A tale of two sides of our once coloniser, the UK.
While the general mood around the globe on the Mangalyaan has been one of appreciation, the Daily Mail reported that the Britishers in general did not appreciate the space probe of India for the reason that the aid given by them to India is a waste of their money. If India can spend on its Mars probe, why the hell they (Britishers) should give their tax payer's money to help the poor in India. Reading this gave a déjà vu feeling of reading write-ups in Indian media which were questioning the spending on this probe. I was wondering if the Britishers have become so mean to think of their aid instead of a saying a good word about Indian competence that is achieved in spite of all odds.
On the other side of the story Prince Charles and Camilla made their rendezvous with Ganga Mata and one could see how our people were excited about extending their warmth towards them. The pair made a picture as though they have come to the Ganges to wash of their sins. Reading these two news reports, what struck me was that Mars is open for anyone from anywhere in the globe to probe, but anyone from anywhere in the globe or from outside (!) have to come to India if they want to be redeemed by the Ganga. The world and space may be dotted with scientific destinations and tourist destinations, but can they offer a spiritual destination?
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India sends rocket to Mars to show off its 'technological ability' as part of its $1billion a year space programme (but country will still receive British aid until 2015)
- Aim is to see if India has the ability to explore the solar system
- No country has been fully successful on its first mission to the Red Planet
- More than half the world's attempts to reach Mars have failed
- Government criticised for giving British aid to India which will end in 2015
By Tara Brady and Wills Robinson
PUBLISHED: 14:15 GMT, 4 November 2013 | UPDATED: 15:18 GMT, 5 November 2013
India's launch of a space craft is proof it no longer needs British aid, campaigners have claimed.
Delhi's orbiter mission – part of a £600million space programme – blasted off this morning with an orbiter which will survey Mars.
But the TaxPayers' Alliance said it was wrong for a country to explore other planets while receiving UK aid, in India's case £280million a year until 2015.
Lift off: A screen grab of live footage taken from Indian television channel NDTV during its coverage of the launch
Soaring: The rocket, which is also called Mangalyaan's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, is seen in the first part of its flight from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the country's east coast
From a distance: A photographer captures the 1,350-kilogram (3,000-pound) orbiter as it heads into space
'It's atrocious that taxpayers are still handing money to a country rich enough not just to have its own space programme, but one that is blasting off to Mars,' said Jonathan Isaby, the group's political director.
'If India can afford this kind of expenditure then it does not need a penny of British taxpayers' money, especially when departments back home rightly have to cut their spending.
'It's difficult for taxpayers to believe the Department for International Development uses their cash wisely when they see it spent helping launch spacecraft to the red planet, rather than going to the world's poorest.'
Ministers are committed to increasing overall aid spending by 30 per cent to £11.3billion this year and are expected to hit their target of spending 0.7 per cent of national income on aid.
Anticipation: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Koppillil Radhakrishnan (right) watches the launch from mission control in the island of Sriharikota
Nerves: Visitors to the Nehru Planetarium in Mumbai watch the live broadcast of the launch
Bystanders: Customers in a TV showroom take a break from their shopping to watch coverage of the launch
Unlike spending on policing, prisons and defence, which have been slashed to cut the deficit, the aid budget has enjoyed year-on-year increases.
By next year, the bill will be £12.6billion a year – more than the £12.1billion spent on policing.
But a recent poll found more than 60 per cent of voters believe the cash is wasted.
India spends vast sums on defence and even has its own overseas aid programme, which cost £328million a year. Under Labour, India became the biggest net recipient of British aid, receiving £421million in 2010.
Despite the country's rapid economic development, then international development secretary Andrew Mitchell decided to approve a further £1.1billion in aid over the following four years.
Demonstrations: Guests at the planetarium look at the rocket's planned trajectory
Preparations for launch: Engineers making their final preparations before the launch
If the rocket reaches Mars, India will become only the fourth country or group to reach the red planet after Russia, U.S. and Europe
Last year his successor Justine Greening announced the outlays would end in 2015.
India's then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee embarrassed the Government by suggesting Britain's aid payments were 'a peanut in our total development expenditure'.
If successful, the space mission will put India in an elite group of four, with the US, the EU and Russia, to have sent space craft to Mars. The mission follows the launch of a lunar craft in 2008.
Jean Drèze, a leading development economist, has said: 'It seems to be part of the Indian elite's delusional quest for superpower status.'
A spokesman for the Department for International Development said: 'Not a penny of British taxpayers' aid money has gone on India's space programme.
'India's recent progress means that all financial grants from the UK to India will cease in 2015, after which we will focus on providing help in the form of private sector expertise and technical assistance that will also ultimately benefit British businesses and jobs.'
Nigeria – another country with a space programme – also receives UK aid, worth £300million this year alone.
CHINA AND INDIA CREATING AN ASIAN SPACE RACE, EXPERTS SAY
China's Shenzhou-10 rocket blasts off from the Jiuquan space centre in June
India's bid to be the first nation since Russia, the U.S. and the EU to reach Mars could spark an Asian space race.
Experts say its ambitious space programme has been fuelled by competition with China and concerns about its neighbour's civilian and military space technology.
'The reality is that there is competition in Asia. There's the angle of the potential space race,' said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.
Although India's programme is largely for peaceful purposes, it has increasingly realised the need to grow its deterrence capability after China's 2007 anti-satellite missile test.
'That was a wake-up call for India,' said Rajagopalan. 'Until then we were taking it easy.'
China's space programme is far ahead of India's, with bigger rockets, more launches and equally cost-effective missions.
It is working to create a space station and in June sent a manned rocket - the Shenzhou-10 - to the Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1, a trial space laboratory module.
Both Chinese and Indian launches have been carefully staged to boost national pride.
President Xi Jinping told the astronauts: 'You are the pride of the Chinese people, and this mission is both glorious and sacred.'
India's mission was announced on the country's Independence Day last year, soon after China's bid to reach Mars failed.
Dr James Clay Moltz, professor at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, told CNN: 'I believe India's leadership sees China's recent accomplishments in space science as a threat to its status in Asia, and feels the need to respond.'
However officials have dismissed the suggestion that India raced to prepare Tuesday's launch to trump China's failed attempt at Mars.
'We're not in a race with anybody,' said ISRO spokesman Deviprasad Karnik, noting that the voyage can happen only every 26 months, when the spacecraft can travel the shortest distance between Earth and Mars.
'The mission to Mars has to be organised whenever there is an opportunity available.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2487176/India-sends-rocket-Mars-1bn-year-space-programme.html#ixzz2k2hpXuEi
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Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla perform aarti at Rishikesh Nov 7, 2013 (6 images)
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