Siddaramaiah dares Yeddyurappa to contest from his seat
Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday dared BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa to contest from the Varuna constituency here in the May 12 assembly election.
"I challenge Yeddyurappa to contest from Varuna if he is so sure of winning instead of fielding his second son (B.Y. Vijayendra) against my son Yathindra," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
Though the Chief Minister was re-elected twice from Varuna since 2008 assembly poll, he is likely to field Yathindra this time, as he is planning to contest from Chamundeshwari in the same district.
He said that the BJP, which failed to win a single seat in the Mysuru region in May 2013 assembly election now "boasts of defeating me or my son this time. I accept the challenge. Let Yeddyurappa or his son contest against me or my son".
"As the people of Varuna know of my contribution to the constituency, they will certainly vote for those who worked and none else," said Siddaramaiah.
Questioning Yeddyurappa's credentials to contest from any assembly segment in Mysuru region, he asked what was the BJP leader's contribution to the region or the state during his three-year tenure.
"What is his (Yeddyurappa) connection with Varuna or Mysuru. As people are wise, they know whom to vote. Even if my son contests, people will vote for him and not Yeddyurappa's son (Vijayendra)," he said.
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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.
