60-day Amarnath Yatra ends
Srinagar, Aug 26 : The 60-day Amarnath Yatra ended peacefully on Sunday with over 2.85 lakh pilgrims performing the Himalayan pilgrimage this year.
The Yatra started on June 28.
The 'Chhari Mubarak' (Lord Shiva's Mace) carried by a group of Hindu priests headed by Swami Deepinder Giri, its custodian, reached the cave shrine on Sunday morning.
The priests offered the final prayers at the shrine. Some senior officers of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) that manages the annual Yatra were also present.
Swami Deepinder Giri told IANS that the devotees prayed for peace and prosperity of the country, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.
More people performed this year's pilgrimage than in the last three years.
Due to extraordinary security arrangements that included the deployment of over 70,000 security personnel and the cooperation of local Muslims, this year's Yatra ended peacefully.
Except for four pilgrims who died in a landslide, the Yatra was incident free this year.
No militant outfit carried out any attack on the pilgrims' convoys and most outfits issued statements that the Yatra was not on their target list as it was a purely religious exercise.
Located 3,880 meters above the sea level in Kashmir's Himalayas, the cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite structure that wanes and waxes with the phases of the visible moon.
Devotees believe the ice stalagmite structure symbolizes the mythical powers of Lord Shiva.
Devotees approached the cave shrine both from the north Kashmir Baltal base camp and the south Kashmir Pahalgam base camp.
Helicopter services were also available for the pilgrims.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
