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Crater on Pluto’s largest moon named after Mahabharata character ‘Revati’ by International Astronomical Union

OpIndia Staff
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Crater on Pluto’s largest moon named after Mahabharata character ‘Revati’ by International Astronomical Union

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) in a press release dated 11 April announced various names for the craters crevices and valleys on Pluto’s largest moon Charon. Out of the 12 odd surfaces which have received official names, one of them (a crater) has been named after mystical Mahabharata character ‘Revati’.

The IAU is known as the internationally recognised body for naming celestial bodies and their surface features. This naming of Charon was a result of a recommendation made by the team of NASA’s New Horizons aircraft. This spacecraft famously approached and studied Pluto’s moons back in 2015, which included its topology like craters and crevices.

Before the official christening of the craters, the New Horizons team was informally using quite a few of the recommended names.

These names though incidentally weren’t conceived by the New Horizons team but were picked up via entries sent via the public during its naming campaign carried out in partnership with the IAU.

When it comes to the Revati crater, the press release describes it as, “named for the main character in the Hindu epic narrative Mahabharata — widely regarded as the first in history (circa 400 BC) to include the concept of time travel”.

The character Revati believed to be a daughter of Kakudami who reigned in the midst of the Satya Yuga. As the story goes Revati was taken to Lord Brahma by her father to seek advice over a prospective groom. There they waited for 20 minutes while Brahma watched a musical performance, and then showed him the shortlisted grooms.

To this Brahma laughed and commented that all the prospective grooms had already died at the time of their conversation, owing to time flowing slower in the Brahma Lok as compared to earth. As per Brahma, during Revati and her father brief time at the Brahma Lok, 27 Chatur Yugas had already passed on earth. By that time, Vishnu’s older brother Balarama had already incarnated on earth and was described as a worthy husband for Revati.

Following this, Revati and Kakudami returned back to earth and grappled with the vast changes which took place in earth during the time frame which was relatively very brief for them.

This story might possibly be one of the earliest concepts of time dilation appearing in a text, the concept which is explained as the difference in “elapsed time” for two observers. This occurs owing to them either being exposed to gravitational fields of different magnitudes or a different velocity with respect to each other.

The rest of Charon’s surface names include:

  • Argo Chasma – Named after a ship carrying Jason and the Argonauts in the Greek poem Argonautica
  • Butler Mons – After science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler
  • Caleuche Chasma – A mythological ghost ship believed to carry the dead in the seas around Chiloé island near Chile
  • Clarke Montes – After well known science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke
  • Dorothy Crater – Named after the protagonist Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz
  • Kubrick Mons – For film director Stanley Kubrick who directed the famous 2001: A Space Odyssey
  • Mandjet Chasma – Egyptian mythological boat carrying the sun god Ra (Re) across the sky every day
  • Nasreddin Crater – Named after the popular folklore character of Nasreddin Hodja
  • Nemo Crater – Named after famous Captain Nemo, who is the captain of submarine Nautilus made famous in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
  • Pirx Crater – After a protagonist in Polish writer Stanislaw Lem’s short stories
  • Sadko Crater – Character in Russian epic Bylina who travelled to the bottom of the sea

Mamata Banerjee, Maneka Gandhi take dig at each other over killing of Royal Bengal Tiger

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata Banerjee, Maneka Gandhi take dig at each other over killing of Royal Bengal Tiger

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday came down heavily on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the illegal killing of wild animals, days after a Royal Bengal Tiger that had strayed into West Bengal’s Lalgarh forest, was allegedly killed by hunters. She said West Bengal is the only state in India where illegal killing of animals is ‘allowed and encouraged’. Gandhi was referring to the hunting festival known as ‘Shikar Utsav’ which is organised in Ajodhya Hill area of West Bengal, claiming thousands of animals are killed every year.

Appealing for immediately banning of the festival, Gandhi said the festival is also used as a cover by ‘so-called tribals’, smugglers and poachers and that the state forest department is doing nothing about it. However, Mamata Banerjee didn’t take it lying down.

Taking a dig at Union Minister, Mamata Banerjee called Maneka Gandhi ‘anti-Adivasi’ she said her comments wee ‘unwarranted’. Asking Maneka Gandhi to apologise to the Adivasi community, Mamata attacked the Central government and said, ‘With people like them in the Cabinet, the government as well as the nation is in a precarious situation. I completely condemn the comment made by her.’

“Did she use a telescope? A tiger died and curious people came to see it. Even when people die, relatives and others come to pay their respects. How can she compare this with Shikar Utsav? She cannot ridicule a tradition of the Adivasi community,” the Chief Minister said.

Modi Hurricane to hit Karnataka from April 29, PM to address 16 rallies in 8 days

OpIndia Staff
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Modi Hurricane to hit Karnataka from April 29, PM to address 16 rallies in 8 days

The Karnataka assembly elections are coming closer and all political parties involved are gearing up for the big fight with all the manpower and ammunition they have got. Pre-poll predictions have projected a hung assembly in the state and that is expected to make the players invest more energy and efforts in the hopes of gaining a few seats more towards a majority.

The BJP is ready to bring in its ‘Bramhastra’, that is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to the state from April 29. PM Modi is not only a game changer for elections but his rallies also see massive crowd turn up. Cashing in on his popularity, the BJP is well geared to use this particular weapon to its full potential.

The Prime Minister is to address no less than 16 rallies in 8 days. According to reports, though BJP President Amit Shah has established a strong network of grassroots level workers, PM Modi’s popularity and oratory skills are expected to win BJP the much-needed advantage over the state populace.

The PM will begin his rally spree in Kolar in South Karnataka on April 29, followed by Raichur on the same day. On May 1 he is expected to address rallies in Bellary and Belagavi and on May 3 he will be addressing to the people in Chamarajnagar and Udupi.

The PM will be speaking in Jamakhandi and Bengaluru city on May 5 followed by Karburgi and Hubbali on May 6th. On May 7th he will be speaking in Shivamoga and Tumukuru and on May 8th he will address to the public in Mangalore and Bengaluru city. The two locations for his May 9th rally are yet to be finalised.

According to reports, the PM will travel to Karnataka five times between April 29th to May 9th.

The state elections are scheduled to be held on May 12th and results will be declared on May 15th.

The BJP had announced its first list of 72 names for candidates earlier and it announced its second list of 82 candidates on Monday. Former CM B S Yeddyurappa will be the party’s CM candidate and he will be contesting from Shikaripura constituency.

Indian Army’s Kashmiri soldier posted in Bihar joins Hizbul Mujahideen

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Army’s Kashmiri soldier posted in Bihar joins Hizbul Mujahideen

A Kashmiri soldier, Mir Idrees Sultan, who was posted in Bihar, went home to Shopian on leave and and has now reportedly joined the terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. He is believed to be the second soldier in past nine months to join the terrorist organization. A picture of Sultan holding an AK47 rifle has gone viral on social media and Shopian SSP Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar has confirmed that he has joined Hizbul Mujahideen.

According to the picture that has gone viral Mir Idrees Sultan has studied till second year of B.Sc. and was serving in the Army’s 12 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in Bihar. Sultan had been missing since Saturday and his father reported him missing on Sunday. Police say he has joined the terrorist group along with two other local youths.

Idrees had joined Indian Army two years back, as reported by The New Indian Express. The officials are looking into the matter on how and when he joined Hizbul Mujahideen and whether he has provided any sensitive information. It is believed that he joined the terrorist outfit after the 1st April gunfight in Shopian which killed 12 terrorists and four civilians.

Earlier in July last year, it was reported that Zahoor Ahmad Thokar of 173 Territorial Army had also joined Hizbul Mujahideen. In May last year, a J&K Police member had joined the ranks in Hizbul Mujahideen. J&K Police constable Syed Naveed Mushtaq Shah had decamped with service rifles.

Raghav Chadha accessed confidential budget documents to ‘manage’ companies which donate to AAP, alleges Kapil Mishra

OpIndia Staff
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Raghav Chadha accessed confidential budget documents to ‘manage’ companies which donate to AAP, alleges Kapil Mishra

Following the cancellation of appointment of nine advisors to Delhi Government by Ministry of Home Affairs saying these posts were not sanctioned, AAP rebel leader Kapil Mishra has accused of a major scam in the appointment of advisors by the Aam Aadmi Party.


In a video released today, Mishra alleged that while Raghav Chadha took up the job of being an advisor at a pay of Re 1 per month, he could have even done the same for free as a volunteer if he really cared so much about the cause. However, with a salary, even if it is Re. 1, Chadha’s name gets into the official government records, giving him access to all official confidential documents pertaining to the Delhi government.

Over and above the fact that he could get all expenses and bills reimbursed, Chadha worked on the Delhi government budget for the two and a half months when he was also the treasurer of Aam Aadmi Party. Mishra alleged that the Chadha didn’t work for ‘free’ but for the privileges, he would get the advisor and access to documents, especially budget documents.

He says Chadha knew which industry would get which tax benefit, leading to share price fluctuations. Chadha was also in charge of getting and keeping a record of the donation received by Aam Aadmi Party and to ‘manage’ the companies which would donate to AAP through the budget.

Mishra accused the appointment as being a big financial crime in Delhi government till date. He claims that Chadha knew and was deciding which industry should benefit in Delhi and which industry should get sops. He says such financial decisions were taken by the man who was the treasurer of Aam Aadmi Party.

On Atishi Marlena, Mishra said, she had no prior experience to influence government policies.


Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia has termed the move of sacking the advisors a ‘conspiracy’ against AAP. K

Rural Maharashtra becomes open defecation free after building largest number of toilets: Devendra Fadnavis

OpIndia Staff
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Rural Maharashtra becomes open defecation free after building largest number of toilets: Devendra Fadnavis

Rural Maharashtra was declared open-defecation free by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday, who also claimed that the largest number of toilets were constructed in his state. If indeed true, this would mark a sharp a contrast from the 2012 situation when about 55 percent of the rural population in the state had no access to toilets.

As per Fadnavis, these toilet-less households were provided with the facility in the last three and a half years, which encompassed 34 districts, 21,000 gram panchayats and 40,500 villages. Quoting figures Fadnavis claimed that 2016-17 saw the construction of 19.16 lakh toilets which was trumped by the figure of 22.51 lakh toilets in 2017-18. He claimed that a total of 2.81 lakh common toilets too have been constructed.

The total cost to build the toilets has been estimated at Rs 4,500 crores, the expense which, was borne jointly by the centre and the state. Fadnavis also boasted that no other Indian state had managed to construct so many toilets in the past three and a half years.

Fadnavis claimed that the government won’t be stopping at this and would launch a second part of “‘Swachh Maharashtra” campaign which will encourage people to use the constructed toilets. This proposal is in line with the Maharashtra government’s previous decision to “shame” people for defecating in the open.

With regards to the “open defecation free” claim, the Fadnavis government has claimed that it has employed a three-tier validation process, where the said region is first inspected by a local body, then by a state body and finally by a central agency before being declared open defecation free.

Back in October 2017, President Kovind had declared urban Maharashtra as open defecation free, while congratulating the Fadnavis government for taking the lead in fulfilling these objectives. This claim though was disputed by media reports which claimed that the capital Mumbai provided evidence to the contrary.

Fresh development in Kulbhushan Jadhav case: India submits second round of pleadings at ICJ

OpIndia Staff
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Fresh development in Kulbhushan Jadhav case: India submits second round of pleadings at ICJ

India on Tuesday filed its second round of pleadings to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague regarding the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on alleged espionage charges.

A spokesperson of The Ministry of external affairs confirmed that “As per the Court order, India had filed written pleadings (Memorial) in the case on 13 September 2017 and Pakistan filed its Counter-Memorial on 13 December 2017. Today, India filed its Reply to Pakistan’s submissions to the Court. Pakistan has been given time till 17 July 2018 by the Court to file its response (Rejoinder).”

India first approached the Court on 8th May last year for egregious violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 by Pakistan in the matter.

The Court had on 18 May last year indicated provisional measures as requested by India and passed an order obligating Pakistan to not carry out the sentence that was awarded Jadhav through a farcical trial by the Military Court of Pakistan.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016, after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. Jadhav’s sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India.

It is said that one of the most important pillars of any democracy is the media. Media acts as a watchdog, keeping an eye on and bringing the truth to the fore, unfortunately, a controversial publication ‘The Quint’, had earlier in its reports declared that Kulbushan Jadhav was an Indian spy. Opindia then had rebutted their fantasy story point by point and detailed why they should be ashamed of themselves.

The Ministry of External Affairs said India remains committed to making all possible efforts to “secure and protect” the rights of Jadhav.

Indian Navy welcomes China like a boss, conveys the ‘we are watching’ message

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Navy welcomes China like a boss, conveys the ‘we are watching’ message

The Indian Navy today shared a tweet expressing ‘warm welcome’ to three naval ships from China. The Indian Navy’s official Twitter handle shared a Tweet that had pictures of the three warships from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (Navy) or PLA-N.


The Chinese ships were from China’s 29th Anti-Piracy Escort Force. It is notable here that China often deploys its warships as measures against piracy but the Chinese Navy is also notorious for their strategic deployments in the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region aimed at carrying out reconnaissance activities, establishing bases and deploying submarines.

The Indian Navy, through a simple welcoming tweet, has let China know that they have eyes and ears in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and they are watching them.

The Indian Navy followed the previous tweet with another tweet in which they uploaded a map of the vast area they are guarding constantly. The subtle message was clear, ‘we are watching your every move’.


The second tweet stated that in the entire IOR, from the Persian Gulf to the straight of Malacca and from Northern Bay of Bengal, southern ends of the Indian Ocean to the east coast of Africa, nothing escapes their watch. The Indian Navy has 50 combat ready warships on constant vigil over the entire IOR and they keep their Area of Responsibility (AOR) safe.

Swara Bhaskar should be the last person to accuse anyone else of being a ‘rape apologist’

Nirwa Mehta
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Swara Bhaskar should be the last person to accuse anyone else of being a ‘rape apologist’

The nation’s conscience was shaken up when the gruesome details of the rape and murder of the eight-year-old in Kathua were made public. The heinous crime took place in January this year but the charge sheet was made public earlier this month which led to a lot of anger among people and understandably so.

Bollywood, which usually stays silent on sexual harassment in their own industry, too came forward in unison to protest against the rape, highlighting the fact that the rape allegedly took place inside a ‘temple’. Lot of people, including Swara Bhaskar, Kareena Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, whose new film Veere Di Wedding is due to release soon, held the placard emphasising how they are ‘Hindustan’ and how the rape took place inside ‘Devi-sthan’. Keeping aside the fact that their conscience doesn’t wake up when rapes take place inside mosques or on rampant child abuse in churches, their selective outrage got them slammed on Twitter.

Amidst all this, Swara Bhaskar, daughter of Ira Bhaskar, who teaches cinema studies in JNU and was also on the Censor Board (I am sure she has achieved all that she has in the film industry on her own and her Censor Board member mother had absolutely nothing to do with it), who felt reduced to a vagina after watching Padmaavat, came down heavily on those who called out her hypocrisy.

On an aside, Swara’s mother, Ira is one of the 14 ‘intellectuals’ and flag bearers of feminism, who insisted that ‘due process’ is followed when someone accuses an academic of sexual harassment. Ira Bhaskar had passive-aggressively implied that victim may be lying about sexual harassment and hence the accusations may be unsubstantiated. Swara, at that time, did not call out her mother for being a rape apologist.

Recently, Swara got into a spat over Twitter with columnist Shefali Vaidya, who called to boycott films by placard Bollywood activists for bringing religion and maligning Hinduism and Hindus for rape.


While I don’t really condone boycotting products or people as a means to protest, Vaidya, just like everyone else, has her right to express her anger within means of law. However, Swara thought Vaidya, who has very vehemently raised her voice against crimes against women and children, was being a ‘rape apologist’.


She was joined by other ‘Bollywood journalist’ who also equated the pointing out of hypocrisy as being a rape supporter.


This is a bit rich coming from Swara, a Sociology graduate from one of the most prestigious universities of India, JNU, she glorified stalking, a crime numerous women are a victim of, and called it an ‘unapologetic celebration of crazy love’.

She dismissed the criticism of the cinematic depiction of a love-obsessed man who fell in love with an unattainable girl, who does not give in to his advances in the film Raanjhanaa, which brought stalking alive on the celluloid. She justified it by saying the actor was ‘rendered endearing in his naïve innocence’.

She invoked her inner feminist after watching Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat and said the movie glorified ‘jauhar’ i.e. committing suicide rather than get oneself raped by barbaric invaders who want to keep you as a sex slave and force religious conversions. She downplayed the brutality of 13th century Islamic invaders under the veil of feminism. She said you would not choose jauhar (assuming she meant if she were a 13th century Rajput woman facing Islamic invasion with almost certain fate of being a sex slave for rest of your life) and would live as a sex slave.

In the face of her recent activism, once would certainly wonder if Swara is the original rape apologist. A woman who questioned another woman’s decision to commit suicide rather than spend her life as a sex slave in a barbaric Islamic invader’s harem. One who can attach religion to rape. One who glorifies stalking. One who picks and chooses which victim she wants to support depending on the narrative that would suit her politics. One who rather demean other women than look within. And incidentally, one who speaks up against the suffering of her fellow women only when she has a movie slated for release.

Evidence emerges of systematic ethnic profiling and targeting of Hindus during Kerala’s ‘hartal’, reports

OpIndia Staff
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Evidence emerges of systematic ethnic profiling and targeting of Hindus during Kerala’s ‘hartal’, reports

Several groups in Kerala have called for ‘hartal’ or ‘protest’ against the Kathua rape and murder case. On Monday, shops were shut down and several instances of violence and abuse were reported in the state. According to reports, videos and social media posts emerging from the state suggest that during the hartal, ethnic profiling was carried out and many Hindu shops and outlets have been systematically targeted.


The Times Now news report states that abusive and violent people have targeted and threatened shops that are owned by Hindus in several places. A Vishnu temple in Puzhavathu was vandalised and its boundary wall was broken during the hartal. There are videos showing people moving in large groups identifying Hindu shops and hurling abuses. According to reports, violent mobs mobilised by radical groups stopped vehicles and asked names of passengers and vandalised temples, RSS shakhas and shops. Though the state police had beefed up security measure, in many instances they failed to stop the vandalisation and harassment meted out to the public.

The districts of Kasargode, Kannur, Malappuram and Kozhikode were particularly affected while instances of violence were reported from Thiruvananthapuram too. Stones were hurled at shops and several public transport buses were damaged. Hindu temples were damaged and vandalised during the hartal too.

Malappuram SP DK Behera has told to Times Now that the violence was not impromptu or ‘flash’. It was an organised violence through social media. Though he stated that situation is under control and he cannot state which political outfits were behind the mobilisation, there are reports suggesting that the hartal call was given by SDPI and PFI.


According to reports, the call for hartal was a hoax issued through radical social media groups. Several people were injured and lathi charge was done by the police in some places.

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