Sumitra Mahajan

Demanding his presence in the House, Opposition members raised slogans asking Modi to make his statements inside the House and not to attack them outside.

As soon as the House met, members of Congress, TMC, Left parties and AAP rushed to the Well of the House demanding discussions on the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 under Rule 56, that entails.

Informed sources here said Rivlin will meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan among others during his visit.

"The number of copies of various Committee reports and papers laid on the table of the House has been considerably reduced. The number of hard copies of Budget documents also has been reduced by 35 percent," she said after meeting the leaders of various political parties in Parliament Library Building here.

The country will soon have the Diamond Quadrilateral for high-speed trains which will shorten travel time to a great extent and make the journey extremely comfortable for the passengers, Minister of State for Railway Manoj Sinha said on June 28

An agreement to utilise India's line of credit of USD 1 billion to Mongolia for developing railways and infrastructure projects was signed between the two countries after they held extensive talks covering entire gamut of ties.

Just before the House was to take up Question Hour, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed Jyotiraditya Scindia (Cong) to raise the issue with a rider that it would not be politicised.

"It is a murder of democracy," Mallikarjun Kharge said as the Lower House assembled for the day, telling Speaker Sumitra Mahajan that he has given a notice for an adjournment motion on the issue.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, leading an Indian Parliamentary delegation here to attend a meeting of the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP), also appealed to the top leadership and business community here to seize opportunities arising out of India's economic rise.

Opposition members were on their feet seeking to know the status of their notices against Irani for "misleading" the House on the Rohith Vemula issue.

Soon after Question Hour, Mahajan said the House would take up a short duration discussion on the functioning of universities in the country, including incidents at JNU and Hyderabad University, in the afternoon.

The Budget session of Parliament is all set for a stormy start tomorrow with major opposition parties planning to corner the government on JNU and other issue as Congress President Sonia Gandhi accused it of launching a planned attack on freedom of expression and right to differ.

Lok Sabha Speaker and local MP Sumitra Mahajan, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be present on the occasion, an official said.

He was speaking at an event where he flagged off an electric bus, gifted by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, to ferry MPs at Parliament.

"Two 15-seater buses electric buses, converted to battery from diesel will be flagged off by Prime Minister Modi in presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Gadkari on December 21 for MPs," an official source said.

The government had yesterday increased excise duty on petrol by Rs 0.30 per litre and by Rs 1.17 a litre on diesel to make use of slump in oil prices to garner an additional Rs 2,500 crore.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was busy with visiting Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim and hence was not present in the House.

On Monday, Lok Sabha witnessed clashes and repeated adjournments as it took up the debate on 'intolerance' with the opposition targeting the government.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has called an all-party meeting in the morning and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has also called a similar meeting in the evening.

Sathe's appointment has also been made at a time when one more position is vacant on Sebi's board and its Chairman U K Sinha's current tenure will end in February 2016.