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New Delhi: India is set to become the first nation in the world to witness the \u201cwaking up\u201d of Chandrayaan-3 mission\u2019s lander and rover after the end of a two-week long \u201csleep\u201d due to sunset on the moon, as the sun is set to rise during the early hours of September 22, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh informed Lok Sabha on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cTomorrow when the nation will be rejoicing the passage of the Women\u2019s Reservation Bill, we may also hopefully become the first nation in the world to make our Chandrayaan-3 mission land on the moon\u2019s 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),\u201d Singh said while replying to a discussion on Chandrayaan-3 mission\u2019s success in Lok Sabha.<\/p>\n
In his more than an hour-long reply, the minister, while responding to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor\u2019s 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, \u201cThat miracle was of pre-2014 days. Unlike in the Nehruvian era when we were devoid of resources, we are now technologically advanced.\u201d<\/p>\n
To another Tharoor\u2019s remark that unlike in Parliament, women don\u2019t need reservation in scientific fields, Singh said that there are more women scientists in ISRO than ever before and informed that even the Aditya L-1 mission is headed by a woman scientist.<\/p>\n
He also countered Tharoor\u2019s another observation that the space department budget is minimal. \u201cBetween 2014 and now there has been a 142 per cent increase in the budget of science and technology as well as space departments,\u201d Singh said.<\/p>\n
The minister also highlighted \u201chow the NDA government has brought space programmes and rocket launching activities out of the veil of secrecy\u201d, to a time when thousands watched the Chandrayaan-3 mission\u2019s launch live from Sriharikota on August 23.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it was a fact that till 2020 many people didn\u2019t 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,\u201d Singh said.<\/p>\n
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. \u201cThis shows that science and spirituality co-exist, the minister said, referring to defence minister Rajnath Singh\u2019s earlier statement that scientific thoughts are reflected in scriptures also.\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister claimed that due to the \u201cdeficiency in planning\u201d television came to India only in the 1970s, 15 years after it had arrived in the US. Now the government has made India a leader in quantum technology, Singh said.<\/p>\n
Later, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury countered Singh by highlighting how due to the vision of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, institutions like ISRO and the Department of Atomic Energy came up, which resulted in advancement in space research in later years.<\/p>\n
(IANS)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n