Monsoon Session Day 3 highlights: Lok Sabha passes the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020

On the third day of the monsoon session, Lok Sabha passed the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Bill does not regulate cooperative banks. “It is not for the first time that this regulation of extending some powers to RBI is happening,” she added. Meanwhile, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said that the Bill is an attack on federalism. He asked the government why it intervened in the Yes Bank crisis but not in the case of the PMC Bank crisis.

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha passed ‘Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020.’ The Bill seeks to merge three Ayurveda institutes into one which will be granted a status of an Institute of National Importance.

The Monsoon Session of Parliament is underway amid the coronavirus pandemic. The session is being held in shifts without any off day. Rajya Sabha convenes in morning shift from 9 am till 1 pm and Lok Sabha in evening shift from 3 pm to 7 pm. The session will end on October 1. Over 20 members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.