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As the whole nation is showering accolades for successful completion of the Space mission,  Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah too echoed his  sense of pride over  astronaut Shubanshu Shukla aboard the International Space Station and said this is a step in the direction of hoisting the national flag on the Moon.

 

"It is good that he  Shubhanshu Shukla returned safe and sound. Earlier, our astronauts had gone on a space mission with Russian teams, but this time he went there aboard the International Space Station."The government of India had a mission to send humans to the Moon on our own, and this is a step in that direction. I hope the time will come when the country's flag will be hoisted on the Moon," the chief minister told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

 

Talking about the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, Abdullah expressed hope that the number of pilgrims would cross 3.5 lakh this year.Abdullah also expressed satisfaction at the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas registering a footfall of over 2.50 lakh since the beginning of the 38-day yatra on July 3, and said it was unimaginable in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. The April 22 attack left 25 tourists and a local pony service provider dead.

 

"There was a time when we were sceptical about anyone coming for the yatra this time due to the Pahalgam incident. So far, 2.50 lakh people have visited, and if this trend continues, the number will easily cross the 3.50 lakh as the yatra will continue till August 9... I hope the number will increase further," he said.

 

On the controversy surrounding his government's decision to make Urdu mandatory for the Naib Tehsildar recruitment examination, the chief minister defended the move, saying, "We do not have any wrong intention to keep anyone outside." "You have to keep in mind that our revenue records, even before independence, were in Urdu, so we will not deploy staff who cannot read Urdu. What work will they do?" he said.

 

The chief minister said earlier, IAS and JKAS officers with no knowledge of Urdu were given six months to one year to acquire basic knowledge of the language."So, it will be better if there is some policy to give the Revenue Department staff time so that they can achieve some sort of proficiency in Urdu otherwise, they cannot read the revenue records," he said.