The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its forty-first flight (PSLV-C39) carrying the replacement navigation satellite IRNSS-1H, has failed.
PSLV, after its first successful launch in October 1994, emerged as the reliable launch vehicle of India with 39 consecutively successful missions as of June 2017.
PSLV-C39 is its first failure after 39 launches and only the second such instance since 1993.
IRNSS-1H is a backup satellite with new atomic clock to replace the failed NavIC satellites that had faulty rubidium clocks, essential to provide accurate positional data.
The failure is a setback for the country's attempts to complete the constellation of home grown GPS satellites system.
PSLV is the third generation launch vehicle and the first to be equipped with liquid stages.
The launch vehicle has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately.
It can carry up to 1,750 kg of payload to Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbits of 600 km altitude.
It has also been used to launch various satellites into Geosynchronous and Geostationary orbits, like satellites from the IRNSS constellation.
It earned its title “Workhorse of ISRO” through consistently delivering various satellites to Low Earth Orbits, particularly the IRS series of satellites.
It has three variants such as PSLV-G, PSLV-XL and PSLV-CA (Core Alone).
It uses 6 solid rocket strap-on motors to augment the thrust provided by the first stage in PSLV-G & XL variants (not in CA version).
It successfully launched two spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013.
North East Venture Fund
The initiative to set up the venture fund for north eastern region was launched this year.
It is the first dedicated venture fund offered by the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER).
North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) is the nodal agency for this fund.
NEDFi has the mandate to encourage entrepreneurship in the region primarily by offering support to the first-generation entrepreneurs.
The fund has started attracting young Start-Ups in the region.
Rajaswa Gyan Sangam
It is a joint annual conference of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC).
The first such joint conference of CBDT and CBEC was held in 2016.
This year, for the first time, senior officers of the finance department of the States and the Union Territories will be attending the conference.
The objective is to enable a two-way communication between the policy-makers and the senior officers in the field offices.
This is with a view to increase revenue collection and facilitates effective implementation of law and policies in key result areas.
Smart Agriculture Conclave
The conclave is organised by Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology in partnership with UK research councils.
The objective of this conclave is to set the stage for “Farmer Zone”.
It is a collective open-source data platform for smart agriculture which will use biological research and data that will be beneficial for small and marginal farmers.
It helps in dealing with climate change, weather predictions, soil, water and seed requirements, and providing market intelligence.
Telecom Sector
An Inter-Ministerial Group was formed to give recommendations to phase out the financial problems of the telecom sector.
It has submitted its report and one of the recommendations is to extend the timeline for deferred spectrum payment by telecom companies to 16 years instead of the 10 years at present.
The report would now be placed before the Telecom Commission, which is the highest decision making body in the Department of Telecom.
