¡¡¡¡NEW DELHI, Oct. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Saturday hailed China's successful launch of spaceship and wondered why India should lag behind.

¡¡¡¡"Those who are of the view that what could be achieved by such space missions simply wanted status quo to continue," he said after laying the foundation of the Panipat Refinery Expansion Project in north India's Haryana.

¡¡¡¡Paying homage to Haryana born US Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, Vajpayee said youth should follow her example.

¡¡¡¡Vajpayee said that science and technology are changing the faceof the earth and efforts should be made to utilize the technological gains to transform the country. Enditem