Presidential palace to reopen for public from Aug 1
Darpan News Desk IANS, 23 Jul, 2021 03:46 PM
New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) With the number of Covid-19 cases come down in the national capital, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has decided to reopen its complex and museum for the common citizens from August 1 onwards.
"Visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan and Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum Complex, which were closed since April 14, 2021 due to Covid-19, will reopen from August 1, 2021 for the public," the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.
Tour of Rashtrapati Bhavan will be available on Saturday and Sunday, except on holidays, in three pre-booked time slots -- 10:30-11:30 am , 12:30-1:30 pm and 2:30-3:30 pm with a maximum limit of 25 visitors per slot.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan said that its museum complex will remain open for six days a week -- except on holidays -- in four pre-booked time slots: 9:30-11 am, 11:30 am-1 pm, 1:30 pm-3 pm and 3:30 pm-5 pm with a maximum limit of 50 visitors per slot.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan, home to the President of the world's largest democracy, epitomises India's strength, its democratic traditions and secular character.
It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, both architects of exceptional imagination and masterfulness.
It was Lutyens who had conceptualised the 'H' shaped building, covering an area of 5 acres on a 330-acre estate. The mansion has a total of 340 rooms spread over four floors, 2.5 km of corridors and 190 acres of garden area.
Painstaking efforts of thousands of labourers, including masons, carpenters, artists, carvers and cutters, saw the completion of this masterwork in the year 1929.
Originally built as the residence for the Viceroy of India, the Viceroy's House, as it was called then, has metamorphosed into today's Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has called slowdown in the economy “very worrisome” and said the government needs to fix the immediate problems in power and non-bank financial sectors and come out with a new set of reforms to energise private sector to invest.
Despite the communications lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir since August 4 night, the Twitter handle of Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani has apparently been active, putting out anti-India tweets regularly.
"Don't you want our children to live in good quality air?" the Supreme Court asked on Monday, pulling up the Delhi government for its opposition to the use of remote sensing technology to help identify polluting vehicles.
The Punjab government on Monday declared the current flood situation in the affected villages of the state as a natural calamity, with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directing the Financial Commissioner Revenue to issue the necessary notification at the earliest.
A three-judge Bench headed by Justice NV Ramana on Monday issued notice to the Meghalaya government after senior counsel PS Patwalia questioned the order passed by the state high court in a review petition filed by the state government.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was the butt of Twitter trolls on Monday after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government put up large hoardings across the capital wishing the people on Ganesh Chaturthi with a large picture of Kejriwal on them but sans any image of Lord Ganesha.
