Jaitley takes oath as Rajya Sabha member for new term
New Delhi, April 15: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, re-elected to the Rajya Sabha last month, on Sunday took oath for a new six-year term.
"Took oath of office as Rajya Sabha member representing Uttar Pradesh," Jaitley tweeted, attaching pictures of the oath-taking ceremony held in Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu's chamber in Parliament House here.
Union Ministers Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal, Hardeep S. Puri, Vijay Goel and Shiv Pratap Shukla were present.
Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Ghulam Nabi Azad and several senior BJP leaders, including MPs Bhupender Yadav, Jagadambika Pal, Conrad Sangma and Karnataka's former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa were also there.
Jaitley was appointed Leader of the House on April 2 but could not take oath as a Rajya Sabha member for the fourth term earlier due to ill-health.
Suffering from a kidney problem, he was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here on April 6.
He was slated to undergo a kidney transplant but was discharged after dialysis for three days since the donor's organ "did not match".
While he was earlier elected to the Upper House for three consecutive terms from Gujarat, this time he has been elected from Uttar Pradesh.
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India submits nomination of Meghalaya's living root bridges for UNESCO World Heritage site
Shillong (PTI): India has submitted to UNESCO in Paris the nomination dossier of Meghalaya's living root bridges for consideration to include in the World Heritage list 2026-27, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Thursday.
The dossier was handed over by India's Ambassador Vishal V Sharma to UNESCO's World Heritage Centre Director Lazare Assomo Eloundou, a statement said.
"We are hopeful that the living root bridges will be inscribed this year, ensuring that the indigenous communities, the true guardians of this living heritage, receive the global recognition they so richly deserve," Sangma said on X.
While submitting the dossier, Sharma, the Permanent Representative to UNESCO, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and the Meghalaya CM for their support to the nomination, the Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO said in a statement.
Sharma also acknowledged the role of Meghalaya Principal Secretary Frederick Kharkongor, officers of the Archaeological Survey of India, the Ministry of External Affairs, experts and the local communities in safeguarding the property and preparing the nomination.
Located across the southern slopes of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills of the northeastern state, the nominated property represents a living cultural landscape shaped over centuries by indigenous Khasi and Jaintia communities.
"The landscape reflects a deep-rooted and harmonious relationship between people, nature and spirituality, embodied in traditional systems of land use, governance and ecological stewardship," the statement said.
The indigenous worldview underpinning the cultural landscape is anchored in principles of respect, reciprocity and responsibility towards Mei Ramew (Mother Earth), it said.
"The submission of this nomination underscores India's commitment to recognising and preserving living cultural traditions and indigenous knowledge systems, and to advancing global heritage conservation efforts through UNESCO," the statement added.
