Bengaluru (PTI): ISRO on Monday said the Vikram lander successfully underwent a hop test when it made the soft-landing again on the lunar surface.

On command it (Vikram lander) fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 to 40 cm away, ISRO said in an update on 'X'.

Noting that the Vikram lander exceeded its mission objectives, ISRO said the importance of the exercise was that this 'kick-start' enthuses future sample return and human missions.

"Vikram soft-landed on the moon, again! Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment. On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30-40 cm away," ISRO said in a post.

"Importance?: This 'kick-start' enthuses future sample return and human missions! All systems performed nominally and are healthy. Deployed Ramp, ChaSTE and ILSA were folded back and redeployed successfully after the experiment," the space agency added.

India scripted history by soft-landing the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface on August 23.

India became the fourth country to touch the lunar surface and first to ever reach the south pole of the moon.

 

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Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.

''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.

The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.

The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.

''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.

Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.

These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.

There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.

The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.