NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will launch its first manned space mission by 2022 and roll out a health insurance scheme from September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday in his last Independence Day speech ahead of next year’s general election.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets schoolchildren after addressing the nation during Independence Day celebrations at the historic Red Fort in Delhi, India, August 15, 2018. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Modi, a powerful speaker who will seek re-election in the world’s biggest democracy early next year, used the speech to broadcast his government’s achievements, amid concerns about lack of jobs and rising violence against the Muslim minority.

Wearing a flowing saffron turban, the Hindu nationalist leader also announced the plan to take the “Indian tricolor to space” in a manned mission that would make India the fourth nation to launch one, after the United States, Russia and China.

“India is proud of our scientists, who are excelling in their research and are at the forefront of innovation,” Modi said from the ramparts of the Mughal-era Red Fort in Delhi to a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands.

“In the year 2022 or, if possible, before, India will unfurl the tricolor in space.”

Months after Modi’s election in 2014, India became the first Asian nation to reach Mars when its first mission to the red planet entered orbit, at a cost of $74 million, or less than the budget of the Hollywood space blockbuster “Gravity”.

Modi said his government would launch from Sept. 25 a previously announced medical insurance scheme, dubbed ‘Modicare’, to give about 500 million poor people annual health cover of 500,000 rupees ($7,200) to treat serious illness.

Critics say that while Modi has adopted several initiatives, his tenure has been marred by violence against Muslim cattle traders and economic jolts through a countrywide ban on high-value notes and the botched launch of a unified taxation system.

Businesses have embraced the unified Goods and Services Tax after initial hiccups, Modi said in his speech.

In his 80-minute speech, Modi said the pace of building highways, electrifying villages and building toilets has increased since his landslide 2014 election win that devastated the main opposition Congress party.

Congress, which had ruled India for decades, is now trying to unify the opposition to challenge Modi, whose personal ratings remain high despite recent election setbacks.

“We want to progress more. There is no question of stopping or getting tired on the way,” Modi said.

($1=69.9500 Indian rupees)</s>THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With Kerala reeling under the worst ever natural disaster, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kerala on Friday.

The Prime Minister, after attending the funeral of former Prime minister AB Vajpayee, is expected to reach Kochi on Friday.

Narendra Modi will undertake an aerial survey of the flood-affected regions on Saturday. The PM is also expected to hold a review meeting with the state CM. Union minister Alphonse Kannamthanam informed that the PM has confirmed about his visit.

Meanwhile, more helicopters will be brought in for rescue operations from Friday, said CM Pinarayi Vijayan. 12 more helicopters will be deployed for rescue in four districts. 200 more boats will also be in service for rescue from Friday. Many people are still stranded in some parts of the state, the CM said. He, however, added that the situation is under control.</s>China is close to shooting into space a weapon it claims can blind the optical sensors atop any satellite missile defense system.

Russia will soon stand up its own “S-500 missile program” that it boasts can hit targets nearly 400 miles above Earth’s surface.

And Iran has ambitions to attack U.S. communications satellites.

President Trump’s call for a U.S. “Space Force” may have turned into a punchline on Twitter and late-night TV, but U.S. intelligence agencies, military insiders and security analysts say the nation must take real, concrete action to prepare for conflicts in space or risk falling behind its global foes, chiefly Russia and China.

The Defense Department announced last week that it will immediately begin preparations for a Space Force as the sixth branch of the military. While many critics inside and outside the Pentagon vehemently oppose the idea, there is widespread consensus that outer space will be a key 21st-century battlefield and a theater that the U.S. must be prepared to dominate.

“Other countries have recognized how dependent the United States is on space, and they have developed a range of counterspace weapons. The threats include jammers that can keep us from communicating with our satellites, lasers that can blind the sensors on satellites, and hunter-killer satellites that can maneuver into our satellites and destroy them,” said Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“China and Russia are the most advanced in their counterspace weapons programs,” he said, “but the technology required for some types of threats, such as jammers, has already proliferated to rogue nations like North Korea and even some nonstate actors.”

The notion of space as a battleground, or a staging area for state-of-the-art defense technology, dates back decades. It first came into the public eye with President Ronald Reagan’s call for a “Star Wars” missile program. Since then, the U.S. and its global competitors have made dramatic technological strides.

The world got one of the first glimpses of how space could become a battlefield in 2007 when China destroyed one of its own satellites with a land-based missile, demonstrating that the country could theoretically take out other nations’ infrastructure in the event of a full-blown war.

In the decade since that test, the U.S. intelligence community has closely tracked China’s advancements in space warfare, along with those of other potentially hostile nations. Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats said this year that Moscow and Beijing are actively pursuing technologies that could aid them in space battle.

“Both Russia and China continue to pursue anti-satellite weapons as a means to reduce U.S. and allied military effectiveness. Russia and China aim to have nondestructive and destructive counterspace weapons available for use during a potential future conflict,” he wrote in his annual Worldwide Threat Assessment. “We assess that, if a future conflict were to occur involving Russia or China, either country would justify attacks against U.S. and allied satellites as necessary to offset any perceived U.S. military advantage derived from military, civil or commercial space systems.”

Those threats have been central to the Trump administration’s call for the Space Force to become the sixth branch of the armed forces, and to be stood up and fully functional by 2020. Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis made that plan official last week by announcing that the Pentagon will work with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to formally create the Space Force in next year’s defense budget.

The Space Force proposal is likely to face an uphill battle in Congress, where many lawmakers are skeptical of the cost and whether it would result in unnecessary bureaucracy. Supporters, though, say a muscular Space Force — on par with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force — is the only way to fully compete with America’s adversaries.

“For many years, nations from Russia and China to North Korea and Iran have pursued weapons to jam, blind and disable our navigation and communications satellites via electronic attacks from the ground,” Mr. Pence said last week. “As their actions make clear, our adversaries have transformed space into a war-fighting domain already. And the United States will not shrink from this challenge.”

Mr. Mattis previously expressed opposition to the Space Force as a separate branch of the armed forces, but he told reporters this week that he is now on board with the White House plan.

“I was not going against setting up a Space Force; what I was against was rushing to do that before we define those problems. We’ve had a year, over a year in defining,” he said Sunday while en route to Brazil. “And the orbitization of this solution in terms of institutionalizing forward momentum is very important.”

Analysts say the debate over the Space Force has overshadowed the serious issues the U.S. must address and has taken the spotlight off of real threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and nonstate actors.

“I think that the whole ‘Space Force‘ debate is taking on a life of its own that is distracting attention from the real issue — that is, how America can defend its space assets,” said retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap Jr., executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University School of Law. “Let’s stop worrying so much about what kind of uniform a space operator might wear … and focus on what she needs to be prepared to do, and give her the equipment, training and authorities she needs to do her job.”

The job of the U.S. Space Force, should it come to pass the way the White House envisions it, will be to counter escalating threats posed by a growing number of nations, led by China.

In addition to its increasing ability to target satellites, China is making strides with “directed energy technologies” that can blind or damage space-based sensors such as those used on missile defense systems, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Chinese scientists claim to have blinded a satellite using a “50-100 kilowatt capacity mounted laser gun,” though outside observers haven’t confirmed the report.

Analysts say Russia isn’t far behind. In addition to the S-500 program, Moscow is pursuing an air-to-space missile program that it claims will be able to “intercept absolutely everything that flies from space.” Russia also continues perfecting lasers and other space weapons, the CSIS report says, in addition to improving its dangerously effective hacking and cyberattack methods.

Iran is far behind other nations in space weapons — its Iranian Space Agency was formed in 2003 — but it has shown itself capable of conducting widespread cyberattacks, and its technology could be turned toward U.S. satellites and other key pieces of space-based infrastructure.

“Iran is also believed to have advanced offensive cyber capabilities that could potentially be used to target U.S. space systems,” the CSIS study says. “Specifically, Iran is believed to be actively exploring the military uses of cyber capabilities to disrupt enemy missile defense systems, remotely piloted aircraft, logistics operations, and command and control links.”

North Korea lacks the weapons capabilities of major world powers such as China or Russia, but analysts say the reclusive nation’s impressive cyberattack programs could be turned toward U.S. space-based assets.

As technology becomes cheaper and more portable, satellite-jamming devices or other potential weapons of war could fall into the hands of terrorist groups or other nonstate foes.

“Understanding the threats to our space systems is the first step toward understanding why space should be such a high priority for the military. A Space Force is needed to create a more coherent, effective, and efficient organization within DoD that focuses on developing new space capabilities, protecting our space assets, and creating a robust cadre of space professionals,” Mr. Harrison said.</s>The US, Russia and Japan today condoled the demise of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Vajpayee, one of India’s most charismatic leaders, who led the nation through several crises while holding together a tenuous coalition with his inclusive politics and superlative oratory, died here today at the age of 93.

The American Embassy here, in a statement, said the US grieves with India on the loss of the former prime minister. “He will be remembered for his immense contribution in bolstering US-India relations. During his tenure, Prime Minister Vajpayee advocated for a robust partnership with the United States, referring to us as ‘natural allies’,” it said.

The US mission in India extends its deepest condolences to the family of Vajpayee and the citizens of India, it said. Ambassador of Russia to India Nikolay Kudashev said, “We mourn the death of Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a great statesman”.

Vajpayee’s name became an integral part of a whole era in Indian politics, the envoy said. “His devoted service to the nation can hardly be overestimated. Mr Vajpayee enjoyed due respect in India and globally. We knew him also as a poet, a man of knowledge and a true friend of our country, where he is well-known as one of the architects of our long-lasting and time-tested privileged strategic partnership,” Kudashev said.

Japanese envoy to India Kenji Hiramatsu said, “I am deeply saddened by the passing away of former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee”. Hailing Vajpayee as one of the most inspiring world leaders, the envoy said the upswing in India-Japan relations was only possible by the initiatives started by the former Indian prime minister.

“The demise of such a great leader is a great loss not only to India but also to Japan and other part of Asia as well as the entire international community,” he said.</s>NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will launch its first manned space mission by 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, which could make it the fourth nation to do so after the United States, Russia and China.

In his last Independence Day speech before a general election early next year, Modi also said the government would launch a medical insurance scheme for the poor from Sept. 25.

“It is high time we ensure that the poor of India get access to good quality and affordable healthcare,” Modi said in an address from the ramparts of the Mughal-era Red Fort in Delhi in India’s 72nd year of independence.</s>India will launch its first manned space mission by 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday in his last Independence Day speech ahead of the 2019 general election.

Modi, a powerful speaker who will seek re-election in the world’s biggest democracy early 2019, used the speech to broadcast his government’s achievements, amid concerns about lack of jobs and rising violence against the Muslim minority.

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The general elections are due to be held in May 2019.

Wearing a flowing saffron turban, the Hindu nationalist leader also announced the plan to take the “Indian tricolor to space” in a manned mission that would make India the fourth nation to launch one, after the US, Russia and China.

“India is proud of our scientists, who are excelling in their research and are at the forefront of innovation,” Modi said from the ramparts of the Mughal-era Red Fort in Delhi to a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands.

“In the year 2022 or, if possible, before, India will unfurl the tricolor in space.”

Months after Modi’s election in 2014, India became the first Asian nation to reach Mars when its first mission to the red planet entered orbit, at a cost of 74 million dollars, or less than the budget of the Hollywood space blockbuster “Gravity”.</s>Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of Red Fort on Wednesday, said the country will see an Indian on a space mission under an indigenous space project called ‘Gaganyaan‘ before 2022. This was Modi’s last Independence Day speech ahead of general elections and as PM in the current tenure.

Modi said when India celebrates 75th year of Independence in 2022, “and if possible even before, an Indian son or daughter” will undertake a manned space mission on board ‘Gaganyaan‘ “carrying the national flag”.

‘Gaganyaan’ will be the first manned space mission launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). If India does launch the Gaganyaan mission, it will be the fourth nation to do so after the United States, Russia and China.

India had launched its first lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 in October 2008 and operated it until August 2009. The major achievement of Chandrayaan-1 was the discovery of widespread presence of water molecules in lunar soil. The mission, which was supposed to last for two years, was suspended in just 312 days. However, the scientists at ISRO had claimed that the mission had achieved 95 per cent of its goals before they lost touch with it.

ISRO will launch Chandrayaan-2 in the January-March window of 2019. The mission was supposed to be launched this year but it was postponed following design changes in the spacecraft for its safe landing on the lunar surface.

ISRO had launched its Mars probe Mangalyaan or the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)on September 24, 2014. The spacecraft specific search for methane in the Martian atmosphere will provide information about the possibility or the past existence of life on the planet.

For all the latest Technology News, download Indian Express App</s>Gaganyaan space mission 2022: On the occasion of India’s 72nd Independence Day on August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that by the year 2022, an Indian astronaut, be it a man or a woman, will go on a space odyssey, on board ‘Gaganyaan’. While talking about this major step for the country, PM said that the manned space mission on board ‘Gaganyaan’ can take place when India celebrates the 75th year of Independence in 2022 or, if possible, even earlier. He added that “an Indian son or daughter” will carry the national flag on this trip. It will be one of the major missions undertaken in India after the Chandrayaan-1 (October 2008) and Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan (September 2014).

In a major claim, ISRO chairman K Sivan said that the mission will create 15,000 jobs in India.

Gaganyaan is an Indian space mission set to take place in or before 2022 where a man or a woman will be sent into the space on board the spacecraft known as the ‘Gaganyaan’. Following this mission, India will become the fourth nation in the world after United States, Russia and China to undertake a manned space mission.

K Sivan, the chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation said, “PM Modi has given a target of 2022 and it’s our duty to meet it. We are already on the job and we have completed many technologies like crew module and escape systems. The project has been underway, now we need to prioritise and achieve the target.” Sivan is also a scientist associated with the ambitious mission. He added that they are duty-bound to fulfil PM Modi’s promise and asserted that the space agency has the “capability” achieve the target.

While talking about two biggest challenges, an ISRO scientist cited the need for a big rocket and training of astronauts. Scientist Tushar Jadhav said, “We need to enhance technology to achieve this, deadline looks tough but we certainly have the capability to do it. A big rocket and astronaut training are two main challenges.”

Speaking to PTI on Wednesday, ISRO Chairman K Sivan spoke about the impact of the mission on jobs and said that the plan to send an Indian into space for the first time will create 15,000 jobs. “15,000 jobs would be created under the human space mission,” he said.

Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008 and operated until August 2009. Mangalyaan is another Indian space project. The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, is a space probe orbiting Mars since September 24, 2014.</s>Modi says India will send manned flight into space by 2022

NEW DELHI (AP) — India will send a manned flight into space by 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Wednesday as part of India's independence day celebrations.

He said India will become the fourth country after Russia, the United States and China to achieve the feat and its astronaut could be a man or a woman. The space capsule that will transport India's astronauts was tested a few days earlier.

Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to travel in space, aboard a Soviet rocket in 1984. As part of its own space program, active since the 1960s, India has launched scores of satellites for itself and other countries and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014.

It hopes to showcase its technological ability to explore the solar system while also using research from space and elsewhere to solve problems at home. The $1 billion-a-year space program has already helped develop satellite, communication and remote-sensing technologies and has been used to gauge underground water levels and predict weather in the country prone to cycles of drought and flood.

India won independence from British colonialists in 1947. Modi's 80-minute speech, broadcast live from the historic Red Fort in New Delhi, comes months before national elections.

Modi listed his government's achievements in the past four years in reforming the country's economy, reducing poverty and corruption. He announced a health insurance scheme for 500 million poor people providing a cover of 500,000 rupees ($7,150) per family a year.

He said India will become a growth engine for the world economy as the "sleeping elephant" has started to run on the back of structural economic reforms.

He said its economy was seen as fragile before 2014 but was now attracting investment. India is the sixth-largest economy in the world and Modi said international institutions see India as giving strength to the world economy for the next three decades.

He said the structural reforms like a national tax replacing various state and local taxes, bankruptcy and insolvency laws, and a crackdown on corruption have helped transform the economy.

Modi became prime minister when his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won a resounding victory in the national elections in 2014. He will seek another 5-year term for his party at elections due by March-April next year.</s>India will send a manned flight into space by 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Wednesday as part of India’s independence day celebrations. Time
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India will launch its first manned space mission by 2022, which would make it the fourth nation to do so after Russia, the United States, and China.