INDIA TO LAUNCH ROCKET FOR MANNED MISSION NEXT WEEK

If successful, the indigenously-made GSLV MK-III could become India's vehicle of choice to launch "Indians into space, from Indian soil using Indian rockets".Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO have developed an indigenously-built rocket - the largest ever made in India - that could soon be used to take "Indians into space from Indian soil" for the first time ever. The rocket, said to be as heavy as 200 full-grown Asian elephants, could catapult India into the big league of sending manned-missions to space. The rocket will be tested in the first week of June.

Standing tall on the rocket port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh is the country's latest rocket called the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III or GSLV MK-III. It is the heaviest rocket ever made by India and is capable of carrying the heaviest satellites made till date.

With this rocket, ISRO will have the potential to enter the world's multi-billion dollar launch market. "We are pushing ourselves to the limits to ensure that this new, fully self-reliant Indian rocket succeeds in its maiden launch," said ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar.

The GSLV MK-III, which was earlier named the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 or LVM-3, will make its maiden launch in June. It will be tested at least half a dozen times. If successful, it could become India's vehicle of choice to launch "Indians into space, from Indian soil using Indian rockets". The rocket is capable of placing up to 8 tons in a low Earth orbit, which is enough to carry India's crew module.

ISRO has already prepared plans of hoisting a 2-3 member human crew into space as soon as the government gives it a sanction of about 4 billion dollars. Should the plan for a manned-mission materialise, India would become only the fourth country after Russia, United States and China to have a human space flight program. ISRO has said that the first Indian to go into space (from an Indian launch) could be a woman astronaut.

"In principle, it will be the GSLV MK-III or its variant that will be human rated in future," Mr Kumar said.

The rocket port in Sriharikota is buzzing with activity as engineers from ISRO get set to launch the new indigenously-made rocket. It is the heaviest fully-functional rocket to reach the launch pad - weighing 640 tons or almost 5 times the weight of a fully loaded Jumbo Jet airplane.

The new rocket is capable of carrying satellites of four ton class into the geosynchronous orbit and opens a whole new window through which ISRO can now explore the universe. It is estimated that the new rocket costs around Rs 300 crore.

India already has two operational rockets -- the workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV that can hoist satellites of 1.5 tons into space and was the preferred vehicle for India's maiden mission to Moon and Mars.

PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCE 500 MILLION USD ASSISTANCE TO MAURITIUS

NEW DELHI: India today announced a USD 500 million line of credit to Mauritius as the two countries resolved to deepen ties in a range of areas including the maritime domain.

The two countries also signed a maritime security agreement after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth.

In a statement, Modi said he and Jugnauth agreed that effective management of conventional and non-conventional threats in the Indian Ocean is essential to pursue economic opportunities.

The bilateral maritime accord will strengthen mutual cooperation and capacities, he said.

A total of four agreements were signed after the talks between the two leaders.

"The agreement today on the USD 500 million line of credit to Mauritius is a good example of our strong and continuing commitment to the development of Mauritius," the prime minister said.

The two countries also decided to ramp up cooperation in a number of areas including trade and investment.

"India is proud to participate actively in the ongoing development activities in Mauritius," Modi said.

CELINA GOT TWINS AGAIN

Image credited to google 

     Actress Celina Jaitly is expecting twins with her hotelier husband Peter Haag, who are due in October this year. The 35-year-old actress is already a mother to five- year-old twin sons, Winston and Viraaj.
Celina, who has entered her second trimester, says they were "initially shocked" when they got to know they were pregnant with twins again. "Doctor was doing ultrasound and Peter asked the doctor if it is twins this time too. Doctor said yes and we both were initially shocked," Celina told PTI in an exclusive interview over phone from Dubai.
"We were exhilarated because the first thing that came in our mind was that we are the chosen one. We are God fearing and we feel God chooses special people to be parents of multiple children."
Both Celina and Peter love kids and are aware of the challenges as parents.
The "No Entry" actress says, "My mother always advised me that there is no perfect way to be a mother and father, but there are a million ways to be a good parent.
"I have always believed there are no rules to be parent.
My husband is 100 per cent involved in the pregnancy and we both take our responsibilities seriously as parents."
Celina says motherhood has helped her discover a lot about herself.
"I feel more patient, complete and sexier than ever. I have more respect for mothers."
Celina will soon visit India to shoot for an ad campaign.
"I am back to work and I will be back to India to shoot for an ad campaign. I am also working on a book which will be out next year," she says.

AMIT SHAH:IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT FOR EVERYONE IN INDIA BECAUSE OF ITS POPULATION

Brushing aside concerns over unemployment on the third anniversary of the Narendra Modi government, BJP chief Amit Shah said, 'We are promoting self-employment.'

BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said the Narendra Modi government is the "most decisive and transparent" the country has seen, without a single case of corruption against it, and its rule in the last three years has ended casteism, family rule and appeasement politics. Addressing a press conference to mark the third anniversary of the Modi government, Mr Shah said what could not be achieved in the last 70 years was achieved by this government in the short period. He also brushed aside concerns over unemployment, saying it was not possible to give jobs to every person in a country of 125 crore.

"We have tried to give new perspective to employment as it is not possible to provide employment to everyone in a country of 125 crore people. We are promoting self-employment and the government has made eight crore people self-employed," Mr Shah told reporters. The comments came amid renewed attack by the Opposition on the government's employment numbers.

"Modi government had promised to give employment to two crore youths annually but actually it had been able to give jobs to only 1.35 lakh people in 2015 and in 2016 too it could give jobs to about as many people," Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said at a press conference yesterday.

But slamming the previous Congress-led UPA government, Mr Shah said the earlier political establishment was marked by policy paralysis and a string of scams. In contrast, even the opposition parties have not been able to level a single charge of corruption against the Modi government, he claimed.

"The BJP government under Modiji is the most decisive and transparent government, not a paralysed government," Mr Shah said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is celebrating three years in office this month in events scheduled for three weeks. The programmes have been titled MODI Fests (Making of Developing India Festivals), which allow the BJP to push the Prime Minister's name while also acronym-ing, a favourite tactic of the party.

WHOLE BOLLYWOOD ATTENDS KARAN JOHAR'S PARTY SEE PICS

Karan Johar's Birthday Bash: The younger generation was represented by Shah Rukh's son Aryan, Saif's daughter Sara Ali Khan and Jhanvi Kapoor - Sridevi's daughter

New Delhi: It was Karan Johar's 45th birthday on May 25, which of course called for a party - the sort only KJo can host. Karan's birthday bash had a guest list of 128 invitees comprising Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and his wife Twinkle Khanna (who is the filmmaker's best friend), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her husband Abhishek, Katrina Kaif and more. Meanwhile, the younger generation was represented by Shah Rukh's son Aryan, Saif Ali Khan's daughter Sara Ali Khan and Jhanvi Kapoor - Sridevi's daughter. In pictures shared on social media, Shah Rukh and Aryan can be seen hanging out with Sara at the party. Dressed in casuals, the Khan men posed with Sara, who looked absolutely stunning in white.

Now lets get inside party:

Ahead of the party, Akshay and Twinkle were spotted in their car - partly colour-coordinated. Aamir also arrived with his wife, filmmaker Kiran Rao. Aishwarya, who looked pretty in black, was accompanied by her husband Abhishek. Hrithik Roshan, whose ex-wife Sussanne Khan arrived separately, also checked in.

The men's section was also represented by Shahid Kapoor, Ranbir, Arjun Kapoor, Rana Daggubati, Farhan Akhtar, Harshvardhan Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput and Tusshar Kapoor

Karan Johar blew out 45 candles on his birthday on Thursday. Karan last directed Ae Dil Hai Mushkil while Badrinath Ki Dulhania remains his last produced film. He will next be producing Dragon, Ayan Mukerji's film, starring Ranbir and Alia. Karan Johar's Dharma Productions was also in charge of distributing the Hindi version of Baahubali 2, all versions of which have made over Rs 1,500 crores worldwide.

Belated happy birthday, Karan Johar!

A BILLION DREAMS MADE ME CRY: SACHIN SAYS, A BILLION DREAMS REVIEW

                                                                  Image credited to google

Cast: Sachin Tendulkar, Anjali Tendulkar, Sara Tendulkar, Arjun Tendulkar, Mayuresh Pem, MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag

Director: James Erskine

Rating: 4 stars

The year was 2009. Stand-up comedy was barely a crawl in India, and from those pioneering early sets performed late at night in Bombay, I remember only one gag. At the time, bullying politicians were divisively calling for Maharashtrian signboards everywhere and for 'outsiders' to leave, going against the welcoming heart of maximum city. It was in this charged atmosphere that a bright young comic called Rohan Joshi said he, as a Maharashtrian wounded by this communality, would nevertheless offer a couple of words on behalf of Maharashtrians everywhere. The night was full of barely amused and judgemental drinkers, and Joshi was very, very green, but with two words he brought the house down, rousingly and immediately. "Sachin Tendulkar."

In our lives and times, India has leaned on that name. Hard. It is a name we have used as mythology and as mantra, as hope and as heroin.

It is also a name, I have argued for quite some time now, that does not belong in a movie. The narrative is too superhuman, too peerless, too free of greys and conflict to actually make for stirring cinema. A movie about him would end up paying obeisance, not telling a tale. It would capitalise Him, and likely be closer to Jai Santoshi Maa than to Dhoni. A rise and rise and rise does not a story make.

Sachin: A Billion Dreams is thankfully not a biopic. This is a documentary not merely about the man with that name, but one narrated by him, one where he tells his own story in his own words. It is not journalistic or incisive or probing. It feels, instead, intimate - as intimate as it can feel, anyway, for a film where an audience claps and cheers alongside those who clapped and cheered live, years ago. Which is to say: it is us today applauding in time with us yesterday.

An example of how personal this feels: I have never, ever heard an audience of the press break into unanimous and spontaneous applause at a film's intermission. Yet, technically speaking, it is unexciting filmmaking. Director James Erskine clunkily strings together a greatest-hits narrative by numbers, with a constantly swelling background score, too many reverential voices and zero contrarians. AR Rahman's music is overwrought - though the fan-favourite Maa Tujhe Salaam is used quite spiffily - and the changing aspect ratio is distracting, as is the tragically un-remastered video footage. There are no narrative flourishes, and the voiceover is overtly literal, featuring shots, for instance, of a lady huffing tiredly up the stairs while Tendulkar tells us his mother never tired. This is a film that unapologetically panders to the fans, one that preaches to the choir.

MAMATA BANERJEE'S FORMULAE TO PRESIDENT AFTER METTING MODI

Sources said Trinamool Congress' support will depend on who the opposition's candidate is and whether a consensus can emerge around the person's name.

                                                                Image credited to google 

A day before opposition parties meet in a big show of strength over lunch hosted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss a joint candidate to field for President, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has pitched for a consensus candidate - one supported by both opposition parties and the government.

It was not a complete surprise. Ms Banerjee had just emerged from a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one that she insisted focused "only on the development of Bengal and not on politics." Before that meeting, sources close to her said her Trinamool Congress' support will depend on who the opposition's candidate is and whether a consensus can emerge around the person's name.  

"The President is the custodian of the Constitution and it will be very good for the entire country if we have a consensus candidate much like APJ Abdul Kalam," said Ms Banerjee, reiterating that she did not discuss the presidential election with the Prime Minister. 

"It's for the PM to decide and understand the need for a consensus," she said.

The Congress is yet to comment on Ms Banerjee's latest stand, no doubt a trifle nonplussed. But sources said the new Mamata Banerjee formula will be discussed at tomorrow's lunch meeting in Parliament House. Ms Banerjee is in Delhi primarily to attend Mrs Gandhi's lunch, which is being as a symbol of opposition unity on the day the Modi government completes three years in power. The appointment with the Prime Minister was reportedly confirmed only yesterday.

The West Bengal chief minister had during a visit to Delhi last week met Mrs Gandhi and reportedly backed the plan to field a joint opposition candidate to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's nominee. She had also met Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, not the best of friends with the Congress, into the Opposition initiative. 

Bihar politician Lalu Yadav, also in Delhi for Mrs Gandhi's lunch, confirmed that finalising a candidate was on the agenda of Opposition leaders, who will meet tomorrow over lunch and then next weekend in Chennai for DMK chief M Karunanidhi's 94th birthday.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the other opposition leader who had suggested a consensus candidate - he pitched for a second term for President Pranab Mukherjee and said the government should take the lead on that - is not attending Mrs Gandhi's lunch party. His senior colleague Sharad Yadav will represent their Janata Dal United; Mr Kumar RSVPed to say that he had prior engagements. 

President Mukherjee, whose term ends in July, indicated today that he is not in the race for a second term. "I have exactly two months to go. July 25, a new President will assume office. I am sending back officials who have worked with me, back to their ministries and departments," the President said while speaking at a event in Delhi. 

President Mukherjee is believed to have indicated that he would only consider a second term if nominated by the government. The ruling National Democratic Alliance has not announced a candidate yet, but the BJP is keen to put one of its own in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. All Presidents except Dr Kalam, who was a scientist, have had Congress links before they took over as President, including President Mukherjee.