Delhi Confidential: New House needed

A RECENT meeting of the Budget Committee has refreshed the proposal to construct a new Parliament building. The committee, consisting of deputy speaker, chairpersons of PAC and PUC apart from officials, felt that keeping in view the “pathetic conditions” of Parliament Building and the prospects of expanding the strength of the House, there should be a fresh plan ready for a new building. They found many rooms in the third floor were leaking and the wiring even on the first floor was not properly covered. Such proposals have been made in the past as well but have not moved forward.

Jeering welcome
WHEN Finance Minister Arun Jaitley — leader of the House in Rajya Sabha — introduced newly sworn-in Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ram Kripal Yadav to the House, Opposition benches jeered. Trinamool’s Derek O Brien gestured at the seat next to him and said “come and sit here”. Yadav, once close to RJD chief Lalu Prasad, crossed over to the BJP ahead of the elections and won from the Pataliputra seat defeating Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharati.

NEW CEO
ON the first day of Winter Session, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan approved the appointment of Seema Gupta as Editor-in-Chief-cum-CEO of Lok Sabha TV. According to the notification, Seema, a former TV journalist, will be paid a consolidated fee of Rs 2 lakh per month. Her appointment is for two years or till further orders. The notification says that Seema was selected on the basis of interviews held on September 30 where 42 applicants were interviewed.