Lok Sabha Adjourns Till Noon

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till noon on Monday, the first day of the Winter session, amid protests by Opposition members seeking to raise seeking to raise various issues.

Only one question was taken up during Question Hour before Speaker Om Birla adjourned the proceedings.

Birla appealed to Opposition members seeking to raise issues to not disrupt the proceedings, saying it was the first day of the Winter session.

As soon as the House met for the day, two new members -- Congress' Pratibha Singh and BJP's Gyaneshwar Patil -- took oath. While Singh represents Mandi in Himachal Pradesh), Patil has been elected from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.

Obituary references were also made for eight former members -- B Senguttuvan, Kalyan Singh, Oscar Fernandes, Godil Prasad Anuragi, Shyam Sunder Somani, Rajnarayan Budholiya, Devwrat Singh and Hari Danve Pundlik. The House stood in silence for a while as a mark of respect.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House.He asserted that the government is ready to discuss all issues and also answer all questions.

The prime minister also said the benchmark should be how the House functions and not how it is disrupted. Voices against government policies should be forceful but dignity of Parliament and the Chair should be maintained, Modi said.

He also urged people to stay alert in the wake of the new variant of COVID-19.

The session is scheduled to conclude on December 23.