The murky controversy raging over damning debar on former Indian Space Research Organisation Chief and secretary of Department of Space G Madhavan Nair and three other scientists is blamed on its current chief Dr K Radhakrishnan for misleading the government in the Antrix-Devas deal probe for a sadistic revenge.
Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G Madhavan Nair, Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, historian Ramachandra Guha and noted billiard player Pankaj Advani were among the 63 personalities who received the Padma awards in New Delhi on Tuesday. The recipients also include social activist Sunderlal Bahuguna and veteran actor Helen Khan. President Prathibha Patil gave away the Padma awards at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The UPA government looks set to give the contract a decent burial and, in turn, redeem ISRO and itself.
Indian space scientists have received signals of Indian National Satellite-4A.
The punitive action on January 13 against four scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation in connection with the Antrix-Devas deal leaves many questions unanswered. It does however make it apparent that there have been lacunae in the functioning of one of India's premier scientific institutions, its commercial arm, and the overseeing body.
Government on Thursday said former Indian Space Research Organisation chief G Madhavan Nair was given a "due and adequate chance" by a high-level panel to put forth his views on the action taken against him in connection with irregularities in the Antrix-Devas deal.
Central Administrative Tribunal on Friday dismissed former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair's plea, seeking quashing of the Centre's decision to debar him from holding government posts for his alleged role in the controversial Antrix-Devas deal, on the ground of maintainability.
'I will say all this happened because of ignorance coupled with arrogance,' says G Madhavan Nair.
Besides the two US payloads, Chandrayaan-I will carry five Indian instruments, three developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and one from the Bulgarian Space Laboratory.
The satellite has reached its final slot and will be fully operational by the month-end.
India and Russia held discussions on the possibility of cooperation in space exploration, including missions to the moon and Mars. Russia's head of Federal Space Agency met the Indian Space Research Organisation chairman.
Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair is all set to become the first non-American to head the International Academy of Astronautics.
"The Resourcesat-1 launched today was equal to half a dozen people in space for a period\n\nof five to six years," ISRO chief Dr Madhavan Nair said.
Chandrayan's operations will be controlled by robots and cover 3.50 lakh kilometre within a period of two years, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said.
"They (China) should not have done that. It's against international convention. First of all, we are not supposed to weaponise outer space," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation G Madhavan Nair told PTI in Bangalore.
Battling the action against him and three other top scientists in the controversial Antrix-Devas deal, former Indian Space Research Organisation chief G Madhavan Nair on Monday demanded that the order barring them from government posts should not only be revoked but an apology should be tendered by those responsible for it. "They owe an apology not to me but to the whole country. Somebody has taken the law into their hands and they have to apologise," said Nair.
G Madhavan Nair was in Thiruvananthapuram to mark the 40th anniversary of the launching of 'sounding' rockets from the Thumba Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
two US scientific instruments will be on board India's mission to the Moon 'Chandrayaan-1'.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair today said the country should be proud of Chandrayaan-1 for being a successful low-cost planetary mission.
Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair met Dr Singh in Delhi on Friday afternoon and briefed him on the lunar mission launched on October 22.
The agreements were inked in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi after the two leaders held discussions on important issues of mutual concern.
India will develop its own version of the Global Positioning System by launching seven satellites in 6 years. The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, to be functional by 2012, will be used for surveillance, telecommunications, transport etc.
ISRO is developing a 100-kg "satellite bus" as demand has picked up for launching nano-satellites, chairman G Madhavan Nair said.
G Madhavan Nair said ISRO had got necessary approvals from the Union government for the project.
India has completed the design of Chandrayaan-2, its next mission to the moon -- this time in collaboration with Russia -- that would have a lander and rover that can collect samples of the lunar soil and analyse them and send back the data.
The ISRO chairman said there was no proposal now to send any Indian astronaut to space through the US.
The government has sanctioned seed money of Rs 10 crore to carry out various studies on experiments to be conducted, route of the mission and other related details necessary to scale the new frontier, said ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair.
K Narayana, former director of SDSC-SHAR and currently senior advisor to the Centre, will chair the 15-member panel
India's ambitious unmanned lunar mission `Chandrayan' is likely to soar into the skies in the second week of October, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair said on Wednesday."The satellite integration is almost complete. And we would be entering the thermovac in about a week's time. It takes about 45-50 days for the launch after thermovac, after which we would declare the date. The earliest is October," he said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited ISRO's Satellite Centre and TCS's facility in the International Tech Park in Bangalore.
Taking a lesson from last year's tsunami disaster, sensors are being planted in the seabed to record seismological changes, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation.
It is raining heavily at Sriharikota where the Satish Dhawan Space Centre is located
Most senior scientists have complained of repeated questioning by the expenditure department, bureaucratic delays in clearances, more focus on procedure than on result and the lack of an environment for science to grow, reports Akshat Kaushal
The decision to provide Z grade security was taken by the Karnataka government following specific threats to ISRO scientists by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Dawaood Ibrahim.
ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI that the agency has invited the scientists and expects representation from scientists behind Indian payloads (scientific instruments) as well those from guest instruments, including from NASA and the European Space Agency. An ISRO official said, "It will be a closed-door meeting. The scientists will analyse data from preliminary findings".
It's a fast-track spacecraft for rural connectivity, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair told PTI in Bangalore. Primarily aimed at rural areas, it's an INSAT-class (three tonne) satellite but the speciality would be that instead of having an all-India beam, it would have spot beams covering different parts of the country, and there would be a control hub by which it would be connected to national network.
Indian Space Research Organisation chief Madhavan Nair on Saturday virtually admitted that the Chandrayaan-I moon mission could be over, saying it is a 'pretty difficult' situation. "At the moment, we have suspended the mission. Calling it off would depend on what has failed. We are trying to analyse what has gone wrong and we will take a look at it on Sunday," he said.Asked if there was any hope of the mission surviving, he said he can't confirm anything at the moment.
"It (the cost of setting up the launch pad) is around Rs 600 crore. A major national facility (for training astronauts) will be established in Bengaluru, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI.
