Following the triumph of Chandrayaan-3, the PSLV-C57.1 rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, at 11.50 am on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a video of ISRO chief S Somanath being felicitated by a group is viral on social media. Many users claim that Somanath was felicitated at the RSS office in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
A Facebook user shared this video with a description: “ISRO Chief Somanath at the RSS office, Banglore. It will give solid heartburn to Italians/Islamists,/commies.”
This Facebook post can be seen here.
It is being widely shared on Facebook and X with a similar claim.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be false.
Even with a keyword search, our team could not locate any credible media report corroborating the viral claim. However, doing a Reverse Image Search our team came across a tweet made by RSS leader Rajesh Padmar, dated July 19, 2023. The tweet has several footage, including the viral clip, where the ISROÂ chairman was being felicitated and other pictures related to the event. The caption of the tweet reads: “RSS Sarakaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale congratulated Dr S Somanath, Chairman of ISRO on successfully leading of #Chandrayan3, at Rashtrotthana Parishat, Chamarajapete, Bengaluru.”
It is to be noted that Rashtrotthana Parishat is an NGO in Bengaluru, founded in 1965. It suggests that the viral video is not from the RSS office and was shot before the launch of Chandrayaan-3.
RSS Sarakaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale congratulated Dr S Somanath, Chairman of ISRO on successfully leading #Chandrayan3, at Rashtrotthana Parishat, Chamarajapete, Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/yk3iTMoiB4
— Rajesh Padmar (@rajeshpadmar) July 19, 2023
A Facebook post by Vishwa Samvad Kendra Karnataka, official media centre of the RSS, also carries similar footage with a caption: “The success of India’s ambitious ‘Chandrayaan-3’, the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization S. Somanath was felicitated by Dattatreya Hosabale, a government official of RSS. President of National Council M.P. Kumar & General Secretary No. Dinesh Hegde felicitated the ISRO Chairman on behalf of the National Council.”
Later, VSK Karnataka also tweeted a clarification regarding the viral video on the Twitter (now X) handle dated August 26. (“Clarification: The news (Video) circulating in Social media saying ISRO chief Sri Somanath visited RSS office is not a fact. He has not visited RSS office. This is an old video clip from when he met people who are heading the TAPAS project. TAPAS is an initiative where BPL students from underprivileged rural areas will be given two years of free residential coaching for IIT entrance tests.”)
Clarification:
The news (Video) circulating in Social media saying ISRO chief Sri Somnath visited the RSS office is not a fact.
He has not visited the RSS office. This is an old video clip from when he met people who are heading the TAPAS project. TAPAS is an initiative where BPL students…— VSK Karnataka (@VSKKarnataka) August 26, 2023
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the viral video does not show ISRO chief S Somanath visiting the RSS office. It was taken before the successful landing of Chandrayaan 3.
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