The Indian Space Research Organisation launched its third lunar mission, Chandrayaan 3, on-board the heavylift LVM3-M4 rocket in Sriharikota on July 14.
The Vikram lander of the mission is planned to soft land on the surface of the South Pole region of the Moon on August 23 at 5.47 p.m.
At the end of the 25.30 hour countdown, the LVM3-M4 rocket, the largest and heaviest in its class and dubbed as ‘Fat Boy’ lifted off majestically at a prefixed time at 2.35 p.m. from the second launch pad, discharging thick plumes of smoke.
Today’s lunar expedition follows the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission where space scientists are aiming for a soft landing on the surface of the moon. A successful mission would see India enter an elite club of nations achieving such a feat, the others the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.
The Chandrayaan-3 which will be India’s third lunar mission consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM), and a rover with the objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for inter-planetary missions.
The dream run of India’s ambitious second lunar mission, Chandrayaan 2 ended in a tragedy early on September 7 as the Indian Space Research Organisation lost contact with the spacecraft’s lander Vikram.
T.N. Minister Senthilbalaji’s arrest: Third judge of Madras High Court rules in favour of Enforcement Directorate
Arrested Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthilbalaji suffered a major setback at the Madras High Court on Friday, with Justice C.V. Karthikeyan, the third judge named by Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala following a split verdict by a Division Bench on July 4, ruling that a habeas corpus petition (HCP) filed by his wife Megala, is not maintainable.
Justice C.V. Karthikeyan held that the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is authorised to subject an accused person in a money laundering case to custodial interrogation, the HCP field by the Minister’s wife is not maintainable and that the ED can subject the Minister to custodial interrogation even after the expiry of 15 days from arrest. The petition accused the ED of not having followed due procedure while arresting her husband.
The judge did not concur with the verdict delivered by Justice J. Nisha Banu of the Division Bench and instead, aligned with the conclusions arrived at by Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy. The judge sent the case back to the Division Bench to decide when the ED could take actual custody of the Minister.
In his dissenting verdict, Justice Chakravarthy had cited a slew of Supreme Court verdicts and stated that an HCP could be entertained, after the passing of a judicial remand order, only in cases of absolute illegality or total non application of mind on the part of the detaining authority or lack of jurisdiction or wholesale disregard to fundamental rights.
No such exceptional circumstance had arisen in the present case since the ED had categorically stated that the Minister refused to receive the grounds of arrest at 1:39 am on June 14, 2023 though a perusal of the document clearly showed the details of the money laundering case registered against him as well as the reasons for resorting to arrest.
Minister Senthilbalaji was arrested on June 13, 2023 in a cash-for-jobs scam that took place when he was the Minister for Transport between 2011 and 2015, during the AIADMK regime. Mr. Senthilbalaji was questioned for 18 hours by the ED and when he complained of chest pain, was taken to the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital at Omandurar Government Estate.
A coronary angiogram done the following morning revealed that he had triple vessel disease and doctors advised a coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Subsequently, he was admitted to a private hospital, after courts allowed the transfer. He underwent a coronary bypass surgery on June 21, 2023.
Yamuna water enters Gandhi memorial at Rajghat
Water from the Yamuna entered Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat in Delhi, inundating its lawns and pathways, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti Vice-Chairman Vijay Goel said on July 14.
Goel said the flood water rose up to the memorial complex’s entrance and later inundated the pathways leading to the marble platform where Gandhi was cremated. However, the water just touched the lower portion of the marble platform and the flame atop it was unaffected,” he said.
Visuals of Rajghat showed water surging on the Ring Road and entering the memorial. Goel said a part of the wall of the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti collapsed under the pressure of the water. Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told reporters that the flooding at Rajghat was due to the backflow from a drain in the area.
A PTI Video showed the memorial’s pathways and lawns inundated by waist-deep water. Rajghat, built in Gandhi’s memory on the western bank of the Yamuna in Delhi, measures 44.35 acres. The memorial is a square stone platform in black marble.The memorial was built on the site where Gandhi was cremated after his assassination on January 30, 1948, at Delhi’s Birla House.
SC extends protective order for woman lawyer till July 17
The Supreme Court on Friday continued till July 17 its protection against arrest of a woman lawyer who took part in a fact-finding mission to violence-hit Manipur.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud extended the order till Monday on a plea by senior advocate Siddharth Dave for the lawyer, Deeksha Dwivedi. The court had originally stepped in to protect Dwivedi on July 11.
The hearing, originally scheduled for July 14, was adjourned after the State of Manipur sought an adjournment. Dwivedi was part of a three-member team of the National Federation of Indian Women that visited Manipur. The members subsequently held a press conference in which they alleged that the violence in Manipur was State-sponsored. Following this, the Manipur Police filed an FIR against them.
Dwivedi has been accused of sedition and conspiracy to wage war against India, among other offences. Dave said Dwivedi was a lawyer for four years. “We learn that the offences are Section 121A, 124A, 153, 153A, and 153B of the Indian Penal Code. Two of the offences are punishable with life imprisonment,” Dave had argued.
Congress questions BJP receiving three times more funds than all parties put together through electoral bonds
Demanding transparency and accountability in funding of political parties, the Congress on Friday claimed that 52% of the donations to BJP came in the form of electoral bonds and the amount totalled up to ₹5,200 crore in four financial years.
Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera claimed that the BJP got three times more funds than all other political parties put together through electoral bonds. Quoting the latest report of Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), Khera said between 2016-17 and 2021-22, the BJP received ₹5,271.97 crore while all other parties together got ₹1,783.93 crore.
Khera said, “₹5,200 crore came into the coffers of the ruling party, without any questions, without any answers and without the country getting to know what was the quid pro quo”, and added, “Whom did you get this money from and what did you give in return?”
He said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks of transparency, the electoral bonds are the most opaque system of political funding.
Khera said electoral bonds were introduced when late Arun Jaitley was the Finance Minister despite reservations from the Election Commission of India (EC) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The Congress spokesperson alleged that the electoral bonds “legitimised” crony capitalism as it removed earlier restrictions like a limit on companies that they cannot donate more than 7.5% of their three years’ net profit.
Khera also alleged that ever since these bonds came into existence, it had become easier to “allure legislators and subvert democratically elected governments”.
“This is the fair and lovely scheme that Rahul Gandhiji often mentions,” Khera said, alleging that unaccounted money was being channelised into the system using the scheme.
In Brief:
Nearly two weeks after the inclusion of Ajit Pawar, a rebel leader from the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as Deputy Chief Minister and eight MLAs as ministers in the ruling coalition, the Maharashtra Cabinet was reshuffled on July 14 with the former getting the Finance and Planning portfolio, the same office he had during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. NCP’s Chhagan Bhujbal got the Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection while Dilip Walse-Patil will now oversee the Cooperation department. Dhananjay Munde will be the new Agriculture Minister replacing Shiv Sena’s Abdul Sattar, who will now handle Minority Development and Wakf, Panan.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
