Rajya Sabha prorogued by President

President of India Ram Nath Kovind has prorogued the Rajya Sabha on March 29. The House had adjourned sine die on March 23.

"The Rajya Sabha which adjourned sine die on March 23, has been prorogued by the President on the 29th March 2020," read a press communique.

The two Houses were adjourned sine die on March 23 after completion of the budgetary process including passage of the Finance Bill.

The second part of the session was curtailed in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The budget session began on January 31 and the first part of the session ended on February 11 while the second part of the session commenced on March 2.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported a total of 1071 confirmed COVID-19 cases in India.