No Mr Biplab, the internet didn't exist in the Mahabharata - it came to India in 1995

Contrary to what the Tripura CM said, the internet officially made its way to our shores only in the mid-1990's. Here's how it got here
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb claimed that Internet and satellite communication existed in the days of Mahabharata
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb claimed that Internet and satellite communication existed in the days of Mahabharata

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Tuesday claimed that Internet and satellite communication existed in the days of the Mahabharata. "Internet and satellite communication had existed in the days of Mahabharata. Sanjaya (the charioteer of king Dhritarashtra) using the technology gave a detailed account and description to the blind king about the battle of Kurukshetra," Deb said while inaugurating a two-day workshop on computerization of the Public Distribution System (PDS).

The BJP leader said: "The Europeans and the Americans may claim that it is their invention, but it is actually our technology. Internet and satellite system had existed during the lakhs of years ago." "How could Dhritarashtra see through Sanjay's eyes? There was technology available at that time... the Internet was there, satellite communication was there," the 47-year-old Chief Minister said very confidentially and repeatedly.

However, Deb should probably check his facts before making such statements. 

We did. And this is what the Indian government maintains:

On August 15, 1995, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) launched public Internet access in India for the very first time and they were able to add about 10,000 Internet users just within 6 months of the launch.

In 1962, the world's first active communications satellite, Telstar 1, had been launched. 

This satellite was by Telesat's predecessors at AT&T and Bell Laboratories. By the 1990s, satellite communications became the primary means of distributing television programs around the world.

Deb heads the BJP-Indigenous People's Front of Tripura coalition government that came to power last month after defeating the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front first time in 25 years.

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