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India may launch two more navigation satellites this year

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navigation satellites

Chennai: India is expected to launch at least two more navigation satellites this year and one more in 2016 to offer satellite navigation services by the middle of next year, Indian space agency officials said.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials deny any diversion of focus is delaying the operationalisation of navigation satellite system.

The three satellite launches will be in addition to the one that India is expected to put into orbit on March 28 evening.

“We will surely be launching two more navigation satellites this year apart from tomorrow’s (March 28) launch. At the end of the year we will have six navigation satellites up in the sky out of the constellation of seven such satellites,” senior officials of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS preferring anonymity.

According to officials, the seventh and the last one of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) in all probability would go up early part of 2016.

The full navigation services are expected to be offered from mid 2016 onwards, according to the officials

They said the countdown for Saturday’s rocket launch is progressing at a good pace in a smooth manner and all the activities are geared up for the 5.19 p.m. blast off of the rocket.

The Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C27) is expected to blast off from Sriharikota rocket port carry the country’s fourth navigation satellite IRNSS-1D.

As things stands today, there is already one year delay in the realisation of the satellite navigation system which ISRO officials agree.

And time is also running out fast.

Out of the seven satellites that comprises the IRNSS each having a life span of 10 years, three satellites have already been launched.

The first one-IRNSS-1A is now two years old and has a remaining life span of eight years and the second one is around one year old with a remaining life span of nine years.

And when the whole system comes into play sometime in May 2016, IRNSS-1A will have a remaining life of seven years and IRNSS-1B eight years.

The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013, the second IRNSS-1B in April 2014 and the third on October 16, 2014.

Curiously all the seven navigation satellites and the rockets used to put them into orbit are also identical.

With two launch pads at its rocket port, ISRO could have focussed on realising its satellite navigation system while putting other futuristic launches for the future date, is one view expressed by officials.

ISRO had earlier said the navigation system would be ready by middle of 2015 with three launches in 2014 and 2015. But that did not happen.

The navigation system was conceptualised in early 1990s and got the sanction in 2006.

Officials at the space agency now say that all the remaining navigation satellites are on different stages of production and would be launched to offer the services middle of next year.

The full system comprises of nine satellites – seven in orbit and two on the ground as stand-by.

Each satellite costs around Rs.150 crore and the PSLV-XL version rocket costs around Rs.130 crore. The seven rockets would involve an outlay of around Rs.910 crore.

“ISRO and its activities have grown and work has to be done simultaneously at several fronts. It is not the question of diversion of focus,” an ISRO official said.

However, he agreed that at times priorities change and focus and resources do get diverted.

“That is short term phenomenon and would not delay other projects,” he said.

The official said IRNSS-1D could have been launched last year but was postponed due to the experimental launch of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MkIII and the revamping of launch pad infrastructure.

Speaking of IRNSS-1D satellite, an ISRO official said after putting it into the intended orbit, it would be raised to its home slot which would take around eight days.

Following that characterisation of the navigation and ranging payloads would be done and later the satellite will be integrated with the ground stations.

The three satellites launched earlier have all been integrated with the ground stations and are working well.

“From four navigation satellites up in the sky, we will get the signals which would prove the concept on which the whole IRNSS has been designed. While the full range of services may not be available with the constellation of four satellites, a user would be able to locate his position,” he said.

Queried about the ground segment infrastructure, he said a good part of that is in place and the balance would be ready soon.

He said the IRNSS system is unique as it consist only seven satellites while other systems have more than 20 satellites.

However, while other systems are global, Indian system is of regional in nature.

Nevertheless, ISRO official claims that India can replace the US GPS with Indian system when full fledged operations begin.

The fully operational system is expected to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region, extending up to an area of 1,500 km.

Entertainment

Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists

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PureWin Online Betting

The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index

Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.

The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports

Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.

All for the Tourists

The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.

“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.

To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.

Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market

With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.

Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.

Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.

Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting

Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.

Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.

The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.

If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.

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