Delhi Metro services will begin at 2:30 pm from terminal stations on all lines on the occasion of Holi, March 25, and will continue normally thereafter.

The Delhi Metro on X, said that the metro train services to start at 2:30 pm on the day of the Holi festival, March 25 (Monday), adding that it said metro services will not be available till 2:30 pm on all Lines of the Delhi Metro including Rapid Metro/Airport Express Line.

Earlier on March 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of two additional corridors of Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday. The cost of these 2 corridors of the Delhi Metro Phase 4 project is Rs 8,399 crore. These 2 lines will be 20.762 km long. The construction of these projects is slated for completion by March 2026.

During the press release, the government said that the Inderlok- Indraprastha corridor will be an extension of the Green Line and will provide interchange with the Blue, Violet, Magenta and Airport Line, Yellow and Red lines, while the Lajpat Nagar- Saket G Block corridor will connect Violet, Pink, Magenta and Silver lines.

Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar- Saket G Block corridor will be entirely elevated and have 8 stations, as per the reports. The Inderlok- Indraprastha corridor will have 10 stations. The Prime Minister also interacted with beneficiaries of the PM SVANidhi scheme. He distributed loans under the scheme to 1 lakh street vendors (SVs) including 5000 SVs from Delhi.

According to official records, till now up to Rs 82 lakh loans which amount to Rs 10, 978 crore have been disbursed to more than 62 lakh street vendors all over India. Speaking to the media at the event earlier, the Prime Minister said that the program PM SVANidhi Mahotsav was dedicated to those who are always around us and without whom one cannot imagine our lives.

Seven out of eight Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) were suspended on Friday for the remainder of the Budget session of the Delhi Assembly for allegedly interrupting Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena’s address.

On Thursday, they were marshalled out of the House for their unruly behaviour. According to the reports, the seven BJP MLAs were interrupting Governor Saxena during his address to the House as they sought to attack the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led-AAP government.

Taking cognisance of the matter, the Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel sent the matter of disruption to the Privileges Committee.

On the second day of the session, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Dilip Kumar Pandey and the party convenor Kejriwal whip in the Assembly. Pandey pointed out the disruption made by the BJP MLAs during the LG’s speech, he said MLAs have disrupted Saxena’s address marking the opening of the budget session at least eight times. He further said that such behaviour by the BJP MLAs amounted to lowering the dignity of the House.

AAP MLA Pandey, later moved a proposal that the matter be referred to the Delhi Assembly Privileges Committee, demanding the suspension of the seven BJP MLAs from the proceedings of the House, until the panel decides on the matter. Through a voice vote, the proposal was passed.

Despite several warnings from the Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, BJP Vijender Gupta interrupted Saxena while he was citing the AAP’s achievements. Following this, the Speaker asked the House marshals to take Gupta out.

Later, when LG Saxena began his address, other leaders from the BJP party continued disrupting him as Saxena cited several Kejriwal government’s achievements.

After all this, the BJP MLAs defied the Goel and refrained from interrupting the Saxena’s address, to which the Speaker had to ask the marshals to take them out of the House too.

The House suspended seven BJP MLAs out of eight, the Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri was not suspended, however, he walked out with other suspended BJP leaders in protest against the decision of the House to suspend its MLAs.

Following the Central government’s decision to declare a half-day in all government offices on January 22 given the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony, several states including Delhi, Assam and Tripura have declared a half-day on Monday.  Delhi has become the latest state to do so among other states.

The Delhi government on Saturday announced a half-day in the national capital for the Ram Mandir event, scheduled to take place on January 22 in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, after the assent from Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.

The list of states, that have declared a half-day on January 22.

Uttar Pradesh: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that all the educational institutions and liquor shops will remain closed throughout the state on this historic day.

Chhattisgarh: The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Vishnu Deo Sai on Thursday declared that all government offices will remain closed on January 22 till 2:30 pm as the Ram Lala event will take place on this date.

Madhya Pradesh: Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced that all the schools will be closed, encouraging people to celebrate the day like a festival. He also directed the of closing all types of shops, including liquor and Bhang outlets. As per the officials, all government offices and institutions in Madhya Pradesh will remain closed for half a day in view of the Ram Mandir event in Ayodhya.

Goa: The government in Goa has declared a holiday, for all government employees and schools on January 22 to celebrate the day as the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will take place.

Haryana: Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, has announced a half-day in the state in view of the Ram Mandir even in Ayodhya. The official statement said that schools and liquor shops will remain closed on that day.

Odisha: The government offices in the state will remain closed for half a day on January 22 on the occasion of the Ram temple consecration ceremony. All the state government offices, as well as the revenue and magisterial courts (executive), will remain closed for half a day till 2.30 pm on January 22.

Rajasthan: Rajasthan government on Thursday declared a half-day on January 22 in view of the Ram Mandir ceremony, which will take place in Ayodhya.

Gujarat: All government offices in Gujarat will remain closed for half a day on January 22 to celebrate the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh Union Territory administration on Friday declared the closure of all its offices on January 22 to mark the celebration of the Ram Temple ceremony, while the Haryana government declared a half-day holiday.

Delhi: Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor approved a half-day holiday for all Delhi government offices on January 22 given the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya, according to reports.

Assam: The Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Bishwa Sarma, announced a half-holiday on January 22 on the occasion of the Ram Mandir event in Ayodhya.  All state government offices and educational institutions in the state will remain closed till 2.30 PM on January 22.

Tripura: Asim Sahai, Deputy Secretary to the Government of Tripura, announced a half-day in all the government offices and educational institutions across Tripura. He said the offices will remain closed until 2:30 pm on January 22 to enable employees to participate in the celebrations of Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya.

Uttarakhand: All government offices in Uttarakhand will remain closed for half a day on January 22 to celebrate the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Puducherry: The officials had announced a holiday in the state to mark the celebration of the Ram Temple ceremony in Ayodhya. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Friday said that January 22 would be a public holiday in the Union Territory. 

Maharashtra: The Maharashtra government on Friday declared a public holiday in the state on January 22 when the Pran Pratishtha ceremony will be held in Ayodhya.