United States President Barack Obama will address a joint session of the Parliament on November 8, during his first state visit to the country and with less than a month to go preparations are in full swing to give the American premier a warm welcome.
The central hall of the Parliament, where Obama will address members of both Houses, is getting a facelift. The magnificent dome of the hall will get a fresh coat of colour -- dark blue -- and will be illuminated with additional lights. The traditional old fans, the blades of which rotate reverse, have been the main attraction of the hall since the days of the Constituent Assembly, and are all set to get a new look.
Around 50 painters from the Archeological Survey of India have been roped in to give final touches to the corridors of the century-old building. The decision to spruce up the Parliament before Obama's visit was taken on Friday after T K Viswanathan, the newly-appointed Lok Sabha secretary-general, along with a few senior security officials from India and US surveyed the building.
