Invincible ISRO

"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society."-Dr.Vikram Sarabhai.
A church in a Trivandrum was doing some unusual job which other churches didn't even think of. There were no prayers to God. There was no priest in the church. But there were men of wisdom working for hours together. Yes! its the Thumba Space Station! This Church was the place which housed ISRO's space research initially. Sounding rockets were fired from this place to investigate the upper atmosphere. ISRO as an organization was established on August 15,1969 by one of the greatest souls- Dr.Vikram Sarabhai who is also known as the Father of Indian Space Technology. But the base to all these were laid by the great Dr.Homi Bhabha, the first Chairman of Department of Atomic Energy. Intensive research by some dedicated young men led to the development of SLV, ASLV and later the PSLV and GSLV. In the early years bullock carts and cycles were used to carry satellites and launch vehicle parts to the launch pad. PSLV is used to carry a payload of upto 1600kg. PSLV allowed India to launch IRS satellites into sun synchronous orbit. Before the advent of PSLV, the option of placing satellites in SSO was available only with the Russians. PSLV also has an impressive success record. It recently placed 10 satellites in a single launch. The record was previously held by the Russians. India successfully tested its nuclear capability in 1974 after which the world countries imposed sanctions on India. But a relentless India continued its indigenous research and successfully tested its Cryogenic Engine- which is essential for GSLV. GSLV is used to place heavier communication satellites(2500kg). Currently GSLV III is under development which will enable ISRO lift much heavier satellites. A modified version of PSLV took India into the select league of nations which have entered lunar orbit. India became the 4th country after US, Russia, Japan to place its flag on the Lunar surface. Now Chandrayaan II is under development. To add feather to its cap, ISRO successfully showed to the world tht it can send humans to space and bring them safely back to earth. SRE I or Space capsule Recovery Experiment successfully splashed down in the Bay of Bengal after being in space for 12 days. ISRO is now constructing its own astronaut training facility in Bangalore. With two launch pads already in operation, a third one is now under construction. India intends to send probes to Mars using its GSLV III. ISRO's ground tracking stations are situated in many parts of India and in Mauritius, Russia and Indonesia. Recently ISRO tested world's third largest rocket motor, S-200 from its testing center in Sriharikota. ISRO also has set up its own university, IIST in Trivandrum. Antrix Corporation is ISRO's marketing agency. India is making steady progress in almost all fields and ISRO is leading India in the field of space technology. But its a fact tht ISRO has a long way to go. Itseems tht the launch pads in Sriharikota failed and tht this delayed the launch of GSLV II which was scheduled for December 2009. This GSLV also was supposed to use the indigenously made cryogenic engine for the first time. Without much support from developed countries ISRO is able to make wonders. So lets all salute ISRO and its efficient scientists who are making India proud in every possible way.

Obituary

I deeply mourn the sudden and sad demise of my beloved junior Master.Pradeep Kumar, I yr CSE, MIT, Anna University. I sincerely pray for his soul to rest in peace. I also pray the almighty that such incidents should never happen again.

Incredible INDIA!!!!

"We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made!".These incredible words of Albert Einstein is enough to explain how great India is. Home to one of the oldest civilizations- Indus Valley Civilization, it has given rise to many wonders; greatest of them being Ahimsa founded by the greatest soul of our times- Mahatma Gandhi.Covering an area of 32,87,263 sq. km its bounded by snow covered Himalayas in the north and mighty Indian ocean in the south. After years of British Rule India gained her Independence in 1947. India became a sovereign democratic Republic from 1950, Jan 26. India is also the 7th largest country in the world with 28 states and 7 union territories. India is also the land of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism. India's Constitution is the longest in the world.The Legislature of India is the bicameral Parliament, with the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. After its Independence India played a greater role in fighting for the Independence of many African and Asian countries from their European masters. India also liberated East Pakistan and saved Maldives from a coup(1988). India is also the founding member of NAM. Lemme post some of the interesting facts here.

Second Largest Army.
Fifth Largest Navy.
Fourth Largest Air Force.
DRDO makes the world's first supersonic missile BrahMos.
Nuclear Weaponry State.
10th in the world and 4th in Asia in plant diversity.
47000 species of plants.
15000 species of Vascular Flora with 35% of them found only in India.
One of the fastest growing economies.
World's second largest work force.
12th largest economy.
These are some of the achievements India has made. But its a fact tht we Indians hav a long way to go. Lets all pledge tht we'll surely take India to the top in the years to come.

China or India??!!!

In the year 1960 a small island nation of Japan was at the center stage with its growth at 10% . It was believed then that Japan was going to over take US soon. But in the subsequent years the growth soared with 5% in 1970s and 4% in 1980s. Recently Japan slipped in recession. Its national carrier JAL is filing for bankruptcy. What led to its downfall??? In the 60s Japananese had some of the highest bank balances. Loans were easily available and ofcourse the loan amount available were also huge. With cash easily available ppl started investing in its stock market and in real estate. Tokyo's stock exchange was at its peak with Nikkei trading at 38915 and a sq. ft of land in Tokyo as high as $93,000. The result- inflation. This devalued its currency. By 2004 the cost of land was just 1% of its peak. Millions and millions of dollars were lost in this boom. The stock market also collapsed. Investments were very little and consumption reduced greatly which resulted in deflationary pressure. Still banks were lending loans. The easy availability of loans also could not prevent the deflation. Now ppl were in search of some investment avenue which would give them considerable returns but everything was out of control. The prices began to appreciate but recession began to have its impact. In 2008 Nikkei was trading at 7000s. Lets come to 2010. China is the talk of the town now. Recent numbers suggest that China's $4.9 trillion economy has overtaken Japan's economy of $4.6trillion to become the world's second largest economy. But its local consumption is just one-third of its economy while India's is twice that of China's. India's consumption is two-third of its economy. Most of China's growth has come from infrastructure spending. Chinese have been asked to save as much as possible. Chinese inflation is also sky rocketing although its less compared to the world. China has also deliberately undervalued its currency against USD and Euro. In China all the profits are with the state owned companies with private companies starving for money while in India its just the opposite. This has made the life of a common China man no different where as Indians are continuously increasing their bank balance which is encouraging local spending. No of Indians in middle class is 300mn while tht of China's is something around 100mn. This middle class in quite important in maintaining a constant local demand. A report says that China's poverty has doubled while that of India's has come down by 50%. Rural India accounts for almost 50% of India's GDP up from its previous share of 40%. Rural India is growing at a faster pace than tht of urban India. While in China its just the opposite with 1/3 of total GDP and the rural growth is just 15%. And more over most of the Indian firms concentrate on rural India unlike their Chinese counterparts. India's Bharthi Airtel has the world's cheapest tariffs with TATA MOTORS making the world's cheapest car. China has left most of its rural areas in hanging. Anyway predictions have gone wrong most of the time. So lets wait and watch wats there for the future.

India, Afghanistan and the World

Afghanistan- When we hear this word the very first thing which comes in our mind is Taliban and Osama bin Laden. But after the US invasion of Afghanistan things hav changed a lot; and ofcourse relations with other countries also hav changed especially with its regional neighbour- India. Recently a poll conducted BBC, American Broadcasting Corporation and German Broadcasting Corporation has found tht INDIA(71%) is the most preferred nation among the Afghans with Germany coming next followed by the US. This is something obvious i would say; for the development activities tht India has pledged in the war ravaged country. Even history suggests tht India was a good friend of Afghanistan.But fortunes changed when Taliban took over Afghanistan after the cold war. Now again India has become a trust-able ally. This evident from the development works undertaken by India in Afghanistan. Soon after the war India was the first regional country to provide a monetary relief of 750mn USD. India's BRO is constructing roads in many provinces. India also trains its civil servants, police dept. India is helping Afghanistan build thermal power plants and develop the power grid in the country, It is also helping in constructing its airport. India is also training Afghan's diplomats. India is providing power to Afghan villages by setting up Solar Power Plants. Kabul's 24 hour power supply is due to the transmission lines laid by India. MOUs hav been signed between these countries to enable co operation in various fields such as education military health and telecommunications. India also supports Afghan's bid for a membership in SAARC. India is also building a new Parliament building in Kabul, the Afghan capital. Becoming no 1 is not something which can be bought in grocery shop. Rightly India's unparalleled help has enabled it to win the hearts of Afghans.

IPL Auction III

Today(19/01/2010), the third auction for the cricketing megafest IPL began. At the end of the day Pakistan players remained unsold. I still dont understand wat prevented the IPL team owners from buying some of the most talented cricket players from Pakistan. Pollard has earned himself a ransom. May be the recent stand-offs between both the Govts prevented the team owners from buying them. But one thing both the countries should know is only if we start talking we'll know each others problems. Both the countries should come forward and try to work towards a amicable solution; this should tell the forces which are trying to de stabilise both the nations tht their intentions will never come true. Both the countries hav great potential which can be tapped only if we are together. So the policy makers should realise all these and encourage activities which will bring harmony. Lets wish IPL's auction will lead both the nations in turning a new leaf.

Me and Akshay and Chandrayaan I

Lemme introduce who Akshay is. Hes my classmate and a close friend of mine. We had a very hot discussion today wen my Digital Communication teacher was taking class. He said Chandrayaan I was utter waste of money. But i dont blame Akshay also. Hes actually ignorant like the millions of fellow Indians. Chandrayaan I is a great achievement for a country like India. Inspite of being denied of all latest technologies India was able to prove to the western powers tht we are competent enough;probably they would hav learnt tht India is a country to watch out for. Lemme share wat n all Chandrayaan I achieved. It planted India's flag on Lunar Surface.India is the 4th country to do so. It also found traces of water on moon. Our launch vehicle achieved its target in its very first launch.It also proved tht we can also carry out longer missions like the ones to Mars or even Jupiter. The success of Chandrayaan I has encouraged India to prepare for its next mission Chandrayaan II which will carry a Rover to land on Lunar Surface. So lets all feel proud of this achievement instead of misleading others.