General
‘Chandrayaan 3 Landing Will Be Postponed To August 27, If Factors Unfavourable’, Says ISRO Scientist
Ahmedabad, August 21: If any factor regarding the lander module appears unfavourable, then the landing will be shifted to August 27, said the Space Applications Centre-ISRO about Chandrayaan-3 on Monday. Nilesh M Desai, director of Space Applications Centre-ISRO, Ahmedabad said that the decision regarding the landing will be taken based on the health of the lander module and the conditions on the Moon.
Decision will be taken hours before landing on August 23
“On August 23, two hours before Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon, we will decide on whether or not it will be appropriate to land it at that time based on the health of the lander module and the conditions on the Moon. In case, if any factor appears to be not favourable, then we will land the module on the Moon on August 27. No problem should occur and we will be able to land the module on August 23,” Director Desai said.
ISRO Chairman and Secretary Department of Space S Somanath called on the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology, Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh in New Delhi today and apprised him of the status and readiness of ‘Chandrayaan-3’ for the moon landing scheduled on August 23, 2023.
ISRO Chairman briefs Minister Jitendra Singh
Chairman ISRO briefed the minister on the health status of Chandrayaan-3 and said that all systems are working perfectly and no contingencies are anticipated on Wednesday. In the next two days, the health of Chandrayaan-3 will be continuously monitored. The final sequence of landing will be loaded two days ahead and tested out, he said.
Jitendra Singh expressed his confidence in ‘Chandrayaan-3’
During the meeting, Minister Jitendra Singh expressed his confidence in ‘Chandrayaan-3’ making a soft landing this time and hoped that it will script a new history of planetary exploration under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ISRO said the Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 hours IST. Live actions will be available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV from 17:27 IST on Aug 23, 2023.
While the Chandrayaan-2 mission was only “partially successful” since the lander lost contact after a hard landing, the ISRO successfully established two-way communication between the Chandrayaan-3 lander module and the still-orbiting Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. In a significant development, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter which was already fixed around the moon established a two-way connection with the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 on Monday.
ISRO shared images of far side of the moon
Earlier today, the ISRO shared new images of the lunar far side area captured by the Chandrayaan-3. India will be the fourth country in the world to achieve this feat after the United States, Russia, and China, but India will be the only country in the world to land on the lunar south pole.
The primary objectives of the Chandrayaan-3 mission are threefold — to demonstrate safe and soft landing on lunar surface; to demonstrate rover roving on the moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
Chandrayaan-3’s development phase commenced in January 2020 with the launch planned sometime in 2021. However, the Covid-19 pandemic brought an unforeseen delay to the mission’s progress.
Jitendra Singh recalled that the first in the series of Chandrayaan — namely Chandrayaan-1, is credited for having discovered the presence of water on the surface of the Moon, which was a new revelation for the world and even the premier Space agencies like the USA’s NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) were fascinated by this discovery and used the inputs for their further experiments.
Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14, 2023, via the GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota at 2:35 PM.
Ahead of the much-awaited soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the Moon, former director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and in-charge of the previous lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-2’, K Sivan earlier today said that the mission will be a “grand success”. “It’s a very anxious moment…I’m sure that this time it will be a grand success,” Sivan said while speaking to news agency.
“We have our own system and we will be establishing a soft landing without any problem. But it is a complex process,” he said while responding to a question asked whether there would be any impact after the failure of Russia’s Luna-25 mission. Russia’s moon mission failed after its Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and smashed into the moon on Sunday.
He said that corrective measures have been taken after going through data generated by the Chandrayaan-2 mission. When asked if those additional systems too were indigenous, Sivan said, “Everything is indigenous.”
Earlier today, ISRO released images of the lunar far side area captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC). This camera assists in locating a safe landing area — without boulders or deep trenches — during the descent.
Notably, the ‘Vikram’ lander module of the spacecraft successfully separated from the propulsion module recently, and subsequently underwent crucial deboosting manoeuvres and descended to a slightly lower orbit. The Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander is named after Vikram Sarabhai (1919–1971), who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space program.
A GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle was used for the launch of the spacecraft that was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5 and since then it has been through a series of orbital manoeuvres been lowered closer to the moon’s surface.
It has been a month and seven days since the Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission on July 14. The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.
The stated objectives of Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission, are safe and soft landing, rover roving on the moon’s surface, and in-situ scientific experiments. The approved cost of Chandrayaan-3 is Rs 250 crores (excluding launch vehicle cost).
Chandrayaan 3 development phase commenced in January 2020
Chandrayaan-3’s development phase commenced in January 2020 with the launch planned sometime in 2021. However, the Covid-19 pandemic brought an unforeseen delay to the mission’s progress.
The key scientific outcomes from Chandrayaan-2 include the first-ever global map for lunar sodium, enhancing knowledge on crater size distribution, unambiguous detection of lunar surface water ice with IIRS instrument, and more.
Maharashtra
Pune Municipal Corporation’s demolition drive against 9 religious places, situation tense but peace maintained, police security tight, 4 people in custody

The administration has intensified action against illegal religious places, temples and mosques in Mumbai Maharashtra. During the demolition operation on 9 religious places, temples and mosques in Pune’s Chikhli Pimpri Chinchwad, the situation became tense after stone pelting and rioting on the police during the demolition operation on the Chishtia Masjid. The police brought the situation under control and took 4 people into custody. Now the situation is peaceful but tension persists. The police have also deployed additional arrangements here.
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation took action to evict unauthorized structures in Kadalwadi, Chikhli under Chikhli police station on May 9 from 02:30 to 5:30 pm. In the said unauthorized eviction operation, action was taken on five mosques and five temples, religious places.
10 Unauthorized Constructions in Religious Places Temples and Mosques Masjid Naeem Group No. 692, Vaswa Chowk Chakhli RCC Stone Shed 12 m x 30 m, Masjid Abu Hurairah Plot No. 879, Near Naira Petrol Pump, Kadlawadi, Chakhli RCC(G) + First Floor Paper Shed 8m × 20m, Chishtia Masjid Group No. 878/879, Opposite Naira Petrol Pump, Kadlawadi, Chakhli RCC + Letter Shed (G+1) 22m x 12m RCC 32m x 18m Letter Shed, Hazrat Shabbir Bukhari Baba Dargah- Lot No. 896, Near Mohnishwar Mahadev Mandir Road, Kadlawadi, Chakhli Pune Stone Shed 2m X 2m, Royal Colony Masjid Group No. 903, 904, Opposite Kasturi Flora, Kadlawadi, Chikhli Pune Stone Shed 6 m x 12 m and Shri Kashi Ka Guruji Temple Near Moi Bridge, Chikhli Village RCC(G) 2.5m X 2.5m Shri Vitthal Rukmini Temple – Chikhli Akordi Road, Chikhli RCC(G) 2.5m x 2.5m, Shri Tulja Bhavani Temple – Sec.No. 16, Near Fire Station, Chikhli RCC(G), Stone Shed 18mx18m above, Shri Viruba Temple Group No. 824, Near Siddhi Vinayak Hospital, Yadav Nagar, Chikhli RCC(G) 2mx2m
- Shri Hanuman Temple – Group No. 908, Padrasati, Chikhli Brick Construction (G) 3m x 3m included. Except for one location, the demolition operation at the remaining nine locations has been completed peacefully, while during this demolition operation, violence broke out during the operation at Chishtia Masjid and stone pelting was carried out on the police. While removing the Chishtia Masjid Group No. 878,879 Naira Petrol Pump, Opposite Kadlawadi, Chakhli Patra Shed, some people took advantage of the darkness and pelted stones on the people conducting the operation.
The said stone pelting took place suddenly in the darkness and in which three to four policemen were pelted with stones. Four to five policemen were slightly injured. Taking advantage of the darkness, the Chakhli police station took four people into custody among those who pelted stones. The Joint Commissioner of Police, Pimpri-Chinchwad, brought the situation under control at the scene and took police action at the scene and took four people into custody. The eviction process has also been completed. This operation was completed by 5:30 pm. Police force has been deployed in the Chishtia Masjid Kadalwari area, in addition to which an anti-riot squad has also been deployed. After this incident, the police have also started monitoring social media and have also started action against the miscreants. Investigation is underway to find out how many more people were involved in the stone-pelting incident. The police have not ruled out the arrest of more unknown accused in this matter. The meeting of the Mohalla Committee and the Peace Committee has also started. Law and order is maintained in the area.
Maharashtra
Delhi court rejects bail plea of NEET-UG paper leak accused Manisha Waghmare

New Delhi, June 9: A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of Manisha Waghmare, an accused in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The order was passed by the Rouse Avenue Court after hearing arguments from both sides.
During the hearing, Waghmare’s counsel argued that she is a certified education counsellor and receives regular income through counselling services. The defence contended that the CBI’s allegation regarding a financial transaction was misconceived, claiming that around Rs 3.5 lakh credited to her account had come from the execution of a gift deed relating to ancestral property.
It was also argued that the CBI had conducted searches at her residence on two occasions but had not recovered any cash or material linking her to the alleged offence.
Opposing the plea, the CBI argued that Waghmare was not merely an education consultant but also ran a beauty parlour and played an active role in circulating leaked examination questions.
The probe agency claimed that Waghmare was involved in leaking examination questions to students in exchange for money and relied upon statements of candidates who allegedly stated that they had paid her for access to the leaked questions.
The Rouse Avenue Court, after considering the rival submissions, rejected the bail application.
The case pertains to the alleged leak of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper, following which the CBI registered an FIR on May 12 on the basis of a complaint lodged by the Department of Higher Education under the Union Ministry of Education.
According to the CBI, Waghmare was among the intermediaries involved in mobilising students who allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to attend special coaching sessions where questions that later appeared in the NEET-UG 2026 examination were dictated and discussed.
The agency has claimed that Pune-based consultant Waghmare facilitated prospective candidates for special coaching classes conducted by NTA-appointed senior Botany teacher Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, who is suspected to be the co-mastermind behind the Biology paper leak.
The CBI has identified Chemistry professor P.V. Kulkarni as the alleged “kingpin” of the paper leak network.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) is scheduled to conduct the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination on June 21, with admit cards expected to be issued by June 14. The original examination was cancelled on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court declined to direct the NTA to conduct the re-examination in a computer-based test (CBT) mode. A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Aravind Kumar observed that such a direction could not be granted at that stage when authorities were already engaged in conducting the fresh examination. The matter has been posted for hearing in July along with other pleas seeking reforms in the functioning of the NTA. The re-test is set to proceed in the existing pen-and-paper format.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra government’s important cabinet decision approves loan waiver for previously deprived farmers

Mumbai: Maharashtra government cabinet decision The state government cabinet meeting was held today (June 9) under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Important decisions were taken in this cabinet meeting. (Maharashtra Government) An important decision has been taken for the farmers in the cabinet meeting. Those farmers who were deprived of the previous loan waiver scheme have now also been included in the loan waiver. About Rs 14,000 crore has been allocated for this. Many farmers were not included in the loan waiver of 2017 and 2019. There was a repeated demand to provide the benefit of loan waiver to these farmers. Therefore, today the state government has taken an important decision in the cabinet meeting for more than 5 lakh farmers who were deprived of the loan waiver of 2017 and 2019.
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