The president also pitched for simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies, saying there was a need to discuss and build a consensus among all parties on the possibility of holding simultaneous polls.
The members of Parliament attending Parliamentary Standing Committee meetings will have to sit six feet apart, and not more than two witnesses from the ministry concerned can appear before the panel at a time. As per the protocol for meetings of Rajya Sabha Committees, members have to ensure conformity with physical distancing norms.
Former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Thursday sworn in as the 14th Vice President of India.
This is the Upper House's third best productive session in the last 14 sessions since the Monsoon Session (243rd Session) of 2017, the Rajya Sabha officials said.
The move comes after Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday resigned after he was chosen as the National Democratic Alliance's candidate for the vice presidential election.
The Chinese company has also collected the data base of bureaucrats in key positions, judges, scientists, academicians, journalists, actors, sportspersons, religious figures and activists, he added.
The body of the former minister, wrapped in a tricolour, was brought to the crematorium in the afternoon from the BJP headquarters, where it was kept for few hours for people to pay their respects.
There will be no second term for President Kovind and no elevation for Vice President Naidu.
The bus was carrying 40-45 people and most of those killed were students of elementary classes, aged below ten.
Azad was elected to the Upper House from Jammu and Kashmir, which does not have an assembly currently after it was made a Union Territory with the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.
The DDCA issue is likely to create ruckus in Parliament on Monday with parties looking to target Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as he is "practically the number two in the government".
Singh had taken the two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on March 4 and April 3.
A cross-gender staff deployment -- female officers where male MPs were protesting and male officers where female MPs were protesting -- was made. But this did not deter the MPs belonging to a cross-section of opposition parties -- from the Congress to the Left to the TMC and to the DMK.
INS Vikrant is being delivered about six years late and at a cost of about Rs 20,000 crore instead of the sanctioned Rs 3,261 crore.
The officer had also shared a number of posts that "indicated his active involvement in political activities".
A home ministry spokesperson also denied the reports about Swaraj being appointed as the Governor.
The election to the post is mostly decided by consensus, but opposition leaders complain that the Narendra Modi government was yet to reach out to them, reports Archis Mohan.
The Monsoon Session of the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday after 19 sittings that saw the passage of 14 legislation while Rajya Sabha came to an end after passing nine bills.
Naidu routinely expunges any remark found unsuitable from Rajya Sabha's records after going through the proceedings of the day.
"Peace and harmony is the only way forward to ensure a prosperous future," Dr Singh said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and opposition's vice-presidential nominee Gopalkrishna Gandhi extended their best wishes to Naidu.
Singh was widely regarded as an expert in the rural and agricultural landscape of the country and is credited with the conceptualisation and implementation of the NREGA (National Rural Guarantee Employment) Act.
Opposition members led by Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge asked the government to clear its stand over the nationality of the minister. Without naming the minister, Sekhar said: "The prime minister has been allowed to lay a list of the ministers after the reshuffle. Go through Wikipedia, then you will find that the name of the gentleman... a minister of state for home affairs is a reportedly a Bangladeshi." Sekhar was also supported by Kharge and other opposition members.
After Parliament's nod, SC's sanctioned strength will go up to 33, plus the CJI.
Dhankar wins vice presidential election by bagging more than 500 votes.
"They are attacking democracy. There is a non-stop attack on democracy and that is why we are fighting here," Gandhi said, accusing the government of not allowing debate on price rise, Lakhimpur Kheri and other issues.
President Droupadi Murmu administered him the oath at a brief ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
BJP general secretary in-charge of Haryana Anil Jail also appealed to the Jats who have been protesting in Haryana to call off their agitation, which has badly hit life in the region, and return to their homes as their demands have been met.
Modi, who was sworn in on Monday after a landslide election victory, has completed his government team.
Putting the blame on the Opposition for the unruly scenes witnessed during the monsoon session of Parliament, a group of Union ministers on Thursday said the Rajya Sabha chairman must take the strongest possible action against those who broke the rules.
Here's a look at the tributes.
To mark the day, the BJP has asked its workers to facilitate the COVID-19 vaccination drive as it eyes record-breaking numbers on Friday.
While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke about the consensus, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said there is no need for a separate discussion in Parliament on the Pegasus issue during the budget session.
The metro section opened at noon on Thursday for the general public.
The session will see 18 sittings without any weekend break or holiday, they said. The dates and other details of this first-of-its-kind session will be announced soon.
UD Ministry will also give priority to linking of twin cities and infrastructure development of satellite towns and cleaning of religious cities across the country.
Modi's reform agenda suffered a major setback earlier this month when lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha refused to support the the Goods and Service Tax bill.
They said the picture did not feature any 'life support system like a ventilator' and it was reassuring that their Thalaivar (leader) was recuperating well.
The Opposition hit out at the government over the absence of Rajya Sabha Chairman, Lok Sabha Speaker and ministers from the traditional event marking the birth anniversary of those whose portraits adorn Parliament's Central Hall.
"We, the undersigned parties, wish to register our anguish and serious concern over the manner in which the Government is hurriedly passing legislations without any scrutiny by Parliamentary Standing or Select Committees. This is a fundamental departure from the established practice and healthy traditions of enacting legislations," the letter said.
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