Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday cleared all apprehensions announcing that Parliament will not be adjourned sine die in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the country. The Minister made the announcement after meeting of BJP Parliamentary Party chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Parliament will not be adjourned sine die due to coronavirus spread. It will function until its scheduled time on April 3,” Joshi said while addressing media after the meeting. With the spread of novel coronavirus infection in India, there were apprehensions that the second leg of Budget session which commenced on March 2 will be adjourned sine die before its scheduled date on April 3. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country rose to 125 with Odisha reporting its first COVID-19 patient and new cases in Karnataka, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala. The government has taken several steps to contain the virus, including suspension of all visas to India till April 15, after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. The novel coronavirus originated in China’s Wuhan city in December last year and has killed over 7,000 people and infected more than 1.50 lakh globally. China remains the worst-hit with 3,189 deaths and 80,824 confirmed cases of infection.
