As the old Parliament building hosted a session one last time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday bid a poignant farewell recalling the country's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru's iconic 'tryst with destiny' speech for continuing to inspire everyone and another predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 'governments may come and go' remark.
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.
It was also the only session in the 17th Lok Sabha when the lower house did not lose any time due to adjournments, according to data compiled by a think tank.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday that India-China relations have made positive strides and achieved a series of encouraging outcomes at all levels after last year's breakthrough ending the over four-year-long military standoff in eastern Ladakh. Wang's remarks came during his annual press conference as he replied to a question on how Beijing views the course of bilateral ties after the two countries ended the prolonged stalemate in the ties.
The Kerala police were the most sensitised to the rights of those arrested while that of Jharkhand and Gujarat the least.
The ceremony to inaugurate the new Parliament building will begin with an early morning havan and a multi-religion prayer on Sunday followed by a formal opening in the Lok Sabha chamber by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Rajya Sabha witnessed an uproar on Tuesday over an unparliamentary remark by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, who apologized to the Chair while clarifying that it was meant for the government that was "trying to create a regional divide" in the country. The controversy stemmed from a statement by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who slammed the Tamil Nadu government for its stand on the three-language policy under the National Education Policy (NEP). Kharge's use of a Hindi expression, deemed unparliamentary, sparked outrage from the treasury benches. He subsequently apologized for the remark, stating it was directed at the government's policies and not the Chair.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday said a wad of currency notes was recovered by security staff from the seat allotted to Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
A special website has also been created to mark the year-long celebrations, Union Culture Secretary Arunish Chawla told reporters during a briefing at the National Media Centre in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Congress and RSP whole-heartedly backed the Kollam MP.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is inquiring into the absence of its nearly 20 MPs from the Lok Sabha during the voting on Tuesday on the introduction of the bill for simultaneous elections.
The monsoon session of Parliament which saw many disruptions since it began on July 20 over the Manipur violence issue, is set to become more turbulent with the government likely to introduce a bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the Delhi services ordinance.
'So, they have taken away the word Waqf from the Bill.' 'It will now be known as the UMEED Act.'
The need for finding options for proper functioning of Parliament is of paramount importance as the frequency of the passage of Budgets and other economic Bills without discussion or debate has only increased in the last few years, notes A K Bhattacharya.
Besides the bills, the government has listed the first batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2023-24 for presentation, discussion and voting during the session.
The BJP's Karnataka unit shared photographs of the artworks inside the new Parliament House, including the murals of ancient India, Chanakya, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and B R Ambedkar and the cultural diversity of the country.
Holding placards and banners that read "INDIA for Manipur" and "INDIA demands PM's statement on Manipur", the opposition parties raised slogans against the government in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Parliament complex.
Floor leaders of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance met on Monday ahead of the start of Parliament's winter session and decided to raise the issue of alleged corruption in the Adani Group and demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter.11111111111111111111111111
