone.

The ones who do the lynchings, are they real Hindus, he asks. “No, they are naqli Hindus (fake Hindus),” he says.

“Lynchings are nothing to do with the vigilantes, but it is to do with the Prime Minister. Then, why his statements in 2015, 2016 and 2017 did not have any effect.”

2 pm: Rajya Sabha reconvenes, the discussion on the reported incidents of mob lynchings and atrocities against minorities and Dalits.

1:00 pm On that note, Question Hour ends. House is adjourned till 2 pm.

12:50 pm An MP asks about the cradle baby scheme to safeguard abandoned children. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi says the ministry has put the scheme in 11 States at 265 places, and 205 babies have been received so far, she says. Ms. Gandhi says she doesn’t have details of the gender of the babies. They will all be adopted, she says.

Ms. Gandhi said she initially wanted to keep cradles near police station. But later, it was withdrawn as the ministry felt it won’t work. Instead hospitals, welfare centres and adoption centres are chosen, she says.

12:40 pm Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Tawar Chand Gehlot takes questions on old age homes and de-addiction centres begin run in the country. There are about 450 old age runs functioning across the country, he says.

12:30 pm Naresh Agrawal asks about Doklam stand-off. He asks if any countries are supporting India’s stand. Ms. Swaraj elaborates on the issue and says every nation is supporting India. She says China unilaterally reached the tri-junction, which India and Bhutan have objected to it.

Opposition wants a detailed discussion, to which the Chair says he will discuss with the government.

12:28 pm Chhaya Verma asks about China’s assertion in maritime routes. She talks in length about how China is establishing bases in India’s neighbouring countries including Sri Lanka. Ms. Swaraj assures that India’s security is not under threat.

12:20 pm Rajeev Shukla says the digital notes in schools may work in urban areas. What about rural areas? Mr. Javadekar says Centre is sponsoring the scheme in Kendriya Vidyalayas. The scheme is being piloted in Maharashtra.

12:14 pm HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar answers questions on CBSE schools. An MP asks about the burden of schoolbags, to which Mr. Javadekar says efforts are being made to keep the number of books minimum. Telangana government’s order to cap weight of school bag, Tamil Nadu’s semester-based system and Maharashtra’s digital efforts find mention.

12:13 pm Tapan Sen also asks abut H-1B visa. Ms. Swaraj says she will give a detailed statement on the issue.

12:08 pm What is the self-reliance in defence production. This is not Make in India. It is manufacture in America, use in India, he says.

Ms. Swaraj says this is the first government that is walking towards self-reliance in defence manufacturing. She takes a dig at the CPI leader says the governments they supported earlier were also not self-reliant in the sector. Mr. Raja objects to it.

12:05 pm Lok Sabha adjourned for the day.

12:04 pm Second question from Mr. Maithreyan. He wants to know if Israel is sharing its technology on unmanned border surveillance. Ms. Swaraj says she has given a detailed reply on paper.

12:00 noon Zero Hour ends. Question Hour begins. Mr. Ansari is in the Chair. AIADMK MP V. Maithreyan asks if H1B visa was made by the Prime Minister during his interaction with US President Donald Trump.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj says the Prime Minister took the issue without using the word H-1B.

11:55 am Anand Sharma takes up the issue of US deciding to cut the number of H1B visas, and restriction on Indian IT professionals. There is not even a mention of IT professionals in the joint statement issued by India and United States following the Prime Minister’s visit to the country, he says.

11:50 am C.P. Narayanan seeks exemption of GST on goods that aid the differently abled. A braille typewriter which was sold at Rs. 34,000 will now be sold at Rs. 40,000 he says.

11:43 am Over 60,000 families in Jhansi, Hamirpur and other districts from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh will benefit from Ken-Betwa river linking, says Uma Bharti in Lok Sabha while replying to questions pertaining her ministry.  Lok Sabha adjourned again.

11:42 am Naresh Agrawal talks about spurious and misleading advertisements. He claims he tried a fairness cream seeing an advertisement but couldn’t become fair!

11:41 am Rajeev Shukla says the implementation of GST is flawed. Many MPs join the issue.

11:40 am Question Hour continues in Lok Sabha. MoS Sanjeev Balyan gives out details on project for irrigation of Bundelkhand.

11:35 am: Ritabrata Chakraborty and Vijila Sathyanath raise the issue of "high rates" of GST on powerloom and handloom sectors.

11:32 am: Lok Sabha reconvenes. Speaker proceeds with Question Hour but Congress MPs continue to shout slogans.

11:30 am Ahmed Hassan speaks on negative impact of GST. He speaks about textile sector employees who protested in Gujarat recently. Ahmed Patel also associates with him.

11:25 am MPs from North East raise the issue of Assam floods. Ripun Bora says Assam government has not taken any contingency plans.

11:22 am Viplove Thakur raises the issue of girls being ’sold off’ to other States on the pretext of marriage. This is also human trafficking, she says. She says in Haryana, brides from states like Odisha are being "shared" among male members.

11:20 am AIADMK MP Navaneethakrishnan says the Tamil Nadu farmers are not agitating against the State government. They are protesting against Centre since they haven’t revised the MSP.

11:15 am Congress MP Digvijaya Singh brings to the attention of the House using Motion 267. He talks about the plight of farmers, their demand for rise in MSP.

Mr. Singh appeals MPs from Tamil Nadu to pay a visit to Jantar Mantar and meet agitating farmers from the State. AIADMK MPs object to the reference.

The Chair says a short duration discussion will be taken us "as soon as possible" So he rejects Motion 267 notice brought by Mr. Singh.

11:10 am In Rajya Sabha, Naresh Agrawal raises the issue of airlines banning two MPs for their "unruly behaviour". The Chair says the law of the land should take care of violation an MP. "Airlines cannot punish them," he says.