NEWS & EDITORIAL

ANALYSIS 21st August, 2021

https://t.me/materialsperfectionias www.perfectionias.com 9155090871 / 72 / 73

• House rules vest in the chairman all the powers necessary to conduct
proceedings smoothly.
• The rules also provide for the suspension of MPs who “disregard the
authority of the Chair or abuse the rules of the Council by persistently and
willfully obstructing the business of the House”.
• However, the power to suspend a member is vested in the House, not in
the chairman.
• The chairman names such a member whereupon a motion is moved by
the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, or any other minister seeking the
suspension of the member.
• Rule 256 of the Rajya Sabha’s Rules of Procedure specifies the acts of
misconduct: Disregarding the authority of the chair, abusing the rules of
the council by persistently and willfully obstructing the business thereof.
• Punishing members long after the occurrence of misconduct is very rare.
• Suspension for the remainder of the session makes sense only when
they are suspended immediately after the misconduct has been noticed
by the chair.
• For the acts of misconduct by the MPs outside the House, which
constitute a breach of privilege or contempt of the House, usually the
privilege committee investigates the matter and recommends the course
of action and the House acts on it.
• whether the House can give the MPs more severe punishment than
suspension.
• The rules do not recognise any punishment other than suspension for a
specific period.
• Article 20 of the Constitution prohibits a greater penalty than what the
law provided at the time of committing the offence.
• It is a sobering thought that the rules of the House do not empower
Parliament to inflict any punishment on its members other than
suspension for creating disorder in the House.
• The rules do not recognise any punishment other than suspension for a
specific period.
• India’s largest trading partner, and one with
whom it has a signifi•cant trade surplus, the U.S.,
is no longer interested in securing a bilateral free
trade agreement (FTA), as per indications from
the Joe Biden administration.
• The Government wil now seek to work on market
access issues on both sides
• Adding that lowering of nontariff•barriers,
mutual recognition pacts and adopting common
quality standards can also help Indian exports in
the interim.
• There is a possibility that even these issues, over providing access to U.S.
agricultural products or easing import duties on automobiles and
Bourbons(American Whisky), would have to be discussed afresh.
• $500 billion bilateral trade vision of the U.S. President
• India was pulled out of the U.S.’s Generalized System of Preferences
(GSP) that granted some tariff relief to its exports and hopes of its
reduction through a mini trade deal now appear bleak.
• While India was expected to gain from the Sino-U.S. trade wars under
the Donald Trump administration, its retaliation to the GSP status
revocation with hiked tariffs on U.S. products had led to frictions
• The Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign has further exacerbated that view —
as the advent of a protectionist ‘closed market’ project.
• Trade policy cannot be perpetuated in isolationand, in fact,
aff•
ects investments too.
• Having walked outof RCEP, India needs to demonstrate to its potential
FTA partners, including the EU and the U.K.
• with which rivals like Vietnam have already sealed a deal, that it is a
viable alternative to China in a post Covid world.
• To be major trading and manufacturing nation,
• India can not afford to keep sending mixed signals.