From correspondents in Delhi, India, 08:30 AM IST

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said that India hopes to send a spacecraft to the moon this year and called it 'an important milestone'.

'This year we hope to send an Indian spacecraft, Chandrayan, to the moon. It will be an important milestone in the development of our space programme,' he said on the occasion of India's independence day.

'I want to see a modern India, imbued by a scientific temper, where the benefits of modern knowledge flow to all sections of society,' he added.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)