We are currently in a transition phase and its resultant turmoil as a titanic struggle between Indian and Western value systems is being waged, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The existing Parliament building will be conserved as it is an archaeological asset of the country.
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 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.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's 'rashtrapatni' remark snowballed into a major political row on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the opposition party of insulting President Droupadi Murmu and demanding that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should apologise to the nation.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said that social distancing norms will be strictly followed in the monsoon session of Parliament in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and 257 MPs of the House will sit in Lok Sabha chamber, 172 in the visitors gallery and the remaining members in the Rajya Sabha chamber and its gallery.
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In a rare and special gesture the Indian government has invited Japanese imperial couple Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko to stay at Parliament House for a day during their India visit in the third week of November.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Wednesday, bringing the Monsoon Session of Parliament to an end eight days ahead of schedule.
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 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.
The project shows a lack of respect for history, even if an inalienable part of it is colonial history, asserts T N Ninan.
Several parties had requested that the session, which was originally scheduled to continue till April 8, be curtailed due to the five assembly elections being held in eight phases till April 29.
Officials have said the national capital lacked a convention centre big enough to seat so many MPs and adhere to social distancing norms. Additionally, holding a 'virtual session' looks slims as any change in the rules requires a motion to be carried in both the Houses of Parliament.
Sumitra Mahajan has written a letter to the Centre proposing to build a state-of-art Parliament building as the existing 88-year-old structure is showing signs of 'distress'.
Gaurav Gogoi, T N Prathapan, Dean Kuriakose, Manicka Tagore, Rajmohan Unnithan, Benny Behanan and Gurjeet Singh Aujla are the seven who have been suspended.
The unprecedented incident happened soon after the proceedings were adjourned at 1120 hours amid vociferous protests by the opposition over the demonetisation issue.
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'.
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.
As soon as the Zero Hour commenced at noon, AIADMK and TDP members trooped in the Well, raising slogans and carrying banners demanding stalling of a dam on river Cauvery and special state status to Andhra Pradesh respectively.
While nearly 200 members were present in the Lok Sabha chamber, a little over 30 were seated in the visitors' gallery located above the main chamber.
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