Briefing newspersons at the conclusion of the session, parliamentary affairs and IT minister Pramod Mahajan said the Bill was also being put on the internet to ensure widest possible discussion. The standing committee of Parliament, to be constituted shortly, would also examine the Bill, he said.

As regards World Trade Organisation (WTO) related Bills, which according to Uruguay Round negotiations, had to be enacted before January 1, 2000, Mahajan said out of the seven Bills, three Bills namely Trade Marks Bill, Geographical Indications Bill and Copyright (Amendment) Bill had been passed by both the Houses.

While the Patents Bill and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Bill had been referred to joint committee of both Houses, the Designs Bill, he said, had been passed by the Rajya Sabha and was pending in the Lok Sabha and the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design Bill had been introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

The minister expressed satisfaction that apart from the three WTO bills, the House passed important economic legislations like the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, the Foreign Exchange Management Bill, two securities laws amendment Bills and the Mines and Minerals (Amendment) Bill and thanked the main Opposition party Congress for the cooperation.

The minister said in all 19 Bills were passed by both Houses during the session in 19 sittings, which was a record. The previous best was in 1993 when 18 Bills were passed by the Tenth Lok Sabha in the winter session in 20 sittings, the minister said. Giving House-wise details, Mahajan said 14 Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha and 18 Bills in the Rajya Sabha.

Both the Houses passed 21 Bills each during the session which included pending Bills. There were four and two discussions respectively in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on official motions and resolutions. Calling attention notices numbered five in the Lok Sabha and four in the Rajya Sabha.While 359 starred, 3,777 unstarred and two short notice questions were asked in the Lok Sabha during the session, the number for Rajya Sabha respectively was 380, 2453 and one.