China launches crewed spacecraft Shenzhou-12 in historic mission
The Hindu
The ‘Divine Vessel’, bound for the space station module Tianhe blasted off at 9:22 a.m. rom the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu province.
China launched aspacecraft on Thursday, June 17, 2021, carrying three astronauts to part of a space station still under construction for the longest stay in low Earth orbit by any Chinese national. A Long March 2F rocket transporting the Shenzhou-12, or Divine Vessel, bound for the space station module Tianhe blasted off at 9:22 a.m. Beijing time (0122 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu province. The launch time saw bright blue skies with near perfect visibility at the launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.