NEW DELHI: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath on Tuesday said that the mission to the brightest planet in the solar system, Venus is already configured adding that payloads have been developed for the future mission. 

ISRO chairman further stated that Venus is an interesting planet and exploring it will help answer certain questions in the field of space science.  

“Venus is a very interesting planet. It also has an atmosphere. Its atmosphere is so thick. The atmospheric pressure is 100 times that of Earth and it is full of acids. You cannot penetrate the surface. You don’t know if its surface is hard or not. Why are we trying to understand all of this? Earth could be one day Venus. I don’t know. Maybe 10,000 years later we (Earth) change our characteristics. Earth was never like this. It was not a habitable place long long back,” he said.

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is Earth’s closest planetary neighbour. It’s one of the four inner, terrestrial (or rocky) planets, and it’s often called Earth’s twin because it’s similar in size and density.

More recent Venus missions include ESA’s Venus Express (which orbited from 2006 until 2016) and Japan’s Akatsuki Venus Climate Orbiter (orbiting since 2016).

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has made multiple flybys of Venus. On Feb. 9, 2022, NASA announced the spacecraft had captured its first visible light images of the surface of Venus from space during its February 2021 flyby.

Meanwhile, following the triumphant soft landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the lunar South Pole, ISRO launched the Aditya-L1 Mission to study the Sun in unprecedented detail.

In only six decades, India has rapidly ascended as a global frontrunner in space technology and exploration, with much credit attributed to the ISRO.

ISRO’s laurels extend to space exploration as well, with feats like the Chandrayaan missions for lunar exploration, the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) in 2013—India’s inaugural interplanetary expedition—and the initiation of AstroSat in 2015, marking the country’s first dedicated astronomical pursuit. 

VIJAYAWADA: The State government will provide a safe drinking water supply with full infrastructure to all households in the State with functional household tap connections (FHTCs) by 2024 through retrofitting, augmentation, drinking water projects in scarcity and quality problem areas under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).

The government also plans to provide FHTCs to new housing colonies (Jagananna Colonies). As per the official data, works to the tune of Rs 26,719 crore have been sanctioned under JJM towards drinking water projects in 26 districts.

The State government is also planning FHTCs for all rural households and public institutions (schools, anganwadis, health centres etc) under JJM by 2024. As per records, out of 95.54 lakh rural households in the State, 30.74 lakh households have been provided with tap connections before the launch of JJM (August 15, 2019) and another 34.61 lakh houses have been covered with FHTCs.

NEW DELHI: under flak for using derogatory words against BSP MP Danish Ali in Lok Sabha, met the ruling party president J P Nadda on Monday.

Bidhuri made certain objectionable remarks targeted at BSP member Kunwar Danish Ali on Thursday night during a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Bidhuri met Nadda at the BJP headquarters, days after he was issued a show-cause notice by the party for his remarks. There was no official word on what transpired in the meeting.

Amid demand by several opposition parties that take action against him, many BJP MPs have written to the Chair, alleging that Ali “instigated” Bidhuri and seeking a probe into his utterances as well.

The said remarks were expunged from Parliamentary records and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh immediately expressed regret for Bidhuri’s behaviour in the House.

New Delhi: The Delhi government Thursday effected the first major bureaucratic reshuffle after the enactment of the GNCTD (Amendment) Act, 2023, assigning new roles to eight AGMUT cadre IAS officers transferred to the city from other states and union territories.

An order issued by the Services department, a day after Chief Minister Arvinnd Kejriwal-headed National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) recommended postings of Group ‘A’ officers, also gave additional charges to some senior bureaucrats.

According to the order, Land and Building Additional Chief Secretary Manish Gupta will hold additional charge as the Chief Executive Officer of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board and Managing Director of the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation.

He already has additional charges of the Labour and Industries Department.

A Anbarasu, who holds the charge of principal commissioner (trade and taxes), will also act as the chief executive officer of the Delhi Jal Board.

HPS Sran, who is the secretary in the public grievance commission with additional charge of additional inspector general (prisons), has been appointed as secretary in the information technology department and managing director of Geospatial Data Limited.

Art, culture and languages department secretary Chokha Ram Garg has been given additional charge of director Union Territory Civil Services.

The Assam Goa Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre officers awaiting postings too have been given charge of different departments.

These IAS officers are: Vinod P Kavle (2008 batch) who has been given the charge of secretary in social welfare and women and child development departments; Anil Kumar Singh (2011 batch) now posted as registrar (cooperative societies).

Ajay Kumar Bisht (2011) batch has been posted as special commissioner in trade and taxes department, the order said.

The NCCSA on Wednesday recommended the posting of eight IAS officers awaiting posting since their transfer to Delhi a couple of months ago, as well as disciplinary proceedings against some serving officers of the Delhi government.

The Authority headed by Chief Minister also includes chief secretary and principal secretary (home) of Delhi government. It takes call on services matters, including transfer and posting of Group ‘A’ officers and disciplinary action against officials concerned in the Delhi government.

It was created through an ordinance of Centre (now replaced by GNCTD Amendment Act, 2023) that reversed the effect of a Supreme Court verdict in May that gave the Delhi government executive control over services matters that was earlier exercised by the Lt Governor.

New Delhi : Voting for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election has begun for the students of the day classes, whereas the students of the evening classes will cast their votes from 3 pm.

While the students of the day classes can cast their votes until 1 pm, those from the evening classes will have time until 7.30 pm to cast their votes.

The counting of votes will be taken up on Saturday.

The DUSU polls were last held in 2019. The election could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 while possible disruptions to the academic calendar prevented its conduct in 2022.

Twenty-four candidates are in the fray for the students’ body election this time.

The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Congress’s students’ wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), CPI(M)-backed Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students’ Association (AISA), affiliated to the CPI-ML (Liberation), have fielded candidates for all four posts.

The ABVP had won three of the four seats in the 2019 DUSU polls.

Around one lakh students will vote in the election, which also acts as a stepping stone for budding politicians.

The DUSU is the main representative body for most Delhi University colleges and faculties. Each college also has its own students’ union, elections to which are held annually.

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has put on hold a women empowerment scheme within 24 hours of issuing an order regarding its implementation.

The scheme “Mukhymantri Mahila Sashaktikaran Abhiyan” was to be implemented in the state from October 2, 2023, to October 1, 2024.

The programme was to be monitored by the woman and child development minister, who would submit monthly reports to the chief minister and deputy chief minister, said the order issued on September 20. The department secretary was to be the nodal officer.

A special officer was to be appointed at the state level, while the woman and child development commissioner, Pune, was to head the programme.

As per the order, the programme was a unified platform to implement all programmes and policies of the state and central governments related to women for their socio-economic development.

However, a fresh notification on September 21 said the order issued the previous day had been stayed until further orders.

The women and child development ministry is handled by NCP’s Aditi Tatkare, the lone woman in the state cabinet who switched sides to join the Eknath Shinde-led government on July 2.

Notably, despite the latest notification to stay the implementation, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde mentioned the scheme when he spoke to reporters late Thursday night after the Rajya Sabha passed the women’s reservation bill to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women.

Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shinde said, his government has taken the decision to implement the ‘NaMo women empowerment scheme’ to ensure women get the benefits of all government programmes.