01-07-2021 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
NewSpace India can also
lease ISRO assets
Chennai : The NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of
Department of Space (DOS) apart from buying satellites from
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) can also lease assets
from the latter, said K. Sivan, Secretary, DOS.
Sivan, also the Chairman of ISRO told IANS: "NSIL will
acquire three communication satellites- GSAT 20, GSAT 22 and
GSAT 24- made by ISRO. The company will be the owner and
operator of the satellites."
Queried about transferring ISRO's other satellites to NSIL,
Sivan said: "We are thinking about asset transfer on lease basis.
Plans are there." Presently there are about 17 communication
satellites, eight navigation satellites (six under operation, two in
messaging services) and 17 earth observation satellites of ISRO
under operation. According to Sivan, the GSAT 24 satellite will be
launched by Ariane rocket belonging to European space agency
Arianespace. "The GSAT 24 will be ready for launch by this
November/December or next January. The other two satellites
GSAT 20 and GSAT 22 are under production," Sivan added.
The GSAT 20 to be launched by Indian rocket Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) will be fully propelled
by electric power. The satellite will move from the geostationary
transfer orbit to geosynchronous orbit with electric propulsion.
Incorporated in 2019, the NSIL's broad mandate includes
owning earth observation and communication satellites, providing
space based earth observation and communication services, building
and launching satellites as per demand, building rockets
through Indian industries, providing launch services and technology
transfer to Indian industries. Sivan said NSIL is also working
towards transfer of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to the
private sector. The NSIL has issued the Request for Proposal manufacture
of PSLV rocket to short listed companies. The company
has also signed 13 Technology Transfer Agreements till date for
transferring ISRO developed technologies to industry.
Myanmar imposes stay-at-home
order in more townships
Nay Pyi Taw : The Myanmar government has imposed a stayat-home
order in nine townships across the Bago and Mandalay
regions due to the recent spike of Covid-19 infections. The stayat-home
order, which will be effective on Friday, will be applied
to Thayarwaddy and Minhla townships of Bago region and
Chanmyathazi, Chanayethazan, Pyigyitagon, Mahaaungmyay,
Aungmyaythazan, Patheingyi and Amarapura townships in
Mandalay, reports Xinhua news agency.
So far, the Health and Sports Ministry has imposed the stay-athome
order in 20 townships across the country.
According to the ministry's figures, the number of confirmed
coronavirus cases in Myanmar has increased to 159,347 after
2,070 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours.
In addition, 13 new deaths were reported in the same period,
which increased the overall fatalities to 3,347. A total of 136,992
patients have been discharged from the hospitals and over 2.74
million samples have been tested for Covid-19 so far.
ASIA
Sanaa : The International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed its
readiness to facilitate exchanging prisoners
between the various parties in Yemen's
years-long conflict.
During a press conference held in the
country's southern port city of Aden, ICRC
President Peter Maurer reaffirmed that his
teams operating in Yemen's branches are
still working to help those affected by the
conflict, reports Xinhua news agency.
He previously spoke Yemen's Prime
Minister Maeen Abdulmalik on the urgent
humanitarian challenges in the conflict-hit
regions. Maurer reiterated the "ICRC's
readiness to continue facilitating any future
detainee release operations between the
parties to the conflict". On Wednesday,
Maurer arrived in Aden, where the internationally
recognized Yemeni government is
temporarily seated, on a six-day visit to the
war-ravaged Arab country, including the
capital of Sanaa, which is under the control
of the Houthis, to inspect the humanitarian
situation there. In October 2020, the
Yemeni government and the Houthis
released a total of 1,056 prisoners from
both sides, the largest UN-sponsored
exchange deal between them since the outbreak
of the civil war in Yemen. Yemen has
01-07-2021 to 15-07-2021
Red Cross confirms readiness to facilitate
prisoner exchanges in Yemen
Kabul : After nearly two decades, the
US military has left the Bagram Airfield in
Afghanistan and has handed it over to
Afghan National Defense and Security
Forces, sources confirmed on Friday.
At its peak, the airfield, the largest in
Afghanistan and located 69 km north of
Kabul in the central province of Parwan,
witnessed the deployment of more than
100,000 US troops, TOLO News.
The handover of the airfield to Afghan
forces shows that last of the roughly 2,500
to 3,500 US troops have left Afghanistan,
according to the Defence Ministry sources.
Ahead of leaving the base, dozens of
trailer trucks loaded with scrap from
destroyed vehicles and equipment that
belonged to American troops left the airfield
on a daily basis.
Those who purchase the material say
that so far, the scrap has been worth millions
of dollars, TOLO News reported citing
the sources.
Some residents of Bagram said that such
equipment should have been handed over
to Afghan forces instead of being scrapped
by the US military. But US forces have said
the equipment will be scrapped so it does
not fall into enemy hands.
The Afghan government has said that
equipment worth $1 billion will be handed
7
been mired in a civil war since late 2014,
when the Houthi militia seized control of
several northern provinces and forced the
government of President Abd-Rabbu
Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa.
NATO Black Sea drills destabilising: Russia
Moscow : The North
Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) is purposefully destabilising
the situation along
Russia's border with the Sea
Breeze 2021 military exercises,
the Foreign Ministry in
Moscow said.
With the involvement of
more than 30 countries and
5,000 military personnel, these
exercises cannot be called
"friendly" or considered regular
drills but are clearly politically
driven, Ministry spokesperson
Maria Zakharova said at a
briefing on THursday.
"The Black Sea space is consistently
being transformed by
Washington and its allies from
an area of cooperation into an
area of violent confrontation,"
Xinhua news agency quoted
the spokesperson as saying.
While discussing the recent
incidents in the Black Sea with
British and Dutch warships,
Zakharova explained that these
activities were clearly coordinated.
"This demonstrates NATO's
aggressive course towards
Russia. The North Atlantic bloc
is purposefully destabilising
the situation along the perimeter
of our borders and increasing
the risk of armed incidents,"
she said.
US forces evacuate largest
military base in Afghanistan
over to the Afghan forces.
US forces started a withdrawal on May
1, a process that is expected to be completed
earlier than the given deadline of
September 11.