Nitin Gadkari shares dais with Cong leader, praises him for taking part in Pandharpur pilgrimage
Pune, Jun 30: Union minister Nitin Gadkari shared the dais with senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh during a book release function near Pune city and praised the latter for his annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur, a temple town in Maharashtra.
Singh visits Pandharpur, which houses the famous temple of Lord Vitthal and Goddess Rukmini in Solapur district, every year to offer prayers to the deity on Ashadi Ekadashi when the palanquins carrying sacred footprints of Sant Tuakram and Sant Dnyaneshwar reach the town along with lakhs of 'warkaris' (devotees).
Gadkari and Singh on Thursday came together to release a book on late Congress leader Ramkrishna More at Pimpri Chinchwad near Pune.
During his speech, Gadkari praised Singh for his annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur on Ashadi Ekadashi, which was celebrated on Thursday.
"I won't get that kind of courage (to walk) although I am younger than you. But you walk so much (during the pilgrimage)...I congratulate you and thank you," the Minister of Road Transport and Highways said.
Singh responded saying that Gadkari should also give it a try so that he starts taking part in it regularly.
Notably, Gadkari had in 2018 withdrawn a case of defamation against Digvijaya Singh after the latter expressed regret over his statement. A joint petition for withdrawal of the case was filed in Delhi's Patiala House court.
Gadkari had filed the defamation case against Singh in 2012 for allegedly dragging his name into alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks.
The BJP leader had then accused the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister of trying to divert people's attention from a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on coal blocks allocation by making allegations that a business partner of Gadkari gained a profit of Rs 490 crore from coal mines in Chhattisgarh.
Speaking at the event further, Gadkari also lauded the political culture of Maharashtra and said that although there were different parties in the state, there was no bitterness among them.
"There can be differences of opinion, but there should be no 'manbhinnata' (differences in relationship) and Maharashtra is a fine example of it," he said.
The minister said the government was developing the Palkhi Marg (palanquin route) at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore.
He said he has asked the engineers to lay grass along the route so that warkaris can walk on it instead of going barefoot on a hot road.
"मैं आपसे छोटा हूं..."
— News24 (@news24tvchannel) June 30, 2023
◆ जब मंच पर नितिन गडकरी ने की दिग्विजय सिंह की तारीफ#NitinGadkari | @digvijaya_28 | @nitin_gadkari pic.twitter.com/y7f4mP6jYo
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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.
