Things are getting set for the launch of India's Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1) from the spaceport at Sriharikota at 5.45 a.m. on Thursday. The four stages of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) have been stacked up at the first launch-pad built on the beachside on the Sriharikota island and the satellite is married up with the vehicle. The 71-hour countdown for the lift-off will begin at 6.45 a.m. on Monday. The RISAT-1 is essentially a remote-sensing satellite.

Tamil Nadu sticks to its contention that the Mullaperiyar dam is safe and the construction of a new dam is unwarranted. THE Tamil Nadu government's display of calm confidence in its stand-off with Kerala over the Mullaperiyar dam issue is in sharp contrast to the anger among farmers in Madurai, Virudhunagar, Theni, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts over what they see as Kerala's attempts to precipitate matters on the issue.

Personnel unable to enter plant: AEC chairman

Work at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu has “halted” because the plant personnel are “unable to go inside” and this situation has arisen “when we need several thousands of people to work inside during the last phase of work” of commissioning of the first reactor there, said Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission.

It will provide simultaneous data on humidity, rainfall, water vapour, temperature

The Megha-Tropiques satellite is designed to study clouds in the tropical regions of the world that play a major role in climate change, said Roddam Narasimha, Member, Space Commission, on Wednesday at Sriharikota.

It will be launched from Sriharikota on October 12; two satellites built by students
Preparations are on for the lift-off of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C18) from the spaceport at Sriharikota at 11 a.m. on October 12.
Global tropical weather

Tamil Nadu: The north-east monsoon, 50 per cent in excess in the State, claims over 200 lives and destroys crops and infrastructure.

A SERIES of weather systems, including a cyclone that missed Chennai narrowly, saw the skies open up over Tamil Nadu between November 4 and December 5, the period when the north-east monsoon is most active.

Interview with Anil Kakodkar, who recently retired as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

Anil Kakodkar:

IT was coming, though the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) did not know when. Following the failure of both star-sensors and some power supply systems on board Chandrayaan-1 in mid-July, ISRO engineers and scientists predicted that the spacecraft might meet its end

Interview with M. Annadurai, project director, Chandrayaan-1 .

M. Annadurai: