ISRO, NASA discuss potential opportunities in space exploration
Bengaluru (PTI): The US space agency NASA and its Indian counterpart ISRO have held discussions on potential opportunities for future cooperation in space exploration.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director Laurie Leshin visited the ISRO headquarters here and had a meeting with the Chairman of the Indian space agency and Secretary of the Department of Space, S Somanath.
"Dr. Laurie Leshin expressed happiness over the joint efforts of JPL and ISRO officials working together as a single team at ISRO's U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in realising 'NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)," Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO said.
NISAR's readiness for launch and potential opportunities for future cooperation including professional exchange in technical areas and space exploration were also discussed during her visit on November 15, ISRO said.
ISRO sources said the NISAR -- a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory being jointly developed by NASA and ISRO -- is expected to be launched from Sriharikota spaceport in the first quarter of 2024.
"NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days and provide spatially and temporally consistent data for understanding changes in Earth's ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, ground water and natural hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides," according to ISRO.
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Regulator DGCA eases flight duty norms for pilots amid IndiGo crisis
Mumbai (PTI): Aviation watchdog DGCA on Friday eased the flight duty norms by allowing substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period amid massive operational disruptions at IndiGo, according to sources.
As per the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, "no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest", which means that weekly rest period and leaves are to be treated separately. The clause was part of efforts to address fatigue issues among the pilots.
Citing IndiGo flight disruptions, sources told PTI that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to withdraw the provision 'no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest' from the FDTL norms.
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"In view of the ongoing operational disruptions and representations received from various airlines regarding the need to ensure continuity and stability of operations, it has been considered necessary to review the said provision," DGCA said in a communication dated December 5.
The gaps in planning ahead of the implementation of the revised FDTL, the second phase of which came into force from November 1, have resulted in crew shortage at IndiGo and is one of the key reasons for the current disruptions.
#BREAKING: #DGCA relaxes a clause which debarred airlines to club leaves with weekly rest to mitigate #IndiGo crisis
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) December 5, 2025
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