'ISRO spirit' in country, moon mission has united India: PM Modi
Rohtak: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said an "ISRO spirit" has gripped the country, which has been united by the moon mission Chandrayaan-2, and the nation now looks beyond success and failure.
He was addressing the BJP's 'Vijay Sankalp' rally here, kicking off the party's campaign for the assembly elections in Haryana, scheduled in October.
"On the night of September 7, 100 seconds after 1.50 am an incident awakened and united the entire country. Like (there is) a sportsman spirit, an ISRO spirit is running in the country. Countrymen are not ready to accept negativity," Modi said.
Recalling the early of hours of Saturday, when Chandrayaan-2's lander was scheduled to make a soft landing on the moon but suffered a setback, the prime minister said at 1.50 am, the entire country was sitting in front of television screens to watch the good news of Chandrayaan-2.
"In those 100 seconds whatever the country did, it reflected the mettle of 125 crore countrymen," said Modi, who had flown to Bengaluru to watch the planned touchdown of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) lander 'Vikram'.
India's mission to soft-land on the moon suffered a setback, with 'Vikram' losing communication with ground stations, just 2.1 km from the lunar surface during its final descent. However, Sunday the ISRO said Vikram has been located on the lunar surface and it must have been a hard-landing,
"The country, which has the strength to live for its resolutions, imbibes the ISRO spirit," Modi said, adding that "the 100 seconds showed the entire country what is the power of hope and belief, and what is determination and capacity."
He said only that country is able to fulfil its dream which lives beyond the limits of successes and failures. The country changed the definition of success and failure in those 100 seconds, Modi said.
"Now, the country prays for courage and valour. The country is moving ahead with a faith in change," he said.
The people of India are lucky that there is a energy and a feeling in the country which "will fulfil our resolve", the prime minister said.
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Unruly scenes witnessed in Punjab Assembly
Chandigarh (PTI): The Punjab Assembly on Friday witnessed high drama on Friday after Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira made an allegedly objectionable remark against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during an intense argument over the alleged use of mobile phone in the house by the legislator.
During the one-day special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha here, Mann accused Khaira of using a mobile phone when Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan was reading out an official resolution on the revision of wages.
After rising from his seat, the chief minister pointed to the speaker, claiming that Khaira is busy on his mobile phone and urged him to ask the Congress MLA what Sandhwan had said about the resolution.
The speaker then asked Khaira to maintain order in the house and listen to the resolution carefully.
Mann then asked Khaira, "Why don't you go out and then use it (mobile phone)," which led to a strong verbal altercation during which the opposition MLA hurled an accusation against the chief minister. Meanwhile, the speaker appealed for order and insisted that the chair be addressed.
However, both Mann and Khaira continued arguing and could be seen pointing fingers at each other as the proceedings of the house were disrupted.
The AAP MLAs also rose from their seats with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema condemning Khaira for his conduct and demanded action against him.
Cheema further alleged that Khaira "always tries to disturb the house" as he spoke about his conduct in the assembly.
The incident occurred as an official resolution on the revision of wages was presented at the special session by Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond who said it paid homage to labourers on the International Workers' Day.
"Workers are the axis of construction of the nation, the community, the state and society. Every construction project succeeds only through their blood and sweat," the resolution read.
As per the resolution, "The base rate of minimum wages for the working class in Punjab was last revised in the year 2012. Although the dearness allowance has continued to increase since 2012, there has been no increase in the base rate of minimum wages.
On this sacred occasion of May Day, in this special session of the legislative assembly, this house proposes to revise and increase the minimum wages of labourers and strongly recommends to the government to take a decision regarding the increase of minimum wages for workers, so that the contributions of the workers can be acknowledged." PRK
