A private member's bill is a bill introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in which a "private member" is any member of parliament (MP) who is not a member of the cabinet (executive). Other labels may be used for the concept in other parliamentary systems; for example, the label member's bill is used in the Scottish Parliament and the New Zealand Parliament, the term private senator's bill is used in the Australian Senate, and the term public bill is used in the Senate of Canada. In legislatures where the executive does not have the right of initiative, such as the United States Congress, the concept does not arise since bills are always introduced by legislators.
The Rajya Sabha, also known as the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. As of 2023, it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using single transferable votes through open ballots, while the president can appoint 12 members for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social service. The total allowed capacity is 250 according to article 80 of the Indian Constitution. The current potential seating capacity of the Rajya Sabha is 245, after the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Act. The maximum seats of 250 members can be filled up at the discretion and requirements of the house of Rajya Sabha.
The Parliament of India or Indian Parliament, is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. The president of India, in their role as head of the legislature, has full powers to summon and prorogue either house of Parliament or to dissolve the Lok Sabha, but they can exercise these powers only upon the advice of the prime minister and the Union Council of Ministers.
In India, a privy purse was a payment made to the ruling families of erstwhile princely states as part of their agreements to first integrate with India in 1947 after the independence of India, and later to merge their states in 1949, thereby ending their ruling rights.
Central Waqf Council is an Indian statutory body operated by the Government of India under the Waqf Act, a subsection of the Waqf Act, 1995.
Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi was an Indian politician and member of the 14th Lok Sabha and member of Karnataka Legislative Council for the term 2014 to 2020. He was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party.
In India, a number of political positions and university posts are held for specific groups of the population, including Scheduled Castes(SC) and Scheduled Tribes(ST), and women in some cases.
Dinesh Trivedi is an Indian politician. He was a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha from West Bengal and a former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha (2009–19) representing Barrackpore constituency of West Bengal. Prior to that he was Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha for two separate terms. He is the former Union Minister for Railways and the former Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare under Manmohan Singh's cabinet.
K. Rahman Khan is a Veteran Politician belonging to the Indian National Congress and a former Union Minister of Minority Affairs and also Ex-Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Derek O'Brien is an Indian politician, television personality and quiz master. He is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal and member of the AITC. He is the chief national spokesperson as well as leader of the AITC Parliamentary Party in the Rajya Sabha. He has been suspended several times from Parliament. Prior to his Parliamentary career, he became well known as the quizmaster for the Bournvita Quiz Contest and other shows.
Tiruchi Siva is a member of the Parliament of India representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament. He is from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, and was elected in 1996, 2002, 2007, 2014 and 2020. He is a speaker and a writer.
Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is one type of ad hoc parliamentary committee constituted by the Indian parliament.
Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 is an Act of the Parliament of India which provides a mechanism to investigate alleged corruption and misuse of power by public servants and also protect anyone who exposes alleged wrongdoing in government bodies, projects and offices. The wrongdoing might be in the form of fraud, corruption or mismanagement. The Act will also ensure punishment for false or frivolous complaints.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, commonly known as The Lokpal Act, is an anti-corruption Act of Indian Parliament in India which "seeks to provide for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain important public functionaries including the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Group A officials of the Central Government and for matters connecting them".
Kalyan Banerjee is an Indian politician belonging to the Trinamool Congress. He is Senior Advocate of Supreme Court of India and Calcutta High Court. He is a four-time Member of Parliament. He has won the 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024 Indian general elections from Serampore.
The Enemy Property Act, 1968 is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables and regulates the appropriation of property in India owned by Pakistani nationals. The act was passed following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Ownership is passed to the Custodian of Enemy Property for India, a government department. There are also movable properties categorized as enemy properties.
The One Hundred and Second Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as the Constitution Act, 2018, granted constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act, 1955 by providing an accelerated pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who arrived in India by 2014. The eligible minorities were stated as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians. The law does not grant such eligibility to Muslims from these countries. Additionally, the act excludes 58,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, who have lived in India since the 1980s. The act was the first time that religion had been overtly used as a criterion for citizenship under Indian law, and it attracted global criticism.
The Transgender Persons Act, 2019 is an act of the Parliament of India with the objective to provide for protection of rights of transgender people, their welfare, and other related matters. The act was introduced in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, on 19 July 2019 by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Thawar Chand Gehlot, in light of the lapse of the Transgender Persons Bill, 2018. The 2019 act and the immediately preceding 2018 bill, were both preceded by a 2016 version. They were met with protests and criticism by some transgender people, lawyers, and activists in India. The 2016 bill was sent to a standing committee which submitted its report in July 2017. Following this, the Lok Sabha tabled and passed a newer version of the bill in December 2018. However, it did not incorporate many of the committee's recommendations. Although members of the opposition criticised the 2019 act and assured activists that they would not vote in favour of it, it was passed by the Lok Sabha on 5 August 2019 and by the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament, on 26 November 2019. The president assented to it on 5 December 2019, upon which the act was published in the Gazette of India. It has been in effect since 10 January 2020 following a notification of the same in the Gazette on the same day.
