The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die on December 29.  Issues related to inflation, agrarian crises, Lokpal and exploitation of river Ganga and Himalaya were discussed besides supplementary demands for grants and legislative Bills. 28 legislative Bills were introduced and 15 Bills were passed other than two Appropriation Bills during the session. This note lists the legislative business conducted during the Winter Session.

In the Winter Session,  Lok Sabha worked for 59% of the scheduled hours and Rajya Sabha for 62%. 28 legislative Bills were introduced and 15 Bills were passed other than two Appropriation Bills during the session. Two Bills were withdrawn and replaced by new Bills and one Bill was negatived.  This note lists the legislative business planned by Parliament and compares it with the actual performance during the Winter Session.

The Election Commission recently announced the poll schedule for Assembly elections in five States – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.  As parties prepare for the upcoming elections, we take a look at the electoral trends in these states over the past 25 years.

The year in Parliament was characterised by frequent disruptions and protests over a host of issues. The issue of the establishment of a Lokpal prompted both disruption as well as intense debate. We look at the business transacted by Parliament during 2011.

A motion was moved by 58 members of the Rajya Sabha for the removal of Justice Soumitra Sen, (of the Calcutta High Court) on grounds of misappropriation of funds. The Chairman, Rajya Sabha constituted an Inquiry Committee on March 20, 2009 to look into the matter. The Committee comprising Hon’ble Justice B. Sudershan Reddy (Chairman), Hon’ble Justice T.S.Thakur and Shri Fali S. Nariman submitted its report on September 10, 2010.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce examined the subject of Foreign and Domestic Investment in the Retail sector beginning April 5, 2007 under the chairmanship of Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi. The Committee placed its report before Parliament on June 9, 2009.

This Primer explains the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), which allows MPs to allocate funds to capital works projects in sectors such as infrastructure development, public health, sanitation, and water. The primer also provides information on how citizens can track MPLADS projects in their constituencies.

On the last working day of February, the finance minister presents a statement to Parliament of how much money the central government expects to raise in the next financial year, and how it will spend that money. The budget speech is also used by the government to propose other policy measures. In this primer we explain the paces that the Union budget must go through.