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Shubhanshu Shukla returns home; Parliament plans special discussion on mission
The special discussion takes place on a day Shukla is set to return to India following his two-week long mission aboard the ISS in June-July.
The Lok Sabha on Monday will hold a special discussion on India’s space journey and Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s historic mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), according to a notice issued by the Lower House.
The House will debate on “India’s first astronaut aboard the ISS –– critical role of space programme for Viksit Bharat by 2047”, a subject that can possibly end the deadlock in Parliament to hail India’s new milestone in space journey.
Shukla landed in New Delhi in the early hours of Sunday following his two-week long mission aboard the ISS in June-July.
The discussion has been scheduled amid the Opposition’s efforts to raise the issue of alleged manipulation of voter lists and the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. Opposition leaders have sought a discussion over the SIR issue. However, the government has taken a stand that the House cannot take up a discussion on the matter as the case is sub judice in the Supreme Court and relates to Election Commission of India (ECI), an autonomous body,
Protests over the same have led to the transaction of limited business in Parliament. “But, given the nature of the debate on Shukla’s journey to the ISS, there is a scope that the Opposition may join the discussion,” a senior Congress leader said on anonymity.
In June, Shukla became the second Indian to go to space –– after IAF wing commander Rakesh Sharma –– as part of the Axiom-4 mission to the ISS. He returned to Earth on July 16. Alongside Shukla, the Ax-4 mission marked the return to human spaceflight programme for India, Poland and Hungary in over four decades.
Representing the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), Shukla’s return with all the learnings and experience from the Ax-4 mission is an important step for the Gaganyaan mission and setting up the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (the Indian Space Station).
In her address to the nation on the eve of the Independence Day, President Droupadi Murmu mentioned Shukla’s feat and said, “I am sure that Shubhanshu Shukla’s space journey to the International Space Station has fired a whole generation to dream bigger. It will prove extremely helpful for India’s upcoming human space flight program, ‘Gaganyaan’.”
The Department of Space described Shukla’s mission as one of “strategic importance” and India’s resolve to emerge as a serious contender in human space exploration.
During his address on the 79th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Shukla’s historic visit. “Every citizen of the country is seeing the wonders of the space sector and is filled with pride. And our Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from the space station. He is also coming to India in a few days. We are also preparing for Aatmanirbhar Bharat Gaganyaan on our own in space. We are working towards building our own space station on our own,” he said.
