Three Bills passed in 15 minutes

Special Correspondent Among them was Bill to include new castes in Scheduled Castes list TDP members raise slogans against Babli project Another Bill provides for vesting powers of regulation with SEBI TDP members raise slogans against Babli project NEW DELHI The Lok Sabha on Monday passed three Bills in 15 minutes amid slogan-shouting by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members over the Babli dam, before adjourning for the day. The Bills were passed without any discussion. The first Bill to be passed was the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2006 seeking to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. It was followed by the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2007 that seeks to develop the securitisation market with facility of listing and trading of securitised certificates or instruments in stock exchanges. The Constitutional Amendment Bill provides for inclusion of new castes based on social, educational and economic backwardness, synonymous communities in respect of a caste and modifications in the existing entries relating to 17 communities in the list of Scheduled Castes in Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. The Securities Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2007, to amend the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, provides for vesting powers of regulation with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The earlier legislative initiative to provide for trading of securities was taken through a Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16, 2005, which was referred to the Standing Committee. The Government has since accepted all recommendations of the Committee. However, as the approaches of the Committee and the Government were different, it was proposed to withdraw the Bill and move a revised Bill the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2007. Also passed was the National Institutes of Technology Bill, 2007 that seeks to convert all Regional Engineering Colleges into National Institutes of Technologies as the institutions of national importance.