Pak's first female astronaut congratulates ISRO on Chandrayaan-2; says 'giant leap' for South Asia
Karachi: Amidst the Indo-Pak war of words over Kashmir, Pakistan's first female astronaut Namira Salim has congratulated India and ISRO for its Chandrayaan-2 mission, saying the attempt to make a landing on the Moon was itself a "giant leap" for South Asia and as well as for the entire global space industry.
The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) plan to soft-land the Chandrayaan-2's Vikram module on the lunar surface did not go as per script in the early hours of Saturday, with the lander losing communication with ground stations during its final 2.1-km descent.
Considered as the "most complex" stage of the country's second expedition to the Moon, the lander was on a powered decent for a soft landing when it lost contact.
"I congratulate India and ISRO on its historical attempt to make a successful soft landing of the Vikram lander at the South Pole of the Moon. The Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission is indeed a giant leap for South Asia which not only makes the region but the entire global space industry proud," Salim said in a statement to Karachi-based magazine Scientia.
Salim is the first Pakistani to go to space aboard the Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. She said the regional developments in the space sector in South Asia are remarkable.
"Regional developments in the Space sector in South Asia are remarkable and no matter which nation leads-in space, all political boundaries dissolve and in space-what unites us, overrides, what divides us on Earth," she said.
Her comments came amid the ongoing war of words between India and Pakistan ever since India withdrew Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two union territories on August 5.
What was once the club of a select few elite space nations, is now open to all nations at the dawn of our NewSpace age. India is the first country to attempt a historic landing on the South Pole of the Moon and would have been the fourth nation to touch down on the lunar surface after space agencies of the USSR, the USA and China to have operated a rover on the Moon, according to the magazine.
While ISRO failed in making the Vikram module a soft landing on the moon, ISRO chairman K Sivan on Sunday said, "Yes, we have located the lander on the lunar surface. It must have been a hard-landing".
Salim, who is based in Monaco and Dubai, is the founder and executive chairperson of Space Trust, a non-profit initiative.
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13 lakh litres of 'Rail Neer' supplied to train passengers daily: Government
New Delhi (PTI): Approximately 13 lakh litres of packaged drinking water -- 'Rail Neer' -- are being supplied to train passengers across the railway network daily, the government informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday.
Apprising the Lower House about the Indian Railways' endeavour to provide safe and potable drinking water facilities at all stations, the government also provided zone-wise details of the water vending machines (WVMs) installed there.
"To ensure the quality of drinking water being made available at the railway stations, instructions exist for periodical checking and required corrective action to be taken.
"Regular inspection and maintenance of drinking water facilities is carried out and complaints are attended to promptly," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said while responding to a question raised by BJP MP Anup Sanjay Dhotre seeking to know the supply of drinking water at railway stations across the country
"Complaints regarding deficiency in services, including water supply, are received through various channels such as public complaints, web portals, social media, etc. These complaints are received at various levels, including the Railway Board, zonal railways, division office, etc.," Vaishnaw said.
"The complaints so received are forwarded to the concerned wings of Railways and necessary action is taken to check and address them. As receipt of such complaints and action taken thereon is a continuous and dynamic process, a centralised compendium of these is not maintained," he added.
Providing zone-wise details of water vending machines, the minister said 954 such machines have been installed across railway stations.
"The Indian Railways also provides safe and affordable packaged drinking water bottles -- Rail Neer -- approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in trains and at stations," Vaishnaw said.
"Approximately, 13 lakh litres of Rail Neer are being supplied per day to the travelling passengers in trains and at stations across the Indian Railways network," he added.
