Kovind, Modi mourn Somnath Chatterjee's demise
New Delhi, Aug 13: President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday mourned the death of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.
"Sorry to hear of the passing of Somnath Chatterjee, former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a veteran parliamentarian who had a forceful presence in the House.
"A loss for public life in Bengal and India. My condolences to his family and innumerable well-wishers," the President said in a tweet.
The Prime Minister described Chatterjee as a stalwart of Indian politics who made the parliamentary democracy richer.
Modi tweeted that Chatterjee "was a strong voice for the well-being of the poor and vulnerable. Anguished by his demise. My thoughts are with his family and supporters".
The 10-time parliamentarian died at 8.15 a.m., at the Bellevue Clinic in Kolkata following a cardiac arrest and prolonged age-related ailments.
He suffered the heart attack on Sunday. Following kidney-related ailment his condition was critical and he was admitted to the clinic on August 7.
After the nursing home announced Chatterjee's death, condolences started pouring in.
Earlier Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also mourned the former Left leader in their tweets.
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Manipur: Mortal remains of children killed in bomb attack handed over to family
Imphal (PTI): The mortal remains of two children, who were killed in a bomb attack in Manipur's Bishnupur district in April, were handed over to family members on Saturday, officials said.
The bodies of the five-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister were kept in the morgue for 25 days, as the family members had refused to accept the mortal remains, demanding that the perpetrators be brought to book at the earliest.
On April 25, Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh had appealed to the family members of the children to accept the bodies. Singh had also said that all efforts were underway to find the culprits.
The two children were killed in a bomb attack at Tronglaobi in Bishnupur district on April 7. Their bodies were kept in the morgue at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal.
The incident had triggered widespread violent protests in the five valley districts of Manipur, and the case was subsequently handed over to the NIA.
Hundreds of people lined up along the way to Tronglaobi to offer floral tributes, as the mortal remains were taken for the last rites in an open vehicle earlier in the day.
