Overview

• Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told IISER Bhopal’s convocation that ancient India had a Pushpak Vimaan long before the Wright brothers’ first flight.
• He said epics describe Agniastra, Varunastra and Brahmastra that hit targets and returned to the quiver, comparing them to modern missiles and drones.
• He asserted that scientific progress in India later stalled during a period he described as “slavery.”
• The comments came two days after Anurag Singh Thakur told students that Hanuman was the first to travel to space.
• Opposition figures and media pointed to established records, noting Yuri Gagarin’s 1961 mission as the first human spaceflight, and no retraction has been reported.