Parliament adjourns for the day after obituary references

Winter session of Parliament began today on a sombre note as both Houses condoled the death of sitting members- Mohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha and Murarilal Singh in the Lok Sabha- before adjourning for the day.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar led the House in expressing condolences over the death of Murarilal Singh, BJP MP from Sarguja, who died yesterday in Raipur at the age of 61.

"Singh relentlessly worked for the welfare of tribals," Kumar said.

The Lok Sabha also condoled the death of seven former members- Gurbinder Kaur Brar, R P Sarangi, Mohan Singh - who was the sitting Samajwadi Party member of Rajya Sabha - Ram Naresh Kushwaha, Mohan Dharia, Nitish Sengupta and H P Singh.

The Speaker also made obituary references to those killed in an attack on a mall in Nairobi, Kenya in September. Four Indians were among 67 killed in the attack.

The House also condoled the death of 27 people in a building collapse in Mazgaon area of Mumbai in September and those who lost their lives in Phailin and Helen cyclones in India and in super typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

It also expressed grief over the death of 111 people in a stampede in Ratangarh temple in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh, those who died in heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh and in floods in Odisha, and the death of seven police personnel in a blast in Aurangabad on December 3.

In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Hamid Ansari led the House in mourning the death of four former members, one sitting MP and noted singer Manna Dey.

Former members -- J P Goyal, Ram Naresh Kushawaha, Mohan Manikchand Dharia and Dina Nath Mishra -- died in the last three months.

A member since July 2010, Mohan Singh died on September 22. He also also the leader of the Samajwadi Party in Rajya Sabha.

Rajya Sabha members observed a minute's silence as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed.

The Upper House also condoled the loss of lives in the terror incident in mall in Nairobi, Ratangarh temple stampeded in Madhya Pradesh and cyclones Phailin, Helen and super typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Ansari also expressed sadness over the two incidents of luxury buses catching fire, reportedly causing death of 52 people in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Later, BJP members led by M Venkaiah Naidu demanded that the blasts in Patna should also be mentioned to which the Chair said, "If the incident is of serious nature, we will include them."

His answer was the same when a member mentioned the Muzaffarnagar riots.

Earlier, Kumar welcomed a Parliamentary delegation from Myanmar lead by U Khin Aung Myint, Speaker of Amyotha Hluttaw, its Upper House.