GSAT-11 called back for tests to be on the safe side: ISRO Chairman
Chennai, April 25: The Indian space agency has recalled its communication satellite GSAT-11 from Arianespace's rocket port in French Guiana for further tests, to be on the safe side, said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Sivan on Wednesday.
"We are bringing back the GSAT-11 satellite to carry out some tests to be doubly sure of its performance orbiting in the space. There is nothing more to it," Sivan told IANS.
He said the satellite is expected to be back in India on April 5 or 6, and after the tests and checks, GSAT-11 can be back in Ariancespace's rocket port in Kourou.
"Due to additional technical checks with the Indian Space Research Organisation's GSAT-11 satellite, to be conducted from the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) located in Bengaluru, the Ariane 5 launch initially planned for May 25, VA243, has been postponed," Arianespace had said.
The GSAT-11 was planned to be launched mid May. The satellite had reached Arianespace's rocket port in March.
GSAT-11 was designed, assembled and integrated by the ISRO, and will have an estimated lift-off mass of 5,870 kg.
This advanced communications satellite is to provide multi-spot beam coverage over the Indian mainland and nearby islands, bringing significant advantages to the user community when compared with India's existing INSAT/GSAT satellite systems, Arianespace said earlier in a statement.
With its new system architecture and cutting-edge technology elements, GSAT-11 will generate a capacity of more than 12 Gbps for users from a single platform, the statement added.
The ISRO's move to call back GSAT-11 for further tests and be doubly sure of its performance may be due to the loss of the recently launched GSAT-6A satellite, soon after it was put into orbit on March 29.
ISRO suspects the failure of the power systems in the satellite for the loss of communication link.
"The satellites are powered by solar panels that charge the onboard batteries. The batteries are fully charged when the satellite is loaded on to the rocket.
"Even if there is a problem with the solar panel, then the battery power should have kicked in. Here the entire power system of the satellite seems to have failed," one space expert told IANS earlier.
According to experts, the power system could have failed due to some short circuiting or arcing resulting in what is known in the space terminology 'loss of lock' or loss of contact with the ground station.
Satellites in space are locked to ground stations for tracking and other purposes.
On March 29, Indian rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) slung GSAT-6A in its intended orbit. From there the satellite was to be taken up further to its orbital slot by firing its onboard motors.
The first orbit raising operation was successfully carried out by firing the onboard motors for around 36 minutes on March 30 morning.
The second orbit raising operation of GSAT-6A satellite was also successful as its motors was fired for about 53 minutes on March 31.
After that, the communication link got snapped.
Industry experts also said there has been instances where communication link with satellites got reestablished after a break of couple of days.
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Video of man attempting to strangle girl in UP is being shared with a false communal narrative
Fact check reveals accused, victim belong to same community
A video showing a young man attempting to strangle a young woman in the middle of a road while covering his face with a cloth is being widely shared on social media platforms (here, here, here, and here). The claim accompanying the video suggests that, in the Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim man attempted to kill a Hindu woman after she rejected his proposal. Through this article, let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video shows a Muslim man attacking a Hindu girl in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh.
Fact: This viral video shows an incident that occurred on 04 January 2025 under the jurisdiction of the Gajraula police station in Amroha district, Uttar Pradesh, where a young man named Rahul attempted to strangle a young girl on the road. According to the Amroha police, there is no communal angle involved in the incident. Both the accused and the victim belong to the same community. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This search led us to multiple news reports (here, here, here, here, and here) featuring the same visuals. According to these reports, the incident occurred on 04 January 2025 in Salempur Gosai, under the jurisdiction of the Gajraula police station, in Amroha district, Uttar Pradesh. The reports identified the accused as Rahul. A nursing student, who resides in a village within the Gajraula police station area, was returning home from college on 04 January 2025. On the way, Rahul, a resident of the same village, stopped her. He then attempted to strangle her by wrapping a scarf around her neck. Some nearby bystanders intervened and saved the student. Following this, the police registered a case against Rahul and arrested him the next day. The reports further stated that Rahul had been in a relationship with the girl for the past four years. A few days earlier, he reportedly saw her talking to another boy, which enraged him and led to the attack.
According to a ‘Times of India’ report dated 07 January 2025, Amroha SP Kunwar Anupam Singh stated, “The police have arrested the accused and sent him to jail under judicial custody. The accused and the victim are from the same village. We have registered a case against the accused under Sections 126(2), 115(2), 76, and 109 of the BNS, along with Sections 7/8 of the POCSO Act, based on the complaint filed by the victim’s family members.”
In response to a viral video on X (formerly Twitter), the Amroha police stated that the accused had been apprehended and was currently in custody. They also confirmed that both the accused and the victim belonged to the same caste and knew each other prior to the incident. Additionally, the police dismissed the communal narrative being spread on social media and urged people not to share misinformation about the incident.
महोदय, कृपया अवगत कराना है कि उपरोक्त प्रकरण में प्राप्त तहरीर के आधार पर अभियोग पंजीकृत है, अभियुक्त को गिरफ्तार कर जेल भेजा जा चुका है। दोनो पक्ष सजातीय हैं तथा पूर्व परिचित हैं। कृपया भ्रामक खबर न फेलाये।
— Amroha Police (@amrohapolice) January 7, 2025
The Amroha Police has also issued a press release on this matter, which states that the accused in this incident is Rahul, son of Dharamveer. Additionally, we have contacted the Gajraula police station. In a conversation with us, an official from the Gajraula police station refuted the viral claim and clarified that there is no communal angle involved in this incident. He further stated that both the victim and the accused belong to the same community.
To sum up, there is no communal angle involved in the incident where a man attempted to strangle a young girl in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, on 04 January 2025. Both the accused and the victim in this incident belong to the same community.
