ISRO successfully launches RISAT-2BR1, 9 foreign satellites
Sriharikota(AP), Dec 11: ISRO on Wednesday successfully injected into orbit the country's remote imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR1 along with nine other foreign commercial satellites.
The 44.4 metre tall PSLV lifted off majestically with a thunderous sound, leaving plumes of smoke from the first launch pad at the spaceport here at 3.25 pm.
RISAT-2BR1 was placed into orbit around 16 minutes after the lift off while the remaining satellites were released in their respective orbits about five minutes later.
ISRO Chairman K Sivan and other scientists greeted each other as all 10 satellites were injected into the desired orbit.
Later, speaking from the Mission Control Centre, Sivan said today's mission was a 'historic' one coinciding with PSLV's 50th flight.
"ISRO has made a historic mission.. I am extremely happy to declare that the 50th PSLV vehicle successfully injected RISAT-2BR1 precisely into the 576 km orbit," he said.
RISAT BR1 was a "complex" satellite but was built in a short time, he said and lauded the team behind the effort.
Regarding PSLV, he recalled and acknowledged the contribution of "exemplary leaders" like Dr Srinivasan, Dr Madhavan Nair and others from the conceptualising- configuration stage till date.
Nair had made the vehicle operational, he pointed out.
PSLV's payload capacity has increased from 860 kg to 1.9 tonnes and the "versatile vehicle" has carried 52.7 tonne so far, 17 percent of which was customer satellites, he said.
complimented the scientists the mission a great success.
On future missions, he exuded confidence that team ISRO would as usual rise to the occasion and make them all "grand success."
The 628 kg remote imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR follows RISAT-2B, which was placed successfully in orbit in May this year.
As many as nine other satellites-- six from the US and one each from Israel, Italy and Japan rode piggy back on PSLV-C48.
The satellites are being launched under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Ltd.
Of the total 50 missions, 48 have been successful for ISRO.
The PSLV has placed around 310 foreign satellites with the first mission in September 1993.
Some significant launches by PSLV include Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and the record launch of 104 satellites in one go earlier.
PSLV-C48 is the second flight with 'QL' configuration equipped with four strap-on motors on its sides, ISRO said.
The first flight with a similar configuration was launched in April 2019 (PSLV-C45/EMISAT and 28 other satellites).
Apart from being used for military purposes, the key applications of RISAT-2BR1 include agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.
While six satellites from the US would be used for multi- mission remote sensing purpose, the one launched by Italy was aimed at taking up search and rescue.
A radar imaging earth observation satellite built by Japan and another by Israel were also launched.
The launch of PSLV-C48/RISAT-2BR1 is the sixth launch made by ISRO in 2019. The mission life is five years, ISRO said.
#RISAT2BR1 satellite successfully placed in orbit by #PSLVC48
— ISRO (@isro) December 11, 2019
Here's a picture of satellite separation captured by onboard camera pic.twitter.com/OssPM4uwsG
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
