Agni-1 successfully test-fired

India on  12-Sep-2014 successfully test-fired it’s indigenously built nuclear capable Agni-I missile, which has a strike range of 700 km, from a test range off Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army.

The surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile launcher at about 11.11 hrs from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, about 100 km from Balasore, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesman Ravi Kumar Gupta said on Thursday.

Describing the trial as fully successful, Gupta said the ballistic missile was launched by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the army as part of a training exercise.

"The entire exercise was conducted in a perfect manner and the trial was totally successful," he said

WHO sounds alarm over Ebola infections as deaths top 1,500

World Health Organization said that the number of Ebola cases was increasing rapidly and could exceed 20,000 before the virus is brought under control, as the death toll topped 1,500.

New figures showed the massive scale of the crisis, which the WHO said indicated a "rapid increase still in the intensity of transmission" that could cost at least $490 million (370 million euros) to tackle.

Bruce Aylward, the WHO's head of emergency programmes, said it could take six to nine months to bring Ebola under control, by which time the number of infections could have passed 20,000.

Indian American V A Shiva Ayyadurai invented email in 1978

Email turned 32 today but how many of us know that this quick method of message transfer was invented by Indian American V A Shiva Ayyadurai when he was just 14.

In 1978, Ayyadurai created a computer programme, which he called "email," that replicated all the functions of the interoffice mail system: Inbox, Outbox, Folders, Memo, Attachments, Address Book, etc.

These features are now familiar parts of every email system. On August 30, 1982, the US government officially recognised Ayyadurai as the inventor of email by awarding him the first US Copyright for Email for his 1978 invention.

At that time copyright was the only way to protect software inventions. Email wasn't created, with a massive research budget, in big institutions like the ARPANET, MIT or the military.

Such institutions had thought it "impossible" to create such a system, believing it far too complex, Huffington Post said.

Ayyadurai was born to a Tamil Family in Bombay.

India is the largest consumer of antibiotics in the world

India has emerged as the world's largest consumer of antibiotics followed by China and the US, according to a new study which quantifies the growing alarm surrounding antibiotic-resistance.

Global use of antibiotics is surging, according to Princeton University researchers who have conducted a broad assessment of antibiotic consumption around the world.

The study, "Global Trends in Antibiotic Consumption, 2000-2010," found that worldwide antibiotic use has risen a staggering 36 per cent over those 10 years, with five countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) - responsible for more than three-quarters of that surge.

Among the 16 groups of antibiotics studied, cephalosporins, broad-spectrum penicillins and fluoroquinolones accounted for more than half of that increase, with consumption rising 55 per cent from 2000 to 2010.

New vaccines to be part of govt's immunisation programme

Vaccines against rotavirus, rubella and polio (injectable) will collectively expedite Indias progress on meeting the Millennium Development Goal 4 targets to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by the year 2015 and meet global polio eradication targets.


These new vaccines to be introduced as part of the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP), government will be providing free vaccines against 13 life threatening diseases to 27 million children annually, the largest birth cohort in the world.

In addition, an adult vaccine against Japanese encephalitis will be introduced in districts with high levels of the disease.

India successfully launches PSLV C-23

PSLV C23 carrying French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7 and four co-passenger spacecrafts from Singapore, Canada and Germany was successfully launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, witnessed the historic moment and praised the Indian scientists


After a perfect lift off from the First Launch Pad in Satish Dhawan Space Centre here at 9.52 AM witnessed by Modi, Indian Space Research Organisation's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C23 placed all five satellites into their intended orbits, one after the other between 17 and 19 minutes after liftoff, in textbook precision.

Though the Mission Readiness Review Committee and Launch Authorisation Board had on Friday cleared the launch, the launch time was rescheduled to 9.52 AM Monday, a delay of three minutes, attributed to "probable space debris" coming in the rocket's way.

Besides its primary payload of 714 kg French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7, PSLV C23 carried and placed in orbit 14 kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) and NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) of Canada each weighing 15 kg and the 7 kg VELOX-1 of Singapore.

Information Courtesy : ddnews.gov.in

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System(IRNSS-1B) launched

The  scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)  successfully launched its second Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System(IRNSS-1B) from Sriharikota  in Andhra Pradesh on 04-April-2014.

With this successful launch, the second of the seven satellite system, India inches closer to a select group of countries that have such a navigation system.

The 1,432 kg satellite was blasted off by the  rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C24)  at 5.14 pm from  the launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Center. IRNSS-1B is the second navigation satellite of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space segment.

Its predecessor IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013

Soon after the ejection into the orbit the satellite’s solar panels were deployed.

The satellite control was taken over by the Mission Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka.
IRNSS-1B carries two  types of payloads — navigation payload and ranging payload. The IRNSS  system will provide two types of services — Standard Positioning System provided to all the users and the Restricted Service provided only to authorised users.

Besides applications in surveying,  mapping, archaeology, satellite navigation has also proved useful in the fields of maritime, aviation, automobiles, disaster management operations and tracking services. In June Isro is expected  to launch the country’s heavier rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle – Mark III (GSLV-Mk III).

India’s largest solar power plant at Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi launched a 130-MW solar power plant at Bhagwanpur in Neemuch, about 400 km from Bhopal on 26-02-2014.

The Welspun Solar MP project, the largest solar power plant in India set up at a cost of Rs. 1,100 crore on 305 hectares of land, will supply power at Rs. 8.05 a kWh. 

United States developed fastest car in the world

U.S developed the world's fastest car with a top speed of an incredible 435 kilometres per hour.

US firm Hennessey's Venom GT set the new record for the fastest car in the world during a test run at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Venom beat the previous best record of 431km/h set by Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.

Launch of the GSLV-D5 Called off

The Launch of the GSLV-D5 scheduled for 1650 hrs today (August 19, 2013) is called off, as a leak is observed in the UH 25 fuel system of the liquid second stage during the pre-launch pressurization phase on the vehicle just two hours before the scheduled lift-off.

New mammal species olinguito discovered

The olinguito, a small mammal native to South America, was announced as the first new carnivorous mammal species discovered in the American Continents in 35 years today.

Colin Michael Foale, the First British to Perform a Space Walk, Retired from NASA

Colin Michael Foale, is a British-American astrophysicist and former NASA astronaut retired from NASA in the second week of August 2013.

Nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile successfully test fired

The country’s first nuclear weapons-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Prithvi-II, was successfully test-fired for its full strike range of 350 km from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, off  Odisha coast 

INS Arihant nuclear reactor activated

 In a major step towards completing its nuclear triad, India activated the atomic reactor on-board the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant paving the way for its operational deployment by the Navy.

Gujar Mal Modi Award for Vinod Prakash Sharma

The Gujar Mal Modi Award for Innovative Science and Technology 2013 was awarded to renowned scientist Vinod Prakash Sharma for his achievements in malaria research, control and prevention, including other vector borne diseases.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs 201,000, a scroll of honour and a silver shield. It was given away by physicist M G K Menon.

Sharma is known for his work and contribution in the field of basic and applied research of malaria and vector biology.

He is spearheading the safe water campaign of the National Academy of Sciences and his work on popularization of science, creating awareness and science education programmes of NASI are widely appreciated including in very remote areas.

New Exoplanet Spotted with Earth-based Telescope

Astronomers have discovered a new exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star 57 light years away. The pink planet is around four times more massive than Jupiter and orbits the star GJ 504 as part of the young 160-million-year-old star system The planet, named GJ 504b, is the lowest mass exoplanet ever to be detected using direct, or visible, imaging techniques. Most exoplanets (planets outside our solar system )- are discovered using indirect methods in which the exoplanet’s existence is inferred, but not actually seen It was discovered by direct imaging using 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope of Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii

Japan launches talking humanoid robot 'astronaut' Kirobo into space

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the first talking humanoid robot   Kirobo "robot astronaut" into orbit from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan as part of nearly 3.5 tons of supplies and equipment to resupply the space station's six-person crew.  Kirobo was put through a series of zero-gravity and other safety tests prior to sending him into space. Kirobo is 34 centimetres tall and can speak Japanese. It will provide emotional support for people in space.

Kirobo — derived from the Japanese words for hope and robot