Gaganyaan: Isro's first manned space mission on schedule, says Raghavan

Gaganyaan - The Indian Space Research Organisation will complete its first manned space mission on schedule as the programme was finalised a few years ago, K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific advisor to the government of India, has stressed.

"This mission is not happening out of the blue, nor is it a coincidence. We were giving shape to this mission for a while," Raghavan told PTI-Bhasha in an interview.

One of the most distinguished biologists, Raghavan, 64, was appointed the principal scientific advisor in March.

The post of principal scientific advisor was created by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999. The PSA is the topmost advisor to the government on scientific policy matters.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Independence Day this year that India will put a man or woman in the space on board 'Gaganyaan' by 2022, Raghavan said, Isro has been moving ahead to complete the mission as per the schedule.

Reliance JioPhone 2 flash sale today at 12 noon: Know price, recharge plans

Reliance Jio, a Mukesh Ambani-owned telecommunication service provider, is hosting the flash sale of its JioPhone 2 today i.e. August 16 at 12 noon on Jio online portal. Successor of the JioPhone, the JioPhone 2 was announced at the Reliance Industries’ 41st Annual General Meeting, which was held in Mumbai on July 4. Priced at Rs 2,999, the JioPhone 2 is a 4G LTE-enabled feature phone that runs on KaiOS, which supports popular social media and instant messaging apps such as Facebook and WhatsApp. The phone also comes loaded with Google apps such as YouTube and Google Maps.

Reliance JioPhone 2: Features and specifications

The JioPhone 2 sport a 2.4-inch screen horizontal screen, which makes it convenient for watching multimedia content. It features a full QWERTY keyboard with 4-way navigation key and a dedicated key for voice commands. The phone boots KaiOS with support for apps such as Facebook, YouTube, Google Maps and WhatsApp. The 4G LTE-enable feature phone supports VoLTE call feature, which allows voice calls using data packets. The phone can be operated using voice commands. The voice command feature is not limited to calling and messages, but also to operate the phone's apps – music playback, YouTube and video playback, etc. The phone also comes equipped with the NFC chip, which would support digital payments service in future. With NFC technology, users would also be able to make digital transactions through their Jan Dhan account, bank accounts and Jio money app.

Independence Day: Centre urges states to discourage use of plastic flags

Ahead of the Independence Day, the Union Home Ministry on Monday issued an advisory to all Central, state and Union Territory departments to carry out mass awareness programmes to stop use of national flags made of plastic, and ensure strict compliance of the flag code.

The advisory directs the chief secretaries and administrators of all states and union territories as well as secretaries of all ministries and departments of the Central government to spread awareness through advertisements in electronic and print media urging people to use flags made of paper only, a Home Ministry statement said.

"Flags made of paper only should be used by public in terms of the provisions of the 'Flag Code of India, 2002' and such flags should not be discarded or thrown on the ground after the event as per the 'Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971," said the statement, quoting the advisory.

"Since, plastic flags are not easily biodegradable like paper flags and these do not get decomposed for a long time ... it should not be used."