Daily Analysis of 'The Hindu' - 6th January, 2020 | Additional Study Material for UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


• India’s world-class facility for training astronauts will come up not in the space 
headquarters in Bengaluru, nor in any glitzy metropolis. It will be established in three 
years at Challakere, a shrubby, arid oilseeds town on the Bengaluru-Pune NH4 in 
Chitradurga district of Karnataka.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed a ? 2,700-crore master 
plan to create top infrastructure that will house its young Human Space Flight Centre 
(HSFC).
• K. Sivan, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, told The Hindu, 
“Everything connected with events and planning of the HSP [Human Spaceflight 
Programme] will shift to our campus at Challakere. We want to establish a self-
contained facility there so that in future, whatever training and activities we are now 
doing in Russia for the Gaganyaan crew can all be done by us here.” When ready, the 
400-acre ISRO land at Challakere will be the single-stop consolidating infrastructure 
and activities related to space travellers.
• The country pays a hefty, unnamed sum to use such facilities abroad. The first set of 
four astronaut candidates for the first Gaganyaan mission of 2022 are to train in 
Russia. The amount sought for the HSFC is over and above the ?10,000-crore approved 
budget of Gaganyaan. Pending its approval, the centre may take 2-3 years at the earliest 
to be set up, but would come up after the first Indian crewed flight.
Karnataka’s Challakere to be ISRO’s astronaut training hub
Plan ready for Space Flight Centre to come up at Chitradurga
Page 2


• India’s world-class facility for training astronauts will come up not in the space 
headquarters in Bengaluru, nor in any glitzy metropolis. It will be established in three 
years at Challakere, a shrubby, arid oilseeds town on the Bengaluru-Pune NH4 in 
Chitradurga district of Karnataka.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed a ? 2,700-crore master 
plan to create top infrastructure that will house its young Human Space Flight Centre 
(HSFC).
• K. Sivan, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, told The Hindu, 
“Everything connected with events and planning of the HSP [Human Spaceflight 
Programme] will shift to our campus at Challakere. We want to establish a self-
contained facility there so that in future, whatever training and activities we are now 
doing in Russia for the Gaganyaan crew can all be done by us here.” When ready, the 
400-acre ISRO land at Challakere will be the single-stop consolidating infrastructure 
and activities related to space travellers.
• The country pays a hefty, unnamed sum to use such facilities abroad. The first set of 
four astronaut candidates for the first Gaganyaan mission of 2022 are to train in 
Russia. The amount sought for the HSFC is over and above the ?10,000-crore approved 
budget of Gaganyaan. Pending its approval, the centre may take 2-3 years at the earliest 
to be set up, but would come up after the first Indian crewed flight.
Karnataka’s Challakere to be ISRO’s astronaut training hub
Plan ready for Space Flight Centre to come up at Chitradurga
Page 3


• India’s world-class facility for training astronauts will come up not in the space 
headquarters in Bengaluru, nor in any glitzy metropolis. It will be established in three 
years at Challakere, a shrubby, arid oilseeds town on the Bengaluru-Pune NH4 in 
Chitradurga district of Karnataka.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed a ? 2,700-crore master 
plan to create top infrastructure that will house its young Human Space Flight Centre 
(HSFC).
• K. Sivan, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, told The Hindu, 
“Everything connected with events and planning of the HSP [Human Spaceflight 
Programme] will shift to our campus at Challakere. We want to establish a self-
contained facility there so that in future, whatever training and activities we are now 
doing in Russia for the Gaganyaan crew can all be done by us here.” When ready, the 
400-acre ISRO land at Challakere will be the single-stop consolidating infrastructure 
and activities related to space travellers.
• The country pays a hefty, unnamed sum to use such facilities abroad. The first set of 
four astronaut candidates for the first Gaganyaan mission of 2022 are to train in 
Russia. The amount sought for the HSFC is over and above the ?10,000-crore approved 
budget of Gaganyaan. Pending its approval, the centre may take 2-3 years at the earliest 
to be set up, but would come up after the first Indian crewed flight.
Karnataka’s Challakere to be ISRO’s astronaut training hub
Plan ready for Space Flight Centre to come up at Chitradurga
• The marble domes of Bibi Ka Maqbara, the famous 17th century 
Mughal-era monument in the city, are set to get a new shine.
• The domes and other marble parts of the mausoleum will undergo 
scientific conservation, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official 
said. The work is estimated to cost ?45 lakh.
• The structure, known as the ‘Taj of the Deccan’ because of its striking 
resemblance to the Taj Mahal, was commissioned by Emperor 
Aurangzeb in 1660 in the memory of his wife Dilras Banu Begum.
• Deputy Superintending Archaeologist Shrikant Mishra said its domes 
and minarets, which are built in marble, as well as the marble screens 
inside would undergo scientific conservation. The work, which will go 
on for six months, will involve cleaning and and carrying out a 
chemical treatment to give it a new glow, he said. The paintings inside 
the entrance of the mausoleum, too, will undergo cleaning.
Marble domes of Aurangabad’s Bibi Ka Maqbara to get new glow
ASI to carry out scientific conservation of monument
Page 4


• India’s world-class facility for training astronauts will come up not in the space 
headquarters in Bengaluru, nor in any glitzy metropolis. It will be established in three 
years at Challakere, a shrubby, arid oilseeds town on the Bengaluru-Pune NH4 in 
Chitradurga district of Karnataka.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed a ? 2,700-crore master 
plan to create top infrastructure that will house its young Human Space Flight Centre 
(HSFC).
• K. Sivan, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, told The Hindu, 
“Everything connected with events and planning of the HSP [Human Spaceflight 
Programme] will shift to our campus at Challakere. We want to establish a self-
contained facility there so that in future, whatever training and activities we are now 
doing in Russia for the Gaganyaan crew can all be done by us here.” When ready, the 
400-acre ISRO land at Challakere will be the single-stop consolidating infrastructure 
and activities related to space travellers.
• The country pays a hefty, unnamed sum to use such facilities abroad. The first set of 
four astronaut candidates for the first Gaganyaan mission of 2022 are to train in 
Russia. The amount sought for the HSFC is over and above the ?10,000-crore approved 
budget of Gaganyaan. Pending its approval, the centre may take 2-3 years at the earliest 
to be set up, but would come up after the first Indian crewed flight.
Karnataka’s Challakere to be ISRO’s astronaut training hub
Plan ready for Space Flight Centre to come up at Chitradurga
• The marble domes of Bibi Ka Maqbara, the famous 17th century 
Mughal-era monument in the city, are set to get a new shine.
• The domes and other marble parts of the mausoleum will undergo 
scientific conservation, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official 
said. The work is estimated to cost ?45 lakh.
• The structure, known as the ‘Taj of the Deccan’ because of its striking 
resemblance to the Taj Mahal, was commissioned by Emperor 
Aurangzeb in 1660 in the memory of his wife Dilras Banu Begum.
• Deputy Superintending Archaeologist Shrikant Mishra said its domes 
and minarets, which are built in marble, as well as the marble screens 
inside would undergo scientific conservation. The work, which will go 
on for six months, will involve cleaning and and carrying out a 
chemical treatment to give it a new glow, he said. The paintings inside 
the entrance of the mausoleum, too, will undergo cleaning.
Marble domes of Aurangabad’s Bibi Ka Maqbara to get new glow
ASI to carry out scientific conservation of monument
Due to the strong resemblance, it is also called the Dakkhani Taj (Taj of the Deccan).
Bibi Ka Maqbara is the "principal monument" of Aurangabad and its historic city.
An inscription found on the main entrance door mentions that this mausoleum was designed and erected by Ata-ullah, 
an architect and Hanspat Rai, an engineer respectively. Ata-ullah was the son of Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, the 
principal designer of the Taj Mahal.
Page 5


• India’s world-class facility for training astronauts will come up not in the space 
headquarters in Bengaluru, nor in any glitzy metropolis. It will be established in three 
years at Challakere, a shrubby, arid oilseeds town on the Bengaluru-Pune NH4 in 
Chitradurga district of Karnataka.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed a ? 2,700-crore master 
plan to create top infrastructure that will house its young Human Space Flight Centre 
(HSFC).
• K. Sivan, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, told The Hindu, 
“Everything connected with events and planning of the HSP [Human Spaceflight 
Programme] will shift to our campus at Challakere. We want to establish a self-
contained facility there so that in future, whatever training and activities we are now 
doing in Russia for the Gaganyaan crew can all be done by us here.” When ready, the 
400-acre ISRO land at Challakere will be the single-stop consolidating infrastructure 
and activities related to space travellers.
• The country pays a hefty, unnamed sum to use such facilities abroad. The first set of 
four astronaut candidates for the first Gaganyaan mission of 2022 are to train in 
Russia. The amount sought for the HSFC is over and above the ?10,000-crore approved 
budget of Gaganyaan. Pending its approval, the centre may take 2-3 years at the earliest 
to be set up, but would come up after the first Indian crewed flight.
Karnataka’s Challakere to be ISRO’s astronaut training hub
Plan ready for Space Flight Centre to come up at Chitradurga
• The marble domes of Bibi Ka Maqbara, the famous 17th century 
Mughal-era monument in the city, are set to get a new shine.
• The domes and other marble parts of the mausoleum will undergo 
scientific conservation, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official 
said. The work is estimated to cost ?45 lakh.
• The structure, known as the ‘Taj of the Deccan’ because of its striking 
resemblance to the Taj Mahal, was commissioned by Emperor 
Aurangzeb in 1660 in the memory of his wife Dilras Banu Begum.
• Deputy Superintending Archaeologist Shrikant Mishra said its domes 
and minarets, which are built in marble, as well as the marble screens 
inside would undergo scientific conservation. The work, which will go 
on for six months, will involve cleaning and and carrying out a 
chemical treatment to give it a new glow, he said. The paintings inside 
the entrance of the mausoleum, too, will undergo cleaning.
Marble domes of Aurangabad’s Bibi Ka Maqbara to get new glow
ASI to carry out scientific conservation of monument
Due to the strong resemblance, it is also called the Dakkhani Taj (Taj of the Deccan).
Bibi Ka Maqbara is the "principal monument" of Aurangabad and its historic city.
An inscription found on the main entrance door mentions that this mausoleum was designed and erected by Ata-ullah, 
an architect and Hanspat Rai, an engineer respectively. Ata-ullah was the son of Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, the 
principal designer of the Taj Mahal.
NAL wants govt. push for Saras takeoff
It says Centre should buy at least 50-60 Saras Mk2 aircraft to make production commercially 
viable