'Modi regime fascist, must be dethroned at any cost'
Kolkata, July 18: Terming the Narendra Modi regime at the centre as a "fascist power" that is destroying the country's economy and creating hatred among people by fueling communal unrest, a section of Bengal's civil society on Wednesday appealed to the people to make removal of the BJP and RSS from power as their topmost priority.
Famous Bengali singer, song-writer and social activist Kabir Suman attacked the BJP and RSS, saying they are "honest about hating and loathing" and urged people to defeat them in the next election "at any cost".
"It is not that communalism and differences were non-existent before the BJP came to power. But the BJP and RSS do not have an iota of compassion and honesty to work for the people. But I can say they are honest about hating people. At least they do not try to hide it," Suman said here at an event entitled 'Save Country'.
"We must defeat them at any cost. India will not bow down to theocracy. We have to keep all our misunderstandings aside to fight against these fascist forces," he said.
Criticising the Central government's economic policies, economist Dipankar Dey accused the central agencies of providing distorted data to give false indications about the government's achievements.
"We were doubtful that the data provided by the Reserve Bank of India and NITI Aayog are not providing correct picture regarding the country's economy. It has been found that several data provided by the RBI in the last few years are not matching," Dey said.
"The decision to hike the maximum support price (MSP) of Kharif crops, was also nothing but an eyewash to portray themselves as pro-farmer, because in reality it would only benefit 5-7 percent of the well to do farmers who can sell the crops directly to the government," he added.
Famous singer Pratul Mukherjee took a dig at the Prime Minister's "Acche Din" slogan, claiming that the nation has entered a horrid time people's wishes and rights are getting demolished in the name of religion.
He also said the BJP government's attempt to introduce the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, 2017 and its its current pursuance of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam are serious attempts to violate the human rights.
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Chinese astronauts return to earth safely after six-month stint in space station
Beijing, Nov 4: Three Chinese astronauts who spent six months developing China’s low orbit space station returned to Earth safely early Monday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said.
The capsule of the spaceship Shenzhou-18' carrying astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 1:24 am (Beijing Time).
The three astronauts, after staying in orbit for 192 days, were all in good health and the Shenzhou-18 manned mission was a success, the CMSA said.
Ye, the Shenzhou-18 mission commander, has become the first Chinese astronaut with an accumulative spaceflight time of more than a year, setting a new record for the longest duration of stay in orbit by a Chinese astronaut.
He served as a crew member in the Shenzhou-13 mission from October 2021 to April 2022.
"Chinese astronauts have flown to space in successive missions. I believe that the record of the duration in orbit will be broken in the near future," Ye said.
Another astronaut Li Guangsu said that they grew two types of plants -- cherry tomatoes and lettuce -- and they had harvested some lettuce leaves for food.
"Being able to eat fresh vegetables in space is truly a blessing. These green plants have also brought a touch of green and good cheer to our busy work," Li was quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency.
China launched the Shenzhou-18 manned spaceship in April this year.
During the mission, the Shenzhou-18 crew utilised the scientific experiment cabinets and extravehicular payloads to carry out dozens of experiments in the fields of basic physics in microgravity, space material science, space life science, space medicine and space technology, Xinhua report said.
The three were relieved by another set of three Chinese astronauts, including a woman who docked with the orbiting space station on October 30.
China changes crew for the station every six months.
China built its space station after it was reportedly excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) over concerns that China's space programme is manned by its military, the People's Liberation Army, (PLA).
The two robotic arms of the station, especially the long one which has the ability to grab objects including satellites from space, drew international concerns.
Early this month China announced its plans for the further development of space programmes which included launching a manned lunar mission, construction of a lunar space station, exploration of habitable planets and extra-terrestrial life to expand its space programme in the next few decades.
