Budget session likely from Jan 28; Budget on Feb 1
New Delhi (PTI): The Budget session of Parliament is likely to commence on January 28 and the Union Budget is set to be tabled on February 1, a Sunday.
Officials, citing the tentative schedule finalised by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, said on Friday that President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of the two Houses on January 28.
The customary address of the President takes place on the first day of the first Parliament session of the year.
The two Houses will not meet on January 29 due to the Beating Retreat ceremony.
Parliament will sit on January 30 when the Economic Survey is likely to be tabled.
On January 31, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will not meet.
The Union Budget is set to be tabled on February 1, a Sunday.
After discussions on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address and Union Budget, Parliament will adjourn for a near month-long recess on February 13.
Parliament will reconvene on March 9 and the session will conclude on April 2, a Thursday.
Usually Parliament is adjourned on a Friday but keeping in mind Good Friday on April 3 and the subsequent weekend, the session could conclude on April 2, officials said.
The recess in the Budget session helps department-related standing committees to examine demands for grants of various Union ministries and departments.
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Karnataka Governor gives assent to legislation against ‘honour killing’ in inter-caste marriages
Bengaluru: The government has brought into force the Karnataka Freedom of Choice in Marriage and Prevention and Prohibition of Crimes in the name of honour and tradition (Eva Nammava Eva Nammava) Act, 2026, intended to restrict ‘honour killings’ in inter-caste marriages.
According to The Indian Express, the legislation received assent from Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on April 9 and was officially notified in the state gazette on April 10. The law had been passed unanimously by the state legislature last month.
The Bill was proposed by the Congress government in the wake of caste-linked ‘honour killings’ in the state, including the December 21, 2025, murder near Hubli of a 20-year-old Lingayat woman by her father for marrying a man from another caste.
The phrase ‘Eva Nammava Eva Nammava’ in the title is in reference to the message of universal humanity that the Lingayat saint Basavanna espoused. Basavanna, who rebelled against the caste system to lay the foundation of the Lingayat faith system, an amalgamation of all castes, used the words meaning ‘he is a part of me’ to say all people are one.
Under the new law, crimes committed in the name of ‘honour’, including murder, assault, threats, and social boycott, are specifically addressed with stringent punishments. ‘Honour killing’ offences carry a minimum imprisonment of five years, while serious assaults attract at least three years in jail.
The new law defines the social boycott of inter-caste couples as forcible eviction to remote corners of villages, refusal to provide services, refusal to provide work, refusal to conduct business, denial of loans and admissions to schools, and makes it punishable.
In the case of ‘honour killings’ per se, the new law prescribes a minimum imprisonment of five years, and in the case of assaults, a prison term that is not less than three years for serious injury and two years for minor injuries.
The offences under the proposed law are cognisable and non-bailable, which means police can carry out arrests without court permissions after taking up a case.
The legislation follows several reported inter-caste relationship-related killings in Karnataka in 2025, including cases in Raichur and another involving 18-year-old Kavita.
The law to protect the freedom of choice in marriages is among several social bills that the Congress government has brought out in line with its policies for the backward and downtrodden communities in the state.
