The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch a dedicated satellite for
scientific experiments pursued by the undergraduate and post-graduate students from various universities in India. Annoucing this project in Bangalore on Thursday, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said that the launch of this satellite is expected sometimes next year on-board a polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) sometimes next year.
The launch vehicle will carry the auxiliary satellite with scientific experiments developed by the undergraduate and post-graduate students from various universities in India, Russia and other countries. Apart from the payload (auxiliary satellite), the launch vehicle will also carry a mini remote sensing satellite.
According to ISRO, this project is the brain-child of A P J Abdul Kalam, who at the same event in Bangalore termed this project as an 'youth satellite.'
Earlier, ISRO had made an announcement of opportunities to institutions and universities to send experiment proposals which can be part of the launch. "We are in the process of building the satellite, a part of which will be dedicated for the youths. We are planning to launch this from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota off the Andhra Pradesh Coast, next year," said Nair, addressing the conference to celebrate the golden jubilee celebrations of the National Aerospace Laboratory.
According to an ISRO spokesperson, this will help the student community conduct experiments in remote sensing and observing outer space. The experiment will also help in galactic observation, atmospheric studies among many other experiments, he added.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Toyota plans series of compact car launches
In a move that seems like making up for its delayed entry into the compact car segment, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), a joint venture between Japan's Toyota Motor and Pune-based Kirloskar Group, is planning to launch a series of models with engines varying between 1.1-1.3 litre over the next two to three years to address the 1-million unit compact car market in India.
Sources close to TKM said that at least four models fitted with 1.1 litre and 1.3 litre engines are in the works. Hatchbacks and sedans are expected to be rolled out with these two engines. The first car in this series, however, will be a petrol sedan with a 1.3-litre engine pitted against the like of Suzuki's Dzire, Ford Fiesta and Hyundai's Verna.
The hatchback TKM plans to sell in India would be pitted against the likes of Suzuki's Swift and Hyundai's Getz.
The new product launches are expected to coincide with the start of commercial production at the second plant that is being built adjacent to the current plant in Bidadi near Bangalore, which can roll out 63,000 vehicles a year. TKM had recently announced that it would be investing Rs 1,400 crore in the new plant which is expected to have an annual capacity of 100,000 vehicles. Production is expected to start in the new plant in 2010.
The company also plans to roll out the diesel Corolla, Toyota's popular premium sedan from this new plant.
TKM is also getting ready to launch the sports utility vehicle (SUV) Fortuner in the price range of Rs 16-20 lakh depending on whether it would take route of importing fully built units or bring completely knocked down units to be assembled in India. Experts, however said that the top-end model of Fortuner in India will not cost more than Rs 15-16 lakh. The launch date for this SUV is expected to be between June and September 2009.
Responding to a detailed e-mail from Business Standard on the company's products launch plans, a TKM spokesperson wrote, "I am sure you will appreciate and understand that our future product plans are confidential in nature and as such, we are unable to share details pertaining to them."
Fortuner is based on the international Innovative Multipurpose Vehicle (IMV) platform. The company's popular Innova is also built on the same platform. Fortuner is a popular model in South East Asian markets like Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. This SUV is currently sold in three variants with engine sizes varying between 2.5 to 3.0 litre and also available in both four-wheel drive version and as a 4x2 version.
Sources close to TKM said that at least four models fitted with 1.1 litre and 1.3 litre engines are in the works. Hatchbacks and sedans are expected to be rolled out with these two engines. The first car in this series, however, will be a petrol sedan with a 1.3-litre engine pitted against the like of Suzuki's Dzire, Ford Fiesta and Hyundai's Verna.
The hatchback TKM plans to sell in India would be pitted against the likes of Suzuki's Swift and Hyundai's Getz.
The new product launches are expected to coincide with the start of commercial production at the second plant that is being built adjacent to the current plant in Bidadi near Bangalore, which can roll out 63,000 vehicles a year. TKM had recently announced that it would be investing Rs 1,400 crore in the new plant which is expected to have an annual capacity of 100,000 vehicles. Production is expected to start in the new plant in 2010.
The company also plans to roll out the diesel Corolla, Toyota's popular premium sedan from this new plant.
TKM is also getting ready to launch the sports utility vehicle (SUV) Fortuner in the price range of Rs 16-20 lakh depending on whether it would take route of importing fully built units or bring completely knocked down units to be assembled in India. Experts, however said that the top-end model of Fortuner in India will not cost more than Rs 15-16 lakh. The launch date for this SUV is expected to be between June and September 2009.
Responding to a detailed e-mail from Business Standard on the company's products launch plans, a TKM spokesperson wrote, "I am sure you will appreciate and understand that our future product plans are confidential in nature and as such, we are unable to share details pertaining to them."
Fortuner is based on the international Innovative Multipurpose Vehicle (IMV) platform. The company's popular Innova is also built on the same platform. Fortuner is a popular model in South East Asian markets like Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. This SUV is currently sold in three variants with engine sizes varying between 2.5 to 3.0 litre and also available in both four-wheel drive version and as a 4x2 version.
Friday, June 20, 2008
MIT prototype solar dish (Low-cost system could revolutionize global energy production)
A team led by MIT students this week successfully tested a prototype of what may be the most cost-efficient solar power system in the world--one team members believe has the potential to revolutionize global energy production.
The system consists of a 12-foot-wide mirrored dish that team members have spent the last several weeks assembling. The dish, made from a lightweight frame of thin, inexpensive aluminum tubing and strips of mirror, concentrates sunlight by a factor of 1,000--creating heat so intense it could melt a bar of steel.
To demonstrate the system's power, Spencer Ahrens, who just received his master's in mechanical engineering from MIT, stood in a grassy field on the edge of the campus this week holding a long plank. Slowly, he eased it into position in front of the dish. Almost instantly there was a big puff of smoke, and flames erupted from the wood. Success!
Burning sticks is not what this dish is really for, of course. Attached to the end of a 12-foot-long aluminum tube rising from the center of the dish is a black-painted coil of tubing that has water running through it. When the dish is pointing directly at the sun, the water in the coil flashes immediately into steam.
Someday soon, Ahrens hopes, the company he and his teammates have founded, called RawSolar, will produce such dishes by the thousands. They could be set up in huge arrays to provide steam for industrial processing, or for heating or cooling buildings, as well as to hook up to steam turbines and generate electricity. Once in mass production, such arrays should pay for themselves within a couple of years with the energy they produce.
The system consists of a 12-foot-wide mirrored dish that team members have spent the last several weeks assembling. The dish, made from a lightweight frame of thin, inexpensive aluminum tubing and strips of mirror, concentrates sunlight by a factor of 1,000--creating heat so intense it could melt a bar of steel.
To demonstrate the system's power, Spencer Ahrens, who just received his master's in mechanical engineering from MIT, stood in a grassy field on the edge of the campus this week holding a long plank. Slowly, he eased it into position in front of the dish. Almost instantly there was a big puff of smoke, and flames erupted from the wood. Success!
Burning sticks is not what this dish is really for, of course. Attached to the end of a 12-foot-long aluminum tube rising from the center of the dish is a black-painted coil of tubing that has water running through it. When the dish is pointing directly at the sun, the water in the coil flashes immediately into steam.
Someday soon, Ahrens hopes, the company he and his teammates have founded, called RawSolar, will produce such dishes by the thousands. They could be set up in huge arrays to provide steam for industrial processing, or for heating or cooling buildings, as well as to hook up to steam turbines and generate electricity. Once in mass production, such arrays should pay for themselves within a couple of years with the energy they produce.
Monday, June 16, 2008
TN to help Tata Steel with land buy
The Tamil Nadu government has agreed to help Tata Steel procure nearly 10,000 acres of land for its Rs 2,500-crore titanium dioxide project in Tuticorin district, 540 km south-west of state capital Chennai.
This is the first time the state government has officially said it will get involved in the land acquisition process for Tata Steel's ambitious project, which has been on paper for nearly a year.
Tata Steel has been able to do little to see the project off the ground since signing the memorandum of understanding with the state government in June 2007 because it could not acquire the land on its own.
Senior government officials said though the state would not directly buy large tracts of land on behalf of the steel major, it would ensure that the acquisition process was smooth for Tata Steel to do so on its own.
"We have already instructed district collectors and other revenue officials to make sure that clear title deeds were made available for the company to approach legitimate land owners. We will also help Tata Steel by buying small bits of land to let them aggregate continuous land area of 10,000 acres (for mining)," said a senior state official.
Tata Steel had earlier indicated that it may look at alternative locations like Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to relocate the project owing to delays over land acquisition. Tata Steel officials, however, added that such a drastic move would be taken only after extensive negotiations with the Tamil Nadu government.
"We had committed ourselves to bringing this project to Tamil Nadu and will try to honour it as much as we can," a senior Tata Steel executive said.
The land acquisition process was also caught in political crossfire as powerful local interests in Tuticorin had objected to the project with some even claiming that Tata Steel was trying to buy agricultural land.
The state government had then dismissed these charges and said that less than 4 per cent of the land area where Tata Steel proposed to mine came under agriculture. The state continues to support this stance.
This is the first time the state government has officially said it will get involved in the land acquisition process for Tata Steel's ambitious project, which has been on paper for nearly a year.
Tata Steel has been able to do little to see the project off the ground since signing the memorandum of understanding with the state government in June 2007 because it could not acquire the land on its own.
Senior government officials said though the state would not directly buy large tracts of land on behalf of the steel major, it would ensure that the acquisition process was smooth for Tata Steel to do so on its own.
"We have already instructed district collectors and other revenue officials to make sure that clear title deeds were made available for the company to approach legitimate land owners. We will also help Tata Steel by buying small bits of land to let them aggregate continuous land area of 10,000 acres (for mining)," said a senior state official.
Tata Steel had earlier indicated that it may look at alternative locations like Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to relocate the project owing to delays over land acquisition. Tata Steel officials, however, added that such a drastic move would be taken only after extensive negotiations with the Tamil Nadu government.
"We had committed ourselves to bringing this project to Tamil Nadu and will try to honour it as much as we can," a senior Tata Steel executive said.
The land acquisition process was also caught in political crossfire as powerful local interests in Tuticorin had objected to the project with some even claiming that Tata Steel was trying to buy agricultural land.
The state government had then dismissed these charges and said that less than 4 per cent of the land area where Tata Steel proposed to mine came under agriculture. The state continues to support this stance.
Friday, June 13, 2008
NASA Telescope to pursue gamma rays
NASA on Wednesday launched a telescope to scout out elusive, super high-energy gamma rays lurking in the universe.
Glast — a NASA acronym standing for Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope — began its five- to 10-year earth-orbiting mission with a midday blastoff aboard a Delta rocket.
The $690 million telescope will pick up where NASA’s Compton Gamma Ray Observatory left off before its deliberate destruction in 2000, but in a bigger and better way. In addition to the U.S., participating countries include Italy, France, Germany, Sweden and Japan.
With superior technology and insight gained from Compton and other telescopes, Glast will be able to do in three hours, or two orbits of Earth — survey the entire sky — what Compton took 15 months to do. What’s more, Glast and its particle detectors are much more sensitive and precise, and should provide an unprecedented view into the high-energy universe from a 555-km-high orbit.
“In a sense what Glast is doing is giving us a chance to peek behind the curtain or look under the hood for how things are working, and it’s only by doing this sort of exploration that we’re able to learn these things. It’s a form of scientific enlightenment,” said NASA project scientist Steven Ritz.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Super-sensitive and small: New MIT detector uses nanotubes to sense deadly gases
Using carbon nanotubes, MIT chemical engineers have built the most sensitive electronic detector yet for sensing deadly gases such as the nerve agent sarin.
The technology, which could also detect mustard gas, ammonia and VX nerve agents, has potential to be used as a low-cost, low-energy device that could be carried in a pocket or deployed inside a building to monitor hazardous chemicals.
"We think this could be applied to a variety of environmental and security applications," said Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and senior author of a paper describing the work published this week in the online edition of Angewandte Chemie.
Strano's sensor has exhibited record sensitivity to molecules mimicking organophosphate nerve toxins such as sarin: It can detect minute quantities as low as 1 femtomole (1 billion molecules), roughly equivalent to a concentration of 25 parts per trillion. "There's nothing that even comes close," he said.
Sarin, which killed 12 people in a 1995 terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway, can kill at very low concentrations (parts per million) after 10 minutes, so highly sensitive detection is imperative to save lives. The new detector is far more sensitive than needed to detect lethal doses.
To build their super-sensitive detector, Strano and his team used an array of carbon nanotubes aligned across microelectrodes. Each tube consists of a single-layer lattice of carbon atoms, rolled into a long cylinder with a diameter about 1/50,000 of the width of a human hair, which acts as a molecular wire.
The nanotube sensors require very little power--about 0.0003 watts. One sensor could run essentially forever on a regular battery. "It's something that could sit in the corner of a room and you could just forget about it," Strano said.
The technology, which could also detect mustard gas, ammonia and VX nerve agents, has potential to be used as a low-cost, low-energy device that could be carried in a pocket or deployed inside a building to monitor hazardous chemicals.
"We think this could be applied to a variety of environmental and security applications," said Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and senior author of a paper describing the work published this week in the online edition of Angewandte Chemie.
Strano's sensor has exhibited record sensitivity to molecules mimicking organophosphate nerve toxins such as sarin: It can detect minute quantities as low as 1 femtomole (1 billion molecules), roughly equivalent to a concentration of 25 parts per trillion. "There's nothing that even comes close," he said.
Sarin, which killed 12 people in a 1995 terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway, can kill at very low concentrations (parts per million) after 10 minutes, so highly sensitive detection is imperative to save lives. The new detector is far more sensitive than needed to detect lethal doses.
To build their super-sensitive detector, Strano and his team used an array of carbon nanotubes aligned across microelectrodes. Each tube consists of a single-layer lattice of carbon atoms, rolled into a long cylinder with a diameter about 1/50,000 of the width of a human hair, which acts as a molecular wire.
The nanotube sensors require very little power--about 0.0003 watts. One sensor could run essentially forever on a regular battery. "It's something that could sit in the corner of a room and you could just forget about it," Strano said.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Yunus tells MIT grads they can 'change the world'
2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus told graduating students at MIT's 142nd Commencement exercises on Friday that they "represent the future of the world," and urged them to spend at least part of their time in coming years creating a whole new kind of businesses to help make the world a better place.
Nature cooperated with MIT's Commencement, but only after threatening to put a serious damper on the ceremony: The opening processional was delayed a few minutes by rain that had been pouring down through the early morning, but the skies cleared just in time for the ceremonies to proceed and for 2,335 graduates to receive their degrees.
Citing his own in experiences in going against all conventional wisdom in the pioneering creation of Grameen Bank in his native Bangladesh--the forerunner of what is now a multibillion-dollar worldwide trend in microlending--Yunus said such businesses have a fundamentally different philosophy than conventional companies that see their prime obligation as the maximization of profit.
What's needed, Yunus said, is to "reformulate the concept of a businessman"--not to replace the present model, but to offer another alternative that people can choose to follow. Such new-style businesspeople, he said, would have as their goal not maximum profit but "achieving some predefined social objective."
Creating such alternative socially conscious businesses, he said, "will bring a big change in the world." And for Yunus, this is not just talk, but a history of real action: In addition to his now-famous bank, he has already created partnerships to start a variety of such socially conscious businesses. For example, he created Grameen Phone to bring cell-phone service to Bangladesh and other developing countries, where most homes have no electricity, plumbing or telephone service.
Yunus has also helped to start "social businesses" including one to make yogurt that has added nutrients to help the millions of malnourished children in Bangladesh, another to provide a low-cost health-insurance program, a company to provide safe drinking water "in a sustainable way to all the people who are faced with a water crisis," an eye-care hospital, a shoe company and one to produce insecticide-treated mosquito nets to combat malaria.
Nature cooperated with MIT's Commencement, but only after threatening to put a serious damper on the ceremony: The opening processional was delayed a few minutes by rain that had been pouring down through the early morning, but the skies cleared just in time for the ceremonies to proceed and for 2,335 graduates to receive their degrees.
Citing his own in experiences in going against all conventional wisdom in the pioneering creation of Grameen Bank in his native Bangladesh--the forerunner of what is now a multibillion-dollar worldwide trend in microlending--Yunus said such businesses have a fundamentally different philosophy than conventional companies that see their prime obligation as the maximization of profit.
What's needed, Yunus said, is to "reformulate the concept of a businessman"--not to replace the present model, but to offer another alternative that people can choose to follow. Such new-style businesspeople, he said, would have as their goal not maximum profit but "achieving some predefined social objective."
Creating such alternative socially conscious businesses, he said, "will bring a big change in the world." And for Yunus, this is not just talk, but a history of real action: In addition to his now-famous bank, he has already created partnerships to start a variety of such socially conscious businesses. For example, he created Grameen Phone to bring cell-phone service to Bangladesh and other developing countries, where most homes have no electricity, plumbing or telephone service.
Yunus has also helped to start "social businesses" including one to make yogurt that has added nutrients to help the millions of malnourished children in Bangladesh, another to provide a low-cost health-insurance program, a company to provide safe drinking water "in a sustainable way to all the people who are faced with a water crisis," an eye-care hospital, a shoe company and one to produce insecticide-treated mosquito nets to combat malaria.
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