India-born Pakistani poet Fahmida Riaz passes away
Lahore, Nov 22 : Noted India-born Pakistani poet and human rights activist Fahmida Riaz has passed away following a prolonged illness at the age of 73 here, media reports said.
Riaz, who fled Pakistan during former military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq's rule and lived in self exile in India for nearly seven years, had been unwell for the past few months.
Born into a literary family of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh in July, 1945 and settled in Hyderabad following her father's transfer to Sindh province, always raised her voice for women rights and democracy in Pakistan, The News International reported.
Riaz, a well-known progressive Urdu writer, poet, human rights activist and feminist, worked with Radio Pakistan and BBC Urdu service (Radio), the report said.
Her Urdu publication Awaz grabbed the attention of Zia for its liberal and politically-charged content after which she and her second husband were charged with various cases and the magazine was shut down, it said.
After her husband was arrested, she fled to India with her two children and sister, and got asylum. Her children went to school in India. Her husband later joined her in India after his release from jail, it said.
The family spent almost seven years in exile in India before returning to Pakistan after Zia's death, the report said.
Riaz had been a poet in residence for Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi. She was a prominent voice in the feminist struggle in Pakistan, the report added.
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
