Parliament Live | Modi govt's policies are anti-farmer: Congress
Peacocks died of heat stroke in Palam in June, no disease found: Environment Minister
The 27 peacocks found dead at the Palam air base in June had succumbed to heat stroke and a post-mortem revealed they had no disease, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
He said the Central government is very concerned about the protection of the country's national bird and has taken several steps.
The government has designated two sanctuaries in south India for peacocks, he said during Question Hour.
"Twenty-seven peacocks died during the summer. Their postmortem were done and no disease was found. The peacocks died due to heat stroke," he said.
The minister said there are three types of peacocks. Those found in India are also available in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Another type is found in China, Cambodia and some other Asian countries and the third species in Congo.
"According to international reports, the peacocks found in India is the safest. Those found in China and other Asian countries are in the category of endangered while those found in Congo are severely threatened," he said.
Yadav said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also very much concerned about the protection of the national bird.
No proposal to merge public sector general insurance companies: Govt
The government on Monday said there is no proposal under consideration for merger of public sector general insurance companies.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said Rs 17,450 crore was infused during 2019-20 to 2021-22 in three PSU general insurance companies namely Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India Insurance to focus on their growth.
"There is no proposal under consideration of government at present for merger of public sector general insurance companies," Chaudhary said.
In the Budget for 2018-19, the then finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced that the three companies would be merged into a single insurance entity.
However, the merger process could not be completed due to various reasons, including poor financial health of these companies.
In reply to another question on non-performing assets in the MSME sector, Chaudhary said the total credit outstanding of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) to the sector as on March 31, 2024 is Rs 28.04 lakh crore of which non-performing assets is Rs 1.25 lakh crore.
The gross NPA percentage of SCBs for the MSME sector is 4.46 per cent as against 2.74 per cent for total loans and advances, he added.
Govt preparing to 'gag' digital media, social media through broadcast bill: Priyanka Gandhi
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday accused the Modi government of preparing to "gag" digital media, social media, OTT platforms and those who write and speak in private capacity by bringing in the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, and said the country will not tolerate such actions.
The Congress general secretary shared on X two quotes of Mahatma Gandhi (Young India, 1922) and that of Jawaharlal Nehru (March, 1940) in which they had stressed the importance of freedom of speech and press.
"These two examples show that our citizens have not got freedom of speech and freedom of the press just like that. Millions of people have fought for it for years," Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
"Civil liberties and freedom of the press are the great legacy of our martyrs and freedom fighters," she said.
In the history of independent India, no government could ever think of crushing the freedom of the citizens, Priyanka Gandhi said.
"Today, on one side by the use of power, the entire media has been turned into a government mouthpiece, and on the other hand, the BJP government is preparing to gag digital media, social media, OTT platforms and even those who write and speak in private capacity by bringing the broadcast bill," she said.
"This is completely unacceptable. The country will not tolerate such actions," she asserted.
The Congress on Friday had alleged that the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill was a direct threat to freedom of speech and the independent media and claimed that it would pave the way for "excessive surveillance" online.