Section 21 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, is titled "Commencement of arbitral proceedings." It explicitly states that "Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitral proceedings in respect of a particular dispute commence on the date on which a request for that dispute to be referred to arbitration is received by the respondent." This date is crucial for various purposes, including the calculation of limitation periods. Section 20 deals with the 'Place of arbitration' and Section 22 with the 'Language' of the proceedings.