Aug 23 will be celebrated as National Space Day, says PM Modi
Bengaluru (PTI): Conforming to a christening tradition, Chandrayaan 3's landing point on the Moon will be named "Shiv Shakti Point," a convergence of welfare and strength, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday.
Modi flew down to Bengaluru this morning from the Greek capital of Athens to interact with ISRO scientists on the successful lunar mission and announced the decision to name the spot where the lander 'Vikram' touched down as "Shiv Shakti point."
Terming the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission as an 'extraordinary moment' in the history of India's space programme, Modi, who turned emotional, said the place where the Chandrayaan-2 lander crash-landed on the Moon's surface in 2019 would be known as "Tiranga Point".
"There is a scientific tradition of naming the location of touch down. India has decided to name the lunar region where our Chandrayaan-3 landed. The place Vikram lander descended will be known as Shiv Shakti point."
"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", the PM added.
He said the new generation should come forward to scientifically prove the astronomical formulae in the scriptures of India and to study them anew.
"It is also important for our heritage and for science. In a way, this is a double responsibility for the students of 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", he said.
"I was impatient and eager to visit and salute you for your diligence, dedication, courage, devotion and passion", Modi said in his address to team ISRO, his voice choking. "India is on the moon! We have our national pride placed on the moon."
Hailing the role of women scientists in the success of Chandrayaan-3, he said, "the country's Nari Shakti played a big role" in it.
The Prime Minister stated that the point where Chandrayaan 2 left its imprints will now be called 'Tiranga'.
This point, he said, will serve as an inspiration for every effort that India makes and remind us that failure is not the end. "Success is a guarantee where there is strong will power."
Declaring August 23 as the 'National Space Day,' Modi said it will celebrate the spirit of Science, Technology and Innovation, and inspire us for an eternity.
A large number of people, many of them waving national flags, accorded a grand welcome to the PM outside the HAL airport, where he landed straight from Greece, and at Jalahalli Cross, close to ISTRAC. He also held a road-show for a distance as people who lined up on either side of the roads cheered boisterously.
At ISTRAC, ISRO Chairman S Somanath briefed him about the Chandrayaan-3 mission and its progress.
In his address, Modi said in this period of 21st century, the country which takes the lead in science and technology, will move ahead. "Today, the name of Chandrayaan is resonating among children of India. Every child is seeing his or her future in the scientists".
The Prime Minister requested ISRO to organise national hackathons on "Space Technology in Governance" in collaboration with various departments of center and state governments. "I am confident that this National Hackathon will make our governance more effective and provide modern solutions to the countrymen," he said.
Modi also urged students across the country to take part in a huge quiz competition on Chandrayaan mission organised by Government of India portal MyGov from September 1.
The soft landing of Vikram lander on lunar surface was not an ordinary achievement, Modi said adding the feat was a "roaring announcement" of India's scientific accomplishment in the infinite universe.
"India is on the moon, he said adding, "we have our national pride played on the moon."
"We reached where no one else had reached. We did what no one else had ever done. This is today's India, a fearless India, India with fighting spirit," the Prime Minister said.
"This is an India, which thinks new and thinks in novel ways, which goes to the dark zones and spreads the rays of light. India of 21st century has the capacity to solve major problems of the world," Modi said addressing the space scientists.
"Today, from trade to technology, India is being counted among among the countries standing in the first row. In the journey from 'third row' to 'first row', institutions like our ISRO have played a huge role."
Hailing the space agency, the Prime Minister said it has taken "Make In India" to the moon.
On Wednesday evening as the Lander Module of Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully touched down on the lunar surface, Modi had joined the ISRO team at Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISTRAC virtually from Johannesburg, where he was attending the 15th BRICS summit.
Modi had also flown down to Bengaluru on the night of September six, 2019 to watch the planned touch down of Chandrayaan-2 mission's 'Vikram' lander.
But in the early hours of September seven, barely minutes before it was slated to land, ISRO lost contact with the craft, just 2.1 kms above the lunar surface.
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Editorial | The EC’s press meet dodged the core questions on “vote theft”
The Election Commission of India called a press conference to quieten the storm over “vote theft.” Instead of clarity, we got a combative ultimatum, selective talking points, and very little data that can actually reassure voters. In a moment when public trust is fragile, the EC chose to lecture and warn, not to explain and prove.
This row did not start with a rally or a TV debate. It began with Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) where 65 lakh names were reportedly deleted in the draft rolls. The Supreme Court had to step in and direct the EC to publish details of the deletions with reasons on district websites. Only after that order did Bihar’s CEO upload the list, and the EC publicly emphasised how quickly it complied. This timeline matters because it shows transparency came after judicial nudging, not before. That does not build confidence.
What the EC said — and what it didn’t
At the presser, the Chief Election Commissioner gave Rahul Gandhi seven days to either file a sworn affidavit with evidence or apologise to the nation. He also argued that “vote theft cannot happen” at the machine because a person can press the button only once, and stressed that roll preparation and voting are separate processes. These lines made headlines. But they also skirted the heart of the dispute: alleged large-scale, wrongful deletions and additions in the rolls ahead of a crucial state election.
The Commission explained away anomalies like “house number 0” and duplicate names as address-formatting or record-cleaning issues, and insisted the SIR is not a rush job. What it did not share was granular, verifiable evidence that wrongful deletions have been promptly corrected or that inclusion barriers are low for poor, migrant and first-time voters.
Why the press meet failed to convince
1) It fought a straw man
The EC focused on EVM tampering and “one person, one vote,” while the main charge is voter suppression via the rolls. Conflating machine integrity with roll integrity avoids the central pain point: who got cut, on what grounds, and how fast are they being restored.
2) Transparency arrived late, not early
Publishing reasons for deletions after a Supreme Court directive is good, but reactive. People want to see proactive disclosure: district-wise reason codes, ward/booth heatmaps of deletions, and a running correction log that shows how many names were restored after objections. The EC showcased speed of compliance (uploaded “within 56 hours”), not depth of transparency.
3) The burden of proof was pushed on citizens
A seven-day affidavit demand to a political opponent is theatre, not governance. The legal and moral burden sits with the authority controlling the rolls. If the EC believes the SIR is clean, it should publish audit trails, independent verification reports, and error rates by category (death, shift, duplication, “dead but alive” cases discovered and fixed). A podium warning cannot substitute for public evidence.
4) Too many tough questions went unanswered
Reporters flagged holes; the Commission largely sidestepped them. Simple queries remain: What is the false-positive deletion rate in the draft? What share of objections filed were accepted? How many deletions were reversed within the window? Without these figures, the presser looked defensive. Even business media called out the dodges.
5) The human stories cut through the spin
In the Supreme Court, “dead” voters walked in alive. Their testimony about the documents demanded to re-enter the rolls underscored how the costs of correction fall on the weakest. If deletion is easy and restoration is hard, the system is tilted. The EC did not convincingly address this asymmetry.
The trust deficit is now political capital
Opposition parties have turned the trust gap into street and parliamentary pressure — joint pressers, protest marches, even talk of an impeachment motion. You can disagree with their politics, but the scale of mobilisation shows how little the presser calmed the waters. When the referee is the story, the game is already in trouble.
What the EC should have done — and still can Publish the full diagnostics, not just a list
Release district-level dashboards showing reasons for each deletion, acceptance/rejection rates of objections, and time taken to restore names. Add a weekly errata log until final rolls close.
Independent audit, publicly presented
Commission a third-party audit (retired constitutional judges, CAG-grade auditors, and statisticians) of a representative sample of deletions and additions. Present the findings in an open hearing.
Lower the barrier to get back on the roll
If eleven documents are accepted under the SIR framework, ensure BLOs help citizens generate at least one low-friction proof on the spot. Mobile camps in bastis and panchayats should process restorations within days, not weeks.
Name-and-notify policy for the “declared dead”
When a person is marked deceased, the system should auto-trigger door-to-door verification and a public notice period before deletion. Where mistakes are found, the EC must publicly count and correct them.
Stop the optics, start the evidence
Ditch ultimatums to politicians. Hold a data briefing every 72 hours till September 1 with hard numbers, district comparatives, and case studies of corrected errors — not just assertions.
The bottom line
Here’s the thing: confidence in elections is built on boring paperwork that stands up to scrutiny. The EC’s press conference was heavy on rhetoric and light on proof. It answered charges of “vote theft” with moral outrage and legalese, not with the granular facts people needed. Until the Commission puts out verifiable, district-level evidence and shows that wrongful deletions are being fixed fast and fairly many citizens will remain unconvinced. An institution of this stature should not be asking for trust. It should be earning it, line by line, name by name.
