Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

GSAT ( Image Credits- ISRO) Source- The Hindu GSAT-6, the advanced communication satellite that got ISRO’s arm Antrix Corporation embroiled in a controversy with erstwhile partner Devas Multimedia P Ltd in 2011, is slated for a March 2015 launch. The S-band GSAT-6 satellite with five special transponders for multimedia services is “all done”, integrated and should start thermovacuum tests in late November, according to ISRO Satellite Centre’s Director, S.K.Shivakumar, whose centre readies all Indian spacecraft in Bangalore. The 2,000-odd-kg satellite is to be launched on a GSLV launcher from Sriharikota. It was conceived in 2005 along with a follow-on GSAT-6A. The Centre cancelled the contract with Devas in February 2011, reserved GSAT-6 for military use; thereby hangs a hefty arbitration case pressed by Devas in The Hague. Starting with GSAT-16 on December 5, ISRO has lined up a series of communication and Earth observation satellites over the next two or three y

Sardar Vallabhai Patel was an Indian barrister and statesman, and one of the founders of the Republic of India. He was a social leader who played a leading role in the country's struggle for independence and guided its integration into a united, independent nation. In India and elsewhere, he was often addressed as Sardar, which means Chief in Hindi, Urdu and Persian. He was raised in the countryside of Gujarat. Vallabhbhai Patel was employed in successful practice as a lawyer. Patel subsequently organised peasants from Kheda, Borsad, and Bardoli in Gujarat in non-violent civil disobedience against oppressive policies imposed by the British Raj; in this role, he became one of the most influential leaders in Gujarat. He rose to the leadership of the Indian National Congress and was at the forefront of rebellions and political events, organising the party for elections in 1934 and 1937, and promoting the Quit India movement. As the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Min

GSLV ( Image Credits- ISRO) Source- The Economic Times India will launch an unmanned crew module in December onboard a heavy rocket to test its re-entry into the atmosphere for the country's future maiden human space flight, the space agency chief said Thursday. "We will send an unmanned crew module on the experimental GSLV-Mark III rocket in December and test its re-entry into the earth's atmosphere for a human space flight plan in future," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan told reporters here on the margins of an engineers conclave. Weighing 3.6 tonnes, the crew module will be put into space orbit 100-120 km away in a satellite and brought back to earth for checking its re-entry characteristics when carrying two Indian astronauts in the proposed human space flight. "Though the actual human space flight will be in an orbit around earth at a height of 270 km for a week, the experimental flight with the crew

INS Kolkata ( Image credits- Indian Navy) Source- The Business Insider Author- Preetam Kaushik A recent study by Britain's ministry of defence has predicted that India is likely to be among the top three military powers in the world by 2045, along with the US and China, with a projected defence outlay of $654 billion. Though India's military-industrial acumen is unlikely to surpass technological sophistication of the US by 2045, it may, along with China, rival it in terms of size. It is also likely to surpass Japan, Australia and South Korea (which will be ahead of other regional military powers) by developing sizeable and technically advanced armed forces, including ocean-going navies, capable of delivering an enduring and capable maritime presence both regionally and further afield, according to the study titled 'Global Strategic Trends - Out to 2045'. This projection explains why the Narendra Modi government is aggressively pushing its defence agen

Is this an UFO in the sky above Kochi? http://newshunt.com/share/33134257 Source: India Today

Source- The Diplomat Author- John Power In between sobs, Park Yeonmi gave her account of life in North Korea. Public executions, arbitrary arrests, torture and suffocating censorship were just some of the harsh realities faced by people in “the darkest place in the world,” the 21-year-old defector told an international audience at the Young World Summit in Dublin, Ireland earlier this month. While North Korean defectors have spoken publicly about life under the regime before, the attractive university student has arguably captured the attention of international media like no other in recent memory. Her emotional speech in Dublin received coverage in outlets such as the BBC, Al Jazeera and the Daily Mail. But alongside outpourings of sympathy and praise, Park has also attracted a quieter but no less persistent stream of criticism from skeptics who reject her characterization of North Korea. Felix Abt is one such critic. A Swiss-born businessman who lived and work