This week, India wrote history with Chandrayaan-3’s successful Moon landing. The country became the first to arrive on the south pole, and only the fourth to achieve a soft landing on the Moon. As millions of Indians celebrated this feat and the world looked at India’s scientific community, our usual primetime suspects attempted their best to steal the limelight and make it about themselves.
Times Now’s group editor Navika Kumar was seen shouting “Jai ho!” as the camera panned at her for the first comment immediately after the moon landing. India Today was also not too far behind Navika’s histrionics. The channel showed its vice chairperson Kalie Purie sobbing happy tears in half of the screen, accommodating the ISRO team’s celebration in the other half as the national space agency declared, “India is on the moon”.
TV news channels also aired “expert analysis” on the scientific significance of the Moon mission, featuring Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravishankar, and the like. After the landing, spaceman and knee medicine enthusiast Deepak Chaurasia and Zee News’ jubilant celebrations in the studio were also seen. Meanwhile, Palki on Firstpost was busy fighting it out with the Economist, which ostensibly called her “stunningly ill-informed” among other things, in one of their articles, for her international coverage. She channelled her inner Akshay Kumar from Namastey London and roared back against the Economist.
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