ISRO’s HySIS satellite sends first image
Bengaluru: The country’s latest earth observation satellite HySIS, launched by the ISRO on November 29, has sent its first image, covering parts of Lakhpat area in Gujarat. The image from Hyperspectral imaging satellite (HySIS), which can be used in wide-ranging areas including agriculture, soil survey and environmental monitoring, was acquired at the National Remote Sensing Centre on Sunday, the ISRO said. Sources in the city-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the agency was satisfied with the quality of the image sent by HySIS. The satellite, along with 30 other international co-passenger spacecraft, was injected into the orbit by the PSLV-C43 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on November 29. The 380-kg HySIS is meant to study the earth’s surface in the visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. (PTI)
Statue of Unity now getting 30k daily visitors: Officials
Vadodara: The 182-metre tall Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Patel in Gujarat’s Narmada district is becoming one of the country’s top tourist spots and is now attracting about 30,000 people every day, senior state officials said Monday. Both Gujarat Chief Secretary J N Singh and the state’s Principal Secretary (Tourism) S J Haider put the figure of daily visitors at the site over the past few days at 30,000. The statue, the world’s tallest, located on Sadhu Bet islet on the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadiya, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31. United States Consul-General Edgard Kagan Monday visited the memorial. Kagan spent time at the viewing gallery, located at a height of 153 metres, and took in the expansive view offered from there of the Sardar Sarovar Dam as well as the Vindhya and Satpura mountain ranges, said officials. (PTI)
BJP launches indefinite relay fast on Sabarimla issue
Thiruvananthapuram: Launching the second phase of its agitation on the Sabarimala issue, the Kerala BJP Monday began an indefinite relay fast in front of the Secretariat here. BJP state General Secretary A N Radhakrishnan began the fast. Party workers from each of the 14 districts in the state will also be participating in the protest. BJP MP Saroj Pandey, who inaugurated the fast, said the CPI(M)-led LDF government was acting against the will of people. “We will raise this issue in Parliament,” she said. Describing the protest as a new beginning for the party in the state, Pandey said the state government will have to rethink on what they were doing on the Sabarimala issue. “The road for discussion should always be open,” she said. The right-wing outfits have been up in arms against the Kerala government’s decision to implement the September 28 Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala. (PTI)