India's Seventh Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1G Launched

In its thirty fifth flight (PSLV-C33), ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 1425 kg IRNSS- 1G, the seventh satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) on April 28, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty fourth consecutively successful mission of PSLV and the thirteenth in its 'XL' configuration.

With the successful launch of IRNSS-1G India took a step further towards having its own navigation satellite system. Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, heartily thanked and congratulated all the ISRO scientists and team ISRO for completing IRNSS constellation and dedicated IRNSS to the nation as ‘NavIC’ (Navigation Indian Constellation). He appreciated India’s space community for making the country proud through such achievements which have helped in improving the life of common man.

After PSLV-C33 lift-off at 1250 hrs (12:50 pm) IST from the First Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, heat-shield separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of 19 minutes 42 seconds, IRNSS-1G was injected into an elliptical orbit of 283 km X 20,718 km inclined at an angle of 17.867 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) following which the satellite successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage. After separation, the solar panels of IRNSS-1G were deployed automatically. ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan, Karnataka took over the control of the satellite.

IRNSS-1G is the seventh of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID, IE and 1F, the first six satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013, April 04, 2014, October 16, 2014, March 28, 2015, January 20, 2016 and March 10, 2016 respectively. All the six satellites are functioning satisfactorily from their designated orbital positions.

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS provides two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users and Restricted Services (RS) - provided to authorised users.

A number of ground facilities responsible for satellite ranging and monitoring, generation and transmission of navigation parameters, etc., have been established in eighteen locations across the country. The successful launch of IRNSS-1G, the seventh and final member of IRNSS constellation, signifies the completion of the IRNSS constellation. The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System comprising seven satellites would be able to provide navigation system with much better accuracy and targeted position. According to ISRO officials total cost of all the seven satellites was Rs 1,420 crore.

President nominated six eminent personalities to Rajya Sabha

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, former Lok Sabha member Navjot Singh Sidhu and former member of the erstwhile National Advisory Council Narendra Jadhav were nominated by the Narendra Modi government to the Rajya Sabha. The other nominees were Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi, journalist Swapan Dasgupta and boxer Mary Kom. There were a total of seven vacancies, but the government filled six of them. The seventh nominee, held up at the eleventh hour, will be named soon. Those whose names are doing the rounds include film actor and vocal saffron activist Anupam Kher and TV personality and long-standing party sympathiser Rajat Sharma.

President Pranab Mukherjee nominated the six personalities from different fields to the House of Elders following a recommendation of the Narendra Modi government.

A look at the six personalities nominated to the Upper House:

Navjot Singh Sidhu, 52

A cricketer-turned-politician, the Jat Sikh was a prize catch for the Hindutva-driven BJP in a communally sensitive Punjab. More so, because he happened to be immensely popular even among Sikh masses, notwithstanding the BJP tag. However, he has been sulking ever since he was denied a renomination from Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency — to facilitate allocation of the party ticket to Arun Jaitley — despite being a two-time MP. His MLA wife, also named Navjot, too had an uneasy equation with the Akali Dal. Sidhu’s name had been in circulation as a possible Aam Aadmi Party choice for chief ministership, which many in the BJP feared could be a game-changer in the next Assembly elections. His nomination to the Upper House forecloses that possibility.

Subramanian Swamy, 76

He was first elected to the Rajya Sabha way back in 1974 on a Jana Sangh ticket. Young, bright, articulate and Harvard-educated, he was then seen as prime minister material within the Sangh Parivar, much to the discomfort of the other in-house aspirant, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His career track might have been drastically different had he been a little more patient and stayed on with the BJP. However, he chose to go along the Janata parivar and ended up leading one faction. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977, 1980 and 1988, and to the Rajya Sabha in 1998. He was a minister in the Chandra Shekhar government. A relentless crusader, he forced the Ramakrishna Hegde government in Karnataka to resign on the issue of phone-tapping and later toppled the Vajpayee government by bringing the Congress and J Jayalalithaa together in 1998. He was one of the petitioners in the 2G spectrum case, which led to the decline of the Congress. He is currently pursuing the National Herald case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Swamy joined the BJP in 2013 with strong backing from the RSS, despite opposition from a section of the party. He is unlikely to be content with a Rajya Sabha seat and may ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a Cabinet berth.

Narendra Jadhav, 63

The economist with a PhD degree in economics from Indiana University, USA, is a former vice-chancellor of Pune University. His nomination comes as a surprise, given his close association with former prime minister Manmohan Singh. He was a member of the Planning Commission (2009-14) and National Advisory Council (NAC) — headed by Sonia Gandhi — between 2010 and 2014, due to his proximity to the Congress leadership. He is learnt to have, of late, managed to get closer to PM Modi as well. A Dalit from Maharashtra, he has written some three dozen books in English, Hindi and Marathi, including a biography of B R Ambedkar.

Swapan Dasgupta, 60

The journalist and commentator has worked in senior editorial positions in various publications, including India Today, The Indian Express and The Times of India. A gifted writer, he has consistently supported the Sangh

Parivar and defended Modi in his regular columns in newspapers and on TV channels over the years. He is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan. Dasgupta accompanied BJP leader L K Advani on his “rath” throughout his Bharat Uday Yatra from Kanyakumari to Amritsar in 2004 in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. He shouldered the same responsibility with Rajnath Singh when he undertook the Bharat Suraksha Yatra from Puri to Delhi in 2006. Like Swamy and Sidhu, Dasgupta would add to the BJP firing capacity in the Upper House.

Mary Kom, 33

An Olympic bronze medallist in boxing, Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom belongs to the Sino-Tibetan speaking Kom tribe of Manipur. A five-time World Amateur Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships, she became the first Indian woman boxer to get a gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. The BJP-led government has picked her for the Upper House to provide representation to the north-eastern states and send a positive signal to the sizeable Christian population in the region. Mary has published an autobiography, Unbreakable, co-authored by Dina Serto.

Suresh Gopinath, 56

Popular Malayalam actor Gopi holds a Masters’ degree in English. With over 200 films to his credit, he has also been the host of a popular TV show Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran (You Can Be A Millionaire). He is a winner of the National Film Award and Filmfare Award. His nomination is intended to provide representation to south India. Belonging to the upper-case Nair community, Gopi is currently a star campaigner for BJP in Kerala Assembly polls. His nomination is expected to go down well with members of his community and help the BJP spread its wings in the state. Kerala is already abuzz with rumours that it may be just the first step towards his induction into the Modi ministry as a minister of state.

India signed Paris Climate Agreement

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar signed the historic Paris climate agreement along with other 174 nations at a high-level ceremony hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York. The agreement will mark as a significant step that brings developing and developed nations together to combat global warming by working to cut down greenhouse gas emissions.

The agreement will officially come into force when 55 countries — representing 55 percent of global emissions — will have signed and ratified the deal. Both the United States and China, which are responsible jointly for 40 percent of global emissions, have said they intend to ratify the deal nationally during 2016.

The Paris Agreement, briefly stated, has a handful of goals:

Prevent an increase in global mean temperature of more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius), and push for a tougher 1.5 degree Celsius limit, compared with pre-industrial levels

Require countries to set their own national targets beginning in 2020

Mandate reporting, including a non-binding transparency to show if countries are meeting their targets

Allocate funding for small island countries most affected by rising water levels — without assigning liability or implying any nations in particular must compensate them

Creation of a $100 billion per-year fund, not included in the agreement, but made as commitments by wealthy countries and the private sector, to offset the cost of changing technology and climate damage to poor countries

The plan will go into effect 30 days after the required countries ratify it, but a nation may not withdraw for three years, and then only after giving one year’s notice.