The Central Vista revamp, announced in September, 2019 envisages a new triangular Parliament building, with seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 MPs, that is to be constructed by August, 2022 when the country will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day.
'If you are doing something to our national democratic space which involves serious amounts of land, the public should have been consulted.'
A three-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, by 2:1 majority, held that the grant of the environmental clearance and the notification for change in land use for the project was valid.
The project was announced in September 2019 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament building on December 10, 2020.
With the expert panel's recommendations, the project comes a step closer to getting the environment clearance (EC), to be given by the Union Environment Minister.
The Shram Shakti Bhavan and Transport Bhavan in Lutyens' Delhi will be the first two buildings to be razed to pave the way for the construction of chambers of members of Parliament there as part of Central Vista redevelopment project.
The executive enclave will house the new Prime Minister's Office, Cabinet Secretariat, India House and the National Security Council Secretariat.
The redevelopment project of the Central Vista -- the power corridor of the country -- envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a Common Central Secretariat and the revamping of the three-km-long Rajpath from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate and new residences for the prime minister and the vice president.
The Delhi State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has granted environmental clearance to the proposal for the construction of the 'Executive Enclave' which will house the new Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Secretariat.
The Central Public Works Department, which is executing the government's ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project, will soon start the construction work of the new Parliament building once it gets permission from the Heritage Conservation Committee, officials said on Tuesday.
The revamp, which was announced in September last year, envisages a new triangular Parliament building, with seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 MPs, that is targeted to be constructed by August, 2022 when the country will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day.
"At a time when the people of the country are struggling with shortage of oxygen, vaccines, hospital beds, medicines, it would be better if the government deploys all resources in saving the lives of the people, instead of building a new house for the PM at Rs 13,000 crore," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
The Budget Session of Parliament commences on January 31 and the first leg will go on till February 13.
The nod by the Heritage Conservation Committee came nearly a week after the Supreme Court asked the Centre to seek prior approval from the panel and other relevant authorities before starting construction of the new parliament building.
Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore on Tuesday said finishing touches are being given to the new Parliament building and the Lok Sabha Speaker will decide whether the forthcoming Winter Session will be held there or the existing building.
The new Parliament building is expected to be completed by November 2022.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to the new parliament building in New Delhi on Thursday evening and inspected various works as well as interacted with construction workers, sources said.
"The Central Public Works Department has asked Tata Projects Ltd to start the construction work of the new parliament building on January 15 as it is considered auspicious to commence such a project on the day of first dawn after 'Makar Sankranti'," the official sources said.
Officials also said that sufficient steps have been taken to control air and noise pollution during the construction work for the new parliament building, which will have separate offices for all MPs and those will be equipped with the latest digital interfaces as a step towards creating 'paperless offices'.
'But you cannot encroach upon the spaces that belong to the public.' 'For this new Parliament building, we envisage a minimum of 400 trucks, the huge long trailer trucks will be coming in day in and day out right into the heart of the national capital.' 'It will completely destroy Delhi's peace.' 'The beautiful sylvan surroundings of the quiet, beautiful, New Delhi is going to be destroyed for all time to come.'
The BJP president also accused Congress leaders, including a chief minister, of trying to actively create vaccine hesitancy during the once-in-a-century pandemic.
The sources further said that around five statues, including of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhim Rao Ambedkar, in the Parliament complex are also likely to be relocated temporarily due to the construction work and they will be reinstalled at prominent places within the new complex once the project is completed.
Historians and conservation architects describe the old edifice as a "repository of India's history" and its "democratic ethos", and an "architectural jewel" of Delhi.
'The Bills (Bharatiya Saksha, Bharatiya Nagarik Sanhita and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) are arbitrary, opaque and ambiguous and structurally quite violent.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building Sunday morning and installed the scared 'Sengol' in the Lok Sabha chamber, right next to the Speaker's chair, after performing a puja.
The old Parliament building, an architectural splendour and a historic landmark that guided the destiny of India for nearly a century and whose illustrious legacy will now be consigned to the pages of history, was inaugurated on January 18, 1927 by the then Viceroy Lord Irwin.
Modi will also perform the ground-breaking ceremony for the building, which is expected to be completed by 2022 at an estimated cost of Rs 971 crore.
In the new Parliament House, with a soft launch this Winter Session, paper is expected to disappear. For the guidance of ministers, secretaries can scribble notes on linked pads even from their offices to respond to queries from members.
'The prime minister did not think that COVID-19 was a serious challenge as late as March 20.'
The existing Parliament building will be conserved as it is an archaeological asset of the country.
Indian Parliament's new building will have a triangular shape to reflect the importance of triangles being a sacred geometry in various religions, while its interiors will have three national symbols as their main themes -- Lotus, Peacock and Banyan Tree.
Indian elections are won and lost on 'negative' imageries and campaigns - but not certainly on 'negativity' as a political trait and electoral creed, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The reshuffle had politics at its heart, so the biggest complement of new ministers, both Cabinet rank and below, came from UP, which will see assembly elections in a few months.
The Congress on Monday deferred the election to the post of party president till the COVID-19 situation improves and decided to set up a group to assess losses in the recent assembly polls, with party chief Sonia Gandhi saying it has to put its house in order by facing reality and drawing lessons from the 'serious setbacks'.
Shortage of ICU beds, oxygen, ventilators, vaccines, doctors, nurses and crematorium space in India has dominated headlines around the world in the past few weeks with Covid-19 cases surging beyond control and the government failing to deliver. Yes, election rallies, Kumbh Mela, blatant flouting of social distancing and mask protocols coupled with a messy vaccination process are said to be responsible for the health crisis of colossal proportions that India is facing today. But an analysis of Budget speeches made by finance ministers over 75 years also offers a glimpse of how low on the priority list healthcare has featured for the political class and policy-makers, which is a significant reason for the current situation.
'A country cannot be run on lines that everyone should be in agreement and those who disagree should be silenced.' 'If this is how they look at democracy, then I can only wish good luck to the future of parliamentary democracy in India.'
No prime minister in Pakistan's recent history has survived long in office after appointing an ISI chief who did not have the army chief's confidence. Imran may be no exception, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing.
'This is a long haul, god knows where it will end.' 'So it is best to conserve all the funds right now for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.'
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'An opportunity is at hand to think big and recast the India-China relationship on a new template, which would help the pursuit of our country's dream of major power status,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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