00:00 Namaskar, welcome to another episode of editorial.
00:03 Today I have a very joyous editorial to present to you.
00:10 We are the fourth nation in the world to land in the moon.
00:15 After US, erstwhile USSR, China, India is the fourth to land in moon.
00:21 Big achievement.
00:22 We are the first nation to land in the south pole of moon.
00:27 Bigger achievement.
00:28 So brilliant achievement by India.
00:32 Now I am going to spend next 15 minutes with you discussing who should get the credit for
00:41 this moon landing.
00:43 Who all should get the credit of this moon landing.
00:47 That's my topic of the day.
00:50 Let's get right into the show.
00:55 So I am going to take you through the journey of ISRO.
01:00 See that's important because end of the day everybody celebrates the flower.
01:06 Nobody talks about the seed.
01:09 So let's talk about the seed today and also celebrate the flower and let's see the journey
01:15 of ISRO.
01:16 So I am going to read a lot.
01:17 So please bear with me on that and then finally we have a three minutes chat.
01:21 Now right from 1947, the Prime Minister of India then Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru saw lot
01:30 of potential in rocket science and understood the need for a sound policy on space.
01:38 Now what he did is, Nehru recognized the importance of science and technology for development
01:44 of the country.
01:46 So he put a space research under the ambit of Department of Atomic Energy that is DAE
01:53 in 1961.
01:54 The DAE was founded by the then veteran nuclear scientist Homi J. Baba.
02:03 He headed it and he founded it too.
02:07 Now Baba created Indian National Committee for Space Research or as it was then called
02:16 INCOSPAR.
02:17 That is I N C O S P A R.
02:20 So the first initial name of ISRO was not ISRO, it was INCOSPAR.
02:26 This was set up in February 1962 under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
02:35 With another brilliant scientist, Homi Baba took another scientist with him, a brilliant
02:42 scientist called Vikram Sarabhai.
02:45 Now Vikram Sarabhai was made the chairman of INCOSPAR.
02:51 This was the seed to today's ISRO, 1962.
02:57 Chalo, let's go further.
03:00 Sarabhai organized space research under INCOSPAR.
03:05 The chief mandate for INCOSPAR was to formulate India's space program.
03:11 The responsibilities of DAE related to space research were taken up by the committee.
03:19 This is what, like I said, INCOSPAR was and INCOSPAR committee was.
03:27 So under the leadership of Vikram Sarabhai, this committee started.
03:32 Now came a genius into the team and this genius was called Dr. Abdul Kalam.
03:41 Now Kalam was part of the Indian National Committee of Space Research, like I said,
03:47 INCOSPAR, working under Vikram Sarabhai.
03:50 Now INCOSPAR took the decision to set up Tumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station.
03:58 This Tumba is in south of India, the tip of south of India.
04:02 So under the leadership of Vikram Sarabhai and now Abdul Kalam, they decided to set up
04:10 a equatorial rocket launching station called TERLS, that is Tumba Equatorial Rocket Launching
04:18 Station.
04:21 Now let's talk a little more about Dr. Abdul Kalam.
04:24 Dr. Abdul Kalam put over 10 long years, long years of hard work to create India's indigenous
04:33 satellite launch vehicle, which is called SLV.
04:37 He spent 10 long years.
04:39 And Indian Space Research Organization, that is ISRO came into existence in 1969.
04:50 Now in 1969, with a lot of initiative from the then Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi,
04:58 who had a vision of developing and harnessing space technology in national development while
05:05 pursuing planetary exploration and space science research, ISRO replaced INCOSPAR in the year
05:13 1969.
05:14 Now coming back to Dr. Abdul Kalam.
05:21 Abdul Kalam at that point in time had almost been putting in 10 years of very hard service
05:26 and had developed indigenous SLV, SLV is Space Launch Vehicle and he was attached to India
05:36 Space Research Organization, that is ISRO in 1969.
05:41 Kalam was transferred to ISRO where he was the project director of India's first satellite
05:47 launch, that is SLV-3, which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near-Earth
05:54 orbit in July 1980, making India a member of the Exclusive Space Club.
06:04 So Abdul Kalam designed the first indigenous Indian SLV, that is Space Launch Vehicle and
06:14 he launched our first satellite called Rohini satellite and we became in the Exclusive
06:20 Club of people, of countries who have launched their satellites in space.
06:26 This is a story and 1980 was the day when our satellite Rohini went up there and was
06:37 orbiting the Earth.
06:38 So that was a proud moment.
06:40 Now let's go further.
06:42 Now from there on we have been developing.
06:47 Every Prime Minister, every Government, every ISRO head and Abdul Kalam himself has been
06:53 tirelessly working to make all of this happen.
06:57 Now let's come to Chandrayaan.
07:02 This particular Chandrayaan also we need to credit a lot of people.
07:06 People like the ISRO Chairman S. Somnath, people like Mohana Kumar, the Mission Director,
07:13 people like P. Veeramuthuvel, Project Director and his entire team of scientists, worked
07:19 day and night to get this happening.
07:21 You know the big part of this is Chandrayaan was created at a cost of 615 crores only.
07:32 In fact if you go to see Russia's Luna 25 which crashed trying to soft land in Moon
07:39 in the South Pole cost a whopping 1600 crores.
07:43 China's shot to the Moon was even costlier.
07:46 The first probe to Moon costed them 1752 crores.
07:51 Imagine we put a satellite in 615 crores.
07:56 This is what S. Somnath, Mohana Kumar and P. Veeramuthuvel and his team did.
08:03 Fabulous, fabulous achievement.
08:05 When we talk about cost, mind you, we should also talk about the vendors, the vendors who
08:11 ensured that a vehicle could be made at this cost, 615 crores vehicle that landed in Moon,
08:20 successfully landed in Moon, that to the South Pole.
08:24 So we also need to talk about the vendors and the vendors are Larsen and Toubro.
08:30 Larsen and Toubro Aerospace Wing was the key for supplying crucial components for launch
08:35 vehicle of Chandrayaan-3.
08:38 Tata Consultancy Engineering Limited, TCE also engineered unique and indigenously built
08:45 critical systems and subsystems including the propellant plant, the vehicle assembly
08:50 building and the mobile launch pedestal which were custom built for the successful launch
08:56 of the space mission.
08:58 Also metal manufacturing company Mishra Dhatu Nigam which was built, which is based in Hyderabad
09:06 supplying critical materials such as cobalt base alloys, nickel base alloys, titanium
09:12 alloys, special steel for various components of the launch.
09:16 Then we go to Bharat Heavy Electricals who were responsible for supplying the battery
09:21 for Chandrayaan-3.
09:22 We go to MTAR Technologies which provided key parts for the Chandrayaan-3 mission including
09:29 engine and booster pumps.
09:32 Then Godrej Aerospace and Ankit Aerospace reportedly produced key engines, thrusters
09:38 and supplied alloy steel, stainless steel fasteners respectively.
09:43 Then we have the Valchandnagar Industries which is said to have supplied critical booster
09:49 segment S-200 used in the launch vehicle, flex nozzles, control tankage, S-200 flex
09:56 nozzles hardware etc.
09:58 So these were the people who also made all of this happen.
10:01 These were some of the vendors.
10:03 I have not named all but some of the vendors that made yesterday's success story happen.
10:11 Now when we are talking about ISRO we cannot forget Nambi Narayan.
10:16 Nambi Narayan has been an integral part of ISRO.
10:18 He also went through a lot of turmoil in life because of ISRO.
10:24 Now let's talk for a minute about Nambi Narayan.
10:27 Nambi Narayan was in charge of cryogenic division at ISRO.
10:31 If it wasn't for cryogenic, you wouldn't have rockets going up.
10:33 So his contribution was very very important.
10:37 Nambi Narayan is claimed to have foreseen the need of liquid fuel engine for ISRO's
10:42 future civilian programs and introducing the technology in India as early as 1970s.
10:47 Like I told you, if it wasn't for Nambi Narayan, we wouldn't have reached the space.
10:52 He was accused of selling the same technology, that is engine division, that is this liquid
10:59 fuel engine.
11:01 He was accused of selling the same technology to foreign hands.
11:05 Now he was later acquitted by CBI court and the Supreme Court in 1998 and he spent close
11:11 to 50 days in jail along with fellow scientist D. Sashi Kumar and four others.
11:18 The rocket scientist was fighting a legal battle since 1994, first to clear his name
11:23 in the case and then for compensation and now for action against the police officer
11:28 who implicated him.
11:30 So this was a very touching story.
11:33 Of course there are lot of movies based on this, lot of books on this.
11:38 But yeah, I thought when we are talking about our spaceship going up, we cannot not talk
11:44 about Nambi Narayan.
11:46 So this is another great soul, a great mind that one should thank when we talk about successful
11:52 launch of Chandrayaan 3 and successful landing of Chandrayaan 3.
11:57 Now of course, of course, how can we forget the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.
12:03 See, Narendra Modi has been very enthusiastic about our satellite launches, about our space
12:08 programs.
12:09 In fact, if you see figures, Modi government has had 47 ISRO launches, under Manmohan Singh
12:16 there were 24 and under Vajpayee there were 6.
12:19 So there were considerable larger number of launches under Modi.
12:23 So definitely Modi government was seen or Modi government gave a lot of impetus to ISRO
12:30 and launches.
12:31 So these are the people, these are the people that we need to thank.
12:37 These are the seeds that we need to thank when we see the flower of our efforts that
12:45 is our satellite landing in the South Pole of moon yesterday.
12:51 The most important contribution of this has been from all of you all, all of us, all of
12:59 us because all this right from 1947 when it was INCOSPAR to today when it became ISRO
13:09 or 1969 when it was named as ISRO and today is ISRO.
13:12 I think all through the one factor that stood by all this development were the people of
13:20 this country, were the taxes they paid.
13:23 It is the people of this country who stood by, tightened their belts but paid for our
13:28 growth, paid for that pride of that satellite going up there.
13:34 Everybody clapped when that satellite was landing there.
13:37 Some of them didn't know where the next square meal would come from but they clapped because
13:41 they knew it was an Indian satellite that's been launched there.
13:45 So I think the maximum credit of all of this should go to the people of India, the people
13:50 who tightened their belt but ensured that our flag was flying high in the moon.
13:56 So that's the point.
13:57 The reason I am doing this editorial.
14:00 The reason I am doing this editorial is because of course first I wanted to talk about this.
14:04 Secondly, you see what really happens is normally we see the fruit, we praise the fruit, we
14:14 celebrate the fruit like I told you before but one doesn't thank the seed that gave birth
14:22 to this fruit.
14:24 Now what is going to happen to a society that forgets to thank the seed that gave birth
14:28 to a fruit is nobody would want to be a seed.
14:33 Everybody would like to be seen as a fruit because you are only celebrated if you are
14:37 a fruit.
14:38 Nobody, people, leaders will stop foresights.
14:43 They will not do anything that may help India after 50 years, after 100 years.
14:48 They will not do.
14:49 They will say, "Kya fayda hai?
14:50 What is the point?
14:51 Is anybody going to talk about me?
14:52 The person who is there in 50 years or 100 years, he will get all the credit.
14:57 I will not.
14:58 Maybe I will be blamed for it.
14:59 For all you know.
15:01 And if you have leaders who are going to be working for the moment and not for the future,
15:08 you will never be able to develop India.
15:11 So therefore my effort in today's editorial was to thank all those people, all those people,
15:17 as much people I could thank, all those people who put tremendous effort, tremendous effort
15:23 to make ISRO what it is today.
15:29 Also a lot of people I have not mentioned, a lot of leaders I have not mentioned, a lot
15:33 of politicians I have not mentioned, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, B. V. Narasimha Rao, lot of people
15:38 I have not mentioned.
15:40 But all the same, I celebrate all of them today.
15:45 I thank all of them today for the success story of yesterday's mission, Chandraayan
15:50 3.
15:51 Till I see you next time, that is tomorrow at 10, Namaskar.
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