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Journalism of Courage
At an event Thursday, celebrating the deepest underwater human dive by two Indian aquanauts, Union Minister Jitendra Singh couldn’t resist drawing a parallel with the country’s space mission. India’s two big dreams — sending humans to space and to the bottom of the ocean — he said, seemed to be moving in sync, “almost like a cosmic–oceanic jugalbandi”. First, an Indian astronaut, Shubhanshu Shukla, travelled to space on a foreign spacecraft. Not long after, Indian aquanauts Commander (Retd) Jatinder Pal Singh and R Ramesh plunged into the depths of the Atlantic on a foreign submersible. Both missions are opening doors to more international tie-ups. And both are poised to play a big role in the country’s Viksit Bharat story. The best part: in 2027, if all goes to plan, homegrown tech will carry an Indian into space and another to the ocean’s floor. This back and forth, Singh said, wasn’t exactly choreographed, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it kept playing out in the years to come.
As the last date for nomination of candidates for the vice presidential election nears, the BJP parliamentary board is likely to meet on August 17 (Sunday) to finalise the name of the ruling alliance’s candidate. The NDA parties have already authorised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president J P Nadda to select the nominee. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah called on Nadda late Friday evening, triggering speculation about the possible names, but some BJP insiders said the announcement of the chosen candidate would most likely be made close to the final date of nominations on August 21 (Thursday).
