Cong slams BJP, lists six surgical strikes under UPA rule
New Delhi, May 2: The Congress Thursday came out with a list of six anti-terror surgical strikes carried out during UPA rule, asserting that it never tried to take political advantage from military operations.
The Congress released the list at a press conference after BJP leader Arun Jaitley took a jibe at the opposition party, saying its surgical strikes were "invisible and unknown".
The UPA government carried out six surgical strikes Bhattal sector in Poonch (June 19, 2008); Sharda sector, across Neelam River Valley, in Kel (August 30-September 1, 2011); Sawan Patra check post (January 6, 2013); Neza Pir sector (July 27-28, 2013); Neelam Valley (August 6, 2013); and one on December 23, 2013, Congress spokesperson Rajeev Shukla said.
He also listed two surgical strikes carried out under the previous BJP-led NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. These were Nadala Enclave, across the Neelum River (January 21, 2000) and Baroh sector in Poonch (September 18, 2003), Shukla said.
The war of words between the two parties came after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in an interview to Hindustan Times, said multiple surgical strikes took place during UPA rule.
Attacking the Congress, Jaitley said the Manmohan Singh government did not act against terrorists after the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 even as security forces were ready to target them.
The UPA government in fact released 25 terrorists as a "goodwill gesture" and one of them was later involved in the Pathankot terror attack, he alleged.
"When the former prime minister and (a former) army chief say earlier also surgical strikes have taken place and the finance minister says they were invisible strikes then he is raising questions not just on Vajpayee ji and Manmohan Singh ji, but is also casting aspersions on the Army and the remarks made by the army chiefs at that time," Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak said.
Shukla, in his remarks, said that both Manmohan Singh and Vajpayee never talked about the strikes.
The convention is not to talk about military operations, but this government has broken all traditions, he said.
Shukla also said the Congress never tried to take political advantage from military operations.
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ISRO launches Mission MITRA for safety of human spaceflight mission crew
Bengaluru (PTI): ISRO on Friday said it has undertaken mission MITRA in Leh, Union Territory of Ladakh, from April 2 to 9, a first-of-its-kind team behavioural study for the benefit of human spaceflight missions such as Gaganyaan.
The mission, inaugurated by the ISRO chairman V Narayanan, was mainly for the crew safety and performance.
"Mission MITRA is a first-of-its-kind team behavioural study designed by ISRO and IAF-Institute of Aerospace Medicine to examine the physiological, psychological, and operational dynamics of Crew and ground teams functioning in a high-altitude environment," ISRO said in a statement.
This study is targeted to generate vital understanding on the team interoperability between crew (Gaganyatris) and ground control teams and the effectiveness of decision making under environmental & operational stress, the space agency said.
Noting that the crew safety and performance are the most critical elements of all Human Spaceflight Missions, ISRO said the ability of the crew to communicate effectively, adapt to stress, maintain psychological resilience and support one another determines the success and safety of any mission.
Analogue missions conducted under controlled yet realistic conditions are utilised to understand how crews perform under challenging conditions, it added.
The space agency said the high altitude of approximately 3,500 meters at Leh having the environmental conditions of hypoxia, low temperature, and isolation, is a natural analogue for spaceflight operations.
