New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha was on Friday adjourned sine die, seven days ahead of the scheduled completion of the 258th session amid growing fears about fast spreading Covid-19 virus. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the house sine die and said that he felt privileged to be part of the august House.


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"It was a unanimous decision to adjourn the winter session ahead of its schedule... I want Rahul Gandhi to continue (Bharat Jodo Yatra). There is a track record that wherever he goes, Congress will be defeated there but I hope he'll follow health guidelines," Union Minister P Joshi said.


 



 


The Chairman extended his greetings to the members of the House for the upcoming festivals, including Christmas, Pongal, Lohri and others, and suggested that there is a need to be vigilant of the rising cases of Covid pandemic and take necessary precautions.


"This session was marked with a display of wit, sarcasm, humour and intellect. I hope to experience more of it with greater indulgence from experienced members," Dhankhar said. Before adjourning the House sine die (indefinitely), Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the productivity of the House was 102 per cent. The House held 13 sittings totalling 64 hours 50 minutes.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge were present in the House.


PM Narendra Modi, Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and other leaders also attended the customary meeting at the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s chamber at the end of the Winter Session.


 



 


The session started on December 7 and was scheduled to be held till December 29. This was the first full session for the newly elected Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, officiating as Chairman of Rajya Sabha.


In view of an unprecedented spike in Covid-19 cases in China and some other countries, the Government of India has begun preparations to tackle the coronavirus threat by taking a slew of measures including emergency mock drills in hospitals from Tuesday and approval to Covid nasal vaccine. According to the Union Health Ministry, States and Union territories will undertake a mock drill across all health facilities from Tuesday to ensure the operational readiness of the Covid-dedicated facilities, with a specific focus on oxygen plants, ventilators, logistics and human resources, according to official sources.


The Union Health Ministry sources said that fresh guidelines are being prepared for Christmas and New Year revelry. Among other measures, the Health Ministry sources said that Bharat Biotech's intranasal Covid vaccine has been approved by the Centre for inclusion in the vaccination programme as a booster dose for those above 18 years of age. Those who have taken Covishield and Covaxin can take the nasal vaccine as a heterologous booster dose.


The needle-free vaccine will be available at private centres. It will be introduced on the Co-WIN platform on Friday evening, sources said. The nasal vaccine - BBV154 - received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India in November for restricted use in an emergency situation for those above 18 as a booster dose.


Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will also meet health ministers of states and Union Territories later today over rising Covid cases in some parts of the world. The meeting will be held via video conferencing at 3 pm today.