PRS Legislative Research’ Trina Roy reports that parliament met for the fifth sitting of the Winter Session today.

Both Houses undertook a discussion on the flood situation in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Members discussed the extent of damage caused by North East Monsoons in the region. They raised their concerns about the mechanisms for fund disbursement and measures that should be taken for rescue operations. Members also emphasised upon the need to develop better systems of weather forecasting along with the need for urban planning, among other things.

The Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill was debated and passed in the Lower House. The Bill amends the Carriage by Air Act, 1972 that regulates carriage by air and gives effect to the Montreal Convention, 1999. The Bill seeks to empower the central government to revise the limits of liability for airlines and compensation as per the Convention.  It also provides for the central government to make rules to carry out provisions of the Act.

The table below shows the limits of liability for airlines, as revised by the Montreal Convention:

Table 1: The revised notified limits as compared to the old limits are:

The Minister of Consumer Affairs, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan initiated discussion on the Bureau of Indian Standards Bill in the Lower House.  The Bill replaces the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1996 and seeks to establish BIS as the national standards body and addresses mandatory standardization of products.