Delhi excise policy case: BRS leader Kavitha appears before ED
New Delhi (PTI): BRS leader K Kavitha deposed before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Saturday, with the agency all set to confront her with an arrested accused and record her statement in connection with its money-laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy.
The 44-year-old daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao arrived at the federal agency's headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road from her father's official residence on Tughlak Road, located about 1.5 kilometres away, around 11 am.
There was a heavy presence of Delhi Police and central paramilitary forces personnel for barricading the ED office even as the supporters of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader staged a protest on APJ Abdul Kalam Road.
The ED had asked Kavitha to depose on March 9, but she sought a fresh date due to her scheduled daylong hunger strike here on Friday seeking the passage of the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill in the Budget Session of Parliament.
The BRS MLC has been called by the agency so that she can be confronted with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, an alleged frontman of the "south group" who was arrested by the ED earlier this week.
The agency will also record Kavitha's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
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Astronaut Shukla urges youths to own dreams for India's space missions, other goals
New Delhi (PTI): Describing them as future makers of the nation, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla on Sunday urged youths to start owning dreams, whether in human spaceflight missions or other spheres, and work collectively towards realising them.
Shukla visited the National Cadet Corps' (NCC) Republic Day Camp at Delhi Cantonment on Sunday and interacted with the cadets.
The astronaut urged them not to let a few failures define them and to keep working towards the goals they set in life.
Shukla, a group captain with the Indian Air Force (IAF), referred to a famous line from the Hollywood animation movie 'Finding Nemo', and told the gathering of uniformed youths to “keep swimming” in the ocean of life.
Later, he also interacted with some mediapersons and reiterated his expectations from the Indian youth, especially when India has set an ambitious goal of becoming a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.
Shukla returned to Earth on July 15 last year following the successful completion of a historic 18-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Launched on June 25 last year, the project with Shukla as a mission pilot marked the first occasion when an Indian astronaut travelled to the ISS.
“The first Indian who went to space was Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma in 1984, and it took 41 years before another Indian travelled to space. But now, I think, the youths are very excited about space, and also show an inclination to do things to achieve any big goal,” he told reporters.
In his address and later in response to queries from reporters, Shukla urged the youths to start owning dreams for the nation and its aspirations.
“So, if it is about the vision of sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040, one will have to say, ‘it is my responsibility’ to ensure it happens, or for any other aspirations for that matter,” Shukla said.
India’s long-term ambitions in space include setting up the Bharatiya Antariksha Station by 2035 and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.
Shukla also asserted that if people of the nation can put their heart and soul together, and work collectively, “we can achieve the Viksit Bharat dream even before 2047”.
He also recalled that the capsule in which he was launched into space took off from the same complex that was used when Neil Armstrong embarked on the historic mission to the Moon in 1969.
