• According to the Rajya Sabha Practice and Procedure, “the Leader of the House is an important parliamentary functionary who exercises direct influence on the course of parliamentary business”. This office is not enshrined in the constitution and provided under the Rules of Rajya Sabha.
• Apart from the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman, Leader of the House is another functionary who plays important role in the efficient and smooth conduct of the business in the House.
• His primary responsibility is to maintain coordination amongst all sections of the House for a harmonious and meaningful debate in the House. For this purpose, he remains in close contact not only with the Government but also with the Opposition, individual ministers and the Presiding Officer.
• He occupies the first seat in the Chamber in first row at right the side of the Chair so that he is easily available to the Presiding Officer for consultation. Under the rules, the Leader of the House is consulted by the Chairman in regard to the arrangement of Government business in the House, allotment of days or allocation of time for discussion on the President’s Address, Private Members’ business on any day other than Friday, discussion on No Day-Yet-Named Motions, Short Duration Discussions and consideration and return of a Money Bill.

Ø The mangoes were transported through the land border via the Benapole-Petrapole checkpoint. Mango is a staple in households in both Bengal and Bangladesh, with the fruit seen not only as a summer delicacy but as an essential ingredient in several dishes on both sides of the border.

Ø The fibre-rich fruit is popular throughout south Asia. And so is the tradition of mango diplomacy. In 2015, then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reportedly sent a box of mangoes to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the occasion of Id, following a flurry of ceasefire violations along the border.

Ø Pakistan, which is the world’s fifth-largest producer of mangoes, reportedly sends cartons to political leaders across the globe. Pakistan has used ‘mango diplomacy’ to secure friendships before as well, none more so than with China, when Chinese leader Mao Zedong was gifted a box of mangoes to cement a friendship between the two countries in the late 1960s. Mango diplomacy has always been a tradition in the South-Asian region.

Ø The gift from Bangladesh PM Hasina comes at a time when there is growing disquiet on the Bangladeshi side over the halting of vaccine exports from India since late March. In March this year, Dhaka was the destination for PM Modi’s first and only foreign visit since the Covid-19 outbreak.