TIRUNELVELI l wednesday l february 28, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l 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 Draw of lots part rules Prime Minister Narendra Modi patting state BJP chief K Annamalai at the ‘En Mann En Makkal Yatra’ valedictory function held at Palladam in Tiruppur on Tuesday | S Senbagapandiyan PM Modi: INDIA bloc has accepted defeat, BJP will end corruption in TN too E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Tiruppur Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the constituents of INDIA bloc have accepted their poll defeat but they continue their alliance with the intent to loot people. “The voters, however, have made up their mind to prevent it. In TN, too, the BJP is preparing to end the politics of corruption,” the PM said during his address at the valedictory function of Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai’s ‘En Mann En Makkal Yatra’ held at Palladam in Tiruppur on Tuesday . Modi said in the last 10 years, the BJP government at the centre has allocated more funds for development projects in Tamil Nadu than at any time in the past. “Between 2004 and 2014, long-time allies DMK and Congress shared power in the UPA regime, but they never prioritised Tamil Nadu’s development. No development took place during the Congress rule, but the BJP regime has been making dedicated efforts to ensure the devel- 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. opment of Tamil Nadu. About `2 lakh crore has been given away to Tamil Nadu entrepreneurs under the MUDRA Yojana,” the PM said. “The opposition parties that are currently dominating Tamil Nadu will never let Tamil Nadu develop. Did the Congress, which indulged in thousands of crores of defence deals, ever allow the formation of defence corridors in Tamil Nadu? Today, the country’s defence exports have grown multifold, providing employment to youth. Would the Congress have allowed this to happen? We have initiated the PLI (ProductionLinked Incentive) scheme for the textile industry. Because of this, investment proposals worth `20,000 crore have been put forward. Turnover of nearly `2 lakh crore is expected. The INDIA bloc is upset when they look at all the work that we have done,” the PM said. “Those sitting in air-conditioned rooms in Delhi, and those making futile attempt to break India must come here and see that TN is going to create history he said. P7 ,” 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 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 cross-voted 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 . SC ORDER COLLECTORS MUST APPEAR BEFORE ED SC bench says five TN collectors must appear before ED in a money laundering probe related to sand mining case | P7 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 . lawmakers 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 Pan, dey (SP chief whip), Ashutosh Maurya, Vinod Chaturvedi and Puja Pal. Besides, one SP MLA, Maharaji Devi, abstained. In Karnataka, five candidates were in the fray for four seats. Those elected were Ajay Maken, G C Chandrasekhar and Syed Naseer Hussain (all Congress) and Narayansa K Bhandage of the BJP. BJP MLA S T Somashekar voted for Maken, while another party legislator A Shivaram Hebbar abstained from voting. 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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