Parliament Winter Session LIVE: Covid cases, deaths per million in India ‘lowest in world’, says Mandaviya

The Health Minister said that first Covid case in India was reported on 13th Jan 2020 in Kerala. But the 1st meeting of Jt Monitoring Committee constituted by Centre, was held on 8th Jan 2020. It means we were alert, a committee had been formed before the case was reported &it had started working. There was a time when it took 3 yrs for approval if someone did research on a vaccine. So, nobody used to do research. We scrapped those rules and the nation got vaccine after research within a year - this facility has been given by PM Modi, he said.

Two bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday to extend the tenures of Directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate up to a maximum of five years from the present two years amid strong protests from opposition members. The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill were introduced in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh to limit the tenures of Directors of the CBI and ED to maximum five years respectively. The two bills seek to replace Ordinances issued during the intersession period.

A demand was made in the Rajya Sabha on Friday to set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the Uttar Pradesh Teachers Eligibility Test question paper leak case. During the Zero Hour, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh said that many such exam papers have been leaked in the past. The latest leak that happened on November 18 came to the knowledge of students after they reached the exam hall. About 36 people have been arrested in the question paper leak case, which has affected the lives of lakhs of students. This need to be probed by a SIT, he added.

The Union Health Minister said that under the Modi government, work is going on to strengthen weak health infrastructure. "Without blaming previous governments that ignored health infrastructure, the government worked for results. In the last 2 years, decisions under the leadership of PM Modi show that this government works with will power and not power," he said. 

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that 3.46 cr Corona cases have been reported in India and 4.6 Lakh people died - this is 1.36% of total cases. 25,000 cases and 340 deaths per million population reported in India - this is one of the lowest in the world.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday asked the opposition parties to stop playing politics over oxygen shortage during the second wave of COVID-19 infections and take note of the Centre's efforts to ramp production of the life-saving gas to meet the surge in demand.

Health Minister Mandaviya said that there were 16,000 ventilators in the country two years ago. The demand was also low... but demand for ventilators increased after the first wave and second wave. The expert committee said that there is a need for 75,000 ventilators. Based on that, the government placed an order for 58,000 ventilators. 97% order was given to big companies of the government. 50,200 ventilators have been given to the states. Out of this, 48,000 ventilators have been installed. We ensure that proper training is given to people....Till date, 42,000 certificates have been received from various hospitals. All these ventilators are in good condition and working fine.

On growing concerns involving the Omicron variant, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the Centre is prepared to fight the new strain. He said the necessary directions have been issued to the states on ramping up the surveillance and administering the jabs. 

Speaking on the floor of the Lok Sabha, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya slammed the politics being played over Covid management in the country. He said that the government ensured that proper training is provided to health officials and states' demands for ventilators and others are met.

Voicing concern over children getting addicted to mobile games, Rajya Sabha member and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Friday demanded that the government should regulate the online gaming industry and impose a uniform tax on it. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, he said these online games have now given way to gambling and betting. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked Ashwini Vaishnaw, who is Minister of Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, to take note of this issue. "Consult the Law Ministry and do the needful. It's a big menace," Naidu remarked.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday rejected notices under Rule 267 by some Opposition leaders seeking a discussion on municipal polls and legislation on MSP. After papers were laid in the House, the Chair mentioned the notices. Some members including Jairam Ramesh (Cong) and Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD) had given a suspension of business notice under Rule 267 on the demand to discuss municipal elections, he said. Deepender Singh Hooda (Cong) and V Sivadasan (CPI-M) had also given notices under Rule 267 to discuss a legislation on MSP. Rejecting these notices, the Chairman said, "I have not admitted (the notices) as there are other avenues to raise this matter in the House and some matters are local." He said it was not possible to discuss municipal polls of one or the other state in the Upper House. "Should we go on discussing local bodies here," he asked.

Amid a stalemate over the suspension of 12 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal on Friday said how can there be a reconciliation when these members are unwilling to apologise for their unruly behaviour in the previous session. The issue came up in the House when RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha said in the Rajya Sabha that some BJP members "gatecrashed" the site in Parliament complex where the 12 suspended members were staging an agitation. "Gatecrashing amounts to taking away the democratic values," Jha said.

The Trinamool Congress said that the Central Bureau of Investigation is being used by the Modi government to harass opposition leaders. “CBI is no longer the premier investigative agency of the country," said MP Sougata Ray.

Dr Jitendra Singh introduces a Bill to further amend the Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003. The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is introduced in the Lok Sabha.

The government on Friday sought Parliament's nod for gross additional spending of over Rs 3.73 lakh crore in the current financial year. As per the second batch of supplementary demands for grants tabled in Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, the net cash outgo would be over Rs 2.99 lakh crore and Rs 74,517 crore extra expenditure would be matched by savings by different ministries. The amount includes extra spending of Rs 58,430 crore towards fertiliser subsidy, over Rs 2,000 crore towards various schemes of Department of Commerce and over Rs 53,000 crore by Department of Expenditure under various export promotion schemes.

Opposition protested near the Gandhi statue against the suspension of 12 Opposition members of Rajya Sabha, earlier today, while BJP protested alongside, against the Opposition's protest.

Responding to a question in Lok Sabha on deaths due to oxygen shortage during the second wave of Covid, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, "We had written to all states asking for data on it. Nineteen states responded, only Punjab reported four 'suspected' deaths due to oxygen shortage."

It was needlessly provocative of the BJP MPs to come here & rub salt in the wounds. If anything BJP should've shown solidarity. My colleagues were unjustly expelled by a party that has institutionalised disruption: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, on BJP MPs' protest against Opposition

West Bengal BJP MPs will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi today regarding the situation in West Bengal, the development of the State and on the matter of implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules: Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, BJP MP and West Bengal BJP President

As Opposition MPs shouted slogans and jumped into the well of the House carrying placards, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla lashed out at them for disrupting the proceeding. He said it was shameful that the proceedings were disrupted. "You are esteemed Members of Parliament. Please behave responsibly," he said.

The Rajya Sabha started on a stormy note on Friday as the Opposition MPs continued their protest over the suspension of 12 MPs. The 12 MPs were suspended from the remainder of the Winter Session for unruly behaviour in the previous session. 

Union Minister Jitendra Singh to move for leave to introduce a Bill to further amend the Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003. The minister will also introduce the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Lower House. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will move to introduce The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in Lok Sabha.

BJP Rajya Sabha MPs protest against the protesting Opposition over the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs for the winter Parliament, near the Gandhi statue

Congress MP Manickam Tagore has moved an adjournment motion in Lok Sabha "to discuss the killing of innocent farmers through rash driving by the son of MoS Home in Lakhimpur Kheri district, to direct the govt to ensure the culprit punished, & ask the PM to dismiss the MoS Home."

The government will present a report on Covid-19 pandemic in India in the Rajya Sabha today. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to lay on the table a statement showing the Supplementary Demands for Grants, 2021-22.