It was a day of sports for Somnath Chatterjee

New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) Today seems to be a day of sports for Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee as he virtually began and ended it, talking about games.

As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, he read out a message congratulating Anil Kumble on his 500th wicket which was unanimously endorsed by the House.

At the end of the Question Hour at 1200 hrs, he turned a cricket commentator for a while in the House, updating his captive audience on the latest score in the India-England cricket Test at Mohali.

''Another good news is that England were all out for 181 in their second innings of the second test being played at Mohali, Punjab.'' Upon the update, the entire House broke into a loud laughter, reminiscent of the frequent deafening uproars raised by cricket fanatics who throng stadia in their tens of thousands to cheer Team India.

The Speaker made the remark after thanking the MPs for their excellent cooperation in the smooth conduct of the Question Hour.

Coincidentally, the House wore a thin look at a time when millions of cricket fans across the country were glued to television, expecting an easy victory for India to go one-up in the three match series.

The first Test at Nagpur had ended in a draw.

Later in the evening, while addressing a Parliamentary Forum on Youth, held in Parliamentary Library Building, the Speaker said as ''sports is a unifying activity, that should be addressed with deserving importance.'' The forum members also suggested formation of youth committees to identify sporting talent in rural and tribal areas.

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