Special discussion on Shubhanshu Shukla's space mission in Lok Sabha today, PM Modi will also meet him

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returned to India early Sunday. A large number of people gathered at the Delhi airport waving the tricolour with drums and trumpets to celebrate his historic visit to the International Space Station (ISS). Amid the sound of drums, Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan welcomed Shubhanshu Shukla and his backup astronaut Prashant Balakrishnan Nair.

A special discussion will be held in the Lok Sabha on Monday to mark his return. His wife Kamna and son Kiyaash were also present at the airport to welcome Shukla, who returned home after nearly a year of training in the US for space travel and a visit to the ISS.

Special discussion to be held in Lok Sabha

Responding to the welcome message posted by Jitendra Singh after welcoming him at the airport, Shukla wrote on X, "Thank you sir. It feels really good to be back home." Shukla is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and then go to his hometown Lucknow. He is also likely to return to the capital to participate in the National Space Day celebrations on August 22-23.

To mark Shukla's return home, there will be a special discussion in the Lok Sabha on Monday on the topic 'India's first astronaut on the International Space Station - the important role of space program for developed India by 2047'. This information has been given in the agenda released by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Two important bills will also be introduced

Along with this historic discussion, two important bills will also be introduced in the Lok Sabha. Union Minister Piyush Goyal will move a motion for permission to introduce the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025. The second bill is the Indian Institute of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025. It will be introduced by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Through this bill, it has been proposed to make further amendments in the Indian Institute of Management Act, 2017.

Significantly, Shubhanshu Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 private space mission, which took off from Florida on June 25 and reached the International Space Station on June 26. He returned to Earth on July 15. Along with three other astronauts - Peggy Whitson (USA), Slavoj Ujnanski-Wisniewski (Poland) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), Shukla conducted more than 60 experiments and conducted 20 outreach sessions during the 18-day mission.