Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that the point where the Moon lander of Chandrayaan-3 touched down will now be known as Shiv Shakti and the point where the Chandrayaan-2 left its footprints will now be called Tiranga.
Addressing ISRO scientists at the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru after his arrival from Greece, Mr. Modi said: “The point where the moon lander of Chandrayaan-3 landed will now be known as Shiv Shakti. In Shiv, there is resolution for the welfare of humanity and Shakti gives us strength to fulfil those resolutions. This Shiv Shakti point of the moon also gives a sense of connection with Himalaya to Kanyakumari.”
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He added that the point where Chandrayaan-2 left its footprints will now be called Tiranga and that it will serve as an inspiration for every effort that India makes and remind us that failure is not the end.
National Space Day
Mr. Modi also announced that August 23, the day the Chandrayaan-3’s lander made a historic soft-landing on the Moon will be commemorated as National Space Day.
“National Space Day will celebrate the spirit of Science, Technology and Innovation, and inspire us for an eternity,” Mr. Modi said.
He added that following the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission the whole world recognises India’s scientific spirit, technology and temperament.
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“India is on the Moon, We have our national pride placed on the Moon. This is today’s India that is fearless and relentless. This is an India that thinks new and in a novel way, the one that goes to the dark zone and spreads light in the world. This India will provide solutions to the big problems of the world in the 21st Century,” he added.
‘India now among first-world countries’
He also acknowledged the major role played by women scientists in the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission.
He said that India has become the fifth-largest economy in the world and it is now among the first-world countries.
“In the journey from third row to first row, institutions like our ISRO have played a huge role,” he said.
Mr. Modi also asked ISRO to organise national hackathons on space technology in governance in collaboration with various departments of the Centre and the State governments, and called upon students across the country to take part in a huge quiz competition on the Chandrayaan mission organised by MyGov from September 1.
He urged the younger generation of the country to come forward to scientifically prove the astronomical formulas in the scriptures of India.
“It is also important for our heritage and also important for science. In a way, this is a double responsibility for the students at schools, colleges and universities today. The treasure of scientific knowledge that India has has been buried, hidden during the long period of slavery. In this Azadi ka Amrit Kaal, we have to explore this treasure too, do research on it and also tell the world about it,” Mr. Modi said.
