Countdown begins for PSLV lift-off with two UK satellites
Chennai, Sep 15 : The countdown for the Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle's (PSLV) lift-off on Sunday began on Saturday at the rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, the Indian space agency said.
According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the countdown for the launch began at 1.08 p.m. on Saturday. The rocket will blast off at 10.08 p.m. on Sunday.
The PSLV rocket will blast off from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Two satellites aboard the PSLV belong to Surrey Satellite Technologies Ltd (SSTL), UK, under commercial arrangement with Antrix Corp Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO.
According to ISRO, the two earth observation satellites will be launched into a 583 km sun synchronous orbit.
The total flight duration of the 44.4s metre tall, 230.4-ton PSLV rocket will be about 17 minutes 44 seconds.
NovaSAR weighing 445 kg is a S-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite intended for forest mapping, land use and ice cover monitoring, flood and disaster monitoring.
S1-4 weighing 444 kg is a high resolution Optical Earth Observation Satellite, used for surveying resources, environment monitoring, urban management and for disaster monitoring.
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Serial burglar held for theft at actor Abhimanyu Singh's Mumbai home
Rs 1.37-crore valuables recovered
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a 40-year-old man with a criminal record for committing theft at actor Abhimanyu Singh's residence in Mumbai and recovered stolen valuables worth Rs 1.37 crore, officials said on Wednesday.
The accused was identified by police as Manoj Mohan Rathod, a resident of the adjoining Palghar district.
During investigations, it came to light that Rathod was also involved in at least 14 other cases of theft registered at various police stations in Mumbai and its nearby areas, an official said.
According to the official, the theft at the actor's bungalow at Lokhandwala in Andheri (West) occurred on the intervening night of December 29-30, when an unidentified person entered the residence through the bathroom window and made off with gold, diamond, silver ornaments and other valuables besides cash along with the safe in which it was kept.
Based on a complaint filed by the 82-year-old mother of the actor, a case was registered against the unidentified thief.
With technical assistance, a Mumbai police team tracked down the thief in a Palghar locality and nabbed him on Tuesday after two days of surveillance in the area.
During interrogation, the accused told police he had kept a portion of the stolen ornaments with a jeweller, while the remaining items were at his residence, said the official.
Accordingly, police recovered stolen items worth Rs 1.37 crore, he added.
