Diksha Shinde NASA controversy: The report of a 14-year-old girl from Aurangabad in Maharashtra being selected on a virtual panel by American space agency NASA has sparked questions on social media with netizens casting doubt on its veracity.
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On August 19, news agency ANI published news about one Diksha Shinde, a young student and writer they claimed was picked to participate in NASA's MSI Fellowships Virtual Panel held over a period of four days last month.
The class X student said she submitted a research paper on black holes last year, "which was liked and accepted at NASA." Her research was selected by The International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research this year in May. (IJSER is an open-access international journal.) This was allegedly her third attempt at submission, with previous papers "questioning the existence of god."
Shinde claims she is set to begin her work of reviewing proposals and research with NASA soon and will receive a monthly honorarium. NASA will train her once she turns 18, she adds.
Diksha Shinde NASA Controversy: Twitter Casts Doubt On Accuracy
The story has piqued much interest on Twitter, where users are questioning the authenticity of the claims made. Following accusations challenging it, ANI attached screenshots purportedly of the emails Shinde received from NASA on her research approval.
ANI editor-in-chief Smita Prakash, defending the report on Shinde, tweeted, "The story is not fake. We stand by it."
Communication to Diksha Shinde of Aurangabad from NASA for her participation as a panelist on NASA's MSI Fellowships Virtual panel. Also attached is a notice of acknowledgment of her academic paper pic.twitter.com/XQnkQl6Rdw
While some Twitter users point out the email ID from which Shinde received communication is not NASA's official one, others note eligibility criteria for the MSI fellowship asks for American citizenship and certain other requirements that Shinde doesn't seem to fit.
On the NASA website, the Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Exchange tool offers a curated "search for innovative and diverse academic collaborators" without mention of any direct NASA-backed fellowships under the said service. The MSI Exchange is managed by the space agency's Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP).
Several leading Indian news publications that wrote of Shinde's achievements basis the ANI report have taken down their stories citing "factual inaccuracies."
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