Congress leader Abdul Mannan on Friday said that BJP president Amit Shah merely copied Congress leaders when he ate food at a poor man's house in north Bengal, and it was nothing new.

"Starting from Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Ganhdi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, all of them had taken meal at residences of local people during visit to different states.

It is nothing new. Amit Shah has only imitated them," Mannan, who is Opposition leader in the West Bengal Assembly, told reporters here.

The BJP president during his three-day visit to the state had taken lunch at a tribal's house at Naxalbari in north Bengal.

Shah had also visited some houses at 'Lockgate basi' under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhawanipur Assembly constituency and at Gouranganagar in North 24-Paraganas district on the outskirts of the city where he had taken sweets and lassi.

The Congress leader accused the BJP of using religion as a political tool and said under the BJP rule prices of essential commodities had gone up manifold.

He said that despite the promises he made before the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to bring 'acchhe din'.

Calling upon secular parties to come together to counter the BJP, he alleged that the Trinamool Congress has joined hands with the saffron party to have mutual benefits.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday said the state government is promoting holistic growth in the bamboo sector by adopting area-based, regionally differentiated strategy to increase bamboo cultivation.

Inaugurating a two-day summit here on bamboo, Sonowal said "People of Assam have grown up with bamboo. Bamboo culture has been rooted in our minds for a long time".

The state government is committed to promote holistic growth in the bamboo sector by adopting an exhaustive strategy to influence the growth of bamboo and its marketing, he said.

Using latest technology, the vast resources of bamboo can be used as a force multiplier for rapid industrialisation in the state, Sonowal said adding, "the people of Assam have the skills to work with bamboo. Promoting the use of bamboo as an industry will work as a catalyst to materialise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of making Assam an organic hub of the Northeast."

Urging the delegates to invest in bamboo and its allied sectors, the Chief Minister assured all help to the bamboo industry.

Assuring his government's commitment to transform Guwahati as a business capital of South East Asian countries, Sonowal said his government has been taking several steps to improve connectivity of the city and its infrastructure.

Bamboo is one of the strongest building materials and it is a critical element of the rural economy of the state, which can also contribute to create an effective mechanism against soil erosion, Sonowal said.

He said Numaligarh Refinery Limited will process five lakh tons of green bamboo annually, which will help in ethanol blending and will promote large scale local employment through bamboo cultivation and semi-processing facilities.

Organised by the Department of Industries and Commerce, the summit aimed at bringing together relevant stakeholders to deliberate and discuss new ideas, opportunities and collaborations to enable Assam's bamboo industry take a big leap.

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the authorities to take care of the "comfort" of differently abled persons at government offices, public buildings, public transport and metro services in the national capital.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra sought reports from the Centre, Delhi government, civic bodies, colleges, schools, Delhi Metro and the other authorities on the 'disability audit' of public buildings in the city.

While referring to its earlier order, the bench said it had already directed civic agencies to reserve space for the disabled in parking areas across the city and punish errant contractors and attendants.

"Understanding the magnitude of the problem (of the disabled), all authorities to inform us within a week which all buildings here are disabled-friendly," the bench said, adding that the comfort of the differently-abled persons need to be kept in mind in such places.

The court listed the matter for hearing on April 19.

It issued the direction during the hearing of a PIL filed by 29-year-old Nipun Malhotra seeking directions to make the capital's roads, government offices and public transport friendly for the disabled people.

The plea has alleged that "most public facilities", right from public transportation, sidewalks, roads, footpaths to government buildings, were "woefully equipped" to meet the needs of the disabled.

He has sought a "disability audit" of public transport facilities as well as government buildings in the city.

The government is expected to ensure non-discrimination in public transport, rail compartments, buses, vessels, aircraft and waiting rooms in such a way as to make them comfortably accessible to the physically challenged persons, the petition has said.

The Supreme Court was on Friday told that the Centre was ready to discuss with recognised political parties the issue of escalating violence in Jammu and Kashmir, but made it clear that it will not negotiate with separatists.

The apex court said it will ask the government not to use pellet guns in Jammu and Kashmir if there was no violence, no stone throwing and students get back to classes.

Asking leaders of the J-K Bar Association to come forward with positive suggestions to diffuse the situation, a bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, and Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul said in such a situation they would ask the government not to use pellet guns.

'If you suggest something within the framework of Constitution, we will assure you there will be a dialogue,' the Chief Justice said.

Giving time to the Bar Association to come up with suggestions, the court said: 'You must first tell us what you will do. Then we will direct the government. If you keep throwing stones, how will it work?'

Taking exception to the affidavit filed by the Bar Association, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said they were even doubting the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India.

Apart from rubbishing the claims of the Jammu and Kashmir HC Bar Association that the Centre was not coming forward for further discussion on the issue, the Attorney General made it clear that the government would negotiate the issue only if recognised political parties partake in the discussion and not the separatists who have been responsible for harbouring tension in the region.

The bench subsequently questioned the Jammu and Kashmir HC Bar to come up with suggestions to resolve the crisis, which included stone-pelting and violent agitation on the streets of the Valley.

“If you (in view of the Kashmir issue) throw stones, close schools, how will talks happen in Kashmir?” the bench asked J&K SC Bar Association.

Replying to a petition to stop the use of pellet guns in the Valley, the bench said it can direct the Centre against the use of pellet guns but, in return, would the petitioner be able to guarantee that there will be no stone-pelting in the region?
“How can discussion take place when roads are blocked and stones are pelted?” it asked.

It said there was need for a positive start and the bar body could play an important role by coming out with a game plan and a road map for restoring normalcy in the valley.

Posting the matter for 9 May, the bench also made it clear to the Centre that the court would involve itself in the matter only if there was a view that it can play a role and there was no jurisdictional issue.

"If you feel the court has no role and if you feel we have no jurisdiction, we will close the file at this moment," the bench told the AG who objected to some of the suggestions made by the bar body including that the separatists were being ignored.

Love chat or a loose talk with unknown woman can invite trouble for those who indulge in it. Ludhiana (rural) police on Friday arrested a gang of nine, including two policemen, who used to  blackmail and extort money from rich people with similar modus operandi.

The police said  in all, nine persons  were involved in the crime out of which six have been nabbed including three women. The Ludhiana (rural) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Surjeet Singh said that the gang used to implicate the innocent people for making good amounts.

The gang includes Kamaljeet Singh, Paramjit Singh, Rupinder Singh from Faridkot, Sandeep Kaur, Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) sub-inspector (SI) Manjit Singh and constable Gurdeep Singh. Following their arrests, both Manjit Singh and  Gurdeep Singh were suspended. Police said that out of three women  Sandeep Kaur Simmarjit Kaur, and Jyoti, the latter two used to make calls to the rich and affluent people of the society.

Those who fell for the sweet talk, used to be called to some secluded  place for a meeting. However, Sandeep Kaur posing as a journalist used to reach the spot along with the two policemen,  Manjit Singh and Gurdeep Singh to extort money from the person by threatening to implicate him in a false case and reveal their identity to family and relatives.

Fearing trouble, most victims used to prefer to pay the desired amount to the gang members. The police informed that as many as 15 cases of fraud have been registered against the gang.

"They have extorted Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.50 lakh from the people belonging to the influential families. Further investigations are in progress and more disclosures are likely to be made," Mandeep Singh, Ludhiana (rural) SP  Superintendent of Police (SP), told The Statesman.

He further said that the modus oprendi of this gang was that Simmarjit Kaur and Jyoti used to give a missed call to high society rich people by presenting them as call girls."On receiving a call back from a particular person, Simarjit Kaur and Jyoti used to indulge him in love chat followed by a meeting at a certain place. SI Manjit Singh was the mastermind of the gang.  Sandeep Kaur used to pose herself as a journalist an constable Gurdeep Singh used to present himself as the Central Intelligence Agency staff. 

Fast and furious, like the Hollywood blockbuster, is the English Premier League. Every week there is a massive upset, a high-stakes clash and a golazo or two. It can get difficult to keep track of all that is happening, but thetatesman.com is at hand to ensure you are in touch with major headlines.

The high points from Gameweek 34 are:

Manchester Derby: Much hype about nothing

Footballing derbies always have plenty of fuss around them in the build-up, but there comes a time when the odd one turns out to be an anti-climatic experience. The Manchester Derby at the Etihad was, undoubtedly, a damp squib with no goals on display despite having some of the most expensively assembled XI’s in the history of the Premier League slugging it out. Jose Mourinho’s United were competitive in the first-half and while the smash and grab was on in the second period as well, Marouane Fellaini’s dismissal in the closing stages all but confirmed the result.

The away side had just three attempts on goal and while the hosts had the lion’s share of possession, fans don't come to see pretty passes, they want goals and plenty of them!

Christian Eriksen: The Premier League’s best No.10?

Is he? Well, alongside Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, Spurs’ Danish maestro is certainly in the discussion. After his stunner against Crystal Palace, which kept Spurs title hopes alive, we take a look at the stats that matter.
 
Eriksen has eight goals and 12 assists in the league, while Coutinho has 10 goals and six assists and De Bruyne has four goals and 13 assists. Eriksen and De Bruyne play a slightly less direct role than the Brazilian, which perhaps explains their relative lack of goals compared to Coutinho. But if one compares overall goals and assists, Eriksen (20) is ahead of De Bruyne (17) and Coutinho is further behind (16).  All three sides have been free scoring in the league with Liverpool (70) leading the charts, Spurs a close second (63) and City a little way back (63), which only makes crowning the league’s best playmaker an even more difficult task.

Surprisingly, neither of them made the PFA team of the year and right now it seems to be too close to give any one player the edge. 

Crystal Palace: Liverpool’s Kryptonite?

Ask Crystal Palace to name one opponent they would love to play each week and pat would come the reply: Liverpool. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, but how else do explain Liverpool’s three defeats in their past five games against the Eagles? 
The Reds were in decent form, unbeaten in seven games prior, and despite Philippe Coutinho setting them on their way with a stunning free-kick, allowed the visitors to come back into the tie, eventually losing 2-1. Their top-four hopes are hanging in the balance and their inability to beat opponents from the lower half of the table may well come back to bite them as the season nears its conclusion.

Swansea, Burnley and Hull: Three-way playoff to avoid last relegation spot

With Middlesbrough and Sunderland on the verge of relegation, who will be the third team to join them in the Championship next year?

Swansea, Burnley and Hull have all played 34 games each, with the Burnley in 16th place with 36 points, followed by Hull (33 points) with Swansea (31 points) occupying the final relegation spot. Out of the three, Burnley have the easiest fixtures and Swansea have the toughest. Which would suggest the Swans are favourites to go down, but stranger things have happened in the Premier League and this is another battle which will go down to the wire.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking ban on surrogate advertisements, including soda commercials by liquor companies.

Surrogate advertising is used to promote products like alcohol and cigarettes, for which advertisements are prohibited, in the guise of other products.

A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar dismissed the plea filed by a law student who had also sought a direction to the Centre to frame guidelines to ban such advertisements.

"Do you think that these soda advertisements make people drink alcohol more? We don't think so…Sorry," the bench that also comprised Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul said.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by a Rajasthan resident Kartikey Bhatt who claimed that the Cable Television Networks Rules state that no advertisement shall be permitted which directly or indirectly promotes production, sale or consumption of liquor or other intoxicants.

However, the government has failed to discharge their legal duty and surrogate advertisements were being illegally broadcast on cable services without seeking any prior permission, the plea said.

Noting that surrogate advertisements for alcohol was illegal, the plea said it was the government and its agencies' failure to ensure implementation of the law.

Bus commuters can now track the arrival and departure time of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) buses with the help of smart phones.  

This will be possible as the CTU is using information technology in its operation and has launched the Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS) project for live positioning of its inter-state buses.  

Launched on Friday by Punjab governor and administrator of Union Territory Chandigarh, VP Singh Badnore at Punjab Raj Bhawan, this project provides the live positioning of all 130 inter-state buses of CTU. It also gives the expected time of arrival (ETA) for all bus stops on the way as well as final destination of the journey.

The expected time of departure is also given for all the bus stops for CTU buses. The calculation of ETA is automatically updated as per traffic congestion on route. All the information is available through an Android Based Mobile App “CTU Bus Tracker” which is available free on Google PlayStore.

The information on buses can also be found on CTU website www.chdctu.gov.in. CTU has also installed two Passenger Information screens on the two inter-state bus terminals (ISBTs) in Sector 17 and Sector 43.

 "In the coming days, more screens shall be put up by CTU.  This project shall prove to be highly beneficial for the CTU management as it shall be able to monitor the schedule and route of the buses and any deviation therein shall be highlighted automatically. It shall enforce the time adherence and quality of service," an official spokesperson said.

Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said two Haryana corridors, including Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-Gurugram-Rewari-Alwar, would be provided a high-speed rail-based commuter transit system.

Naidu said that Rs.50,000 crore would be invested on the project, covering the said corridors under the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).

According to the official information the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is implementing rail based high speed point to point connectivity on these routes running trains at maximum speed of 160 kmph with a frequency of 5-10 minutes.

Naidu said the such high speed connectivity would result in increased wide spread economic activity and overall sustainable urban development of the region.

The project will be funded by the Centre, state government and international funding agencies.

Naidu further said that he has also agreed to consider Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's request to consider Gurugram's entry for Smart Cities competition on the condition that the Centre would only provide the technical support for this while the funding would be taken by the state government. Two Haryana cities including Faridabad and Karnal have already been selected for smart city project.

The Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) Minister was here to addressing the mediapersons a press conference here after reviewing the progress of schemes related to the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

He said that the field units should also bring the beneficiaries of various government schemes on the forefront and should not remain fixated on political or bureaucratic figures only.

The Minister also asked the concerned authorities to examine the possibility of launching Haryanvi language news bulletin and other programmes. Haryana has raised its demand for 8.97 lakh houses and the Union Ministry has asked the state to finalize the list within next two months.

The Delhi High Court on Friday made it clear to the Centre that persons entitled under the public distribution system (PDS) scheme cannot be denied subsidised foodgrains.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra said the "persons entitled under the scheme cannot be denied subsidised foodgrains" and it wanted to ensure that "not only the poor", but all those "eligible" should avail the benefits of the PDS.

"However, before extending the benefit, first we need to know that how many are eligible for the scheme and how many of them have been denied the same, in the absence of requisite identity cards," the bench said.

It asked the Centre, the Delhi government and the concerned authorities to produce data on persons covered under the PDS scheme in Delhi.

It also sought to know the details of families which have been denied subsidised foodgrains in the absence of Aadhaar cards, which have been made mandatory by the government to avail benefits under the PDS.

The bench further said that unless the details are available, it would not be able to pass any direction.

"We also want to ensure that the subsidised foodgrains reach to every poor and needy people of our society," the bench said and directed the authorities to produce the data in this regard before the next date of hearing on May 25.

The court was hearing a PIL seeking quashing of the Centre's February 8 notification making Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The plea has alleged that the notification violated the basic principle of law enshrined in Article 14 (equality) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution.

The Centre has sought dismissal of the PIL, saying a similar plea was pending in the Supreme Court.

Terming PDS as a "misused system", the Centre had told the court that through Aadhaar, its endeavour was to ensure that the real beneficiaries get foodgrains.

The Centre had said it has given time till June 30 to all those who do not have the biometric-based unique identification number to apply for Aadhaar cards.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) after collecting biometric data of citizens.

The notification came into effect from February 8 in all states and Union Territories (UTs), except Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir.

Under the NFSA, which was rolled out across the country in November last year, five kilograms of foodgrains per person is provided each month at Rs.1-3 per kg to over 80 crore people in the country.

A social organisation — Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan — had moved the high court seeking enforcement of the fundamental right to food to the residents of Delhi, particularly the poor and vulnerable groups which are dependent on subsidised foodgrains distributed by the Delhi government through the PDS, which it claimed was severely impaired by the notification.

Challenging the constitutional vires of the Aadhaar/UID project, the plea has said that due to the enforcement of the notification, people were being deprived of their rightful entitlement under the NFSA.

It said the apex court in an interim order in October 2015 had allowed voluntary use of Aadhaar and ruled that no citizen can be denied a service or subsidy for want of it.

The plea further alleged that the Centre's decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for subsidised food goes against the apex court's interim order and places the most vulnerable at the risk of being left out of the food security net.

Eleven moderate tremors jolted mountainous regions of central Italy on Friday, the National Geophysics and Vulcanology Institute reported.

The quakes struck early Friday. The strongest magnitude 3.4 temblor was registered at 3.42 am, the Institute said.

The towns closest to the epicentre of the quakes were Pizzoli, Barete and Capitignano, according to the Institute. 

Two stronger tremors of magnitude 4.0 and 4.1 rocked the province of Macerata in Marche region late on Thursday, with epicentres near the town of Visso. 

Five strong earthquakes have hit central Italy's mountainous spine since August. The quakes have killed 300 people, left several thousand homeless and caused 23 billion euros of damages.

Maharashtra government will set up an executive committee under the ministry of Women and Child Welfare to activate functioning of Transgender Welfare Board, conceptualised in 2014.

The government will implement various Central schemes for welfare of the transgender community through the executive committee, state Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde said.

She said the issues concerning the community will be handled by her ministry.

Munde was speaking at a meeting of representatives of the transgender community here.

"The decision to set up the Transgender Welfare Board was taken in 2014. We will set up an executive committee to activate the board," she said.

There are some five central schemes for welfare of transgenders.

Munde said her ministry will work towards bringing transgenders into the mainstream.

"We want them to be treated honourably and see that they benefit from the government's welfare schemes," she said.

Slamming the Modi government for rise in casualties in violence and terror attacks across India, the Congress on Friday said the situation during the earlier UPA rule was much better than under the present government since May 2014.

Why does this government talk of nationalism when it has failed in curbing casualties, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi asked. 

He also compared the casualty figures of the last 35 months of the United Progressive Alliance rule and the same period under the present National Democratic Alliance government. 

"In Jammu and Kashmir, 91 civilians and 198 soldiers lost their lives (since NDA rule). In the 35 months preceding this, that is during 2011-14, 50 civilian and 103 jawans were killed — around half of the current figures."

"In Maoist violence, 442 civilians and 278 jawans lost lives during the past 35 months (since Narendra Modi came to power). In the 35 months earlier, the numbers were 367 and 268 respectively," Singhvi said.

Talking of casualties in the north-east, the Congress leader said: "Between 2011-14, 229 civilians and 47 jawans lost their lives in the regions, compared with 344 and 99 respectively since the BJP-led government came to power at the Centre."

"On each parameter — be it Jammu and Kashmir, Maoist violence, Pakistan attack, China factor or the north-east — there have been increase in attacks against India," he added.

 India's foreign exchange (Forex) reserves rose by $1.25 billion as on April 21, 2017, official data showed on Friday.

According to the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement, the overall Forex reserves increased to $371.13 billion from $369.88 billion reported for the week ended April 14.

India's Forex reserves comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the RBI's position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Segment-wise, FCAs — the largest component of the Forex reserves — augmented by $1.23 billion to $347.48 billion during the week under review. 

Besides the US dollar, FCAs consist of nearly 20-30 per cent of major (non-US) global currencies. The FCAs also include investments in US Treasury bonds, bonds of other selected governments, deposits with foreign central and commercial banks.

The country's gold reserves were stagnant at $19.86 billion. 

However, SDRs' value gained $5 million to $1.45 billion. The country's reserve position with the IMF inched higher by $7.7 million to $2.33 billion.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is all set to introduce from May 1 special, air- conditioned buses between residential localities in the suburbs and office areas to provide comfortable and seamless travel experience to office-goers.

Twenty low-floor buses will ply non-stop between destinations in residential localities in the suburbs and office areas in central, south, northwest Delhi.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had earlier ordered the Delhi government to start destination bus services to reduce dependence on private vehicles, thus controlling air pollution.

A senior DTC official said that these buses will leave residential areas between 8 AM and 8.50 AM and make the return journey around 6 PM.

"These buses will not stop anywhere on the way.

Passengers travelling on these buses will be charged as per the existing normal AC bus fares," the official said.

These buses will ply in addition to regular services provided by the DTC, which has a daily ridership of 35 lakh.

Some of the locations selected for the service are Dwarka, Janakpuri, Rohini, Patparganj and Badarpur.

The buses will connect these localities to Nehru Place, CGO complex, Shastri Bahwan, Shiavaji Stadium (Connaught Place) where a large number of offices are located.

This is not for the first time the DTC is introducing such non-stop bus service in Delhi.

Around 20 years ago, the state agency had started 'Point-to-Point Bus Service', but the service had to be stopped due to poor response from passengers.

The Madras High Court has taken strong exception to use of elephants to bless devotees and seek money, holding that such practices amount to begging and violate rules related to management of captive animals.

The court in its recent order directed forest officials to ensure best possible atmosphere and health conditions for the captive animals and strict compliance of related rules.

Justice D Krishnakumar gave the direction while hearing a petition by N Sekar, seeking to quash an order passed by forest department officials suspending the transit licence for taking his elephant to Sree Varadharaja Perumal temple at Kancheepuram near here.

The licence was suspended after a Tamil daily carried a report about the elephant used for begging.

In his order, the judge said the court had been informed that elephants were used to bless devotees and receive money in return which was nothing but begging and violated Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules 2011.

The rule states that an elephant should not be taken to the streets and other places for begging or any other purpose.

The judge noted that such acts would amount to exploitation of the elephants and subjecting them to uncharacteristic behaviour.

He said in order to ensure the best possible atmosphere and health conditions of captive elephants, the Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules 2011, and the provisions thereof have to be followed scrupulously.

The judge ordered district forest officers to ensure the rules were strictly implemented in its true letter and spirit and asked the authorities to circulate the rules in Tamil version to all the owners of captive elephants.

The petitioner submitted the elephant was used to seek alms by its mahout and his assistant. After the incident came to his knowledge, he had dismissed them and moved the forest department for provision of the transit licence.

The judge directed the petitioner to approach the principal chief conservator with all particulars as per norms and conditions.

He also directed the authorities to take steps to ensure that the mahout and his assistant were paid adequate monthly salary by the owners of the elephants.

NASA appears to be ill prepared to have a new space suit ready for future deep-space missions, media reported citing the space agency's auditor report.

The spacesuits NASA astronauts currently use on the International Space Station (ISS) — known as Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU) — were developed more than 40 years ago and have far outlasted their original 15-year design life.

"Despite spending nearly $200 million on NASA's next-generation spacesuit technologies, the Agency remains years away from having a flight-ready spacesuit capable of replacing the EMU or suitable for use on future exploration missions," NASA Office of Inspector General's Office of Audits said in the report.

"As different missions require different designs, the lack of a formal plan and specific destinations for future missions has complicated spacesuit development. Moreover, the Agency has reduced the funding dedicated to spacesuit development in favour of other priorities such as an in-space habitat," the report said.

Meanwhile, NASA seems to be running out of the space suits it does have for the astronauts on the ISS. Only a fraction of the original space suit supply for the station is fully functional right now, and NASA may risk not having enough space suits to last through the end of the ISS programme, currently scheduled for 2024, The Verge reported on Thursday.