HUBBALLI WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 16 CITY EDITION MODI NAMES 4 ASTRONAUTS FOR 1ST HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT MISSION Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the names of astronauts who are undergoing training for India’s first human flight mission, Gaganyaan HONOURS THEM WITH ‘ASTRONAUT WINGS’ MOST COMPONENTS USED ARE MADE IN INDIA The astronauts are Group Captains Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Angad Pratap, Ajit Krishnan and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. Gaganyaan aims to send three astronauts to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bring them back safely home. Honouring them with the prestigious ‘astronaut wings’, Modi said they represent the aspirations of all ■ ■ Most components of Gaganyaan are Made in India, the PM pointed out, underscoring the nation’s self-reliance in space exploration He said after four decades an Indian was going into space and “this time around, the countdown, the timing and even the rocket would be ours.” He described the astronauts as the country’s four Shaktis 2K-3K HOURS OF CUMULATIVE FLYING EXPERIENCE THE ASTRONAUTS HAVE CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Dukhu govt on brink as rebels gift BJP RS seat Six Congress MLAs vote for BJP in HP; cross-voting by 7 SP MLAs gives the saffron party eighth seat in Uttar Pradesh Maken wins as Cong claims 3 RS seats, BJP 1 in K’taka H A R P R E E T B A J W A A N D N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Chandigarh/ Lucknow ‘SUKHU’ was not a word the Congress would have wanted to associate itself with on Tuesday amid cross-voting in three states the Rajya Sabha elections; the more appropriate term was ‘Dukhu’. If the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government failed to keep its flock together for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, giving the BJP an stunning victory, the Samajwadi Party suffered a blow in Uttar Pradesh as the saffron party snatched a seat from under its nose, winning eight in all. The situation reversed in Karnataka as one BJP MLAs crossvoted and another abstained from voting. Himachal Pradesh saw the BJP’s Harsh Mahajan registering an upset victory over Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Sukhu government in Himachal is now on the edge as the state budget has to be passed on February 29 (Thursday). If the government fails to do so, it will lose legitimacy . Though the BJP has only 25 seats in the 68-member Himachal assembly Mahajan polled , 34 votes to tie with Singhvi’s score. The victor was then decided by a draw of lots. As many as six Congress lawmakers and three Independents voted in favour of Mahajan. In UP, the contest was for the eighth seat as the BJP and the SP had easily pocketed seven and two, respectively Seven of the SP lawmak. ers cross-voted for the BJP’s eighth candidate Sanjay Seth, who is an SP import. The seven SP rebels are Abhay Singh, Rakesh Pratap Singh, Rakesh Pandey, Manoj Pandey (SP chief whip), Ashutosh Maurya, Vinod Chaturvedi and Puja Pal. Besides, one SP MLA, Maharaji Devi, abstained. EXPRESS READ PM: I.N.D.I.A bloc has accepted defeat Tiruppur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the I.N.D.I.A bloc has accepted that they will be defeated in polls, but they continue with their alliance to loot people. “The voters have made up their mind to prevent it,” he said here in Tiruppur on Tuesday. P5 Ex-Supreme Court judge Khanwilkar is Lokpal chief EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi FORMER Supreme Court j u d g e A j ay M a n i k r a o Khanwilkar was on Tuesday appointed the chairperson of Lokpal, almost two years after the post fell vacant. The Lokpal has been functioning without a regular chief after Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose completed his term on May 27, 2022. President Droupadi Murmu also named six others as members of the anti-corruption ombudsman. Former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court Lingappa Narayana Swamy former , chief justice of Karnataka HC and present chairperson of the Law Commission of India Ritu Raj Awasthi, and former Allahabad HC chief justice Sanjay Yadav are the new judicial members of Lokpal. Former CEC Sushil Chandra, former Gujarat chief secretary Pankaj Kumar, and former Secretary, Department of Land Resources Ajay Tirkey are the non-judicial members. Justice Khanwilkar was part of important verdicts including decriminalization of homosexuality, Sabarimala issue, and Narendra Modi’s exoneration in the 2002 case. The Lokpal is a powerful institution that has jurisdiction over government to probe corruption allegations against its functionaries including the prime minister. Draw of lots part rules Harsh Mahajan (BJP) defeated Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Congress) by a draw of lots, which was a tiebreaker. In the RS, the candidate whose slip is drawn loses the poll, while in the LS, the one whose slip is drawn, wins Rebels Will be expelled “We knew they would rebel when they skipped the dinner. There was a buzz about different packages. The rebels will be expelled,” Akhilesh said D E V A R A J B H I R E H A L L I @ Bengaluru Chief Minister Siddaramaiah casts his vote during the Rajya Sabha polls in Bengaluru on Tuesday | EXPRESS BJP TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST MLA Bengaluru: The Opposition BJP has decided to take legal action against MLA ST Somashekar for violating the party whip by cross voting in the Rajya Sabha polls. “Whatever he has done, it is political suicide,” Leader of Opposition R Ashoka said | P4 RULING Congress bagged three seats and BJP secured one in the biennial elections held for four seats of the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka on Tuesday . Former Union minister and AICC treasurer Ajay Maken, Syed Naseer Hussain and GC Chandrashekar of Congress, Narayansa K Bhandage of BJP were declared elected for a tenure of six years from April 3, 2024. The polling and counting of votes was held at Vidhana soudha. The BJP-JDS alliance faced a setback as their candidate, fifth in the Row erupts over ‘pro-Pak’ slogans at Soudha E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru CONGRESS’ celebrations after its impressive win in the Rajya Sabha polls were marred by a controversy over followers of newly elected RS member Syed Naseer Hussain allegedly raising slogans that were heard as “Pakistan Zindabad” in the corridors of Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday evening. But it remains unclear whether the slogans, shouted amid a lot of din, were “Naseersaab Zindabad” or “Pakistan Zinda- LS model code in 10-12 days, hints Joshi EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ KGF UNION Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday hinted that the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls could come into force by the second week of March. At an event to distribute possession certificates to former fray -- former RS member D Kupendra Reddy of JDS, polled 36 votes against the 45 required and lost. Of the 224 elected MLAs, 222 exercised their franchise and all the votes were valid. While Yellapur BJP MLA Shivaram Hebbar abstained, Surapura Congress MLA Raja Venkatappa Naik died on Sunday . The results were on the expected lines, except for a drama involving two rebel BJP MLAs who defied the party whip to favour Congress, which however made no difference. Yeshwanthpur MLA ST Somashekar cross voted for Maken of Congress, while Hebbar did not turn up. Both are likely to join Congress. P4 employees of Bharat Gold Mines Ltd at Kolar Gold Fields, he told local legislator Roopa Kala Sashidhar to come to New Delhi within the next 10-12 days to discuss issues related to BGML ex-employees, which was construed by political experts as an indication of the coming model code of conduct. bad”. BJP filed a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police against Hussain and his supporters, and an FIR was registered against “unknown persons”. Soon after his victory Hussain , was seen with his followers who were raising slogans in Vidhana Soudha corridors. P4 SC issues contempt notice to Patanjali, Balkrishna S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a contempt notice to Patanjali Ayurved and its managing director Acharya Balkrishna for publishing advertisements on medicinal cures of their medicines, despite their undertaking to follow the court’s earlier order. The SC had in its earlier order restrained the company from issuing advertisements relating to blood pressure, diabetes and asthma. The two-judge bench comprising justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah pulled up Patanjali Ayurved for its alleged misleading advertisements about their products. The court restrained Patanjali from advertising about its medicinal products till further hearing, which is set for three weeks from now.
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