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Nation
& States
India's
own light transport
plane takes to the skies
What is India News
Service, August 23, 2004, 1700 hrs IST
The country's first indigenously designed and developed prototype light transport aircraft (LTA),
Saras, undertook
a 22-minute inaugural flight in Bangalore on Sunday.
Chief pilot K K Venugopal and co-pilot R S Makker flew the aircraft
with M S Rama Mohan as the flight test engineer. Sq Ldr Vivek Kumar, who accompanied the inaugural flight in a Kiran aircraft, conducted the weather
check. Kumar also videographed Saras from his aircraft to record any anomalies
and to provide feedback for further improvements.
The 14-seater Saras designed and developed by National Aeronautical Laboratory, Bangalore,
along with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd as a partner, undertook its maiden flight on May 29. The aircraft is capable of a maximum flying speed of 550 km per hour at a cruise altitude of 7.5 km.
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal
thanked \91Team Saras\92 for this \91gift of wings\92 to India. He
said the Saras symbolises science, beauty, freedom and adventure. Mr
Sibal emphasised the need for private-public industry partnership to
make aeronautical projects a success in the country.
Spotlight
Congress
conclave
Coalitions
inevitable: Although the central purpose of the first AICC conclave after the formation of the Congress-led UPA
government was to showcase the Nehru-Gandhi legacy, it also conveyed a strong political message both to the party cadres and its allies.
Arjun's line
is fine: Those who thought Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh would be cowed down by
controversies got it wrong. The HRD reiterated his line that
education be cleansed of RSS leanings, and the party arose behind him in full support.
'Pakistan
not doing enough': Maintaining that terrorism aided and abetted from across the border continued to be a menace, the Congress has accused Pakistan of failing to deliver on its promises.
Meanwhile, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf looks 'confused' and not a little impatient.
His Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Saturday denied
allegations of cross-border infiltration levelled by some Indian ministers.
Sonia\92s austerity lesson:
She gave party MPs some tips on resource use, while the prime
minister said the government would achieve higher economic growth and equitable development.
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Two
months and no light through darkness: Three Indian hostages in Iraq on Sunday entered their second month in captivity as KGL continued to await word from the kidnappers.
After
Uma, 24 others follow suit: In a hurried show of solidarity, 24 out of 35 state ministers in MP have tendered their resignation
\91Modi decided to bring bodies to
Ahmedabad\92: A senior bureaucrat of the Gujarat Government today told the Godhra riots inquiry commission
that the decision to bring the charred bodies of 59 Ram sevaks killed in the train carnage on February 27, 2002 in Godhra, to a hospital
in Ahmedabad, was that of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
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'Media no more a dropout career':
The media industry is all set to witness a revolution akin to computer and telecommunication and to be a pioneer in this field one needs to
specialise, said Dr Chandan Mitra, Member of Parliament and Editor-in-chief of The Pioneer.
Kathmandu \91bread bombing\92 on Delhi plate:
The Indian security establishment is looking at the option of \93bread bombing\94 the besieged capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, where supplies have been choked in a blockade imposed by Maoist rebels.
A cure for Herpes in the Nilgiri Hills?:
An Indian scientist claims to have identified two plants in the Nilgiri hills that may contain a cure for life-threatening diseases caused by Herpes Simplex Virus
(HSV). The finding assumes significance as drugs currently available to treat HSV infections are very few and not efficient.
States
From
debt to death: For the jobless, it\92s a leap from debt to death
In agrarian belts, no rain means no water. No water means no work on the fields. No work means no money. No money means debts. And debts, as P
SHANKAR of Makkarajpet in Medak district found out, means suicide.
Bihar doc killed:
Unidentified criminals killed a noted physician and district secretary of IMA Dr Rajendra Prasad Singh on Friday night, police sources said.
DMK guns for Jaya:
Sensing a kill in Tamil Nadu, over what it sees as a deteriorating law and order situation and the Government's perilous financial position, the main opposition DMK began a special conference here on Saturday in a belligerent mood against the three-year-old Jayalalithaa regime.
Arms, RDX recovered:
Police claimed to have recovered a big cache of weapons and RDX on the information provided by Harnek Singh, alias \93Bhap\94, a dreaded terrorist and self-styled chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), who is in police custody.
Neighbours
Six Maoists killed in encounters:
At least six Maoists have been killed in security operations in different parts of
Nepal.
Hasina blames govt amid backlash:
Protesters clashed with police and torched a passenger train, leaving dozens
injured in Bangladesh.
Nepal-Malaysia
labour pact in the offing: Nepal has initiated a labour agreement with Malaysia, the biggest importer of Nepalese
workers.
Indian embassy clarifies on media reports:
First Secretary at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, Sanjay Verma, has clarified that the government of India has not taken any decision regarding airdropping food supplies to Kathmandu in the wake of the Maoist blockade.
Plot to hit
Pakistan parliament uncovered: Law-enforcement agencies said
they had arrested five members of a 'terrorist' group, including foreigners, who had planned to attack
key official buildings and embassies in Islamabad.
Militants' positions bombed
in Afghanistan: Fighter planes and helicopter gunships carried out strikes on militants' positions in South Waziristan on Saturday. Officials said that troops renewed their assault in the volatile region in response to continued night time attacks by militants.
View from
abroad
Indian martial art enthrals Chinese:
Kalarippayat, the martial arts of Kerala, has helped change India's image in the minds of Chinese people, who till now associated the neighbouring nation with just Bollywood, beauty queens and software.
"I never knew that India had its own martial arts till I saw this one," Ma Lin, a martial art enthusiast said after witnessing a scintillating show of Kalarippayat by members of the Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode branches of C V N
Kalari.
French Sikhs resent ban on turban:
Condemning the ban imposed by the French government on wearing of turbans and demanding an intervention by the Prime Minister of India into the matter, four French Sikhs held a press conference
in Jalandhar on Saturday.
Texas University
tribute to Kalpana: The University of Texas, Arlington, has named its US $21 million residence hall after India-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who earned her master's degree there in aerospace engineering in 1984.
Pakistanis to be freed from
Guantanamo: The United States is expected to release soon the remaining Pakistani prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, official sources told Dawn.
Overall:
Saras took to the skies: India's
first light transport aircraft undertook a successful inaugural
flight.
Congress said Pakistan could do more: The conclave of
India's top Congress leaders said Pakistan need to do better to rein
in militants.
Texas University named hall after Kalpana: It is a
tribute that makes Indians proud.
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