In her statement on the first human landing on the moon, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi referred to it as a representation of "the irresistible spirit of man"—"the spirit which crosses oceans on a bundle of reeds and leaps from one celestial body to another in a small vehicle of its own making"
With a potential completion date of a month from now, India's third lunar mission and second attempt to land on the Moon launched on Friday afternoon. Given the mission-ending failure of Chandrayaan II, a lot depends on this effort.
Though space exploration has had several high points, the Moon has a unique position as the only extraterrestrial object on which humans have set foot.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first persons to step foot on the moon, marking a little more than fifty years ago. India was suffering from the pain of bank nationalisation, and the ruling Congress was divided. As prime minister, an uneasy Indira Gandhi would eventually concentrate more and more authority, eventually leading to the Emergency six years later.
However, the sentiment of "a small step for man, a giant leap for mankind" at that time overcame all of these underlying conflicts. Indira Gandhi's message was included in the message capsule that was carried by the Apollo 11 spacecraft. It said: "On this singular occasion, when man travels through space to set foot on Earth's nearest neighbour, the Moon, I send my greetings and best wishes to the brave astronauts who have launched on this great venture. I earnestly hope that this occasion will mark the beginning of a peaceful age for all of humanity.
The Congress administration also made plans to cover the momentous occasion. The Apollo-11 lunar broadcast would be broadcast on All India Radio as part of the "Spotlight" show, it was announced on July 15. According to the press announcement, a special journalist would be dispatched to Paris to cover the event.
The Prime Minister hailed the landing as "one of the most exciting and significant moments in the history of man" on July 21, the day following it. Gandhi claimed Armstrong and Aldrin were "delegates of the irresistible spirit of man" who had "discovered fire and thought, song and science, the spirit which crosses oceans on a bundle of reeds and leaps from one celestial body to another in a small vehicle of its own creation," according to a Press Bureau of India (PIB) note.
Has man, who desires celestial suburbs, made his own Earth more hospitable, friendly, and beautiful? she said, adding that "this moment of triumph and achievement is also a moment of humility and self search." Let's use the strength of humankind's ability to reach the stars to deepen the ties of brotherhood and peace on Earth.
The Films Division issued a movie documenting the historic event, and All India Radio carried a conversation titled "Flight to Moon" with prominent members of the Planning Commission and scientists, among others.
In November of that same year, the government unveiled a special stamp showing a man walking on the Moon's surface.
The Moon landing's enthusiasm served as a welcome distraction for the troubled government led by Indira Gandhi. While a Syndicate of former Congress leaders in the Congress was putting a threat to her exclusive control over the party, the Congress had won the 1967 elections but had seen its majority decline. The nationalisation of private banks was considered as one of Indira Gandhi's strategies to catch the nation's attention.
Senior Congressmen including K. Kamaraj, Jagjivan Ram, and Y. B. Chavan pushed for the quick seizure of private sector banks. The Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Morarji Desai, was in charge of the opposing camp. Desai acknowledged that the pledge made to the electorate to do so ought to be kept, but he urged caution.
The'social control' plan was completed by December 1967. Desai concurred that the old ties between banks and commercial and industrial organisations needed to be severed and that loan decisions needed to be made in accordance with the demands of priority industries including exports, small-scale manufacturing, and agricultural production. A Bill to this effect was passed and put into effect by early 1969.
In order to examine the demand for bank credit from different economic sectors and establish priorities for loan grants, the government also established the National Credit Council (NCC).
Indira Gandhi proposed nationalising important banks on July 9, 1969. However, Indira Gandhi had already made the decision to challenge the Syndicate in an effort to seize control of the party, according to a history of the RBI. Bank nationalisation was the perfect dramatic topic for her.
The Syndicate, who were seen as being pro-rich and anti-people, and Gandhi, who portrayed herself as a revolutionary saviour of the masses, led the other faction in the Congress, which was now firmly aligned between the two warring factions. The Congress then broke up. Indira Gandhi assumed the Finance portfolio to emphasise her point.
An ordinance was enacted on Saturday, July 19, 1969, the day before the Apollo 11 landing, to immediately nationalise 14 major banks with deposits surpassing Rs 50 crore. Indira Gandhi continued by promising that nationalisation would usher in "a new and more vigorous phase in the implementation of our avowed plans and policies" and assuring industry and trade organisations that their right to credit would be protected, but the reality was quite different.
"Everyone understood that politics, not economics, was the primary force for nationalisation. According to RBI history, Indira Gandhi had triumphed in the contest for leadership inside the Congress party and was able to seize power, definitively and finally.
