India's 100th Space Mission launched successfully with a PSLV-C21 Rocket

India's 100th Space Mission was launched on 9^th September 2012 with a PSLV-C21 rocket's successful lift-off. The first mission took place in 1975 with the launch of the first satellite - Aryabhata.

"Its Time You Cheer" Theme Song: Support India at London 2012 Olympic

Sindoora Saraswati (15 year old) from Bangalore made a Bio-Pesticide with Five Plant Extracts.

Sindoora Saraswati (15 year old) from Puttur near Bangalore has made a bio-pesticide with five plant extracts, which was a highlight of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the US.

Shouryya Ray (16 Year Old Indian) from Germany has cracked Newton's Puzzle (350 Years Old Puzzle)

Shouryya Ray, a 16 year old schoolboy of Indian origin from Germany has managed to crack Newton's puzzle that baffled the world of math for more than 350 years. 

Patna prodigy, now IIT Prof, talks to NDTV

Patna prodigy Tathagat Sharma was the youngest to do his matriculation at the age of 9. Now, at the age of 22, he has joined India's premier engineering institute, IIT Bombay, as Assistant Professor.

World's largest Vacuum Column prepared by Larsen and Toubro (India)

World's largest Vacuum Column prepared by L&T (Larsen and Toubro) in India.

India is ready to develop Advanced Seekers for Tactical Missiles

Imagine a war scenario in which miniaturized missiles equipped with Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs) are unleashed from a mother missile to take out select enemy targets like an ammunition depot while avoiding collateral damage. 

A mother missile acts as a “force multiplier” and to achieve the desired result, each miniaturized missile will have a seeker to ensure its independent motion, irrespective of the mother missile's motion. 

Seekers, which are of two types — radio-frequency and infra-red, enable a missile to acquire, track and home in on to the target. They are required for all tactical missiles (less than 300 km range).

Scientists at the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a key laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organization’s (DRDO) missile complex here, have embarked on developing such seekers to eventually equip mother missiles with smaller missiles packed with PGMs. 

The mandate of the RCI is to deliver avionic systems for all missiles, including anti-ballistic systems and anti-aircraft missiles. 

In a bid to conduct trials without using the mother missile, a Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) has been imported to be used as a Technology Demonstrator for the project. A flight trial was conducted at the Integrated Test Range using the RPV along with a recoverable tow body by providing the vehicle the same velocity of a mother missile.

“Good results were obtained from that exercise,” said by RCI Director S.K. Chaudhuri. More such trials would be carried out in stages to check the guidance, control and inertial navigation systems. 

By the end of 2013, a crucial trial of the RPV with missile-launched PGMs to hit a target with both IIR (Imaging infrared) and mmW (Millimteric Wave) seekers was being planned. Later, a flight test with a mother missile would be conducted, he said.

Another frontier technology area in which scientists have begun work is to design and develop ‘Low Probability of Intercept Radar Seeker' to equip anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. 

"This seeker will enable the missile to escape detection and jamming by enemy radars. Currently, Russia and the U.S. have such seekers", a senior RCI scientist said.

A few months ago, a major success was achieved when anti-tank Nag missile was flight-tested with an indigenously-developed mmW seeker.

Shining Growth of Indian People in Global Markets

There is more to India than just its over-emphasized status of being the most populous democracy in the world. Random economic facts like India being the largest producer of milk, the largest consumer of sugar and spices as also the largest consumer of gold till last year, crop up now and then. But there have been achievements in the last few years which have put India on the world map. Over the last couple of years, India has been seen stamping its presence in the league of global leaders by the strength of its economic power. Consider these facts :

• The Tata Group is the largest manufacturing employer in the UK.
•  Ireland’s richest person - Pallonji Mistry - is an Indian.
•  Coal India is the single largest coal producer in the world.
•  India is the largest whisky manufacturer in the world.
•  The Taj Group is the largest chain of hotels in Asia.

 Despite a generous trickle of negative news, the list of these positives is also getting bigger. Household brand names such as Citigroup, Pepsi and Motorola are associated with an Indian CEO. Clearly, India has moved on from being a nation of snake charmers and appears to be on its way to become an economic power. The list includes, Nano, the cheapest car in the world from Tata Motors; Aakash, the cheapest tablet PC in the world, priced at $46; and other cheap tablet PC initiatives by private companies. Indian banks have only 2% bad loans versus 20% in China. In the mid-90s, on a representation made by Indian exporters, the government had removed the mandatory use of the ‘Made in India’ tag from goods exported. The law still exists on paper. Ostensibly, Indian exporters were embarrassed of using it then. But, today, no one is shying away from using the tag. Parachute is the world’s largest coconut oil brand. Bangalore has more Grade-A offices than Singapore. India is the largest diamond cutting and polishing centre in the world. Parle-G is the world’s largest selling biscuit brand. KEC is global leader in tower production capacity.

India has successfully tested First ICBM Missile Agni-V (5000 Km)

After the mischief played by weather gods a day earlier, the god of fire or ‘Agni’ came into his own on Thursday morning to hurl a potent fireball more than halfway across the Indian Ocean at over 20 times the speed of sound. India heralded a new era in its “credible” strategic deterrence capability by testing its most ambitious nuclear missile “the over 5,000-km range Agni-V” that brings all of China and much more within its strike envelope. With the launch of the 50-tonne missile from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast at 8.07 am, and its 20-minute flight to an “impact point towards western Australia’’, India also yanked open the door to the super-exclusive ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) club that counts only the US, Russia, China, France and the UK as its members. India can, however, can sit at this high table only when Agni-V becomes fully operational after “four to five repeatable tests’’ and user-trials. It will be around 2015 that the three stage, solid-fuelled missile will be ready for deployment by the tri-service strategic forces command. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and defence minister A K Antony congratulated the scientists for “doing us proud”. India, with a declared “no first-use’’ nuclear doctrine, could have gone in for a much higher range ICBM, say top officials. But Agni-V, with its “very short reaction time as well as very high mobility for requisite operational flexibility’’, takes care of “current threat perceptions.”

After testing the over 5,000km Agni-V missile, which went up to 600km into space during its parabolic trajectory, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) now feels it can fashion deadly anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons in double quick time. The ASAT weapon would include marrying Agni-V’s propulsion system with the “kill vehicle” of the under-development two-tier BMD (ballistic missile defence) system that has been tested a few times to track and destroy hostile missiles both inside (endo) and outside (exo) the earth’s atmosphere. 

China’s strategic experts and official media on Friday said the Agni V missile has a longer range than India admits, and the nuclear-capable projectile can hit cities in Europe. “The Indian missile has a range of 8,000km and not 5,000km as claimed by India,” said an expert Du Wenlong, adding that the Indian government had deliberately downplayed the missile’s capability to avoid causing concern to other countries. Wenlong, an expert at the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, was not alone. Zhang Zhaozhang, professor with PLA National Defence University, too, was quoted by the paper, Global Times, as saying, “According to China’s standard, an ICBM should have a range of at least 8,000km. The Agni-V’s range could be further enhanced to become an ICBM.” There were also signs that China will try to pressure the US and Russia into not selling their missile guidance systems to India.

India will become World’s Largest Economy by 2050

India will outpace China to become the world’s largest economy by 2050, boasting a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $86 trillion, forecasts a report by global property firm Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank. Leading the elephant’s charge will be Mumbai and New Delhi, which will feature in the list of top 20 cities globally within the next ten years. “China will overtake the US to become the world’s largest economy by 2020, which in turn will be overtaken by India in 2050. The Indian economy will reach a size of $85.97 trillion in terms of purchasing power parity by 2050 while the Chinese GDP would be $80.02 trillion during the same period,’’ said the report. The US—currently the world’s largest economy—is expected to have a GDP of $39.07 trillion by 2050. In terms of growth from 2010-2050, India would be the second fastest, with its economy growing at a rate of 8% annually during the period after Nigeria which will grow at 8.5%.

3D Model: India DRDO Agni-v ICBM

Delhi IGI Airport ranked Second-Best Airport in World for 2011 by ACI

Delhi’s IGI airport has been ranked the second-best airport in the world for 2011 by the Airports Council International. The airport scored this distinction in the category of airports with 25-40 million passengers per annum. Last year, it had been ranked fourth in the same category. The airport scored 4.72 of a possible 5 in the airport service quality index, coming 6th in the overall airport ranking for 2011. This is a massive jump for the airport which, before privatization in 2007, had scored 3.02 on the ASQ and did not manage a rank in the top 100. Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) commended the efforts of agencies such as customs, immigration, CISF, airlines, concessionaires, housekeeping and other support staff for contributing to the image make-over for the airport. IGI airport handled a record number of 35 million passengers in 2011. The airport has an annual passenger capacity of over 60 million of which terminal 3 can alone handle 34 million passengers. The airport also handled over 6 lakh tonnes of cargo and over 3 lakh aircraft movements in 2011. Airports Council International is the only global trade representative of airports with 580 members operating from 1,650 airports in 179 countries and territories.

The airports of Delhi and Hyderabad have been ranked among the top airports of the world in the airport services quality (ASQ) by the global body, Airports Council International (ACI).

While the Indian airports ranked among the top in different categories, the ACI declared Incheon in Seoul, Changi in Singapore, airports in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai Pudong as the overall top ‘best airports worldwide’.

The rankings were done on the basis of a global ASQ survey by the ACI of 153 airports, including 6 Indian ones.

The survey, which gets a representative sample of flights, destinations and passenger groups served by the airport, is intended to get feedback from users on a range of service delivery parameters. ACI audits the process to ensure compliance and validates the results.

The awards will be formally presented in April at the ACI’s Asia-Pacific Regional Conference to be held here.

India is ready for testing First ICBM Missile Agni-V (5000 Km)

India has begun final preparations for the first test of its most-ambitious strategic missile, the 5,000-km Agni-V, which will prove to be a technical as well as logistical challenge. The Agni-V, which will bring the whole of Asia, 70% of Europe and other regions under its strike envelope, will be tested from Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast towards end-March to early-April, defence sources said. The nuclear-capable Agni-V, about 50-tonne in weight and 17.5-m tall, is bound to generate waves. Once the three-stage missile becomes operational by 2014-15 after “four to five repeatable tests”, as promised by DRDO, India will break into the exclusive ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) club that counts just US, Russia, China, France and UK as its members. India could have gone for a higher strike range but believes the solid-fuelled Agni-V is “more than adequate’’ to meet current threat perceptions and security concerns. The missile can, after all, even hit the northernmost parts of China. With a canister-launch system to impart higher road mobility, the missile will give the armed forces much greater operational flexibility than the earlier-generation of Agni missiles. “The accuracy levels of Agni-V and the 3,500-km Agni-IV (first tested in November 2011), with their better guidance and navigation systems, are far higher than Agni-I (700-km), Agni-II (2,000-km) and Agni-III (3,000-km),’’ said the source.

ISRO launched PSLV-C18 successfully

The Indian Space Research Organization on Wednesday used a strategic delay to evade a possible encounter with space debris and ensured a perfect launch of the PSLV-C18. Lifting off from the Sriharikota spaceport at 11.01 am, a minute after its designated time, ISRO’s workhorse PSLV put in orbit three satellites, including the Indo-French Megha-Tropiques. With this, the PSLV, which was inducted in 1993, exceeded a half century of satellite launches. “The launch was a great success. We had targeted a circular orbit of 867 km for weather satellite Megha-Tropiques and we have achieved, as per initial reports, 865 km,” said ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan. “It demonstrates again the reliability and versatility of PSLV as a launch platform.” After beginning the 50-hour countdown at 9 am on Monday, ISRO got wind of the space debris. Three hours before the schedule lift-off time, it found that the probability of collision remained high. “We delayed the launch by a minute as there was a higher probability of the launch vehicle hitting space debris at an altitude between 600 km and 800 km,” an official said. One minute is a significant amount of time in this context as any object in space at that height moves at 8 km/second. The delay ensured that the rocket reached the altitude after the debris had moved away by about 500 km and the satellites could be safely ejected into the orbit. The 1,000kg Megha-Tropiques, put in orbit 22-and-a-half minutes after the rocket lifted off, was jointly developed by ISRO and French national space agency CNES. It will study the water cycle and energy exchanges in the tropics. Its circular orbit is inclined at 20 degrees to the equator allowing it to cover more area on both sides of the equator. “It will help us understand our climate better. This knowledge will also help our farmers,” said Radhakrishnan. It is only the second satellite of its kind in the world. The first, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) developed jointly by the US and Japan, was launched in 1997. “Megha-Tropiques, part of a global precipitation measuring mission, can be considered the contribution of India and France to the project.” The other satellites are the 28.7kg VesselSat-1 of Luxembourg, 3kg Jugnu of IIT Kanpur and 10.9-kg SRMSat of SRM University in Chennai.

Indian Missile Agni-V

Agni-V, with a strike range of over 5,000 km, would be test-fired for the first time between December-February. The 20-tonne Agni-IV (3,500km) and 50-tonne Agni-V will add much needed muscle to India’s nuclear deterrence. 

If launched from the North-East, would be able to hit high-value targets deep inside China.

DRDO claims both Agni-IV and Agni-V comparable to the best missiles in their class, including Chinese. 

Agni-IV and Agni-V will have higher accuracy, fast-reaction capability and road mobility.

They provide operational flexibility against China as they are capable of being stored and swiftly transported.

DRDO is confident of offering 17.5-metre tall Agni-V for induction by 2014.

India successfully tested Agni IV Missile

India on Tuesday successfully tested a new-generation Agni missile with a strike range of 3,500 km and souped-up “kill efficiency”, prompting excited defence scientists to proclaim it would add “fantastic deterrence” to the country’s nuclear weapons programme. The test of the “most advanced” surface-to-surface missile called Agni-IV also launched the countdown for India to test its most ambitious strategic missile Agni-V, which will have near-ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capabilities with an over 5,000-km range, in December-January. “This test has paved the way for the success of Agni-V mission, which will be launched shortly,” said DRDO’s chief controller (missiles and strategic systems) Avinash Chander. The Agni-IV incorporates many new technologies in navigation, propulsion, avionics and other areas to represent “a quantum leap” in missile technology for India. Having inducted the Pakistan-specific Agni-I (700-km) and Agni-II (over 2,000-km) missiles, the armed forces are now in the process of operationalizing the 3,500-km Agni-III after completion of its developmental and pre-induction trials last year. The two-stage Agni-IV and three-stage Agni-V, in turn, are meant to add some much-needed credible deterrence muscle against China, which has a massive nuclear arsenal with missiles like the 11,200-km Dong Feng-31A capable of hitting any Indian city. The canister-launch Agni-V, with its high road mobility and fast-reaction ability, in particular, is being talked about as a small but sharp riposte to China. The Agni-IV represents a significant step towards this objective. Though it was tested for a 3,000-km range, it can easily go up to 3,500 km. The missile, however, will have to be tested several times before it can be ready for serial production and then induction.

The Buddh International Circuit

It promised to be spectacular and it has lived up to the billing. The Buddh International Circuit, India’s first Formula One circuit, was unveiled to the world on Tuesday -- just 12 days before the inaugural Airtel Indian Grand Prix on October 30 -- beaming in the mellow October sun. Jaypee Sports International Ltd has pumped in $400 Million (Rs 2000 Crore) in the construction of the track, which showed in its world-class look and finish. Over 5,000 workers and 300 engineers and officers have worked round-the-clock to get the track –spread over 350 hectares – ready in time. While F1 might be a new concept for India, people are getting ready to grab the opportunity to watch 24 of the world’s best drivers in the country.

Tiger Hill: Kargil's Turning Point

Indian Army in Siachen - Part 9

Golden Model of Tata Nano

The body of Tata Nano is fabricated of Gold. The Diamonds and Pearls are stick on it. Total price of Golden model of Tata Nano is around Rs 22.3 Crores.

Atomic bomb and its effects, did Bhagwaat Geeta and Mahabharat mentioned this on its passages? [HD]

BSF Theme Song | Music by A R Rahman

My Favorite Airtel ad- Proud to be Indian

veer zara, asial des hai mera

ALL INDIAN REQUESTED TO SEE THIS. [HQ].mp4

jaha daal daal par sone ki chidiya

Achievements of 7 Indians Who Have Done India Proud

INDIAN ARMED FORCE

Presentation on Indian Air Force

DIWALI Festival Of Lights

Battle of Longewala 1971 India Pakistan war

Flash Mob Mumbai - CST Official Video

CISF Jawans rehearsing for 63rd Republic Day Parade in New Delhi

CISF Jawans rehearsing for the 63rd Republic Day Parade in New Delhi.

Cricket World Cup 1983- MEMORIES

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1983 World Cup: IND vs WI

India vs Sri Lanka Final Full Match Highlights : Cricket World Cup 2011

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ISRO plans second Mars Mission with Rover and Lander in 2018

After the success of the recent Mars Orbit Mission (MOM), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is planning to revisit the Red Planet in 2018 with a heavier satellite which will carry a lander and a rover.

Director of ISRO Satellite Centre S Shiva Kumar said the space agency is planning to launch a second Mars mission in 2018, to conduct more experiments for which they have to develop new technologies.

In September 24, the state-run space agency successfully inserted its spacecraft (MOM) in the Martian orbit with five scientific instruments to search for life-sustaining elements on the planet over nine months after it was launched November 5, 2013 from its spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 90 km northeast of Chennai.

“We will be able to take the Mars-2 mission after launching the second mission to the moon (Chandrayaan-2) in 2016 with our own lander and rover, which will help us develop a separate lender and rover for the red planet,” Kumar said, ahead of a three-day ‘Engineers Conclave-2014’ by the space agency with the Indian National Academy of Engineering here.

The space agency is looking for a slot in 2018 as the mission to Mars can be launched only after two years. They also hope to have a heavy rocket - fully operational to carry a lender and rover with scientific experiments as additional payloads by then.

“We hope to have fully operational heavy rockets over the next two-three years for carrying communication satellites weighting two-three tonnes into the geo-stationary orbits around the earth,” Kumar said.

The space agency has developed the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-Mark I-III) with indigenous cryogenic engine to launch satellites weighing more than two tonnes and three tonnes into the geo-orbit at 36,000km above Earth.

Yuvi's 6 sixes vs England in twenty20 worldcup - DVD qualty!

India to join International Space Station

India installs fourth-largest telescope at the world's highest observatory

India's $35 laptop

Pranav Mistry is Another Genius Indian!! Amazing Stuff!! MUST Watch! Pranav

New high in stem cell research: Mimicking the heart in a lab

Indian scientists have for the first time coaxed ordinary cells to behave like cells of the heart muscle. Stem cell research is making big inroads in India and experts at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore have been able to recreate the way muscles of the heart behave. This research has great potential and could well be the solution to offer spare human organs being available, on demand, literally off the shelf.

Tournament Player Stats of International Cricket Series

ICC Rating Update of Countries in Cricket

International Cricket Series Score Update

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Temple treasure worth over Rs.90,000 crore

Gold ornaments, gold and silver coins, stone studded crowns, idols and figurines inlaid with precious stones and jewels estimated to be worth a whopping over Rs.90,000 crore have been found from the cellars of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here.

The inventory list of jewellery after the opening of the chambers, some locked up for several decades, on Supreme Court orders, is expected to go up substantially. The exercise which began on June 27 to assess the value of the articles has been undertaken by a seven-member panel of observers, including two former High Court judges. It will continue tomorrow after a day’s breather today. According to the temple sources, the treasure trove has been so far estimated at around Rs 90,000 crore, throwing up security concerns with police as an interim step deploying two platoons of armed personnel to guard the area. While similar treasures possessed by many other princely states in pre-colonial India were plundered by attackers, or wasted on luxuries by members of the royal houses themselves, the Travancore kings are believed to have zealously guarded them as reserves of the state. Coins from other princely states like Vijayanagar empire and European countries have also been found which might be part of the gifts received by the rulers of the time. While all major temples of the area were handed over to the Travancore Devaswom Board after merger of the princely state with the Indian Union after 1947, control of Padmanabhaswamy temple was retained by the royal house through a covenant with the government. Narayanan, former Indian History Congress President said, "The state or Central government cannot take over these assets as they are part of the temple coffers according to the system followed by the Travancore kings." Courtesy : Deccan Herald.

Bulletin # 1 - Mukesh Ambani's new home Antilia Oct. 28 '10

India starts to develop its heaviest satellite

India will soon design and develop its heaviest communications satellite GSAT-11 to provide advanced telecom services from 2011-12, a senior official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here Friday. At 4.5 tonnes, it will weigh more than twice as much as the biggest Indian satellite in orbit now.

“Activities to design and develop GSAT-11 will start immediately, as the project has been cleared by the government at a cost of Rs.5-billion (Rs.500 crore),” ISRO Director S. Satish said.

The advanced communications technology satellite will be launched in mid-2011 on board the Geo-Synchronus Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mark III) from ISRO’s spaceport at Sriharikota, about 80 km north-east of Chennai.

“The satellite will be designed at our satellite centre in Bangalore, payloads consisting of 40 transponders in Ku/Ka band will be built at the space applications centre in Ahmedabad and the 630-tonne rocket (GSLV-Mark III) will be rolled out from the liquid propulsion systems centre in Thiruvananthapuram,” Satish told IANS.

The indigenously developed GSAT series of satellites are aimed at revolutionising communications, spanning digital audio, data and video broadcasting. The earlier versions of GSAT such as GSAT-1 and GSAT-2 were designed with two S-band and three C-band transponders.

“With 16 high capacity multi-beams in Ku/Ka band, GSAT-11 will provide much faster uplinks for a host of communications and broadcasting services, including direct-to-home (DTH television). With a dry mass of 2.1 tonne, the spacecraft will provide 10 GHz of bandwidth, which will be equivalent to about 220 transponders of 36 MHz,” Satish pointed out.

The advanced satellite will employ a new 1-4K Bus (computer network). It will be configured with two-sided large solar array panels generating 11 KW of power.

In the run-up to GSAT-11, the space agency is scheduling the launch of other communications satellites in the GSAT series over the next two years.

“The two-tonne GSAT-4, slated for launch by this year on board GSLV-Mark II, will have a communication payload comprising multi-beam Ka-band pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands,” Satish said.

GSAT-4 will also carry a scientific payload, Tauvex, consisting of three ultra violet (UV) band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency for surveying a large part of the sky in the 1,400-3,200 Angstrom wavelengths.

Propulsion with four stationary plasma thrusters, Bus Management Unit (BMU), miniaturised dynamically tuned gyros, 36 AH Lithium ion battery, 70 V bus for Ka-band and on board structural dynamic vibration beam accelerometer are some of the new technologies developed for GSAT-4.

“GSAT-4 spacecraft will a power generation capability of 2,500 watts and will be positioned at 82 degrees east longitude in a geo-stationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the earth,” the official said.

GSAT-1 was launched on board a technology demonstrator (GSLV-D1) April 18, 2001 as an experimental satellite for performance monitoring, tracking, range safety/flight safety and preliminary orbit determination.

GSAT-2 was launched May 8, 2003 and is located at 48 degrees east Longitude and carries four C-band transponders and two Ku-band transponders.

“The dedicated satellite for distance education (Edusat), launched in September 2004, is part of the GSAT series and can be considered as GSAT-3. Its transponders and their ground coverage are specially configured to cater to educational requirements,” Satish added.

The remaining spacecraft in GSAT series such as GSAT-5, GSAT-6 and GSAT-8 will be equated with INSAT-4 series of communication satellites. In the series, the government has not yet approved the development of GSAT-7 and GSAT-10 satellites.

GSAT-5 or INSAT-4D will be configured as an exclusive C-band communication satellite. It will carry 12 normal C-band transponders and six extended C-band transponders with wider coverage in uplink and downlink over Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe as well as zonal coverage.

GSAT-5 will be launched on board GSLV in 2010 and positioned at 82 degrees east longitude.

The two-tonne GSAT-6/INSAT-4E will have a multimedia mobile S-band transponder to provide entertainment and information services to consumers and vehicles through digital multimedia consoles and multimedia mobile phones. It is also slated for launch next year and will have a mission life of 12 years.

GSAT-8/INSAT-4G is proposed as a Ku-band satellite with 24 transponders similar to that of INSAT-4A and INSAT-4B.

“It will also carry the second GPS aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload,” Satish told IANS. “The satellite is expected to be launched in the second half of 2010 and will be positioned at 55 degrees east longitude.”

Indian Missile Agni-II

Features of Agni-II missile :-

1.  Missile with a strike range of 3,000 km.
2.  Two-stage weapon system powered by solid propellant.
3.  It is 20 meters long and launch weight is 17 tonnes.
4.  It can carry a one tonne pay-load (RDX and other).

Supersonic BrahMos cruise missile tested Successfully

The Indian Army Sunday successfully test fired the land attack version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile at the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. The missile took off successfully and hit the “bull’s eye”, an official statement said. The missile, a joint venture of India and Russia, was fired at 11.15 a.m. Sunday.” Today (Sunday) land attack version of BrahMos block-II was tested from a mobile autonomous launcher at Pokhran test range by the Indian Army. The missile took off successfully and hit the desired target at bull’s eye meeting all mission parameters,” a statement issued by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said. This is the second launch this month and third this year for the block-II version for the army. In the first test, the missile failed to hit the target. The army kept the results of the second test under wraps even though DRDO termed it successful.” With this launch, the requirement of army for the land attack version with block-II advanced seeker software with target discriminating capabilities has been fully met and this version is ready for induction,” the statement said. According to the DRDO officials, the missile will provide an enhanced capability to the army for selection of a particular land target among a group of targets. The launch was witnessed by Director General Military Operations Lt. Gen. A.S. Sekhon, Commandant School of Artillery Lt. Gen. K.R. Rao and Additional Director General Artillery Maj. Gen. V.K. Tiwari along with other senior army officers. The CEO of BrahMos A. Sivathanu Pillai and other senior scientists were also present during the launch, the release added. Cruise missiles fly at low altitudes and have the ability to evade enemy radars and air-defense systems. They are also easier and cheaper to operate. The Indian Army has already begun inducting the land-fired version of the BrahMos, with the first battery entering service in June 2007. Each battery is equipped with four mobile launchers mounted on heavy 12×12 Tatra transporters. The army plans to induct three more such batteries. The anti-ship naval version has also been inducted into service with its integration on the destroyer INS Rajput, with two other ships of the same class to be similarly equipped. The missiles will also be mounted on the three 7,000 tonne Kolkata class destroyers currently being constructed at Mumbai’s Mazagon docks. The missile, which takes its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, has a 300-km range and carries a 300 kg conventional warhead. It can achieve speeds of up to 2.8 Mach or nearly three times the speed of sound.

India successfully tests Cryogenic rocket engine

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted a test of its indigenous cryogenic (supercooled fuel) engine to be used in the next geosynchronous launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) mission, the space agency said here Saturday.” The flight acceptance hot test of the Cryogenic engine was carried out at the liquid propulsion systems centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu Thursday. This engine will be used in the next GSLV launch in April 2009 for carrying the 2.3-tonne geo-stationary experimental satellite (GSAT),” ISRO said in a statement. Cryogenic engines are rocket motors designed for liquid fuels that have to be held at very low ‘cryogenic’ temperatures, as they would otherwise be gas at normal temperatures. Typically, hydrogen and oxygen are used which need to be held respectively below 20 degrees Kelvin (-253 degrees Celsius) and 90 degrees Kelvin (-183 degrees Celsius) to remain in liquid form. ISRO plans to use its own first cryogenic engine in place of the Russian-made engine in the upper stage of the rocket that will deploy the satellite with navigation and technology payloads into the geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). The cryogenic engine develops a thrust of 73 kilo Newtons (kN) in vacuum with a specific impulse of 454 seconds (7.56 minutes) and can carry 2.2 tonnes. Working on a staged combustion cycle with an integrated turbo-pump, the engine will have 42,000 rotations per minute (rpm). It also has two steering engines developing a thrust of 2 kN each to enable three-axis control of the launch vehicle during the flight mission.” The hot test was carried out for 200 seconds (3.33 minutes) during which the engine was operated in the nominal and 13 percent up-rated thrust regimes. All the propulsion parameters were satisfactory and matched with predictions,” the statement mentioned. The cryogenic engine will be integrated with propellant tanks, stage structures and associated feed lines of the launch vehicle for the flight mission in April next from the spaceport at Sriharikota, about 80 km north of Chennai. The central government Friday approved the development of semi-cryogenic engines for space transportation at a cost of Rs.1,798 crore (approx Rs.18 billion) with a foreign exchange component of Rs.588 crore (Rs.5.88 billion).” This will be an important step towards self-reliance in advanced space transportation technology,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi. Cryogenic engine technology is currently present only in Russia and the US. The semi-cryogenic engines will facilitate applications for future space missions like the reusable launch vehicle, the unified launch vehicle and the vehicle for inter-planetary missions, Chidambaram added.

India’s First Multilevel Parking Zone in Delhi

India’s First Multilevel Parking Zone in Delhi

India tests ‘Swordfish’ radar with successful missile defence test

In a third successful test of its ambitious missile defence programme, Defence Research and Development Orgainsation (DRDO) scientists launched an indigenously developed interceptor missile that destroyed an incoming ballistic “enemy” missile at an altitude of 75 km.  The missile firing will have also tested long-range capabilities of its indigenously developed Swordfish radar.

As part of the test, an ‘enemy’ missile was fired from a naval ship in the Bay of Bengal simulating the terminal phase of the flight of a ballistic missile with a range of 1,500 km. As the incoming missile neared the Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast, a Prithvi air defence missile was launched to intercept the ‘enemy’ missile at an altitude of about 75 km and ‘killed’ it, an official said.

The ‘enemy’ missile was a modified Dhanush surface-to-surface missile (SSM), which is the ship-borne, naval version of the Prithvi SSM.

This was the third BMD test in the series and would have involved testing the indigenously developed “Swordfish” long-range tracking radar. The ”Swordfish is an acknowledged  derivative of the Israeli Green Pine long range radar, which is the critical component of that country’s Arrow missile defence system.

India had earlier imported two of these Israeli radars for its own use.

Earlier, in January, DRDO sources had said that a third test of the missile defence shield would involve both interceptor missiles and missile tracking radars.

While two earlier tests, in November 2006 and December 2007, successfully tested the Prithvi Air Defence (PAD -exo-atmospheric) and the Advanced Air Defence (AAD-endo-atmospheric) interceptor systems, the main thrust of the forthcoming tests would have been to validate the capabilities of the indigenously developed ‘Swordfish’ Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR).

Swordfish is a target-acquisition and fire-control radar designed for the country’s missile defence  system.

“The missile to be hit will be fired from a longer distance than it was in the earlier test. DRDO will test whether the radar can track the incoming missile from that distance or not,” officials had said in January.

The radar will be instrumental in tracking an incoming hostile missile which will be intercepted by the PAD exo-atmospheric interceptor missile at an altitude over 80 km from earth, defence sources had said.

The programme is aimed at providing the country with a credible missile defence shield – primarily against missiles fielded by hostile neighbours Pakistan and China.

The Pakistani Hatf and Ghauri missiles, essentially hand-me-down versions of Chinese and North Korean missiles, have been touted as being India-specific. These tests are meant to simulate trajectories of these family of missiles.

Yesterday scientists had said that the ‘enemy’ missile would be a modified version of the Dhanush surface-to-surface missile and would simulate the terminal phase of the flight of a ballistic missile with a range of 1,500 km, similar to Pakistan’s Ghauri missile.

“As the incoming missile nears Wheeler Island, a Prithvi air defence missile will be launched to intercept it at an altitude of about 80 km and kill it,” the official added.

Scientists had also indicated yesterday that DRDO would need to carry out at least three to four further trials with both the endo and exo-atmospheric versions of the missile shield before declaring it operational.

“The test will mark the completion of the first phase of the programme and it will secure operational clearance by 2012-13,” a scientist said.

Interestingly, though baptised as the Prithvi Air Defence system, the interceptor has now been renamed Pradyumna.

DRDO has affirmed that its system would be superior to the Russian S-300 and the American Patriot systems, both of which systems have been offered to India by its manufacturers.