Congress' Meghalaya legislator quits assembly, party
Shillong,A June 22: Veteran Congress leader Martin Danggo, who quit as member of the Meghalaya assembly on Thursday night, resigned from the primary membership of the Congress on Friday to join the ruling National People's Party (NPP).
In his resignation letter to state Congress president Celestine Lyngdoh, Danggo said that he had resigned as member of the assembly and the party "as per the desire of my (danggo) people".
Home Minister James Sangma said that Danggo, who had been elected to the assembly five consecutive times from Ranikor assembly constituency, will be joining the NPP and seeking re-election from the constituency.
On June 12, several Congress members from South West Khasi Hills district's Ranikor block resigned en masse and joined the ruling NPP in the presence of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma.
The resignations came in wake of the refusal of the previous Congress government headed by Mukul Sangma, now the Leader of Opposition, to the local demand to upgrade the Ranikor community and rural development block to a sub-division.
Conrad Sangma, who attended a meeting at Ranikor, said the demand of the people for creation of a sub-division was "genuine" assured his government would fulfil it at the earliest.
Danggo, who hosted the public meeting on behalf of the people of Ranikor, expressed his confidence in Conrad Sangma and said that he foresees a brighter future for Meghalaya under his leadership.
Following Danggo's resignation, the opposition's strength has reduced to 20 in the 60-member assembly.
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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.
