Congress mouthpiece’s Group Senior Editorial Advisor Mrinal Pande on Tuesday shared a post on Twitter with hashtag #YehMeraIdeaTha. The post contained claims of various achievements of Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of India and referred to him as ‘Architect of Modern India’.
Pande, however, posted the WhatsApp-esque forwarded message without any verification, as usual, it seems. One glance at it and one can see that the WhatsApp forward states that Nehru founded ISRO twice, in 1962 and 1964, the year he died.
However, ISRO was actually founded in 1969, five years after Nehru had passed away. In 1962, government of India had set up Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) under Department of Atomic Energy of Govt of India. The credit for INCOSPAR, too, largely goes to Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space Program.
Similar claims of Nehru having founded ISRO have been made through the years by Congress workers, fans and loyalists.
Space research was started by Dr Sarabhai in 1947 when he founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL). The lab was back then supported by the Karmkshetra Educational Foundation and the Ahmedabad Education Society. The initial focus was research on Cosmic Rays and the properties of the Upper Atmosphere. Research in Theoretical Physics and Radio Physics were added later with grants from the Atomic Energy Commission.
Pande, when not busy spreading misinformation and knowledge from Congress WhatsApp knowledge bank, mocks cultures of different part of India and passes problematic statements. Under Congress government, Pande was conferred with a Padma Shri in 2006 and in 2010 she was made the chairperson of Prasar Bharati. She is now associated with Congress mouthpiece National Herald.