India launches communications satellite

 SRIHARIKOTA, India (AFP) — India sent into orbit a rocket carrying the replacement for a communications satellite destroyed last year, raising its hopes of competing for global satellite launch business.

The 49-metre (1,481-feet) rocket carrying the Insat-4CR satellite blasted off from the Sriharikota space station in southern India at 6:21 pm (1251 GMT) on Sunday after a two-hour delay due to a technical glitch.

Weighing 2,130 kilogrammes (4,700 pounds), the satellite is equipped with 12 wideband channels -- known as transponders -- that allow digital transmission on each at the same time by several video and audio networks.

Sunday's launch was viewed as crucial to India's aims to grab a slice of the 2.5-billion-dollar heavy satellite launch business as well as meet its own booming telecommunications demand.

"It was a very nice take off with the evening skies so luminous and majestic and the thundering sound of the rocket," said Indian Space Research Organisation chief G. Madhavan Nair after the launch.

Anxiety levels were high ahead of the fifth launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) series rocket, a year after its predecessor had to be destroyed less than a minute after lift off when it veered from its path.

"This mission from all point of view has been highly dramatic," said Nair, who was congratulated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

"We had really gone through the mill. On one side we had the anxiety coming from the previous failure."

But Sunday's launch, which cost the agency the equivalent of 100 million dollars, proved that Indian rockets were "as reliable as any other launch vehicle in the world," Nair said.

"We are getting enquiries from foreign customers," he added.

Cheers and clapping marked the launch, which a spokesman for the Bangalore-based agency said was vital for India's increasing volumes of fax and Internet traffic, and television and video services.

"The high-powered satellite will augment the country's communication capacity and help meet increasing demand," said the spokesman.

Launched in the 1980s, Insat is the largest domestic communication satellite system in the Asia-Pacific region, providing services in telecommunications, television broadcasting and meteorology including disaster warning.

India started its space programme in 1963, carrying out its first successful launch of a domestic satellite by an Indian-built rocket in 1980.

The satellites have been used for years to map natural resources and predict the weather to help farmers and the rural poor, but India has recently moved towards commercial exploitation of space technology.

The space agency in April launched an Italian satellite for a fee for the first time, signalling its entry into the commercial launch market. It also earns money from telecom and broadcast companies who use its transponders.

India Finds Uranium In Icy Ladakh

Scientists have for the first time found uranium in 'exceptionally high concentration' in Ladakh, the icy Himalayan region in Jammu and Kashmir that has strategic significance for India.

Samples of rocks analysed in a German laboratory have revealed uranium content to be as high as 5.36 percent compared to around 0.1 percent or less in ores present elsewhere in the country.

India badly needs uranium to fuel its nuclear power plants and the proposed India-US nuclear deal is all about importing it. The Ladakh find may cheer those opposed to the deal even though detailed exploration and mining may take years.

The Ladakh block lies between the Indian plate in the south and the Asian plate in the north and is bounded by the 'Indus and the Shyok suture zones'. Collision between the two plates 50-60 million years ago formed the Himalayas.

The earth's crust that got crushed and melted during collision and pierced the surface, cooled and solidified becoming 'magmatic' rocks dotting what geologists call the Ladakh 'batholith'. It is in these rocks that uranium is found.

'The presently recorded uranium rich zircons from young magmatic intrusions of the Shyok suture zone and associated sequences is the first record from these remote regions,' Rajeev Upadhyay, a geologist at Kumaon University in Nainital, told IANS in an e-mail interview.

'In geological terms, these uranium-bearing magmatic rocks exposed in Ladakh are very young (between 100 million and 25 million years ago),' he said.

Other uranium rich rocks in India such as in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan are very old geological terrains known as the Precambrian (2,500-3,000 million years old), he said.

For his study, reported in the journal Current Science, Upadhyay took samples from thick exposed granite from a place north of Udmaru village in Leh district. The village in the Nubra-Shyok River Valley is situated on a volcanic rock formation known as the Shyok Volcanics.
The samples of rock mineral (zircon) were analysed at the isotope laboratory of the University of Tuebingen in Germany where he had gone under the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship.

'Geochemical analysis of the separated zircon grains showed exceptionally high concentration of both uranium (0.31-5.36 percent) and thorium (0.76-1.43 percent),' Upadhyay said. He added that the study is preliminary and 'detailed work is in progress'.

According to Upadhyay, uranium-bearing magmatic rocks are located all along Kohistan, Ladakh and southern Tibet (from east to west). 'However, contents of uranium may differ from place to place,' he said.

Officials of the atomic minerals division under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) did not reply to questions about the significance of this new find or whether the Ladakh uranium could augment India's reserves.

The total established uranium resources of the country so far (in the form of uranium oxide or yellow cake) are 94,000 tonnes. The majority of these resources, according to DAE, occur in three 'provinces': Singhbhum in the east, Mahadek in the northeast and Cuddapah in the south.

The low uranium content in ores, however, makes mined uranium in India expensive compared to that in Australia whose ores contain as much as 15 percent uranium.

Source : http://www.newspostindia.com

Was Mumtaz really buried at Taj Mahal?

Agra: Even as the world excitedly talks about the recently discovered mummy believed to be of Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, in India the mystery surrounding Mumtaz Mahal's burial at the Taj Mahal has deepened with several Mughal historians asserting that her body was not mummified.

Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the 17th Century Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal who died delivering their 14th child in Burhanpur, a town in Madhya Pradesh.

The Queen's body was buried in Burhanpur itself, but was believed to have been recovered for transportation to Agra where it was reburied in a grave in the Taj Mahal complex for at least 12 years to be again shifted to her final resting place in the basement of the monument.


As there is no detailed description or reference to any kind of treatment given to the body to keep it in recognisable shape for more than 12 years, two conjectures are now being offered.


One, the body remained buried in Burhanpur, and only some symbolic relics were brought to Agra in a lead coffin. Two, the body decomposed and virtually vanished, leaving behind some bones and perhaps the bare skeleton.

"Obviously, the coffin was not opened. Otherwise we would have had some account of what remained inside it," says R Nath, a Mughal historian. "In any case, how does it matter what state the body was in."

Afzal Khan, a historian of Aligarh Muslim University, says, "It is possible that the body might have been thoroughly decomposed, given the long duration for which it was kept outside and the time taken to transport it from the south to Agra. Since there are no accounts of how the whole process was carried out, one can only guess what could have happened to the body of Mumtaz."

A senior guide, 75-year-old SK Tripathi, says the body is believed to have been placed in a lead and copper coffin, which was air-tight and sealed. It was kept at the Taj Mahal premises for a little over 12 years and was shifted as soon as more than half the edifice was constructed. The real graves of the two are in the basement, totally sealed.


"No one has gone there to see what state they are in now," he adds.


Officials at the Archaeological Survey of India in Agra say they have no idea when was the last time someone had a close look at the basement and the foundation of the Taj Mahal, let alone the original graves of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal.

"We have no records of any such inspection," says one official. The one little passage near the staircase leading to the main marble edifice was sealed more than a decade ago with a brick wall, which means there is now no way one can enter the sealed chambers below the Taj.

RC Sharma, a historian, says the body of Mumtaz Mahal was buried in Burhanpur. "What came to Agra must have been just bones in a coffin which was again reburied in the Taj complex."
From historical records available this was a unique feat. "Mumtaz was buried thrice at three different places," says Amit Mukherjea, who heads the history department of St John's College.

Most people do not know that the foundation of the Taj was actually laid in Burhanpur, but because of the problems and costs involved in the transportation of marble from Rajasthan, Agra became the final choice.

"It was in Ahu Khana in Burhanpur on the bank of the Tapti river that her body was buried to be later transferred to Agra," according to KK Mohammed of ASI.

But the question relating to the technique of embalming and preservation remains unanswered.

Afsar Ahmed, a media researcher deeply interested in Mughal history, said, "You might find it difficult to believe, but there's a possibility that the body of Mumtaz Mahal is still preserved in the Taj Mahal in the same condition as she was when she passed away. Mumtaz Mahal was buried six months after she passed away in June 1631. She was, however, buried in January 1632."

The question that arises now is: how was her body preserved? Ahmed quotes a report prepared by Armanul Haq, the curator in the Museum of History and Medicine in the Jamia Hamdard University, who claims that Mumtaz Mahal's body was preserved according to Unani techniques.

The process was used because cutting a body after death is prohibited in Islam. That is why when Mumtaz Mahal passed away in 1631 in Burhanpur, her body was kept in a tin box filled with such herbs as would stop the decay of flesh.

"The airtight tin box was filled with herbs like the ash of Babul tree (acacia), Mehendi (henna), Kapoor crystals (camphor), sandalwood ash, and then again camphor applied in layers upon layers. These herbs would have created a vacuum inside the box and prevented the decay of the body. A point to be noted here is that none of these herbs were put inside Mumtaz Mahal's body," says Ahmed.

If her body is still preserved and in fine shape, shall we call it the success of the Indian technique of mummification?

We have become 14 per cent less corrupt!

 Ashok Malhotra, even from behind the bars, would have been really
amused to read the latest report of Transparency International. "A few
counties, most notably India'" the Report went on, "managed to
bootstrap themselves out of the truly corrupt group". In the
corruption perception index (CPI) we scored 3.3 in 2006, up from 2.9 a
year back. That is undoubtedly encouraging.

Corruption comes from three sources. First, it erupts when the market
is not allowed to function. Until recently this was a major source of
corruption. The second is public services including police, judiciary,
land administration, education, and so on. The third which is also the
most intractable is corruption at the political level.

Until 1991 the market remained replaced by controls and regulations.
That gave rise to a scarcity economy in which corruption thrived.
Every commodity right from cars to coal the production and prices of
which were controlled became a source of corruption. In 1991 most of
these controls were knocked off. Industrial licensing which restricted
production capacity, price controls which left unsatisfied demand,
import controls which put foreign goods at a premium, exchange control
which kept the rupee artificially overvalued, and so on had made
corruption a way of life from which the country now finds it
difficult to extricate itself. With marketisation, at least one source
of corruption has been largely eliminated.

Corruption that is still confronted by the common citizen is at public
services level. A survey made last year by Transparency International
revealed that in India police top in corruption followed by lower
judiciary and land administration. The common citizens paid Rs.21,068
crores by way of bribes. Kerala was the least corrupt; it is Bihar and
J & K where corruption was most rampant.

Corruption at the public services level is hard to crack when
officials enjoy discretionary powers but has been reduced to some
extent due to the introduction of e-governance and of the Right To
Information Act (RTI). A lot more improvement can be made with greater
transparency in operations and accessibility of the relevant
information through the internet. Such measures would have made it
possible to detect the recent Malhotra slum scam much earlier or
prevented it altogether.

Corruption at the political level could not be eradicated even in the
most industrialised countries. In democratic regimes elections cost;
and an extra crore of rupees generally gives a contestant an added
advantage over his rival. Possibly State funding of political parties
can reduce the incidence of corruption but cannot eliminate it
altogether.

That Transparency International which has been indexing corruption the
world over should take India out of the most corrupt group is
encouraging. This improvement may be due to increase in incomes and
greater transparency in government. That by itself is no satisfaction.
We still rank 74th among 158 countries. It is therefore important to
pursue administrative reforms more vigorously, enforce greater
transparency in public offices and bring the guilty to book without delay.

(The writer is president, RPG Foundation)

Rising terrorism and poverty-at 60 years we are failures

Indian babudom has fattened too much and still using same old British laws and systems both sarkari naukri and judiciary have taken Indian people for granted. It suits all corrupt people in judiciary, politics, law breakers, business men and government servants (public servants)who act as masters. Just go and meet any IAS or IPS see their arrogance, opulance and misuse of public resources at their disposal. No one takes action against any judge or civil services guy. All are protecting each other.
On one hand we talk of caste elimination, new classes are being researched and listed for vote banks, the term VIP is used in India to create a superior class, the creamy layers themselves have become new order brahmins, The civil services guys have created their own classes by writing cadres with names.All this must be banned in India immediately. Is our supreme court sleeping since last 60 years. Why we should use lordship and honor
for judges too, when they are simply our paid servant assigned judicial arbitration work?

Indians must come out of this new caste systems and layers created by India following British rules and systems.
Constitution should be amended. To make pubic services terminable and a kind of court martial type hearing in CAT and a new to be established Judicial commission against judges right up to Supreme court.In democracy people are real owners. These guys cant behave as if they are our masters and above people. This is fundamental defect in democracy model in India and it is no democracy at all. Shamelessly the politicians move about with policemen and commandos and red lights and sirens at public expenses when these
have no place in democracy set up. It cant be seen anywhere in world , at least in developed countries of west.
This relics of British raj must be ended immediatelyNo one has ever objected to appoint more judges ,rather 3 times current and limit total time for criminal and civil cases. But the Supreme courts and high courts and GOI don't appoint judges on one pretext or other. These guys owe explanation to country their masters as to why they have failed to reform judicial systems and court procedures and appoint adequate number of judges.
Indians are still living like British masters in body & Mind and abusing Indian property that is owned by all of us. I think time has come to take them to task and grab them and ask under whose permission they are wasting money on one hand and not toining up justice system on other hand. It is 60 years already. People of India don't object to spend more money. We are already taxed so heavily and we can pay judicial cess as education cess.
Total expenditures of all babus and judges should be cut by half as on date and their salaries frozen for next 10 years as they are already getting too much. But Manmohan appointed 6th pay commission. Do these guys including our PM deserve even any pay?They should ask question to themselves. Indians must get ready
for facing serious civil war after 10-15 years as things decay more and this politicians-judiciary-babu nexus loots the nation and harassed citizens. In my view terrorism is nothing but reaction of people and communities against perception of State terrorism, lawlessness, corruption, harassment and lack of basic facilities. These cheap politicians who are corrupt and self serving must learn this fast before it is too late. Judges who can't manage their own courts and corruption goes on in courts right under their nose, have no right to judge others.These polticians,judges and babus should ask themselves who is paying them, what is their status except for peoples' servant and by whose instructions they enjoy and waste money? The property amassed by all these guys should be impounded and restored to nation before irate people start looting it and burning it.They
should not remain in illussion that by threat of courts and by guns they can silence people and societies.Better read history again.

It is high p[eople take power back in their hands .District and state level councils should be set up with majority of private eminent citizens to review action,promotion,salries,dismissals and harassment compl;anits against all class II and above officers upto IG level/Divisional commissioner level.This should be fina with only one appeal in supreme court.All facilities and systems are only for public serevnats while publis has no facilities,no income and they are being ill terated by the servants who, we pay or elect and appoint them to serve us.

Is not that funny? Bureacrats an djudciary in any case life long pests on us (average working time 35 years) but we are seeing even polticians are long standing liability on nation bleeding society for 35-50 years.All of those who have occupied any position for 10 years in lected office should be kicked out and those above age of
70.India a nation of young peiople is in hands of outdated,cirrupt,british apes and decrepete old chaps.