Mars mission may get govt nod today

August 2, 2012

ISRO

New Delhi, August 2: India is all set to launch its ambitious mission to Mars in October-November next year as the Union Cabinet is likely to clear the project on Thursday seen as the first step towards exploring the Red planet.

The mission envisages launching an orbiter spacecraft of 1,350 kg mass around Mars using advanced version of highly proven four-stage Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) during October-November, 2013.

The orbiter spacecraft will be placed in an elliptical orbit of 500 x 80,000 km around Mars by September, 2014, after a voyage of 300 days from Earth's orbit and will have a provision to carry nearly 25 kg of scientific payloads on-board.

A senior official said, "The mission will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh in November 2013."

"The project which is estimated to cost around Rs 450 crore will involve huge manpower of around 185 scientists, engineers and technicians," the official said, adding that the mission will establish India's global technological capabilities.

Indian Space Research Organization ( Isro)'s Mars project got a big boost when it received a budgetary allocation of Rs 125 crore for its launch in the current fiscal.

Sources said, the mission cleared by the Space Commission last December entails sending a 25 kg payload onboard the satellite that will orbit the red planet to carry out experiments to learn more about the surface and atmosphere of Earth's closest planet in the solar system.

A significant amount of work on the planned Mars Mission has been completed and scientific payloads have been short-listed.

The official said the tentative scientific objective for the Mars mission would be to focus on life, climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life on the planet.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: India on Tuesday reported 8,171 more COVID-19 cases and 204 deaths in the last 24 hours as the country's virus count inches closer to two lakh, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number of cases in the country now stands at 1,98,706 including 97,581 active cases, 95,527 cured/discharged/migrated and 5,598 deaths.

Cases in Maharashtra have crossed 70,000 including over 30,000 recovered while Tamil Nadu's COVID-19 tally jumped to 23,495.

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Agencies
June 4,2020

New Delhi, Jan 4: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended till June 12 its earlier order of May 15 asking the government not to take any coercive action against companies and employers for violation of Centre's March 29 circular for payment of full wages to employees for the lockdown period.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and M R Shah reserved the verdict on a batch of petitions filed by various companies challenging the circular of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued on March 29 asking the employers to pay full wages to the employees during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the proceedings conducted through video conferencing, the top court said there was a concern that workmen should not be left without pay, but there may be a situation where the industry may not have money to pay and hence, the balancing has to be done.

Meanwhile, the apex court asked the parties to file their written submissions in support of their claims.

The top court on May 15 had asked the government not to take any coercive action against the companies and employers who are unable to pay full wages to their employees during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Centre also filed an affidavit justifying its March 29 direction saying that the employers claiming incapacity in paying salaries must be directed to furnish their audited balance sheets and accounts in the court.

The government has said that the March 29 directive was a "temporary measure to mitigate the financial hardship" of employees and workers, specially contractual and casual, during the lockdown period and the directions have been revoked by the authority with effect from May 18.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Pathanamthitta, Aug 9 : An orange alert has been issued in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district as the water level in Pamba dam is now flowing at 983.05 metres and it is likely to reach 983.50 metres within an hour.

A red alert will be declared at 984.5 metres and dam will open when the water level reaches 985 metres.

"The water level in Pamba dam is 983.05 metres now and is likely to reach 983.50 metres within an hour. So, the second alert- orange alert has been issued. A red alert will be declared at 984.5 metres and dam will open when it reaches 985 metres," said Pathanamthitta District Collector.

Meanwhile, a portion of the Shiva Temple in Aluva continues to remain submerged. However, the water level in the Periyar River is receding gradually and more part of the temple is above the water level now. 

As Kerala has been receiving heavy rain for the past few days, severe waterlogging affects traffic movement at Mannuthy bypass in Thrissur on Saturday.

On Friday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a red alert in Kozhikode district. It had also predicted rainfall in different parts of the state.

Due to heavy downpour, a massive landslide had occurred in Idukki district recently. The death toll in Idukki landslide has risen to 26, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday.

The Chief Minister said that monsoon fury continues to be severe in the state.

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