The MPs include ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Meenakshi Lekhi, Anant Kumar Hegde and Parvesh Singh.
The ceremony, held at the famous St Peter's Basilica and attended by clergy and dignitaries from around the world, witnessed the induction of 21 new cardinals from various countries.
According to sources, several opposition leaders are also considering boycotting the inaugural function on Sunday, alleging that the government has insulted the President.
An ordinance to amend a law to reduce the salaries of MPs by 30 per cent for one year "to meet the exigencies arising out of COVID-19 pandemic" was promulgated.
The visit by the MPs comes nearly two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met top leaders of Jammu and Kashmir on June 24.
Scindia, who is now with the BJP and took oath as a member from Madhya Pradesh, greeted his bete noire before taking oath. Scindia and Singh had differences that led to Scindia quitting the Congress. Scindia also greeted Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad.
India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
The suspended Rajya Sabha parliamentarians, who spent the night on the lawns near Mahatma Gandhi's statue in what several old-timers said was the first such overnight protest in the complex, got a surprise visitor in the morning -- Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh who came with tea and snacks.
The session will begin with the address of the President to the joint sitting of the two Houses on Friday morning followed by the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said M Venkaiah Naidu's witty one-liners were 'revered, and never countered', and hailed his highly productive five-year term as vice president of India and Rajya Sabha chairman.
Armed with some documents pointing to large-scale irregularities, the Central Bureau of Investigation will soon register cases to probe the alleged involvement of some Rajya Sabha MPs and central government employees in forging leave travel concession claims for travel on state-run Air India.
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'.
This will be the first full-year Budget of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government since it came to power for a third consecutive term in July last year.
With 200 MPs out of 785 above the age of 65, there is a serious shadow of COVID-19 looming over the monsoon session Of Parliament.
When S Jaishankar became India's external affairs minister in May 2019, he was largely considered a political lightweight despite his undisputed mastery over foreign policy.
The government on Thursday listed bills on personal data protection, to amend forest conservation laws and on the contentious ordinance on Delhi services for the monsoon session of Parliament beginning next week.
The Delhi high court on Friday stayed the Centre's eviction notices to two Congress members of Parliament and ex- ministers, Ambika Soni and Kumari Selja.
Convicted Congress leader Rashid Masood on Monday became the first member of Parliament to lose his seat after the Supreme Court struck down a provision that protects a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts.
Time is running out for a hapless UPA govt over the Telangana bill, and the latest observation by the Rajya Sabha secretariat -- that the bill has financial implications and so must be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha first -- has only worsened the crisis for the ruling alliance. Anita Katyal reports.
"If the FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) report proves that the slogan raised in favour of Pakistan is true, serious action will be taken in this regard. There is no question of protecting those who raised slogans in favour of Pakistan," the Chief Minister told reporters.
On Monday, when the marshals came wearing the new uniform together with aiguillette, some members commented if 'marshal law was being imposed'.
Kharge said he condemn this attitude of the government to threaten, scare and humiliate
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday assured her counterpart from Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, that her party would support him in his fight against the central ordinance to control appointments and transfer of bureaucrats.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge used poetry and humour to take swipes at the government on Monday, saying nothing will be accomplished by changing names, and went on to recall how first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's 'inclusive' approach of involving opposition parties had led to the laying of a strong foundation for the Constitution.
An angry Banerjee slammed a minister, a former Trinamool Congress mayor and a few bureaucrats for their "below-par performance".
A search is on for suitable accommodation for Arvind Kejriwal and his family, Singh had said.
The Members suspended included K Ashok Kumar, R K Bharathi Mohan, M Chandrakasi, Jayakumar Jayavardhan, K Parasuraman, Dr K Kamraj, P Kumar, M Vasanti, C Mahendram, K Margatham and P Nagarajan.
With several Parliament sessions during UPA-II being largely disrupted, BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Sunday "regretted" that a lot of valuable time was lost in the last five years due to "confrontationist politics" and said the Opposition achieves much more through debates than disturbances.
While the session will begin with the President's address to the joint sitting of the two Houses, the same day the pre-budget economic survey will be tabled.
There will be no Question Hour and private members' bills will not be taken up in the Monsoon session, while the Zero Hour will be restricted.
Insiders say President Kovind has been told he will not be re-nominated, reveals R Rajagopalan.
Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan on Thursday rejected his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras's election as the party president, saying the meeting organised in Patna was 'unconstitutional' and lacked even minimum attendance of its national executive members.
Brijesh Merja is the third Congress MLA to have resigned since Wednesday and the eight since March.
If a local court in Mumbai allows former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh and minister Nawab Malik to cast their votes in the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections, the two leaders will be brought to the Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature complex in Mumbai, at a specific time to take part in the voting process, an official said on Wednesday.
Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the same case and later by the CBI which was probing corruption charges, stepped out after spending 155 days in Tihar jail. The AAP supremo, who was earlier granted three-week interim bail in the ED case, was given a resounding welcome by his party leaders and supporters who were drenched in heavy rain. Addressing party workers from the top of an SUV, Kejriwal, sporting a half-sleeve blue shirt, raised 'Inquilab Zindabad' and 'Vande Mataram' slogans.
Expressing 'pain' over opposition parties boycotting the Constitution Day event organised by the Lok Sabha secretariat on Friday, speaker Om Birla said staying away from such non-partisan events held by Parliament is not good for the health of democracy.
The standing committees have not been holding their sittings due to the severe second wave of COVID-19.
Food items in Parliament canteen will be dearer from Friday, with the rates being hiked in varying degrees in view of controversies over the items being served there at subsidised rates.
Daily life was partially affected in West Bengal on Wednesday due to a 12-hour shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party, protesting the police action against demonstrators during a march to the state secretariat.
Both houses of Parliament were prorogued on Friday, almost a month after being adjourned sine die, ending the possibility of an extension of the Monsoon session in the face of continued stand-off between government and opposition.
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