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The fight against plastic is one in which we are all together. For our own survival

Ashish Shukla
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The fight against plastic is one in which we are all together. For our own survival

If this is not on a war-footing what else is. Come October 2 and the Centre could announce a ban on a slew of Single-Use Plastic (SUP) items for us folks. All 4000-odd urban local bodies must segregate recyclable and non-recyclable plastic waste; 5 lakh sarpanches (village heads) and swachhagrahis (cleanliness volunteers) would receive a personal exhortation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Himalayan region and other eco-fragile zones would be made plastic-free. There is a mile of other initiatives which could be read here.

This is a giant leap in the fight against plastic. We all look smart in being lucid against plastic over a coffee with friends. But we do little. We ignore that plastic is not biodegradable (that is, it wouldn’t decompose into a natural substance like soil) and its’ devastating lives on land or water. From the straws we use to the cups of Starbucks Coffee; from the water-bottles to the cutlery we use at airports; from our grocery bags to the chips packet we pick up from gas stations, every bit of plastic is indestructible. Dormant or burnt in landfills, plastic keeps releasing toxic chemicals which find its way into our food and water supply. It contaminates the air we breathe. It is linked to cancer, birth defects, impaired immunity, respiratory and endocrine problems and many, many more. It eats into the soil nutrients and impairs its vitality. Plastic is the Frankenstein of our own making.

A lot of plastic we litter blows into nature’s wilderness. Wild animals and birds can’t ingest them and starve to death since their intestines fall blocked. A prized Cape buffalo in Delhi zoo has become one such victim. Last year, it was an elephant. Half of all camels that die on the Arabian Peninsula each year are its prey. One of Japan’s famous Nara Park deer was found to have a 4.3kg of plastic in its stomach. Eight African elephants died in Zimbabwe in 2016: the list is endless.

Over 100,000 marine mammals and over 1 million sea birds die by plastic every year. One recent study has found plastic inside every single whale, dolphin and seal examined. By 2050, there would be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Aquatic mammals mistake plastic for food and either ingest them or become entangled by plastic. As it blocks their digestion system, they eventually die a slow and painful death. The ecology of the ocean is shattered. Death of one species is an existential issue for others.

The thing is, we all can be hands-on to this problem. It doesn’t take much either; just a little mindfulness. You could have a zero-waste kit which has a reusable or paper straw; a collapsible coffee cup; reusable cutlery, disposable cup, bamboo toothbrush, eco-friendly wraps, cloth bags etc. It’s the best way to make a statement outdoors; makes you look progressive too. There are multiple choices for such a kit. We are living in a finite world and its’ infinite exploitation simply is unsustainable.

So be in sync with your government which is walking the talk. Already, in the headquarters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Capital, water bottles have been banned following Modi’s public exhortation on Independence Day last month. Where once was a stack of cartons of water bottles and garbage containers which overflowed with used ones, there is now jugs and paper glasses to meet the needs.

This new course correction would surely hurt the food and beverages-producing giants. But profit can’t ride over the existential crisis. Amazon and Walmart are already pulling up socks. Amazon has announced it would remove non-recyclable plastic from its deliveries in India by June 2020. It won’t have the air-pillows and bubble wraps it used to protect products. Now it would be padding made out of paper. Walmart-owned Flipkart, India’s biggest e-commerce company, has set a deadline of March 2021 for itself. This would be a moment of reckoning for multinational giants who lineup our fridges with soft-drinks and water bottles. India abounds in restaurant chains, just running over the names of a few would give you an idea of how mammoth the scale is. The argument that SUP helps us fight food waste, keeping food and water fresher for a long duration, cuts out contamination and is cost-effective simply won’t cut ice.

This is a fight in which we all are together. For our own survival.

Pakistan is frustrated, desperately trying to create unrest in Kashmir to blame it on India: NSA Ajit Doval

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan is frustrated, desperately trying to create unrest in Kashmir to blame it on India: NSA Ajit Doval

In a wide-ranging interaction with journalists in New Delhi Saturday, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said that Indian Army would do everything to protect the lives of Kashmiris from Pakistani terrorists even if we ‘have to impose restrictions’.

“Terror is the only instrument Pakistan has to create unrest,” said Doval on Saturday.


In an extensive interaction, Ajit Doval said that intelligence intercepts make it clear that Pakistani handlers of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir are completely frustrated after the Abrogation of Article 370, following which they are desperately trying to create unrest in the valley.

Doval revealed some intelligence intercepts that showed how frustrated Pakistan is trying to send to the terrorists hiding in Jammu and Kashmir: “There are Pakistani communication towers 20 kilometres along the border, they are trying to send messages, we heard intercepts, they were telling their men here “how so many apple trucks are moving, can’t you stop them? Should we send you bangles?’, Doval said, according to ANI.


Talking about the effect of the government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcating it into two Union Territories has been well received by the locals in the valley, Doval said: “I am totally convinced that majority of Kashmiris support the abrogation of article 370, they see greater opportunities, future, economic progress and employment opportunities, only a few miscreants are opposing it”.


“No question arises of Army atrocities, only state (J&K) Police and some central forces are handling public order. Indian army is there only to fight terrorists”, stressed the NSA.


Doval outlined that spooked by the government’s decision, Pakistan has been constantly trying to constitute an atmosphere of panic in the valley and in its attempt to do so, Pakistan has been trying to push terrorists inside India through the LoC. “Pakistan is trying to create trouble. 230 terrorists were spotted. Some of them have infiltered while some have been arrested”, Doval added.


According to NSA, 750 trucks are passing through Srinagar daily. Terrorists are trying to target innocent shopkeepers and apple orchard owners to create an atmosphere of panic amongst civilians in the valley.

Doval recollected the incident earlier today when terrorists with an intent to target a prominent fruit merchant Hamidullah Rather, went to his shop, and on not finding him there, took two of his workers to his home 5 kilometers inside Sopore where they shot at his son Mohammed Irshad and also fired upon his two and a half-year-old daughter Asma Jaan. Both Pakistani terrorists had guns and were speaking Punjabi. Both are absconding, Doval confirmed.

“Pakistan used article 370 to catalyze terrorism in Kashmir, they launched operation Topaz in 1988 through which they wanted to exploit the political space. Modus operandi of Operation Topaz was to use the same tactics which Pakistani non-state actors used in Afghanistan”, said Doval.

Operation Tupac or Topaz is the ‘codename’ of an ongoing military intelligence contingency program run by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, active since the 1980s. The program has a three-part action plan to provide covert support to separatist in the Jammu and Kashmir. It was authorized and initiated by the order of the President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1988. The objectives of Operation Tupac/Topaz were:

  • to disintegrate India
  • to utilize the spy network to act as an instrument of sabotage
  • to exploit porous borders with Nepal and Bangladesh to set up bases and conduct operations

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir have been under a communication lockdown since the first week of August after the centre scrapped special status from Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two union territories. The National Security Advisor has travelled across Jammu and Kashmir extensively in the weeks after the special status was scrapped, meeting people and analysing the ground situation.

In his interaction with the journalists, Doval, throwing light on easing of restrictions from all parts of Jammu and Kashmir said that it depended on how Pakistan behaves. “We would like to see all restrictions go, but it depends on how Pakistan behaves. It’s a stimulant and response situation. If Pakistan starts behaving, terrorists don’t intimidate and infiltrate, if Pakistan stops sending signals through its towers to operatives, then we can lift restrictions,” Mr Doval said.

“92.5 per cent of the geographical area of Jammu and Kashmir is free of restrictions,” said the National Security Advisor, who had been camping in the state for weeks to coordinate security deployment and monitor intelligence operations. “Out of the 199 police station areas in Jammu and Kashmir, restrictions are in place only at 10 places, furthered the NSA.

NSA Ajit Doval, speaking on the detention of political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir said that they have been kept under preventive detention as there could have been problems in maintaining law and order in case there were gatherings and the terrorists would have used the situation to their favour. He confirmed: “None of them (J&K political leaders) have been charged with criminal offence or sedition. They are in preventive custody until an environment is created for democracy to function, which I believe may happen soon”.


Doval reiterated that the only weapon Pakistan has and uses against India is that of terrorism and India at no cost will let the ‘terror state’ succeed in its endeavour. NSA Ajit Doval reassured that the state is gradually moving back to normalcy. He warned that Pakistan, to carry off its agenda, has been indulging in false and black propaganda. It is purposely trying to create a panic situation and then tell the international community that there is unrest, said Doval.

Expressing concern over a few uninformed people who are falling prey to Pakistan’s plot, Doval urged that people should refrain from taking one or two incidents as public opinion and stay away from false news and propaganda.

The ‘eco-system’ is getting ready to bite you: What’s your response?

Ashish Shukla
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The ‘eco-system’ is getting ready to bite you: What’s your response?

If you were a Rajdeep Sardesai or Shekhar Gupta or Barkha Dutt, you would wish for a return of pre-2014 days. You could write or broadcast what you wanted, unchallenged, unquestioned; behemoth of India’s media, sought by global media outlets; prime ministers and presidents, kings and queens, knocking at your door for interviews; film stars lining up as if for auditions. You were firmly in your ivory tower, never seen in grocery shops or bookstores, metros or airports, malls or traffic stops.

Then the winds changed. India’s right-wingers took hold in Centre. Websites, such as OpIndia and Swarajyamag among others, began nicking the bubble. The lies were exposed, bigotry was unmasked, the anti-Hindu stance was bared in public. History began breaking free from the narrative of glorious Mughals, valiant Tipu Sultan, soothing Amir Khusru and pacifist Ashoka. One began viewing a Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, Audrey Truschke, Sheldon Pollock is the light they deserved. Amartya Sen and Raghuram Rajan lost their halo. The benign mask of neutrality dropped like shame around our film stars and directors. Writers and academicians were revealed to be peddlers. Jurists and legal luminaries were found to be men of straw.

An avalanche was thus set in motion. The ecosystem began drowning in the outrage of the masses. Narendra Modi won over the poor; the intelligent found the counter-narrative on social media. Eco-system upped the game, terming every threat as trolls or bhakts. Internet warriors, on their part, found new converts. Eco-system termed the rivals as fake news peddlers. Lutyens Media began organizing debates and seminars to save their turf. Anyone or anything which didn’t agree with them was “fake news”.  The entire game was one of credibility – and they were losing it. The 2019 Elections confirmed their worst fears.

Now a new round of conflict has been set in motion. The eco-system has realized they have been outnumbered. Social Media platforms are rallying such mass to grow in size. The “fake news” narrative hasn’t helped. So they have now launched a new initiative. This initiative doesn’t just have newspapers and news agencies, it has also roped in biggies like Google, Facebook and Twitter. “Fake News” has been given a new name of “misinformation.” What was seen as “local” divide in the Indian context, now has acquired “global” dimension? We might just have stumbled upon the global network which feeds and breeds this “eco-system” to disrupt India.

The Hindu has a front-page anchor today where it has grandiosely announced that it is partnering BBC and other global media outlets to fight the “misinformation” in public domain. That it wants to protect its audience. That BBC set it in motion through a “Trusted News Summit” earlier this year. That those in it together include European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Facebook, Financial Times, Google, AFP, Microsoft, Reuters, Twitter, BBC and of course The Hindu. That, they would alert each other when a “misinformation” is to be fought.

It’s a new challenge to India’s internet warriors. So far, we knew the bias of, say Twitter, which suspended accounts made twitterati remove tweets (Paresh Rawal) while those with a similar offence (Shehla Rashid etc) kept flourishing. Netizens were able to dig up the dirt on Raheel Khursheed, CEO of Twitter (2014-2018), on his pro-Pakistan bias. Parliamentarians were outraged enough to summon Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey. The clamour against Twitter’s alleged bias has only grown bigger in our times. Dorsey has admitted his staff could be overwhelmingly Left-leaning.

So how should internet warriors respond to this openly-aligned forces against them? First, it must leverage its numbers. Every sixth of Twitter’s worldwide users is from India. Is has grown in leaps and bounds in the last two years. This collective might must be leveraged by netizens, hopefully under the benevolent gaze of the government.

The time perhaps has also come for India to come up with their own micro-blogging platform such as one of Sina Weibo which China has. It’s a mix of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. India could thus also protect its own data. The internet giants would have no option but to fall in line.

Importantly, The eco-system is getting ready to bite you—what’s your response?

Assorted Lutyens’ journalists and their sympathisers join hands to defend Pallava Bagla’s boorish behaviour

Jinit Jain
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Assorted Lutyens’ journalists and their sympathisers join hands to defend Pallava Bagla’s boorish behaviour

While the entire country stood in solidarity with the ISRO chief K Sivan over the partial failure of India’s ambitious Moon Mission-Chandrayaan 2, at this time of grief, NDTV journalist Pallava Bagla heckled an anxious senior scientist at ISRO who had come out to address the media to explain about the failure in communication of the Vikram Lander.

A video of the press conference is doing the rounds of the Internet where a boorish Bagla can be heard accosting the senior scientist, questioning him coarsely about ISRO chief K Sivan’s absence from the media press-conference and alleging that a ‘junior’ scientist was entrusted with the responsibility of declaring the failure. The distraught scientist appeared bewildered and chose not to respond to Bagla’s shrill assertions.

Soon after the video went viral, the journalist Pallava Bagla drew criticism from several quarters for being inconsiderate and disrespectful of an ISRO scientist, who came out to brief the media about the failure in the communication link, amidst the tumult. Many prominent media personalities and politicians have questioned the ill-conduct of the NDTV journalist and slammed him for his insensitive remarks, especially at a time when the country should rally behind the ISRO. Though Bagla had tendered his apology for the incident, some journalists have still come forward to defend his capricious actions.

However, as soon as the Lutyens’ journalists saw one of the members of their fraternity and a fellow NDTV journalist being condemned for his shameless behaviour, they quickly rushed to his defence, from listing down their personal interaction with the concerned journalist to his ‘journalistic’ achievements to shield him from the barrage of criticism hurled at him for his unsavoury behaviour at the press conference.

NDTV journalist Vishnu Som overlooked Bagla’s follies and acclaimed him as their main man on all things science and space.


One journalist-Vijaita Singh condoned Pallava Bagla’s churlish conduct and pinned the blame on those who questioned him for his rude remarks. In fact, far from holding Bagla in the dock for his supercilious rant, Vijaita painted him as a victim of ‘Lynch mob’ whose only job is to scout for daily outrage and Pallava is their latest victim.


Another Lutyens’ lodestar, Nidhi Razdan, went on to hail Pallava as one of the finest, most experienced journalist in his field. Exonerating Bagla for his inappropriate conduct, Razdan too branded people condemning Bagla’s behaviour as ‘lynch mob’ and stated that since he had apologised, one shouldn’t demand his sacking.


In a carefully calibrated language, Sadanand Dhume, the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Lutyens’ journalist, obliquely applauded Pallava for expecting to hear from the head of an organisation. Dhume went ahead to intuitively draw a distinction between NDTV and unpatriotism, even when nobody accused NDTV of unpatriotism for Pallava Bagla’s eccentric outburst.


A question on Pallava Bagla’s conduct directly threatens the already battered credibility of the NDTV, which is why NDTV employees and those sympathising with the channel have risen to defend the folly of one of their own. Bagla’s behaviour is a testament to the privilege, haughtiness, arrogance exhibited by Lutyens’ journalists. A symbiotic relationship has been meticulously cultivated by the members where everyone protects or defends the other on his/her mistakes so that the clique continues to enjoy unfettered benefits and action against individuals is discouraged. It is to this end that various NDTV employees and Lutyens’ journalists are taking up the cudgel in defence of Bagla’s crass behaviour, so that tomorrow when they err, other crooks from their coterie has their back.

2-year-old infant among 4 injured in terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore district, to be shifted to Delhi AIIMS

OpIndia Staff
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2-year-old infant among 4 injured in terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore district, to be shifted to Delhi AIIMS

Four members of a family, including a 2-year-old infant, were injured after terrorists opened fire at a fruit trader’s house in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore district on Friday.

The attack is being seen as the result of challenging the terrorists’ warning to keep the shop shut as a mark of protest against centre’s move to end special status to the state under Article 370, police said. The terrorists, by carrying out such attacks, attempt to instil fear among the people and disrupt peace in the Valley.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police terming it as a “merciless act of terrorism” confirmed that the terrorists barged into Hamidullah Rather’s house at Dangerpura in the north Kashmir district as they were upset that he ran his business despite warnings.


According to reports, though the condition of the other member’s of the family was said to be stable, the 2-year-old girl (Asma) remains critical.

Srinagar District Magistrate Shahid Choudhary confirmed that efforts are being made to arrange an air ambulance to shift the 2-year-old girl to Delhi for advanced medical treatment.


National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has advised the authorities to take Asma to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi for further treatment, ANI reported.

According to intelligence officials, Pakistan is trying to push terrorists into the Kashmir Valley to disrupt peace in the Valley. Pakistan has been left humiliated and seething after India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

There have been reports that Jaish-e-Mohammed trained terrorists from various camps in Pakistan have been instructed to collaborate with the Pakistan Army elements along with the forward posts and BAT (Border Action Team) to renew their attempts to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir and fuel armed rebellion against the Indian Armed Forces in the Valley.

Recently, it was reported that the government sources further reveal that the activities of terrorists based out of PoK have intensified as they are planning to carry out suicide attacks at multiple locations in J&K.

The intel reports have said that local terror groups such as Hizbul Mujahideen have been instructed by Pakistan based terror commanders to co-ordinate and collaborate with Pakistan based terror organisations to plant IEDs in South Kashmir and Srinagar in future. Highly trained cadres of JeM from its Peshawar camps are identified to carry out IED attacks on the Indian Armed Forces in Sopore and other South Kashmir towns. Earlier this year in February, a terrorist trained by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed had driven an explosive-laden SUV on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama claiming lives of 40 CRPF soldiers.

In science, the best is always yet to come for India, even as small, petty minds whine

Abhishek Banerjee
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In science, the best is always yet to come for India, even as small, petty minds whine

Think about what happened yesterday. An entire nation stayed awake late into the night. Not for the usual Friday night of drunken amusement. But waiting and hoping, eagerly and anxiously for India to land a rover 4 lakh kilometres away, on the south pole of the moon.

How cool is that? A whole generation of young people waiting with bated breath to witness a majestic scientific achievement.

And then they got to see the coolest thing of all: FAILURE.

Yes, failure. Failure reminds us of the supremacy of the scientific method. When you meet with failure, there’s no hiding the reality, no whitewashing, no excuses. You have to face reality, pick up the pieces and try again.

And again and again, until you succeed. That’s science. Once upon a time, people would die of infection from a simple scratch. Thousands of years later, we discovered antibiotics. We discovered the double helix structure of DNA.  We realized that time is relative and that gravitation can bend light.

Thousands of years ago, everyone needed to farm and make food so that we could eat. Today, we have fertilizers and specially bred crops that make it possible for a handful of people to make food for everyone. We have sanitation. We can soar 30,000 feet above the earth in a metal tube with wings. Tomorrow, we may be able to edit genes and cure diseases that people are born with.

What made all this possible? Failures and more failures.

We never give up. Because in science, the best is always yet to come. We know ISRO will get to the moon. Many of the scientists who worked on the Chandrayaan mission today might be retired when it finally happens. But there are hundreds of thousands of kids waiting to take their places at Mission Control. Their imaginations have been fired with the challenges and frustrations that science brings. And that’s always where the real success is.

This has the potential to be a wonderful teachable moment for the general public. In science, there is only hard reality. Only evidence. It’s what makes science so successful.

Why not search for and demand such clarity in everything else?

Now let us look around ourselves: do we see people who never “fail”? Witch doctors with miracle cure on television, perhaps? Have you seen them ever fail?  How about politicians? Ever seen them admit failure? How about intellectuals? Have they ever failed? How about economists? Even Newton got his most basic assumptions about time and velocity wrong. Can you give me an example of a great economist ever failing at anything? Starting from sexiness, they succeed at everything. Amazing, no?

If you are immune to failure, then you are just making stuff up and fooling people. Let us apply this principle to everyone and everything.

One thing that has made everyone on social media angry today is the pettiness and nastiness of the reactions coming in from Lutyens types. It started with NDTV’s Pallav Bagla yelling at an ISRO scientist.

And then there were “experts” who thought it was a great thing that Bagla was asking questions to those who are in “power.”

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Ha! A scientist is never in “power.” There is the only reality. A scientist tries their best to figure it out. And more often than not actually, there is a failure. It is journalism that thrives on power cosiness.

But these are people with small minds.

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People with small minds whose lives will amount to nothing. Their imagination is limited by things like golf, racecourses or India International Center. Can’t think beyond that. By the way, if you want to “take up golf,” try thinking about the physics of a golf ball, the aerodynamic of its surface, the friction, the trajectory, everything. Try asking what would happen if somebody tried to hit a golf ball on the surface of the moon. In what ways is launching a satellite like hitting a golf ball? Think outside the box. Ask questions. I promise you it will be amazing. As Richard Feynman said, everything is interesting if you get it into it deeply enough.

But that’s not what small minds do, which is why all they can do is mock the failures of bigger minds. Like the Pakistani trolls out there. And incidentally, the government of Pakistan.

The failure today also throws into sharp relief the enormity of the American achievement 50 years ago: they landed a man on the moon back in 1969! We couldn’t land a rover. No use sugarcoating it. We accept the failure and move on. We work even harder to close the gap and actually get ahead. No other way.

On a side note, I think some of the bitterness that you see among liberals comes from their compulsive irritation with the expression “moon landing.” Yeah, America did rub Communist noses into the ground in 1969. Our intellectuals, who are brought up on pro-Communist leanings, have never recovered from the humiliation.

But the future always shines bright, full of possibilities. Let me leave you with this image of PM Modi consoling ISRO chief Dr K Sivan.

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And with a message from Swargiya Atal ji, who is still inspiring us from somewhere far far away.

Haar nahin maanunga … Kal ke kapaal par likhta mitata hoon … geet naya gaata hoon, geet naya gaata hoon.. 

Moon missions in 60 years: The success stories and many, many failures

Jinit Jain
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Moon missions in 60 years: The success stories and many, many failures

As a part of the human quest to explore the outer space, especially Earth’s only natural satellite-Moon, numerous missions have been undertaken by various space agencies to have a deeper understanding of the familiar, yet so strange celestial object revolving around the Earth. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had recently launched an ambitious mission of exploring the South Pole region of Moon, which is a region not much is known about. However, Yesterday, India’s Mission Moon was dealt with a setback as communication with the ‘Vikram Lander’ was lost after 13 minutes of the descent phase.

The landing sequence went as planned until the lander reached an altitude of 2.1 km (1.3 mi) above the surface. Unfortunately, communication with the lander was lost at that point and it is unclear whether the lander crashed. Nevertheless, ISRO was still successful in positioning its orbiter revolving around the Moon with whose help ISRO is analyzing data collected by it to determine what happened.

Chandrayaan-2, as India’s Mission Moon is popularly known, was ISRO’s second mission to the Earth’s satellite. India’s first exploration of the Moon- Chandrayaan 1, in 2008 was successful in injecting an orbiter around the Moon.

Failure is the first step towards achieving success. Countries like the United States, Russia, and China, who have achieved unparalleled expertise in their respective Space programmes have immensely benefitted from the failures encountered by them in the various initial missions undertaken by them to the Moon. Let’s have a look at different countries who remained steadfast in their aim to explore the Moon despite unnerving hurdles strewn on their paths.

The United States

Since the late 1950s, the United States’ premier space agency-NASA has been resolutely focused on sending space missions to Moon. Before being partially successful in a flyby-type mission named as Pioneer 4 in 1959, NASA had failed in previous 4 attempts- Pioneer 0, Pioneer 1, Pioneer 2, Pioneer 3. Even the subsequent space missions to Moon- Pioneer P-1(1959) and Pioneer P-3(1959) were failures.

In the early 1960s, from 1960 to 1962, the US had sent 5 missions to Moon-Pioneer P-30, Pioneer P-31, Ranger 3, Ranger 4, Ranger 5, from the orbiter to impact mission, however, all five of them remained unsuccessful. The US persevered and tried with Ranger 6 on January 30, 1964, for an Impact mission to Moon. But, this too failed. On almost the 13th attempt, the US was successful in its Impact mission to Moon when Ranger 7 mission in June 1964 succeeded. The following Impact missions-Ranger 8 and Ranger 9 too accomplished their objectives.

The United States’ Surveyor 1- the Lander mission to Moon in May 1966 was successful in touching down on the surface of Moon. Surveyor-2 was unsuccessful but it did impact the Moon. Surveyor 3 was a success but Surveyor 4 failed. The subsequent missions-Surveyor 5, 6, 7, Apollo 8, Apollo 10 were all successful, following which the US proceeded on its most ambitious mission till date and emerged successful in landing humans on the Moon for the first time in July 1969.

Soviet Union (Russia)

In the late fifties, apart from the US, their cold war adversary-Soviet Union too displayed an equal alacrity in pursuing its space missions to the Moon. USSR’s three unnamed Luna in the period 1958 to 1960 remained unsuccessful before the fourth one named as Luna 1 which partially succeeded. In the meanwhile, Russia sent another spacecraft to the Moon but it didn’t succeed. Russia’s first Impact mission to Moon-Luna 2 in September 1959 was a success.

In the early sixties, Russia had undertaken 6 unnamed Luna projects to Moon while a mission named Luna 4- aimed to Land on Moon also failed. In 1965 alone, Kosmos 60, Unnamed Luna, Luna 5, Luna 6, Luna 7, Luna 8, all Lander mission to Moon failed, before Luna 9 touchdown on the Moon’s surface in January 1966. In the period between 1966-1970, Luna 10, Luna 11, Luna 12, Luna 13, Luna 14, from the Orbiter to the Lander mission were successful. Russia kept trying with Unnamed Luna projects, Kosmos 330, 305 for Rover, Sample Return missions but they were all failures.

After several setbacks on its mission to Moon, USSR was finally able to land a robotic rover in October 1970 for the first time on the surface of the world beyond Earth through its programme- Lunokhod 1. In August 1973, Russia was able to land the second iteration of its Lunokhod rover named as Lunokhod 2.

China

Until the 2000s, there weren’t many countries interested in exploring the Moon. In 2007, China’s Chang’e 1 was the first Chinese space mission-Orbiter/Impact to the Moon. However, in the last 5 years, from 2013 onwards, China has shown greater interest in exploring Moon than any other countries. It has successfully undertaken 5 missions to the Moon. China’s Chang’e 3 delivered China’s Moon rover to the Moon in June 2013.

On January 3, 2019, China became the first country to soft-land a rover on the far side of the Moon. Chinese mission Chang’e 4 carried Yutu 2 rover on the hemisphere of the Moon that always faces away from the Earth and has one of the largest craters in the Solar System.

NASA’s fact sheet states that more than 40 per cent of missions to Moon have failed so far in the last 60 years. The success rate of lunar missions is 60 per cent with many countries failing several times over before registering their first success, only after acquiring years of knowledge from failures and experience. Out of 109 lunar missions till date, 61 have succeeded while 48 have failed.

It is also notable here that India’s first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 was a success. It had provided some very valuable imagery that has been immensely beneficial in lunar research.

ISRO has been very nascent in this field of exploration of the Moon. Such transient hiccups such as Chandrayaan-2’s partial failure will only serve to strengthen the resolve of the scientists at the ISRO and provide the space agency with valuable learnings go into the future with its upcoming ambitious projects, the Gaganyaan and Mangalyan-2. American Space Agency-NASA, Russian Space Agency encountered multiple failures before being successful in the missions to Moon. If history is anything to go by, such momentary setbacks only serve as stepping stones for the inevitable success.

Bihar: Stone pelting and communal violence during Tajiya procession in Kishanganj, 3 injured

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: Stone pelting and communal violence during Tajiya procession in Kishanganj, 3 injured

In Bihar’s Kishanganj district, three persons have been critically injured after a communal clash between a Muslim mob and a group of Hindus in Madhavnagar Mahadalit Tola on Thursday morning. As per a report in Prabhat Khabar, the locals of the Tola had raised an objection when the Muslim group taking Tajiya procession had broken the barricade of a Durga Temple to burst firecrackers.

As per reports, in Madhavnagar Mahadalit Tola, local Muslims had taken out a Tajiya procession on Thursday night. When the Tajiya procession was passing near a Durga Temple, some members from the group allegedly broke the barricade of a Durga Temple and started bursting firecrackers. Local Hindus in the area objected to it. After their objection, violent elements from the mob allegedly attacked the Hindus and started heavy stone-pelting.

As per a report in Prabhat Khabar, over a dozen people from both side have sustained injuries. However, three people, namely Gauri Devi, Deepak Nallik and a 12-year-old girl named Mishti have sustained critical injuries. All three have been admitted in the hospital. FIRs have been registered from both sides but the police are yet to arrest anyone. The police have been carrying out intense patrolling in the area to prevent any further violence.

Kishanganj DM Himanshu Sharma, Kumar Ashish and other officers reached there immediately to control the situation. DM Sharma had stated that the miscreants will be dealt with severely. He had also informed that a permanent police picket will be established in the area so there are no untoward situations in the future.

It is notable here that Kishanganj district falls between Nepal and West Bengal border and has long been a communally sensitive area.

The Hindu and BBC join hands to combat fake news: The elephantine moronity of it all

Editorial Desk
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The Hindu and BBC join hands to combat fake news: The elephantine moronity of it all

We live in an age where everything is within the realm of possibility, especially in the field of journalism. The community of journalists world over, like little children who spill the milk deliberately and then look away pretending that their little brother did it, have gotten into the habit of spreading fake news and pretending to be the harbingers of virtue. They often sell their pens for pocket change while keeping up the pretence of sitting on their high moral horse. Paid news is passed off as analysis, Islamists are hailed as feminists, terrorism is dressed up as revolution, terrorists are branded as headmasters’ sons and loving fathers, the sovereignty of the nation is sacrificed at the altar of political patronage and the last shred of ethics is discarded like a dirty tissue that has outlived its utility.

On similar lines, Suhasini Haider, The Hindu journalist tweeted today announcing that it was partnering with BBC to protect its readers from disinformation.


The article read:

The Hindu is partnering with the BBC and other leading global news and technology organisations in new industry collaboration to tackle disinformation. The collaboration was announced by the BBC and the partners in the early hours of Saturday.

Under this collaboration, news and technology majors will work together to protect their audiences and users from disinformation, particularly around crucial events such as elections.

Irony is wasted on the stupid, and that The Hindu and British Broadcasting Corporation don’t recognise the elephantine moronity of the two publications joining hands to combat fake news, is one amusing aspect of the fiasco that is bound to deliver some chuckles through the ages.

The Hindu attempting to combat disinformation is much like Charles Manson giving sermons of racial harmony and co-existence. The very organisation that pioneered the helter-skelter of fake news is now attempting to convince people that they care about their audience getting accurate information, especially during important events like the elections.

While The Hindu keeps up pretences and the rest of the ‘liberal’ media clap like chattering monkeys, it would bode well to travel back in time and remember the times that The Hindu itself has behaved like the greatest purveyors of fake news.

One recalls how the Editor of The Hindu had tweeted screenshots from a fake CBSE website to claim that the official Government of India website had a badly written note to students. Of course, he had later deleted his tweet but not before ‘liberals’ had abused Smriti Irani, the then HRD Minister.

The Hindu had then lied blatantly to insinuate that the government of India is not working towards realising the dream of cashless economy. The Hindu’s unbridled hate is such, that they had even got slammed by the Greek Embassy for misquoting a Greek Minister in an anti-demonetisation article.

The clarification was nothing but an indictment of the style of reporting of Suhasini Haider and The Hindu. As was made evident by the Greek authorities, they were anguished by the fact that the report misquoted the Minister which led to an extreme oversimplification of what he wanted to actually say and stated that he did not wish to make any judgement based on a country’s internal policies of which he has no knowledge of. The fact that The Hindu, which originally reported the news, had to carry a clarification which in itself slammed The Hindu, gives us a hint as to the amount of criticism and pressure they must have been under, from the Greek embassy and officials. It is very likely that they felt extremely upset that their foreign minister was used as a pawn by Suhasini Haider, to settle domestic scores in India.

In 2016, The Hindu also had to publish a clarification and an apology after it had shamelessly misinterpreted the answer given by the I&B Ministry.

The Hindu has also spread fake news that had international ramifications. In 2017,

The Hindu had reported Michael Pillsbury as saying: Trump has declined Dalai Lama’s request for a meeting’. This news item was preceded by another report based on the same quote, titled: “Is Trump preparing to change the script on Tibet?”. This obviously had larger ramifications for the US-China relationship and Trump’s foreign policy on this tricky aspect.

Soon, Pillsbury denied making such a statement and The Hindu had to pull down both their articles that peddled fake news.

The Hindu had also twisted the words of a father of a terrorist who had refused to accept the body of his son in order to insinuate that the terrorist may have been innocent and after the footbridge in Elphinstone, Mumbai had collapsed, The Hindu had concocted news of a bystander molesting a victim stuck in the stampede. This news was later retracted by the paper. 

While there is a long list of such fake news that has been peddled by The Hindu, the one of most prominence was that of the Rafale deal. A lie carefully and maliciously concocted to undermine India’s national interest and the Modi government right before the 2019 general elections.

On February 8th, The Hindu had published a note from defence ministry in its efforts to help Rahul Gandhi in derailing the Rafale deal. The note contained a note a defence ministry official who had objected to Prime Minister’s office enquiring the progress of the deal, although that officer was not involved in the negotiations of the deal. The Hindu wanted to project that there was opposition to the Rafale deal in the defence ministry and only the Prime minister pushing for it. In doing so, the newspaper had cropped a vital part in the same document, a note by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. The then defence minister had written that the officer was overreacting, and offices of Indian PM and French President were just monitoring the progress of the deal.

Immediately after the Hindu report, ANI had published the full document, which had proved that N Ram had used a cropped version of the document in his article.

Even the clarification issued by The Hindu was bunkum and was comprehensively debunked proving that The Hindu not only cropped the image of the document used but also digitally manipulated it.

While The Hindu was at the forefront of spreading the Rafale lie, the Supreme Court had given the deal a clean chit.

The Hindu, after getting caught for deliberately cropping the internal note of the Ministry of Defense to do a hit job against the Narendra Modi government, the media organisation has yet again resorted to peddling half-truths to wash away former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s blunder of not only refusing to accept a seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) but also gifting it to China.

The Hindu, which often peddles leftist ideals, published an article with half-facts to state that former Prime Minister Nehru had categorically denied receiving any formal or informal offer of a seat for India in the UN Security Council. Citing its own report dated September 28, 1955, the Hindu went on to claim that Nehru categorically denied that a UNSC seat was ever offered to India. This lie was comprehensively debunked as well. 

While the saga of The Hindu spreading fake news is endless and the examples cited here are merely the tip of the iceberg, what makes the fact that The Hindu is attempting to combat misinformation even more hilarious is that they are joining hands with the BBC in this endeavour.

BBC had recently published a ‘research’ paper on fake news which had created quite the brouhaha. The research was conducted based on shoddy methodology, based on questionable sources and had been comprehensively debunked by OpIndia.com.

After massive uproar against the report where they willy-nilly concluded that Nationalism drives fake news, the BBC responded to The Better India’s email that raised an objection against their name being included in the pro-BJP fake news purveyors list. The BBC then acknowledged that they had made an error in including their name. They had asserted that the website’s name had been removed from the ‘research’ and attributed it to ‘human error’.

Then, the BBC had pulled its research down with the website showing a 404 error. After publishing it again and pulling it down again, the BBC finally managed to upload the “research” again, however, it continued to have glaring loopholes. What was interesting was that they had included a paragraph that essentially retracted their earlier conclusion that “Nationalism was the driving factor behind fake news”.

The BBC had admitted in its amended report that they cannot really say whether nationalism is the driving force behind Fake News or not. They really do say that and yet the organization has issued no apology for its previous grandiose comments.

It must be kept in mind that this was added when the new research report was published after 30 hours of it being pulled down temporarily. This paragraph was not there in their original research paper. The research paper states:

“This study –being qualitative- cannot tell us the relative importance of each of these factors and how they will vary across different population groups. What it does tell us is that all of these factors will play some role. So it could well be the case that for young people the motivation of civic duty plays much more strongly than their socio-political identities- but we think it likely that both of these factors will apply.”

The researchers clearly state that they cannot compare the relative influence of the factors associated with Fake News.

In fact, after BBC’s shameless vilification of nationalists and subsequent retraction, OpIndia had listed 20 times that BBC had shamelessly peddled fake news. 

One, of course, recalls how BBC had shown Chechnya footage during the Hazratbal operation in Kashmir to insinuate that Indian forces were firing at the shrine and their recent shenanigans in Kashmir as well which have been comprehensively debunked by the armed forces. The BBC’s shenanigans in Kashmir did not start recently, but in the 1990s with Indian Media maintaining stoic silence throughout.

OpIndia has often exposed BBC and The Hindu for all the fake news that they peddle and the full list of our articles can be accessed here and here.

With such antecedents, one can only chuckle when The Hindu and BBC join hands to combat fake news.

India has moved beyond bowing down to the Lutyens elite. The truth has often prevailed over the propaganda that elements like The Hindu and BBC try to peddle. Their latest pretence of combating fake news while being the greatest purveyors of fake news too shall meet the same fate with readers being far more informed as astute now. We can only request The Hindu and BBC to beg themselves to not be dumb enough to assume that their charade will not be called out by their own readers.

Chandrayaan 2: As the nation rallies behind ISRO, and prays for Vikram lander, ‘liberal’ hate spills over

OpIndia Staff
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Chandrayaan 2: As the nation rallies behind ISRO, and prays for Vikram lander, ‘liberal’ hate spills over

As the entire nation stood with ISRO to experience a spectacular journey of India’s first attempt to land at the lunar south pole, some petty individuals displayed their sheer negativity and arrogance over social media.

The long night and the next morning also showed that some individuals exist only to mock and pull others down at the very first opportunity.


Some people are so consumed with their hatred for PM Modi that for them, the hopes and efforts of a nation and the hard work of scientists involved do not hold any value at all. All they care about is exploiting every opportunity to criticise one man who they hate just because their political opinions do not match with his.


Via Twitter

The BBC too, being true to its anti-India nature, was busy mocking India’s maiden attempt to land on the lunar surface. These are some of the cartoons that the BBC had run to mock India’s moon mission:

Cartoon by BBC News Hindi
Cartoon by BBC Hindi

NDTV’s Pallava Bagla was heavily criticised for his arrogant and extremely rude behaviour towards a scientist in ISRO in the media room. While Bagla’s behaviour was called out by many people on social media, ‘journalist’ Sadanand Dhume defended his action. Surprisingly, even Barkha Dutt called him out and slammed Dhume for defending sheer arrogance and rudeness.


Some individuals were so blind with hatred that even the emotions of a man who has nurtured the Chandrayan Mission like his own child were mocked and criticised. ISRO chief K Sivan was consoled in a heartwarming hug by PM Modi but a former Congress IT cell troll saw it as ‘childish’ and ‘idiotic’.


The Chandrayan-2 mission has had a billion-plus Indians pray, hope and rejoice in our nation’s glory and our scientists’ efforts. The fact that we lost communication with Vikram lander and were unable to land on the lunar south pole the way we expected to cannot take away the fact that for a maiden effort it was commendable and a remarkable achievement to have made it up to 2.1 km of moon’s surface.

ISRO has a Chandrayan orbiter successfully circling the moon that will keep sending us images and data for a whole year. Deriding the efforts, the national emotions and mocking the Prime Minister who stood like a rock to support his scientist through every up and down are no doubt the workings of minds that know nothing but hatred and pettiness.

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