RS condemns recent terror attacks in France and other places

Rajya Sabha today strongly condemned the recent terror attacks in France, Turkey and other countries and said people of India stand in solidarity with their counterparts in these nations.
The members observed silence as mark of respect to those who lost their lives in these tragic incidents.
Chairman Hamid Ansari said the past few months have witnessed terrorist attacks in several countries including Paris, Beirut in Lebanon, Turkey, Baghdad in Iraq, Nigeria, Bangkok in Thailand.
"The terror attacks are an act of cowardice and an attack on liberal values, multiculturalism, and individual liberties and deserve to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The House joins me in unequivocally condemning the terrorist acts perpetrated by the terrorist outfits," he said.

He also mentioned the incident in which 224 innocent lives were lost when a Russian plane crashed under tragic circumstances over Egypt on October 31.
"The loss lives in all these incidents is indeed tragic and unfortunate. The House joins me in expressing our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.

"The people of India stand in solidarity with the government and people of France, Turkey, Thailand, Nigeria, Iraq and Russia in their hour of grief," Ansari said.
The members also prayed for the speedy recovery of the
injured and rehabilitation of the people displaced due to floods in Tamil Nadu.

More than 180 people have reportedly lost their lives and several others were injured and many were displaced due to the torrential rains for the last more than 15 days.
The natural calamity caused immense damage to houses, crops and the infrastructure.
"The loss of so many innocent lives, injury to the people and damage to houses, crop and infrastructure is indeed sad and unfortunate," Ansari said.
The members rose in their places and observed silence as a mark of respect to the memory of those who lost their lives in these tragic incidents.
The Upper House also felicitated Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on successful launch of Astrosat, a space observatory, on the September 28, taking India into the group of countries that have space telescopes to study celestial objects and processes.

Two indigenously made communications satellites, GSAT-6 and GSAT-15, were also successfully launched on August 27 and November 11 respectively from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and Kourou in French Guyana in South America.
These launches have added another significant milestone in the development of Indian space technology, Ansari said.
"The credit for all these landmark achievements, undoubtedly, goes to our scientific community, particularly those working with ISRO.
"On behalf of the entire House and on my own behalf, I congratulate the scientists, engineers and technicians, who were associated with these projects and do hope that they will continue to scale greater heights and make the country proud of their achievements," the Chairman said.