LS: Govt to talk Manipur on Aug 19, POTA later

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday informed members of the Business Advisory Committee that the Centre plans to begin proceedings to repeal POTA on either August 30 or 31.

The House will also call attention on the serious developments in Manipur on August 19, Azad said. Discussions on the cut in provident fund interest rate and PDS system — both of which prominently feature on the Left’s agenda — is scheduled for August 18 and 19. The financial business will be transacted from August 23 onwards — beginning with demands of grants on Railways, followed by Agriculture (August 24), Defence

(August 25) and HRD (August 26).

At the all-party meeting called by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee early today, the BJP was represented by Santosh Gangwar. He got the assignment as BJP deputy leader V.K. Malhotra is in Athens for the Olympics. Gangwar also presented the text of the two-line apology that was required to withdraw Malhotra’s comment on the Speaker in the pre-recess session of the House.