RSS trying to crush Karnataka's spirit: Rahul
Bengaluru, May 10: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of trying to crush the spirit of the people of Karnataka and said the Congress will win Saturday's Assembly polls hands down.
Gandhi, who addressed a press conference here on the last day of campaigning, said that the Karnataka polls were not just between two political parties but between two ideologies.
He alleged that the RSS was imposing its idea of oneness and was against the people of Karnataka to express themselves.
"There is an idea in India that says the entire country must be ruled with one idea, one imposition and everybody must submit to that idea. That is what RSS is trying to do. Institution after institution is being attacked by the RSS," he said.
"Supreme Court judges for the first time are asking people for justice. The reason for this is because the RSS is placing its people everywhere. My friends in Karnataka listen to this carefully. The idea is to crush your spirit. We will never ever allow your spirit and ideas of Basavanna to be crushed," he said
The Congress President also ruled out the possibility of a hung assembly in the state.
"I am pretty clear that there is going to be one outcome here which is the Congress party winning the elections hands down," Gandhi said.
"On one side you have the RSS idea of one concept in the whole country. On the other, you have an idea that every single person in the country should be able to express himself, that all my friends in Karnataka should have pride in their language, in their food. That is what this fight has become. There is no half-way answer possible in this," he noted.
Gandhi said the media had estimated only a few seats to Congress in Gujarat but the party came very close to defeating the BJP whose campaign was spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"In Gujarat, my friends in the media said Congress will not get more than 20-30 seats. Congress came very close to defeating BJP. The Prime Minister put whatever effort he could," he added.
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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.
