Indian Minister Mocked For Saying Ancient Indians Invented The Internet

A minister who has claimed that the internet was invented thousands of years ago by ancient Indians is being met with ridicule.

Biplab Deb, who is the chief minister of the north-eastern state of Tripura, made the comments at a public function on Tuesday evening.

He cited an example from the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata to prove his point, but has not found many takers.

"Tripura CM Biplap Deb" is trending on Twitter, with many Indians mocking him. Mr Deb, in fact, joins a fairly long list of Indian ministers in the current Hindu nationalist BJP government - including Prime Minister Narendra Modi - who have claimed many modern-day scientific or technological achievements were invented in many centuries ago.

In 2014 Mr Modi told a gathering of doctors and medical staff at a Mumbai hospital that cosmetic surgery existed in ancient India.

More recently, in September, junior education minister Satyapal Singh raised a few eyebrows when he claimed that the airplane was first mentioned in the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana.