Junior Digest

Nov 23,2022:Retired IAS officer CV Ananda Bose took oath as the new Governor of West Bengal on Wednesday. He was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Prakash Shrivastava. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Speaker Biman Banerjee and other state ministers were present at the event held at the Raj Bhavan today.
A retired Kerala-cadre IAS officer of the 1977 batch, he was appointed as the new Governor of West Bengal on November 17, replacing La Ganesan. Before retiring in 2011, he served as an administrator of the National Museum in Kolkata.

New Delhi,Nov 26,2022: India’s history is about standing against tyranny with unprecedented valour and courage but such stories were deliberately suppressed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, adding that this is being rectified by his government.

“Unfortunately, even after independence we were taught the same history which was written as a conspiracy during the period of slavery. After Independence, it was needed to change the agenda of foreigners who made us slaves, however, that was not done,” the Prime Minister said.

He was addressing the closing ceremony of year-long celebrations of 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Borphukan, the general of the Royal Army of the Ahom Kingdom of Assam who defeated Mughals and halted their ever-expanding ambitions under Aurangzeb.
He said the fact that this event is taking place in Delhi is a reflection of this change.

India was not only celebrating its cultural diversity but also acknowledging the unsung heroes and heroines of its history, he said.

“We bow to the valorous Lachit Borphukan on his 400th birth anniversary. He played pivotal role in preserving the culture of Assam.”

The Prime Minister emphasised that when a nation knows its real past, only then it can learn from its experiences and treads the correct direction for its future.

“It is our responsibility that our sense of history is not confined to a few decades and centuries,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that Lachit Borphukan’s life inspires us to rise above self and to give the highest priority to the national interest.

“His life teaches us that instead of nepotism and dynasty, the country should be supreme. No person or relation is above nation.”

Oct 16,2022:The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal today said that India will achieve 2 trillion export target by 2030.

The Minister was speaking at the Exporters Conclave held at Chennai on 16th October, 2022 organised by FIEO & O/o.DGFT in the context current geo political scenario to discuss the issues and the way forwards to keep the growth momentum. The session was participated by large number of leading exporters form Tamil Nadu comprising various sectors of exports.

India recorded new milestones in goods & services exports in the last fiscal clocking US$ 422 Bn in merchandise sectors and US$ 254 Bn in services exports. 50% of the incremental GDP in 2021-22 was contributed by the exports sector. As stated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, exports play a key role in transition of a country from a developing to a developed status, we have to push our exports so as to be in the comity of developed countries. Despite global headwinds, Indian exports have done reasonably well clocking 15% growth in the first six months of the current fiscal.

At the meeting, the Minister emphasised on sustaining the export momentum and said that he is confidence that Indian exports will be able to wither the global headwinds and will surpass growth in exports by a big margin. While highlighting the growth of economy towards becoming developed nation, Hon’ble Minister said that by 2047, country will become 30 Trillion economy with 25% share in exports. By the year 2030, exports form India will be 2 trillion with 1 trillion product export with CAGR growth of 11 to 12% and 1 trillion service exports with CAGR of 18-19%.

Oct 11,2022:Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav was cremated with full state honours at his native Saifai village in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday afternoon. His son and party chief Akhilesh Yadav lit the funeral pyre.

The former Uttar Pradesh CM had died aged 82 at a private hospital in Haryana’s Gurugram on Monday. His body was brought to Saifai on Monday evening. A large number of people and dignitaries turned up for his funeral in Saifai on Tuesday.

Nov 07,2022:In a landmark verdict on Monday, a Supreme Court Constitution bench in a 3:2 majority decision upheld the 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs that excluded the poor among the SC/ST/OBC categories, saying it was not discriminatory and did not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.

Treating EWS as a separate category is reasonable classification and the 50 per cent ceiling on the total reservation under the Mandal judgment is ”not inflexible”, the judges said while dismissing petitions challenging the 103rd Constitution Amendment of 2019.

The bench headed by Chief Justice U U Lalit delivered four judgements on 40 petitions against the Amendment that was passed after the Centre decided to grant quota to the economically weaker sections. Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela M Trivedi and J B Pardiwala upheld the EWS quota.

The CJI, on his last day of presiding court proceedings, was in minority with Justice S Ravindra Bhat when they ruled against it, holding that due to exclusion of poor of SCs, STs, and OBSs from its ambit the Amendment practices ”constitutionally prohibited forms of discrimination”.

Justice Maheshwari, who read the judgement for himself, said the 103rd Constitutional Amendment cannot be said to breach the basic structure of the Constitution. He said reservation is an instrument of affirmative action so as to ensure an all-inclusive march towards the goals of an egalitarian society and it is a means of inclusion of any class or section so disadvantaged.

Oct 19,2022:Senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge has been elected as the President of the Indian National Congress, becoming the first member outside the Gandhi family to helm the party, in 24 years. When the results of the Congress presidential polls were announced on October 19, Wednesday, 80-year-old Kharge, who is a 9-time MLA from Karnataka’s Gulbarga, emerged victorious, by securing a margin of 6,285 votes over Shashi Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram. While Kharge received 7,897 votes, Tharoor got 1,072 votes.
Kharge is the 10th Congress party chief from South India. The party did not have a President from south India for more than a quarter century. Earlier this week, on Monday, more than 9,500 Congress delegates across the country had cast their votes to elect the party president. The delegates, composed of members of the Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) of each state as well as a certain number of Congress MLA’s from each legislative assemblies had cast their votes at the PCC headquarters of each state across the country.

Meanwhile, Tharoor took to Twitter to congratulate Kharge over his victory. “It is a great honour & a huge responsibility to be President of @INCIndia &I wish @Kharge ji all success in that task. It was a privilege to have received the support of over a thousand colleagues,& to carry the hopes& aspirations of so many well-wishers of Congress across India,” said Tharooor.

NEW DELHI,Nov 18,2022: Contending that the order directing the release of the convicts who had assassinated the former Prime Minister of the country was passed without affording an adequate opportunity for hearing to the Union of India (UOI), the Centre has moved SC seeking a review of Top Court’s order.

On November 11, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna had directed for forthwith release of six convicts who were serving life sentences for more than three decades in the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case.

The six convicts are, S Nalini, RP Ravichandran, Jayakumar, Suthenthiraraja @ Santhan, Murugan and Robert Pius.

While ordering their release, the bench took into consideration the Tamil Nadu State Cabinet’s recommendation for the premature release of convicts to the Governor on September 9, 2018, which was not acted upon by the Governor. The Governor kept the state’s recommendation pending with his office for more than 2.5 years and thus forwarded the same to the President of India on January 27, 2021 which remains undecided by the President for one year and nine months. The court also noted that they were found to have “satisfactory conduct” and had “acquired various degrees” while being in custody.
The Centre’s submitted before the court that, “It is extremely crucial to mention here that out of the six convicts who have been granted remission, four are Sri Lankan Nationals. Granting remission to the terrorist of a foreign nation, who had been duly convicted in accordance with the law of land for the gruesome offence of assassinating the former Prime Minister of the Country, is a matter which has international ramifications and therefore falls squarely within the sovereign powers of the Union of India,” centre’s plea states.

It has been argued in the petition that “the absence of UOI assistance to the apex court while adjudication of the present matter has resulted in admitted and glaring breach of principles of natural justice and has, in fact, resulted in a miscarriage of justice.”

The Centre has also argued that procedural lapse on part of the convicts had resulted in non-participation of the Union in subsequent hearings of the case. It had thus said that in such a sensitive matter the assistance of Union of India was of paramount importance as the matter has huge repercussions on the public order, peace, tranquillity and criminal justice system of the Country.

“Convicts, while filing the present SLP had not made Union of India a party respondent to the said SLP despite it being a necessary and proper party. It is evident that the principles of natural justice, the aim of which is to secure justice or to put it negatively to prevent miscarriage of justice have been grossly compromised vide Order dated 11.11.2022,” the plea also stated.

On November 11, the top court had ordered the premature release of six convicts, including Nalini Sriharan, who had hosted the assassin, noting the Tamil Nadu government had recommended remission of their sentence.

NEW DELHI,Oct 15,2022: The Election Commission on Friday announced assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh on November 12, but the poll panel, following the precedent set by its predecessors in 2017 and with a view to curtailing the period of the Model Code of Conduct so that it does not hinder policy decisions and governance, put in abeyance announcement of polls in Gujarat.

Though the Himachal assembly’s term expires on January 8, 2023, EC, keeping in mind the onset of snow in higher reaches of the state around mid-November and the logistical problems it could entail, decided to bring polling forward to November 12, even as counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

The four-week gap in Himachal polling and counting is a clear indication that Gujarat assembly polls will be announced in a week or two.

Assembly polls in Gujarat will be announced soon, with voting likely to be held in one or two phases and completed by December 4, followed by counting alongside Himachal, Election Commission sources indicated.

Though the term of the current Gujarat assembly expires only on February 18 next year, polls in the state will be held earlier to avoid any impact of Himachal results on level-playing field, they said.

Nov 15,2022:Veteran Tollywood actor Krishna passed away at a hospital in Hyderabad early Tuesday while undergoing treatment after he suffered cardiac arrest. He was 79.

Superstar Krishna, one of the last legends of Telugu film industry, breathed his last at Continental Hospital, where he was admitted late Sunday night after he suffered cardiac arrest.
Ghattamaneni Siva Rama Krishna Murthy or Krishna, as he was popularly known, acted in more than 350 films in a career spanning five decades. He also produced and directed a few films.

Born on May 31, 1942 at Burripalem in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, Krishna entered the film industry in early 1960s with small roles. He debuted as the lead actor with the 1965 movie aThene Manasulu’, which became a hit.

‘Gudacchari 116’ (1966), a spy film, proved to be a superhit, making Krishna one of the most sought after actors. With this success, he got offers for 20 films. He subsequently acted in at least six James Bond like movies.

‘Sakshi’ (1967) won critical acclaim at the Tashkent film festival. His 1972 movie ‘Pandanti Kapuram’ bagged the national film award for best feature film in Telugu for that year.

Krishna is known for many landmark movies like ‘Alluri Seetharama Raju’ (1974), which was the first cinemascope movie in Tollywood, ‘Eenadu’ (1982), first Eastman color film and ‘Simhasanam’ (1986), the first 70 mm film.

Oct 12,2022:Faced with twin challenges of slowing growth rate and high inflation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said her Budget for the next financial year will be ‘very carefully structured’ to help the economy sustain growth momentum and rein in prices.
She identified high energy prices among the biggest problems facing the Indian economy in the near future.
“Specifics (of the next budget) may be difficult at this stage because it’s a bit too early. But broadly, the growth priorities will be kept absolutely on the top.

Even as I speak about the concerns that inflation brings before me. So, inflation concerns will have to be addressed. But then how would you manage growth would be the natural question,” Sitharaman said.

Visiting Washington DC to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the finance minister was responding to a question on the next year’s budget at a fire-side chat with eminent economist Eshwar Prasad at the prestigious Brookings Institute.

Hyderabad, Oct 22,2022: TRS working President and Textiles Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to roll back 5 per cent GST on handloom products.
Mr.K.T. Rama Rao recently started a “Post card writing to Prime minister ” campaign to stress the demand.

New Delhi,Nov 12,2022: Prime Minister Narendra Modi layed the foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 10,500 crores in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Besides, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also present.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of a dedicated Port Road from Convent Junction to Sheela Nagar Junction in Visakhapatnam. It will ease traffic congestion in Visakhapatnam City by segregating local and port-bound goods traffic.
He laid the foundation stone of the Andhra Pradesh section of the six-lane Greenfield Raipur- Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor. It will be built at a cost of more than Rs 3,750 crore.

“The Economic Corridor will provide faster connectivity between Industrial Nodes of Chhattisgarh and Odisha to Visakhapatnam Port and Chennai – Kolkata National Highway. It will also improve connectivity to tribal and backward areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of a dedicated Port Road from Convent Junction to Sheela Nagar Junction in Visakhapatnam. It will ease traffic congestion in Visakhapatnam City by segregating local and port-bound goods traffic.

He also dedicated to the nation, Narasannapeta to Pathapatnam section of NH-326A built at a cost of more than Rs 200 crore as a part of the Srikakulam-Gajapati corridor.

Prime Minister dedicated to the nation, U-field Onshore Deepwater block project of ONGC in Andhra Pradesh, developed at the cost of more than Rs 2,900 crores.

It is the deepest gas discovery of the project with a gas production potential of about 3 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD). He will lay the foundation stone of the Srikakulam Angul Natural Gas Pipeline Project of GAIL with capacity of around 6.65 MMSCMD.

SRINAGAR,Oct 05,2022: On expected lines, home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the one million Pahari-speaking community of Jammu and Kashmir will, along with its nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal populations, get reservation benefits in accordance with the recommendations of the Justice Sharma Commission that examined the issue of quota.

While addressing a public rally in the frontier town of Rajouri, Shah reiterated that the development of J&K is a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Earlier injustice was meted out to the Pahari people of J&K, as they did not get any reservation,” Shah said and added, “But the Prime Minister cleared the way for reservation by removing Article 370. The Justice Sharma Commission was formed to consider reservations, which has sent its recommendations to give reservation to the Pahari as well as to the Bakarwal and Gujjar people.”
He said that as soon as the administrative process of these recommendations is over, the Gujjar, Bakarwal and Pahari people are going to get the benefits of reservation.
The Gujjars and some other tribal communities of J&K who were listed as Scheduled Tribes in 1991 are opposing the grant of such a status and other similar benefits to the Paharis with the argument that it will dilute the entire ST status. Over the past few weeks, they have held protests at some places in the Jammu region.

However, the home minister assured that granting reservation benefits to the Pahari community will not reduce the benefits guaranteed to the Gujjars and Bakarwals “even by one percent”.

He said that a few people do not want peace in J&K and are inciting Gujjars and Bakarwals in the name of ST status being given to Paharis but the people have foiled their design. He said that the Prime Minister wants to develop the Pir Panjal region of J&K, the people of which have shed their blood to protect the borders of India.

Thiruvananthapuram,Oct 16,2022: Making remarkable achievement, India’s export of coconut products excluding coir products during the year 2021-22 touched Rs 3,236.83 crore recording an increase of about 41 per cent over the previous year.

The production of coconut in India during 2021-22 was 19,247 million nuts which accounts for more than 31 per cent of the global production, a release said on Sunday.

Total export including coir reached at Rs. 7577 crores which shows the importance of coconut to Indian economy.

The productivity was recorded at 9,123 nuts per hectare. Our total area under coconut is 2.10 million ha.

India leads the coconut growing countries in production and productivity and holds third position in area under coconut.

In India coconut based industries are growing in number bringing new products in the markets and also giving employment opportunities to many.

The Coconut Development Board (CDB) has extended support for the establishment of 537 new coconut processing units with a capacity to process 3,638 million nuts per year.

Activated carbon, coconut oil, dry coconut, desiccated coconut, fresh coconut and virgin coconut oil are the major coconut products exported from India.

The State of Tamil Nadu occupies a major share of the coconut cultivation in India. In productivity Tamil Nadu occupies the third position in the country. Coconut is currently cultivated in an area of 4.44 lakh ha in the state.

Production of coconut in the state is 512.82 million nuts with a productivity of 11526 nuts per ha.

The state contributes to about 20 per cent of area and 26 per cent of production under coconut in India and stands first in coconut processing unit establishment.

Coimbatore ranks the top position in area under coconut with 88,467 ha.

The farmers of the state has also ventured into processing and value addition of coconut and its products.

Almost 70 per cent of the country’s coconut processing units right from milling copra, activated carbon units, virgin coconut oil units, packaged tender coconut water units, spray dried coconut milk powder units, coconut milk units and many other innovative value added coconut product units are from the state of Tamil Nadu.

Tuticorin and Chennai ports deal with a major chunk of the export of coconut products. Export through the ports of Tamil Nadu tops in the exports of coconut based products in the country with a share of 60 per cent.

The state is the leading exporter of coconut shell based Activated Carbon Coconuts, Coconut Oil and Coconut Shell Charcoal and ranks second in position in export of Desiccated Coconut.

Pollachi region in Coimbatore is emerging as a major hub for the export of coconut and coir products from India and also caters to the requirement of tender coconut in the country.

During the past 8 years, from 2014-15 to 2021-22, the Board has expended Rs 290.82 crore for various field oriented schemes, establishment of coconut processing units and insurance schemes.

During the year 2022-23, an amount of Rs 14.17 crore is earmarked for various field level coconut development programmes.

Oct 11,2022:Chief Justice of India U U Lalit Tuesday recommended the second most senior judge of the Supreme Court Justice Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud as his successor. CJI Lalit handed over the letter to Justice Chandrachud at a gathering of SC judges in the top court’s judge’s lounge Tuesday morning.

When accepted by the government, Justice Chandrachud will be the 50th Chief Justice of India. With CJI Lalit set to retire on November 8, the oath-taking for his successor will be on November 9.

While CJI Lalit has only a short tenure of under three months in office, Justice Chandrachud will have a longer one and will be in office for two years, till November 10, 2024.

Uct 08,2022:The Election Commission on Friday proposed to the Law Ministry to let one candidate contest from one constituency only. The proposal gained momentum after Rajiv Kumar was appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner.
The measure was first proposed in 2004 but there has been no decision on the same in the last 18 years. The EC has again brought up this proposal.
A discussion is underway with the Law Ministry on the same. If the proposal is approved, amendments have to be brought to the Representation of the People’s Act, 1951.
Currently, a candidate can contest from two seats under Section 33 (7) of the RP’s Act. Till 1994, a candidate could even contest from three seats.
Why is EC backing the proposal
As per the 2004 proposal, the ECI had said if a candidate wins from both the contested seat, then he/she has to vacate one of the seats. The winning candidate should deposit a specified amount in the government’s account for conducting a bypoll on the seat.
Justifying the proposal, the EC said that it will also lessen the burden of bypoll expense on the government’s account. Also, the voters’ turnout in byelection is lesser as compared to the election that was held a few days ago.
While 33(7) allows candidates to contest from two seats, Section 70 bars candidates from representing two constituencies in the Lok Sabha or state Assembly.
Representation of the People’s Act, 1951
It is an act to provide for the conduct of elections of the Parliament and state assemblies, the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those Houses, the corrupt practices and other offences at or in connection with such elections and the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with such elections.

New Delhi,Nov 24,2022: A five-judge Constitution bench of Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions seeking a direction for an independent selection panel for appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) & Election Commissioners (ECs).

A five-judge constitution bench of the Top Court, headed by Justice K M Joseph, today reserved its order, after hearing the detailed arguments and submissions from the batch of petitioners filed by Prashant Bhushan, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and others, and also from the Centre.

The petitioners had claimed before the Supreme Court that the appointments were being done as per the whims and fancies of the executive, and thereby they demanded an Independent selection panel for appointments of the CEC and ECs.

The five-judge Constitution bench, of the Top Court, led by Justice Joseph and also comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar, had heard from all the respective parties.

Supreme Court perused the file related to Arun Goel’s appointment as an EC, and asked the Centre if the file was cleared in “haste” and in a “tearing hurry”.

The Centre had filed the reply today, after complying with the Apex Court’s yesterday’s order, asking it to file the same as it wanted to know as to what kind of process it had followed in appointing Goel as the EC.

During the course of the hearing today, the Centre had a tough time to convince the SC that they have followed all the rules, statute and guidelines, while appointing the former IAS officer, Arun Goel as the EC. “We have followed all the rules, regulations, statute and guidelines in appointing him (Arun Goel). There is no violations in it,” R Venkataramani, the Attorney General (AG) of India, Top law officer representing the Indian Government, told the Supreme Court.

Oct 13,2022:The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a split verdict on the ban on hijabs in Karnataka’s educational institutions, referring the sensitive matter to the chief justice of India for constituting a larger bench.

While Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed the appeals against the Karnataka High Court Court, which refused to lift the ban and held that the hijab is not part of the “essential religious practice” in Islamic faith, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the pleas and said wearing the hijab is ultimately a “matter of choice”.

“There is divergence of opinion,” Justice Gupta, who was heading the bench, said at the outset while pronouncing the verdict on a batch of 26 petitions.

He said he had framed 11 questions in his judgement.

In view of the split verdict, the bench directed that the appeals against the high court verdict be placed before the CJI for constituting an appropriate larger bench.

In Justice Dhulia’s view, the high court had taken a wrong path and wearing the hijab is “ultimately a matter of choice, nothing more, nothing less”.

“The main thrust of my judgment is that this entire concept of essential religious practices, in my opinion, was not essential for disposal of the dispute,” he said.

Stressing that his focus was on education of the girl child, especially in rural areas, Justice Dhulia observed, “Are we making her life any better.”

While allowing the appeals against the high court verdict, Justice Dhulia said he has quashed the state government’s February 5, 2022 order banning clothes that disturb equality, integrity, and public order in schools and colleges.

On March 15, the high court had dismissed the petitions filed by a section of Muslim students of the Government Pre-University Girls College in Karnataka’s Udupi seeking permission to wear the hijab inside classrooms, ruling that it is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith.

The apex court had reserved its verdict on the pleas on September 22 after hearing arguments in the matter for 10 days.

During the arguments in the top court, several counsel appearing for the petitioners had insisted that preventing Muslim girls from wearing the hijab to the classroom will put their education in jeopardy as they might stop attending classes.

Some advocates had also argued that the matter be referred to a five-judge constitution bench.

Counsel appearing for the state had argued that the Karnataka government order that kicked up a row over hijab was “religion neutral”.

Insisting that the agitation in support of wearing hijab in educational institutions was not a “spontaneous act” by a few individuals, the state’s counsel said in the apex court that the government would have been “guilty of dereliction of constitutional duty” if it had not acted the way it did.

The state government’s order of February 5, 2022 was challenged by some Muslim girls in the high court.

BENGALURU, Nov 18,2022: India successfully launched its first privately developed rocket, the Vikram-S, on Friday, a milestone in the country’s effort to create a commercial space industry and to compete on cost.

The 545-kg rocket, developed by space startup Skyroot, took off from the Indian space agency’s launch site near Chennai and hit a peak altitude of 89.5 kilometers (km).

The rocket has the capability of reaching Mach 5 – five times the speed of sound – and carrying a payload of 83 kg to an altitude of 100 kilometers, the company said.
The Skyroot team had set a target of 80 km for its first launch, a benchmark some agencies define as the frontier of space. The Karman line – set by an international aeronautics body as defining the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space – is at 100 km altitude.

Video footage showed the rocket taking off from the space centre, leaving a plume of smoke and fire in its trail. It splashed down in the Bay of Bengal about 5 minutes after launch, officials said.

“I’m happy to announce the successful completion of Mission Prarambh, the beginning,” said Pawan Goenka, who chairs the Indian government agency that coordinates private-sector space activities.
Skyroot, which was started by Pawan Chandana and Bharath Daka, has set a target of cutting development costs by up to 90 percent versus existing platforms to launch small satellites.

It expects to achieve that cost savings by using a rocket architecture that can be assembled in less than 72 hours with composite materials. It plans launches capable of delivering satellites starting next year.

“Innovation and cost efficiency should be the two drivers for the industry. Cost efficiency has already been achieved, and now we should look at cutting edge technology,” Chandana said.
The Indian government has been pushing to develop a private space industry to complement its state-run space programme known for its affordable launches and missions.

India’s unmanned Mars mission in 2014 cost only $74 million, and made headlines for costing less than the Academy Award winnning film “Gravity”.

Until now, the state-run ISRO has had a monopoly on launching rockets in India.

The Skyroot rockets are named after Vikram Sarabhai, the Indian physicist and astronomer considered the father of India’s space programme.

Hyderabad-based Skyroot, founded in 2018 and backed by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, was the first space startup to sign an agreement to use Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launch and test facilities after the government opened the door to private companies in 2020.

It has raised 5.26 billion rupees ($64.42 million) so far and employs about 200 people. Close to 100 people have been involved in its maiden launch project, the company said.

Bodarli,Nov 23,2022: In a veiled attack against the Modi government, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said his nationwide rally, Bharat Jodo Yatra, is a campaign against the hostility, violence and trepidation allegedly being spread by the ruling dispensation in the country.

“The peasantry, labourers and youth are distraught owing to the prevalent negative atmosphere. When our Yatra commenced from Kanyakumari, opponents scoffed at the idea and said that such a journey simply cannot be undertaken on foot but we have reached Madhya Pradesh and intend to walk 370 km in this state.

“Nobody can prevent us from eventually unfurling the Tricolour in Srinagar,” he said after the Yatra crossed the Maharashtra border and entered Burhanpur district.

Gandhi was welcomed onstage by the party’s state head and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath besides other leaders.