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 UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim on Thursday hailed the elevation of Hardeep Puri as he takes charge of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas at a time when India will go through a major transformation to a green economy.
As per its reports, between April 2020 and April 2021, NO2 pollution has increased in all the eight capitals of states studied -- Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Lucknow.
As new variants are formed, it causes change to the spike protein and the structure undergoes a complete change -- a reason why it can render the current vaccines, originally designed to target the protein, ineffective.
The two arrested soldiers include Sepoy Harpreet Singh (23), who hails from Cheecha village in Amritsar, and was posted in J&K's Anantnag. He joined the Army in 2017 and belongs to 19 Rashtriya Rifles.
