NIA begins...

The police also arrested a lawyer from Shopian, identified as Irfan, who was travelling with them. Preliminary investigations indicated the two alleged terrorists stayed at Singh’s house in Srinagar’s Indra Nagar for about two days.

“Naveed Babu is a dangerous terrorist who is behind killing of labourers and several police officers/special police officers in J&K. We will investigate since when he was in touch with Naveed or other terrorists or if he passed off any sensitive information which may have helped the terrorists,” the officer added. He said Singh could soon be brought to Delhi for further questioning.

The preliminary probe has indicated that this was not the first time that Singh escorted the two terrorists through the counter-insurgency grid in Kashmir valley. As first reported by Hindustan Times, Singh will also be probed in the 2001 Parliament attack case on the basis of a letter written by Afzal Guru in 2013. On Wednesday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration stripped Singh of the Sher-ekashmir Police medal for gallantry. According to an official order, the officer’s act amounted to disloyalty and brought the force into disrepute.

An official in J&K said Singh is believed to have taken ~12 lakh for smuggling the two terrorists to Chandigarh for providing them accommodation for a couple of months. The official, who has been involved in Singh’s questioning and spoke on condition of anonymity, said there have been many inconsistencies in his statements and everything was being crosschecked and corroborated with the confessions of captured terrorists who have been kept in different rooms at an interrogation centre in South Kashmir.

Investigators have previously said Singh claimed he was working on a plan to eliminate top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo when he was arrested, but could provide no proof to support his assertion.

An AK-47 rifle, two pistols, two grenades and lakhs of rupees were recovered from Singh’s residence, according to an official. may even be office space for MPS.

The current plan, according to Patel, “the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and, an open-to-sky courtyard around which there would be a lounge and in the middle there will be a foyer.” The offices will be along the periphery of the building.”

SEATING ARRANGEMENT

Patel and his team studied seating arrangements in Parliaments of several countries including Cuba, Egypt, Singapore, and Germany. MPS have often complained of lack of space, especially during joint sessions.

There’s no space to be had in the current Lok Sabha. There are even seats “behind columns”, Patel said. A parliamentarian gets around 40cm by 50 cm of space to sit in the house now. This will increase to 60 by 60 under the new arrangement.

More importantly, Patel, pointed out, everyone gets a desk. “Currently, the desks are only for the first two rows. You can put your ipads or files on them.” And, of course, with two to a bench, “you really never have to go in front of anybody to sit down. That really is the most comfortable way to manage it,” he added. For joint sessions the desks will accommodate three MPS instead of two.

SYMBOLISM

The shape of the present circular building designed by architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1912-13, was based on the Chausath Yogini temple, one of the oldest heritage sites in India.

Explaining the reason behind choosing a triangular structure for the new complex, Patel said,“one reason is functional: it’s triangular plot. Triangles are also very important in some sense. They are celebrated in all sacred geometries...; Why a spire atop the new Parliament? Think of churches, think of temples etc. In a secular democracy a sacred building is the Parliament and so famously referred to as the temple of democracy by the Prime Minister.”

Interestingly, the new design envisages windows of various sizes in Central Hall.

“We are making windows that will be of unequal size inside the hall. Why we are doing that? This reflects the diversity of India, everything is different here and hence not a single window should be the same in this room,” Patel said.

TECHNOLOGY

“Technology-wise we are looking at visual and acoustic factors. Acoustic is really important. Presently the acoustic tiles were put in afterwards. That time the rudimentary concept was to avoid echoing. Actually a sophisticated acoustic design is about the quality of sound you produce. That is best understood by acoustic engineers...we have a very good company which is full of physicists doing this,” Patel explained. There will also be in-built translation systems, he added.

OLD PARLIAMENT COMPLEX

The big question is the fate of the old Parliament building. Patel said the plan is still evolving. It was earlier planned to be converted in to a museum. The current thinking is to use it on some occasions, he added, pointing out that the building, while iconic, is “complex”, and had functionality added to it instead of being designed with that functionality in mind. “People cherish the way things are done, but we discover that many of them are only responses to a building that was never meant to be Parliament but nonetheless became .... ”

In August 2019, the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman urged the government to expand and modernise the colonial-era Parliament building.

Both the Chairs pointed out that the Parliament building was 92 years old and needed urgent repairs.