Parliament Diary

Here are the highlights of what happened in the Parliament today. 

The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was introduced in Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to decriminalise minor procedural or technical lapses under the 2013 Companies Act. Some Members opposed the introduction and demanded that the Bill be sent to a Standing Committee. However, the Minister of State for Finance opposed this demand stating that the Bill only covered technical and procedural defaults.

The House then discussed the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The key amendment proposed by the Bill recognizes the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau (AAIB) as statutory bodies. 

During the discussion on the Bill, a Member requested that the Bill be amended to mandate airlines to provide details to the passengers such as the number of hours the aircraft has flown and the year of its manufacturing. Another Member asked the Minister to pass on the benefit of low rates of crude oil to aircraft operators in view of the distress in the sector. 

In his reply, the Aviation Minister acknowledged that the cost of aviation turbine fuel constitutes about 40% of the operating costs of airlines. He asked for aviation fuel to be brought under the GST regime so that the sector could benefit from input tax credit. 

Rajya Sabha continued its discussion on the working of Ministries for Railways. The Budget and Demand for Grants of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir were also laid on the table.

The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019 and The National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill, 2019 were discussed in the Rajya Sabha before it adjourned for the day.