ISRO launches earth monitoring satellite
Sriharikota(AP), Nov 29: Space agency ISRO's trusted workhorse rocket PSLV-C43 blasted off from here Thursday carrying India's earth observation satellite HysIS along with 30 satellites from eight countries.
The 28-hour countdown for the launch began at 5.58 AM on Wednesday and the rocket blasted off at 9.58 am Thursday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 110 km from Chennai, the space agency said.
The Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS), an earth observation satellite developed by ISRO, is the primary satellite of the PSLV-C43 mission.
The mass of the spacecraft is about 380 kg, ISRO said, adding that the satellite would be placed in 636 km-polar sun synchronous orbit with an inclination of 97.957 degree.
The primary goal of HysIS, whose mission life is five years, is to study the earth's surface in visible near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The co-passengers of HysIS include 1 micro and 29 nano satellites from eight countries--23 from the United States of America and one each from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Spain.
All these satellites have been commercially contracted for launch through ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited.
All the satellites would be placed in a 504 km orbit by PSLV-C43, the space agency said.
PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages.
PSLV-C43, which is the 45th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), is the 'Core Alone' version of PSLV. It is the lightest version of the launch vehicle.
This is ISRO's second launch in the month. The space agency had launched its latest communication satellite GSAT-29 on board GSLV MkIII-D2 on November 14.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
