Science News

[SaniaFan]

Instead of giving a speech at that occasion PM could have made the ISRO team feel special by having a short appreciation session with them asking about their feeling at the moment and personally appreciating while talking to the top few guys who were at the podium in public. Basically he should have kept them as the center of attraction rather than hogging the screen for 10-15 minutes.
I am sure he'll personally apprciate them on 26th August when he is back from SA but to do it the and there would have been great.

[Sin Hombre]

He also needs to win elections, can't fault a politician for being pragmatic. As long as he gives them their due credit.

[Atithee]

Have you ever seen anyone but Elon Musk (and most CEOs or company bigwigs in general) talk about Tesla? But, no, Modi needs to conform to different standards than any leader or politician. There was even talks of ISRO scientists not being paid salaries for three months. If true, Modi must have inspired them somehow to provide their sweat and blood for free. NOT! Conspiracy theorists can stoop to unthinkable lows.

BTW, I didn’t like Modi’s celebratory speech.

[SaniaFan]

Not sure what was the conspiracy theory in my statement. I just said what would have been nice to do as his speech seemed unnatural. At a time where the scientists would have been euphoric we were made to listen to his speech. How nice it would have been to hears their instant reactions.

Also of late Modi is becoming an election bunny. He need to break that image. I remember his first independence day speech where there a humane touch. Now all his action just seem about election. That is what he needs to break is my opinion. Sometime you are in a bubble and don't realize that you are losing the connect.

[jayakris]

Those who don't like Modi just continue to find reasons not to like him, whatever he does or does not.

[SaniaFan]

That is true. But he should not give reason to those who used to like him

[Atithee]

The key to failure is trying to please everyone! So said a poster in an admin’s cubicle early in my career. All managers and leaders should learn this early in their career.

[srini]

Well every day he gives new reasons to not like him. Back from Greece visit directly goes to ISRO center, makes scientists step into office early at 6am, only to harangue them with a 1 hour insipid speech during which he also gets emotional (stops short of crying). Names the moon landings of C-3 and C-2 in retrospect as "Shiv Shakti" and "Tiranga". Somehow i believe Science and Sports can achieve best results when executed in a non-emotional way (Abhinav Bindra-like expression when carrying out any task).

I don't like methods used by Yogi (tacitly blessed by Modi) of bulldozing the residences of Muslims as the means of extra judicial punishment for any protests. I don't approve of the stone pelting by Muslim crowds either, but those incidents should be brought to justice, not dealt with in the ways BJP uses.

Historically ,this country has never persecuted any religion. Parsis/Zorastrians faith had its largest followers in India and NOT in Iran/Persia where its origins are... because it was persecuted there. Jews had sizeable presence (about 50 thousand) in India during 1940s because anti semetism was not known and did not exist at all in India while it existed almost everywhere else in the world. There are stories of some Jews who have made their way from Russian and German labor camps to India during WW2.Most of them left India only after Israel was created as a homeland for all Jews. So i don't want the right wing to thwart that legacy. Didn't like Congress's minority appeasement nor do i like right wing's majority appeasement now!

[Saffron Lenin]

Meanwhile, Congress criticizes Modi of naming Chandrayaan 3 landing site as "shiv-shakti" point.

[Saffron Lenin]

"The entire world will laugh. Who has given PM Modi the right to name a point on the moon. We have landed, it is very good. We are proud of it, no doubt in it. But we are not the owner of the moon or the point," Rashid Alvi said in a television interview where he was countered with 'Jawahar point'.

On the contrary, Jawahar Point, where Chandrayaan 1, the first Moon Mission, crash-landed on the moon in 2008, was named after India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is the name

Defending Congress, Alvi said, "You can't compete Jawaharlal Nehru with anything. Whatever Isro is it is only because of Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1962, it was Vikram Sarabhai and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who founded Isro. So you can say that Pandit Nehru founded all this. That is absolutely different thing. But now Modiji is politicising the thing."


https://www.outlookindia.com/national/- ... ews-313713

[srini]

"The entire world will laugh. Who has given PM Modi the right to name a point on the moon. We have landed, it is very good. We are proud of it, no doubt in it. But we are not the owner of the moon or the point," Rashid Alvi said in a television interview where he was countered with 'Jawahar point'.

On the contrary, Jawahar Point, where Chandrayaan 1, the first Moon Mission, crash-landed on the moon in 2008, was named after India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is the name

Defending Congress, Alvi said, "You can't compete Jawaharlal Nehru with anything. Whatever Isro is it is only because of Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1962, it was Vikram Sarabhai and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who founded Isro. So you can say that Pandit Nehru founded all this. That is absolutely different thing. But now Modiji is politicising the thing."


https://www.outlookindia.com/national/- ... ews-313713

Rashid Alvi’s views are fine, but what are your views ? Can Nehru take credit for founding ISRO?

[Atithee]

Do you remember “twada kutta tommy,sadda kutta kutta?”

This is in Punjabi. It says “your dog is Tommy and our dog is just a dog?”

Tommy is a reference to not only just Congress, but also other space pioneers who coin names.

P.S. Saffron, when you quote an article with a link, please don’t quote more than a line or two. Better yet, let us know what you think. It becomes hard to distinguish if the quoted material is from the original article or your take on it.

As for naming, I found this to be an interesting article:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-spac ... med-48457/

And this:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/ ... uff-space/

A quote from the second article:

Minor planets — any body in orbit around the sun that is not a planet or comet — are the most freewheeling of solar system objects. With a few exceptions, most new asteroids can bear any name that is not offensive or overtly commercial or political. These space rocks carry the names of mathematicians, chemists, engineers, high school teachers, the members of the Beatles and the British comedy group Monty Python, all three Bronte sisters, runner Jesse Owens, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor and activist Malala Yousafzai.

But even the indulgent members of the minor planet community have their limits. In the 1980s, when astronomer James Gibson christened a newly discovered asteroid with the name of his cat, Mr. Spock, “certain people — I’m not going to mention any names — felt that was inappropriate,” Williams said. “So now that is strongly discouraged.”

But the IAU does not change names once they are chosen. The asteroid 2309 Mr. Spock circles the sun still.

[prasen9]

Rashid Alvi’s views are fine, but what are your views ? Can Nehru take credit for founding ISRO?

Not a chance. Vikram Sarabhai was the one who founded the ISRO or was the one who did most of the initial work. Nehru can take as much credit for the ISRO as Modi can for the Chandrayan launch. That is, they were heads of the government, who allocated the money, and supported the endeavor, etc. To the extent I know. If anyone knows more, please correct me.

[srini]

Rashid Alvi’s views are fine, but what are your views ? Can Nehru take credit for founding ISRO?

Not a chance. Vikram Sarabhai was the one who founded the ISRO or was the one who did most of the initial work. Nehru can take as much credit for the ISRO as Modi can for the Chandrayan launch. That is, they were heads of the government, who allocated the money, and supported the endeavor, etc. To the extent I know. If anyone knows more, please correct me.

I concur Prasen. How can the "Visionary Helmsman" (pun...PUN) Nehru be taking credit if he does that only in 1962 at the end of his 3rd term ,just 2 years before his death even if he founded ISRO without prodding from Sarabhai.

[prasen9]

If anything the Indira government did more towards funding for ISRO, government backing, etc. Nehru did listen to Sarabhai and the government supported the effort though.