NewsBytes

India is mulling its own constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to provide space-based broadband internet across the country, in an apparent attempt to catch up in an area dominated by global players such as SpaceX and OneWeb. The demand for a sovereign LEO constellation came up during the consultation the Department of Space had with different government departments to assess their requirements from the space sector. "It is high time that India goes for its own LEO constellation, whether for civilian or for strategic sector," Nilesh Desai, director of ISRO's Satellite Application Centre, said, summing up the proceedings of the National Meet-2 organised by ISRO on the eve of National Space Day celebrations. "We have already worked out a constellation of 140 satellites, and that will solve the purpose on an immediate basis, taking care of the broadband requirement of the important urban areas," Desai said.

The stage is set for a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy for the September 9 vice-presidential election. After a scrutiny of the nominations filed for the vice-presidential poll, all four sets of nomination papers of both the candidates were found to be in order, the office of the returning officer for the election said. The Rajya Sabha secretary general is the returning officer for the vice-presidential election. According to a statement from the Rajya Sabha secretary general, the process of the vice-presidential election commenced on August 7 with the issuance of a notification. The last date for filing nominations was August 21, while the date for a scrutiny of the nominations papers was August 22.

The government has committed around Rs 62,900 crore, or 97 per cent, of the Rs 65,000 crore fund earmarked as incentives for semiconductor production in the country, a top official said on Friday. While briefing on the Semicon India 2025 event, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said the funds left can accommodate only small projects. He said that under the Rs 76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission, Rs 65,000 crore was allocated for chip production, Rs 10,000 crore for the modernisation of the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali and Rs 1,000 crore for the design-linked incentive scheme. "Out of this Rs 65,000 crore, I think we have committed close to Rs 62,900 crore or so already. We have limited funding, which we have available; we might be able to just accommodate two or three small projects," Krishnan said. Talking about the Semicon India event, he said that the three-day event will be held from September 2-4 at Yashobhoomi in the national capital, which is expected to be attended by delegates from 33 countries and over 50 top-level executives of global semiconductor companies.

Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan clinched the gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle competition of the 16th Asian Championships here on Friday with a characteristically composed performance in the final. The 26-year-old from Tamil Nadu, who has won multiple gold medals in World Cups, shot a score of 253.6 to finish on top in the final and claim her second gold in the continental showpiece, the first coming way back in 2019 when she was honing her skills under the tutelage of Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang at his Gun for Glory Academy. The silver went to China's Xinlu Peng with a score of 253, while Korea's Eunji Kwon (231.2) took home the bronze. In the skeet mixed team, Abhay Singh Sekhon (65) and Ganemat Sekhon (73) shot 138 in qualification to make the second bronze medal match against Kuwait's Abdullah Alrashidi, a 62-year-old legend of the sport and a double Olympic bronze medallist, partnering Afrah Almohammad. The Indians prevailed 39-37 in the 48-shot team contest, going into the final station just a point ahead. However, Afrah missed a couple while the other three missed just one of the last four, to give India another senior medal.