ISRO launches record 20 satellites in one go

June 22, 2016

satellites1

Sriharikota (AP), Jun 22: Setting a record in its space programme, India today successfully launched 20 satellites, including its earth observation Cartosat-2 series, in a single mission on board ISRO's workhorse PSLV-C34 from the spaceport here.

In a precision launch, PSLV-C34 took off from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, about 110 km from Chennai at 9.26 AM and placed the Cartosat-2 Series and 19 others in the designated polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) about 30 minutes later in clear skies.

The 727.5 kg Cartosat-2 series satellite will provide regular remote sensing services with its panchromatic and multispectral cameras and its imagery will be of multiple use.

Of the 19-satellites, 12 are earth imaging "Dove satellites" of USA and another American satellite. The rest are from Canada (two) and one each from Germany and Indonesia.

Two academic satellites are from Sathyabama University (Sathyabamasat) in Chennai and from College of Engineering (Swayam) at Pune.

Use of Cartosat 2 includes cartographic, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, utility management like road network monitoring and water distribution.

Also, creation of land use maps, precision study,change detection to bring out geographical and man-made features and various other Land Information System and Geographical Information System applications can be done. It is similar to the earlier Cartosat-2, 2A and 2B.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO and described today's launch as a "monumental" accomplishment.

"20 satellites in a go! @ isro continues to break new barriers. hearty congratulations to our scientists on the monumental accomplishment', he said on Twitter.

ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar congratulated his team for the successful launch 'in a record time' and said "PSLV C-34 has done its job."

"We have the current generation of earth observation satellite of Cartosat 2 series," he said, adding ISRO had done a "wonderful job".

P Kunhikrishnan, Director, SDSC-SHAR, said that it was a major accomplishment by PSLV in its 35th consecutive successful mission.

"PSLV has become a success symbol for ISRO and India. ISRO is adopting more and more professionalism," he said.

D Jayakumar, Mission Director,described today's launch as a major landmark and said that the vehicle performance was "exceedingly well."

With today's launch of 20 satellites, PSLV beat its 2008 record when it placed in orbit 10 satellites in a single launch into various Low Earth Orbits.

This is the 14th flight of PSLV in "XL" configuration known for its capacity to carry more load which uses 'solid strap-on motors'.

The total weight of all the 20 satellites carried onboard PSLV-C34 is about 1288 kg.

India has 11 operational earth observation satellites, including RESOURCESAT-1 and 2, CARTOSAT-1, 2, 2A, 2B, RISAT-1 and 2, OCEANSAT-2 are in orbit.

Beginning in 1988, ISRO had launched many remote sensing satellites (for earth observation) and the data are for varied use including agriculture, water and ocean resources besides disaster management.

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Agencies
March 8,2020

Mumbai, Mar 8: A day after the Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and raided his premises, he was taken to the agency's office in Mumbai on Saturday for further questioning.

Kapoor, who was grilled by central agency's officials on Friday night at his Samudra Mahal residence in Mumbai, was shifted to the ED office in the metropolis around 12.30 pm.

ED officials said Kapoor was questioned throughout the night, with some rest time.

A senior ED official connected with the probe told IANS: "Kapoor will be questioned about Yes Bank loans to Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL)."

The official said that during searches a lot of incriminating documents were found and the agency wanted to grill him on his links with DHFL promoters and other companies.

Kapoor's alleged role in the disbursal of loan to a corporate entity and kickbacks reportedly received in his wife's bank account are also under probe.

The ED had filed the money laundering case against Kapoor and raided his residence, apart from issuing a look-out circular so that he does not flee the country.

The ED registered a money laundering case against Kapoor as a continuation of its probe against the DHFL wherein it was allegedly found that Rs 12,500 crore was diverted to 80 shell companies using one lakh fake borrowers. The transactions with these shell companies date back to 2015.

An ED official in New Delhi told IANS that the DHFL probe revealed that funds diverted by the DHFL originated from Yes Bank.

He said that the searches at Kapoor's residence on Friday night were meant to find out any irregularity in grant of loans to the DHFL by the Yes Bank.

The ED has accused Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of DHFL of purchasing shares in five firms -- Faith Realtors, Marvel Township, Abe Realty, Poseidon Realty, and Random Realtors -- after which they were amalgamated with Sunblink.

The outstanding loans of these five firms, totalling around Rs 2,186 crore till July 2019, were allegedly appropriated onto the books of Sunblink to cover up the diversion of loans acquired from DHFL.

The ED's action comes after the RBI superseded Yes Bank Board for 30 days and appointed an administrator, putting a cap of Rs 50,000 on withdrawals by account holders for a month.

The RBI said that the bank's board was superseded "owing to serious deterioration in the financial position of the bank".

Former SBI CFO Prashant Kumar was appointed as administrator of Yes Bank, which has over 1,000 branches and 1,800-plus ATMs across the country.

On Thursday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the bank was on watch since 2017 and developments relating to it were monitored on a day-to-day basis.

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Agencies
January 12,2020

New Delhi, Jan 12: A fact-finding committee of the Congress on the JNU violence on Sunday said the January 5 attack inside the university campus was "state-sponsored" and recommended Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar be dismissed and criminal investigation initiated against him.

The Congress had appointed a four-member fact-finding committee to carry out a detailed inquiry into the violence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Sushmita Dev, member of the committee, said the committee recommended that Kumar should be dismissed immediately and all the appointments in faculty should be probed and independent inquiry should take place.

"Criminal investigation must take place against the VC and faculty members and the security company," the Mahila Congress chief said.

"It is clear that the attack on JNU campus was state-sponsored," Dev said.

She also demanded a complete rollback of the JNU fee hike.

The other members of the fact-finding committee are Hibi Eden, MP and former NSUI president, Syed Naseer Hussain, MP and former president of JNU NSUI and Amrita Dhawan, a former NSUI president and ex-DUSU president.

On January 5 night, masked people armed with rods and sticks stormed the JNU campus and assaulted students and faculty members, and vandalised property, leaving several people injured.

Leftist outfits and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) blamed each other for the violence.

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News Network
June 5,2020

New Delhi, Jun 5: Shares of Reliance Industries on Friday gained over 2 per cent to hit their one-year high level after the company announced sale of 1.85 per cent stake in its digital unit, Jio Platforms, to Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor Mubadala.

On BSE, the heavyweight stock jumped 2.38 per cent to Rs 1,617.70 -- its 52-week high.

It surged 2.41 per cent to its one-year high of Rs 1,618 on NSE.

Earlier in the day, Reliance Industries announced the sale of 1.85 per cent stake in its digital unit to Mubadala for Rs 9,093.60 crore, the sixth deal in as many weeks that will inject a combined Rs 87,655.35 crore in the oil-to-telecom conglomerate to help it pare debt.

"Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala) will invest Rs 9,093.60 crore in Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore," the company said in a statement.

With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 87,655.35 crore from leading global technology and growth investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR and Mubadala in less than six weeks.

Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd, is a next-generation technology company.

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