Defence spokesperson sent on leave after tweet triggers row

SWARANASHREE RAO RAJASHEKAR DELETED THE TWEET BUT USERS HAD ALREADY TAKEN SCREENSHOTS AND WIDELY SHARED THEM

NEW DELHI: Defence ministry spokesperson Swarnashree Rao Rajashekar on Friday proceeded on leave for two weeks, hours after she took a jibe at former navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, a 1971 war hero, on Twitter over military officers abusing their privileges, triggering a groundswell of angry reactions on the micro-blogging site. Rajashekar, a defence accounts officer, regretted the “inadvertent” tweet but by then the issue had already escalated into a debate over the civil-military divide.

It began on Thursday when. reacting to a tweet questioning whether a civilian officer at Chandimandir-based Western Command could fly the formasir? tion’s flag on his car, Prakash wrote on Twitter, “Even if misuse of an Army Command’s insignia by a civilian is not a cognizable offence, the person needs to be reprimanded by the GOCINC whose “Financial Adviser” he is.”

It was this tweet that Rajashekar responded to using the ministry’s spokesperson’s official Twitter handle.

She wrote, “What about the misuse of jawans in your residence during an officer’s tenure, And how about children being picked up and dropped to school in Fauji gaadis? Not to mention Madam’s shopping expeditions on government vehicles. And endless parties…who pays for that?”

She deleted the controversial tweet amid the outrage it triggered but users had already taken screenshots and widely shared them.

“This is indeed shameful for @Spokespersonmod to tweet this to a former Service Chief,” tweeted Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), additional director general, Centre for Air Power Studies.

By then, the controversy had peaked.

Responding to Bahadur, Rajashekar tweeted, “The tweet was inadvertently done and the same is deeply regretted please.” NEW DELHI : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted crucial tests to ensure smooth and precise landing of Vikram, the lander aboard Chandrayaan 2 on Thursday.

The aim of the Lander Actuator Performance Test (LAPT) was to assess the performance of the navigational system onboard the lander for steering the module horizontally and vertically to reach a predefined target.

“The test proved the navigation capability of Vikram. The test module had all the actual navigational system that will be sent to the moon on board. Only the mass had been reduced to 1/6th the actual lander...,” said K Sivan, chairman of ISRO.