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Title: Refernces made to the passing away of Shri Ananda Mohan Biswas, a sitting member of 13th Lok Sabha on 3 February, 2003; Shri S. Murugain, Member of 7th Lok Sabha on 6 January, 2003; and Smt. Kalpana Chawla and six other astronauts on 1 Febraury, 2003.
: Hon. Members, as we meet today after an interval of about two months, it is my sad duty to inform the House of the passing away of Shri Ananda Mohan Biswas, a sitting Member, and one of our former colleagues, Shri S. Murugain.
Shri Ananda Mohan Biswas was a sitting Member of the Lok Sabha representing Nabadwip Parliamentary Constituency of West Bengal.
14.00 hrs.
Earlier, Shri Biswas was a member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly from April to June, 1971; from 1972 to 1977; and from 1983 to 1987. He served as Minister of State for Finance during 1971 and Minister of State for Agriculture and Community Development and Law from 1972 to 1977 in the State Government.
He was a member of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation from 1999 to 2000, Committee on Petroleum and Chemicals from 1999 to 2002 and Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from 3rd May, 2000 till his death. He was also a member of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs from 20th January, 2000 till his death.
An advocate by profession, Shri Biswas was an active social worker. He was President, Dalit Samaj Mahajote, an apex organisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in West Bengal. He was also a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from 1995 to 1998. He worked for the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden.
Shri Ananda Mohan Biswas passed away on 3rd February, 2003 on board the Rajdhani Express going from New Delhi to Kolkata following a massive cardiac arrest at the age of 64.
Shri S. Murugain was a member of Seventh Lok Sabha from 1980 to 1984 representing Tirupattur Parliamentary Constituency of Tamil Nadu.
Shri Murugain was a member of the Committee on Official Languages from 1980 to 1984 and Committee on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions during 1984.
Earlier, Shri Murugain was a member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 1962 to 1976. He was also a member of the Estimates Committee and Privileges Committee of the State Legislative Assembly from 1963 to 1964 and 1965 to 1966 respectively.
He also served as the Councillor, Tiruvannamalai Municipal Council during 1955-64.
Shri Murugain, a businessman by profession, was a member of the Food and Development Advisory Committee and State Industrial Development Committee of Tamil Nadu during 1963 and 1965, respectively.
Shri Murugain was an active social worker. He worked relentlessly for the uplift of poor and downtrodden sections of the society.
Shri S. Murugain passed away on 6th January 2003 at Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu at the age of 83.
We deeply mourn the loss of these friends and I am sure, the House would join me in conveying our condolences to the bereaved families.
As the hon. Members are aware, on 1st February 2003, Shrimati Kalpana Chawla and six other astronauts on board the space shuttle Columbia were killed when the space shuttle disintegrated over the State of Texas, U.S.A. minutes before its scheduled landing in Florida. What could have been a triumphant return to earth after a successful sixteen-day mission in space ended in a tragedy, which cut short the promising career of a gritty and determined Haryana born girl.
Shrimati Kalpana Chawla whose early dreams of flight had been inspired by JRD Tata was a living example of what a determined person could achieve by will power and sustained hard work. Her untimely death in such tragic circumstances is, therefore, all the more heartrending.
We deeply mourn the tragic and untimely demise of Shrimati Kalpana Chawla and her fellow astronauts on board the space shuttle Columbia.
The House may place on record its deep sense of sorrow and grief on this tragedy.
The House may now stand in silence for a short while as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed souls.
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(The Members then stood in silence for a short while.)
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PAPERS LAID ON THE TABLE
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR (SHRI VIJAY GOEL): I beg to lay on the Table a copy of the Customs Tariff (Amendment) Ordinance, 2003 (No.1 of 2003) (Hindi and English versions), promulgated by the President on the 20th January, 2003, under article 123 (2) (a) of the Constitution.
(Placed in Library See No. LT. 6959 /2003)
MR. SPEAKER: The House stands adjourned to meet tomorrow at 11 a.m.