Rajya Sabha passes three Bills in the absence of Opposition

The Rajya Sabha passed three Bills on Wednesday unopposed, after Opposition members walked out protesting the denial of an adjournment motion over the violence in Manipur. The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill that allows private players to explore for atomic minerals, the Forest Amendment Bill that exempts land within 100 kilometres of the country’s borders from the purview of conservation laws and the Jan Vishwas Bill that decriminalises several provisions in commercial laws to help “ease of doing business” are the three Bills which passed without much debate. Parliament Monsoon Session live updates | Rajya Sabha passes Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, 2023 in the absence of Opposition Atomic minerals The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill allows the private sector to mine six out of 12 atomic minerals such as lithium, beryllium, niobium, titanium, tantalum and zirconium. The Forest Amendment Bill, according to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, is to help build infrastructure. The Bill also provides for exempting land up to 10 hectares proposed to be used for constructing security-related infrastructure, land proposed to be used for defence-related projects or paramilitary forces’ camps and public utility projects, as specified by the Centre, not exceeding 5 hectares in a left wing extremism-affected area.