Parliament: From the gallery

SPEAKER OF THE DAY

Tathagata Satpathy, BJD

The moment you land at the Delhi airport, you see these ugly structures on both sides of the flyover.

So, Delhi is not a beautiful city anymore. I have been in this city since my childhood. All the greenery, except this little island called Lutyen’s Delhi, is lost. It is an ugly city today.

said during a debate on the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill 2014.

INTERJECTION

M B Rajesh, CPM

The best award for producing outstanding achievement in coaching is given in the name of Dronacharya. As we all know, Dronacharya was a great guru but still according to the Mahabharata, Dronacharya demanded the thumb of his ‘shishya’. This is a genuine question.
Dronacharya was a great guru who demanded the thumb from Eklavya as guru dakshina. So, my question is: Is it proper to keep Dronacharya’s name for outstanding performance in coaching? I want to know whether the government will consider a change in the name of Dronacharya

Asked during Question Hour. Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal replied that the government did not have any such proposal at this time.

Watching

PRIME MINISTER

Not Present: On his return from Jammu, headed straight to the R&R Hospital and called on President Pranab Mukherjee who underwent an angioplasty on Saturday

RAHUL GANDHI

Not Present: Attended Congress parliamentary party meeting in the morning

SONIA GANDHI

Not Present

MANMOHAN SINGH

Not Present

DEBATE

The Opposition led by the Congress and the SP forced repeated adjournments in Rajya Sabha over its demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply on the issue of forced conversion. The Lok Sabha passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Amendment Bill, 2014 in the afternoon. Discussion on The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014 commenced.

5 questions | Sushmita Dev, Congress

On her suggestion that the government should move the Supreme Court with an application for early disposal of the Delhi gangrape case.

You have raised the issue of delay in delivering justice in the case. Comment.

Two years have gone by and today Nirbhaya’s father’s statement has come asking what has changed. I think his primary concern is that the accused in jail have filed an appeal against the death penalty which is pending in the Supreme Court. This government came to power saying zero tolerance to crime against women. But should not the government file an application in court to expedite the hearing?

Are you disappointed?

The issue of security of a woman and her fundamental right of life and liberty is becoming an illusion. For instance, Rs 50 crores was given by Jaitleyji only to spruce up the security system in public transport. But today we can see the situation is dismal. There are no CCTV cameras in most DTC buses — nothing has changed.

Do you feel that nothing has changed?

Nothing has changed. The Verma Commission report runs into almost 600 pages. It was the first committee that has gone into not only curative measures but preventive measures and it addressed the sociological mindset which leads to crime against women. It is being said that rape is not a crime of passion, but that of power… a culmination of that is not just in the legal system, but also in the legislature — till today we are struggling for 33 per cent reservation.

Do you think the delay in delivering justice will demoralise the women?

It will not only demoralise women, but will also encourage perpetrators. After the Nirbhaya case, lot of amendments have been made, definition of rape has been expanded. But what the December 5 incident (of rape in Delhi) has proved is that it’s not enough.

BJP MP Kiran Kher suggested that there should be a law to ensure that good samaritans do not get into legal tangles for helping accident victims. Do you agree?

Definitely. What she raised is an important issue. Because you don’t stop your car if you see a crime being committed. The first thing, you will think about is who will go to the police station.