The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to send its Chandrayaan-3 (Chandrayaan-3) automated interplanetary station to the Moon on Friday.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is scheduled to be launched on July 14, 2023, at 2:35 p.m. Indian time (12:05 a.m. QT) from the launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Center located on Sriharikota island.
According to the organization’s plan, the spacecraft will be launched into orbit using an LVM-3 launch vehicle, after which the probe will begin its autonomous flight to near-lunar orbit.
The Chandrayaan-3 station consists of three components – a landing module, a propulsion module and a lunar rover – whose main purpose is to demonstrate and test the technologies required for interplanetary missions.
After the spacecraft enters lunar orbit, its landing module will have to make a soft landing on the surface of the Moon, then the rover, equipped with various research equipment, will move off the platform and begin chemical analysis of the surface of the natural satellite of the Earth. The lunar rover mission is designed to last 14 Earth days.
A previous attempt to send a landing module and a lunar rover to the Moon was made in 2019 as part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. Then the orbiter managed to enter the lunar orbit, but due to communication problems, specialists were unable to correct the landing of the landing module separated from the interplanetary station, as a result of which it crashed on impact with the lunar surface.
Orbiter mission Chandrayaan-2 remained in orbit and continues to collect scientific data on the Earth’s natural satellite. No such orbiter mission is planned for Chandrayaan-3.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree appointing Andriy Melnyk as Ukraine’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Brazil.
The corresponding decree № 341/2023 is published on the website of the President.
In addition, by the decree № 340/2023 Ambassador of Ukraine to Peru Yuriy Polukhovich was appointed Ambassador of Ukraine to Colombia concurrently.
By Decree №339/2023 Oleksandr Polishchuk was appointed Ambassador of Ukraine to India.
Andriy Melnyk served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine from 2022 to 2023, before that he was Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany (from 2014 to 2022).
Yuriy Polyukhovich has represented Ukraine in Peru since December 2022. Previously, he served as Acting Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine (from March 10 to March 25, 2020).
Oleksandr Polishchuk has served as Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine since October 2019. He was Ukraine’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group in the working subgroup on security issues. He holds the rank of Major General.
Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Japarova will visit New Delhi next week to discuss, among other things, providing additional humanitarian aid, The Hindu reported, citing diplomatic sources.
“Ukraine has requested additional humanitarian aid from India, including pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and energy equipment to repair energy infrastructure damaged during the war, and both sides are expected to discuss providing such support,” the report said.
Japarova is also expected to extend an invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Kiev.
Diplomatic sources said final arrangements are still being discussed, but confirmed that Emine Japarova, the first deputy foreign minister, is expected to arrive in Delhi on Monday and hold an interagency dialogue and meet with media and think tanks in the capital to enlist Ukraine’s support in India,” the report noted.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday that he has submitted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky nominations for Ukraine’s ambassadors to China, India and Brazil.
Kuleba said on Facebook that the Foreign Ministry has created an open search for Ukraine’s ambassadors, and the vacancy is currently open for 21 countries except China, India and Brazil.
“As a final note: you may note that China, India and Brazil are not among the list of countries. And you would be right. This is because I have already submitted to the President of Ukraine candidates for ambassadors to these countries. You will know their names after the publication of the corresponding decrees. I will only say that we plan to send to such special countries specialists in state work experience at the level of ministers and deputy ministers”, – Kuleba wrote.
6.9 million foreign tourists will visit India in 2022, four times more than in the last two years of the coronavirus pandemic, the Hindustan Times reported.
“Gangapuram Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Kishan Reddy said nearly 6.9 million foreign tourists visited India in 2022. After two years of decline due to the coronavirus pandemic, arrivals quadrupled. According to him, the increase in tourist arrivals means the industry is moving in the right direction to achieve sustainable tourism,” Reddy said.
Reddy said the Ministry of Tourism will emphasize inbound tourism this year and launch the “Visit India 2023” promotion. “We have 40 UNESCO heritage sites and we celebrate more than 1,000 festivals every year,” he specified.
He also noted that the country has built an extensive tourism infrastructure over the past eight years, and now the authorities want to rethink the approach to tourism in India.
“To ensure digitalization of the tourism sector, a ‘National Tourism Mission’ is being developed. In the first phase, the ministry has created a national integrated database of the hospitality industry, which should make it easier for businesses to operate,” the newspaper wrote.
Indian authorities also plan to develop adventure tourism, eco-tourism and other areas.
India has probably already surpassed China in terms of population, and experts expect the growth to continue at least until 2050.
According to the independent World Population Review (WPR), India’s population was 1.417 billion at the end of 2022. Another analytical platform, Macrotrends, estimates India’s population at 1.428 billion.
China’s population declined last year for the first time in more than 60 years – by 850,000 to 1.412 billion people, according to data released Tuesday by China’s State Statistics Office.
India, where half the population is under the age of 30, is expected to be the fastest-growing economy in years to come. To take advantage of rising demographics, the country’s government needs to create millions of jobs, Bloomberg notes.
“What’s needed now is a massive economic support program that would create jobs in a variety of sectors,” said Nomura Holdings Inc. economist Sonal Varma. – And we’re already seeing the foundations for that being laid.”
WPR expects India’s population to continue to grow at least through 2050.
According to the UN, more than half of global population growth between 2022 and 2050 will come from just eight countries: India, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.
