Both the House of the Parliament was adjourned hours ahead of the scheduled close after a raucous stand-off between the ruling BJP and a bloc of opposition MPs over allegations of links between Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and media houses and think-tanks funded by businessman George Soros.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were suspended for the day, but not before Speaker Om Birla warned MPs of dishonouring the House. The speaker said that India is the largest democracy in the world and it fulfills the hopes and aspirations of over a billion people.   He added that they have to maintain dignity, mentioning that he has seen things happening that are not good.

He maintained that be it members from the opposition or the ruling party, everyone should maintain dignity and work in such a way that a positive message goes out of this temple of democracy.

He stated that agreements and disagreements are part of a healthy democracy, and urged both sides to sit across the table and resolve their differences amicably.

Notably, Om Birla’s reprimand came after opposition MPs, who are demanding discussions on various issues, including the BJP’s Soros-Sonia Gandhi allegations, refused to allow the start of Question Hour.

Meanwhile, in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress-led INDIA bloc has moved a vote of no-confidence in Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, alleging partisan functioning of the House.

Reportedly, the notice with over 50 signatures from the Congress, Bengal’s ruling Trinamool, the Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Yadav was submitted to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

The notice was submitted after chaos in both Houses as BJP MPs and those from the opposition clashed over various issues, including alleged links between Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and businessman George Soros – prompted Parliament to adjourn for the day.

The BJP MPs accused their rivals of not allowing Parliament to function but the opposition hit back by declaring they were not being allowed to raise important issues, like violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal over the survey of a mosque and farmers’ Minimum Support Price protests.

The Centre has appointed Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Sanjay Malhotra will take charge from Wednesday for three years, the Centre said in a statement. He will take on the prestigious role for a period of three years.

He is a 1990-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Rajasthan cadre. Malhotra is a Computer Science graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and has a Master’s in Public Policy from Princeton University, US. In his 33 years career, Sanjay Malhotra has worked in several sectors including power, finance and taxation, information technology, and mines.

Before being appointed as Revenue Secretary, he was Secretary in the Department of Financial Services. As per the information on the Department of Revenue Website, Sanjay Malhotra has extensive experience in finance and taxation at the state as well as the central government. Reportedly, Sanjay Malhotra played an instrumental role in tax policy formulation for direct and indirect taxes.

Sanjay Malhotra succeeds Shaktikanta Das, whose tenure will end on December 10, Tuesday. He was appointed the 25th Governor of the RBI on December 12, 2018, after the abrupt exit of his predecessor Urjit Patel. Shaktikanta Das was granted an extension after completing his three-year term in office.

After taking charge of the RBI, Saktikanta Das provided confidence to the market shaken by the sudden resignation of Urjit Patel amid a tussle between the RBI and the government over the issue of surplus transfer. 

Shaktikanta Das, who is a retired 1980-batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, served as the economic affairs secretary, revenue secretary and fertiliser secretary. Furthermore, he is also India’s Alternate Governor in the World Bank, ADB, NDB & AIIB. 

Additionally, in the Tamil Nadu government, he has also served as the principal secretary (industries), special commissioner (revenue), and secretary (revenue).

Vikram Misri, Indian Foreign Secretary today said that his discussions with Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Touhid Hussain gave an opportunity to take stock of the relations between both the countries.

The Foreign Secretary arrived on an Indian Air Force jet for a day-long visit on Tuesday to take part in high level talks with the Foreign Adviser, his Bangladeshi counterpart and other high level officials amid strained relationship between both the countries.

After meeting Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Touhid Hussain, Vikram Misri told the media that the discussions have given both of them the opportunity to take stock of the relations and that he appreciates the opportunity to have had a frank, candid and constructive exchange of views with all his interlocutors.

He added that both of them also discussed recent developments and he has conveyed India’s concerns including those related to the safety and welfare of minorities. He mentioned that they also discussed regrettable incidents of attacks on cultural and religious properties.

Notably, this is the first time that an Indian official is visiting Bangladesh for high-level talks since Sheikh Hasina was ousted as Prime Minister on August 5.

After his arrival in Dhaka, Vikram Misri also met his Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Jashim Uddin and held one-on-one talks before the formal meeting with delegates from both sides.

The diplomatic ties between India and Bangladesh have faced testing times since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina following a massive anti-government protest in August. Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus took over as Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser days after Sheikh Hasina fled to India.

Furthermore, ties between both countries worsened after multiple incidents of violence in Bangladesh targeting the Hindu minority citizens. Reportedly, there has been a sharp rise in incidents of mob violence, vandalism of property, and desecration at places of worship targeting the minorities. Also, there has even been a crackdown on Hindu priests by the interim government in Bangladesh, and two Hindu priests are being prosecuted and there are concerns over their captivity.