India is facing threat to secularism, PM Modi going against Constitution, says Tamil Nadu CM Stalin
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of functioning against the Constitution of India and stated that the country's secularism and unity are under threat.
After he came to power, the Prime Minister said that the Indian constitution was his 'veda' and even bowed before Parliament. "But now he is going against the Constitution. People should realise this and oppose it," Stalin said while addressing a meeting at the Kerala Media Academy here.
"There's a threat to India's unity in diversity and secularism, and an attempt is being made to destroy social justice. Through this, they (the BJP) are attempting to destroy India. We strongly oppose this," Stalin who is the president of the DMK, said.
For some, the mention of the word 'Dravidam' is causing "irritation," he said, and added that the people of both the states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, belong to the same Dravidian family. He appealed to the people of both states to function like a double-barrelled gun to protect India.
Media should contribute to safeguarding the country as the nation's democracy would survive only when the media remained independent, the CM noted.
"The media should function as it did during the independence struggle without attaching importance to any misinformation campaign or getting distracted," Stalin said inaugurating the Media Meet of the Kerala Media Academy and Malayalee Association of Chennai at the Malayalee Club auditorium, Chetpet, here.
He released veteran journalist B R P Bhaskar's book: The Changing Mediascape, published by the academy, and the first copy was received by Kerala's former minister M A Baby.
The chief minister launched the Youtube channel version of "Unmediated" the academy's documentary on media personality Sashi Kumar, on the occasion.
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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.
