30 AUGUST 2015: PM to launch AIR copy of Ramcharitmanas

Ø  Flush with the successful launch of the GSLV D6 on Thursday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is geared up to add more heft to the three-stage rocket to enable it to lob satellites weighing up to 2.5 tonnes into geosynchronous orbit. ISRO scientists are confident that the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) could be tweaked further to enhance the performance of the GSLV rocket. CUS which failed in 2010 scored its first success with the launch of the GSLV D5 last year. The proposed modifications to CUS involve reducing the mass of the vehicle and augmenting the thrust. The GSLV D6, in its present configuration, is capable of carrying satellites up to 2.2 tonnes. The GSAT-6 communication satellite launched on Thursday weighed 2,117 kg.

Ø  Yet, it was the Ministry that finally gave the push to Project Ramcharitmanas, undertaken in the late 1970s under Bhopal station director Samar Bahadur Singh and later, director E.M. Joseph, who got AIR staff artists and folk artists to give music to Ramcharitmanas, and this was aired on radio stations in the North. It has taken more than 30 years to get all the work recorded and digitally restored when the process of digitisation started in Prasar Bharati in 2005.

Ø  Progress on the Rafale fighter deal is expected next week as French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will visit India on Tuesday when both sides may sign an inter-governmental agreement for the 36 Rafale fighter jets which will lead to the eventual conclusion of the contract. Source said France has come to a compromise on the issue of offsets and a deal is now very close. However, a crucial Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting on Friday chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar which was to discuss the issue of offset deviations was discontinued mid-way and deferred to next week. India and France had constituted a high-powered committee to negotiate the terms and conditions for the procurement of 36 Rafale jets and recommend a draft agreement but the talks hit a road block over the issue of offsets and changes in configuration sought by the Air Force.