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As the sun rises during the early hours of September 22, India will become the first nation in the world to witness the “waking up” of the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander and rover after a two-week “sleep” due to sunset on the moon, as Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh informed Lok Sabha on Thursday.
“Tomorrow when the nation will be rejoicing the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, we may also hopefully become the first nation in the world to make our Chandrayaan-3 mission land on the moon’s South Pole (which happened last month) and then witness the resumption of navigational activities of both lander Vikram and rover Pragyan after a 14-day slumber (owing to a fortnight-long sunset on the moon),” Singh said while replying to a discussion on Chandrayaan-3 mission’s success in Lok Sabha.
In his more than an hour-long reply, the minister, while responding to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s comment earlier in the day that the BJP creates an impression that all scientific accomplishments occurred only after 2014, referred to the famous photograph of scientists carrying rocket parts on a cycle, said, “That miracle was of pre-2014 days. Unlike in the Nehruvian era when we were devoid of resources, we are now technologically advanced.”
In response to another Tharoor remark that, unlike in Parliament, women do not require reservation in scientific professions, Singh stated that ISRO now has more women scientists than ever before, and that the Aditya L-1 mission is led by a woman scientist.
He also refuted Tharoor’s claim that the space department’s funding is meager. “There has been a 142% increase in the budget of science and technology as well as space departments between 2014 and now,” Singh remarked.
The minister also emphasized “how the NDA government has lifted the veil of secrecy from space programs and rocket launching activities,” referring to the moment when people witnessed the Chandrayaan-3 mission launch live from Sriharikota on August 23.
“Yes, it was a fact that till 2020 many people didn’t know where ISRO was situated. But now due to the awareness created by the government by opening up such activities for people, it is known to all where ISRO is situated,” Singh said.
He further highlighted the opening up of the space sector to private collaboration and the multiple-fold increase in startups and unicorns in the sector. Singh pointed out how scientists visit Tirupati before the launch of every satellite. “This shows that science and spirituality co-exist, the minister said, referring to defence minister Rajnath Singh’s earlier statement that scientific thoughts are reflected in scriptures also.”
According to the minister, television debuted in India only in the 1970s, 15 years after it arrived in the United States, due to a “deficiency in planning.” According to Singh, the government has now elevated India to the forefront of quantum technology.
following, Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury rebutted Singh by highlighting how, thanks to the vision of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, institutions such as ISRO and the Department of Atomic Energy were established, resulting in advancements in space exploration in following years.
Source:IANS
