Plea to defer Babri ruling today

The Supreme Court will be approached on Wednesday with a plea for an out-of-court settlement in what is being perceived as a last-ditch attempt to prevent a final verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit. The verdict is expected at 3.30 pm on September 24.

Security beefed up in Ayodhya
Judge dissents on Ayodhya verdict

Ramesh Chandra Tripathi, 73, will approach the Supreme Court after failing to impress upon the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court the need for an "amicable settlement" between Hindus and Muslims.

CRPF personnel patrol a street in Jaunpur ahead of the Ayodhya dispute verdict.

His counsel, senior advocate Prashant Chandra, said even if Tripathi's petition is not listed, it will still be mentioned before the SC on Wednesday. "If a national consensus is emerging that there should be an amicable settlement between the two communities, it should be encouraged even at the cost of postponement of the judgment," Chandra said. The move is seen as a "political conspiracy", particularly by the Muslims. "There are forces who do not want a final verdict on the title suit. This is a delaying tactic by those who fear its political fallout," Zafaryab Jilani, the counsel for the Sunni Central Waqf Board, said.
Asked which "political force" is the chief suspect, Jilani was unambiguous. "It is the Centre. We have always believed there are three sides who do not want a verdict - the Bahujan Samaj Party government (in Uttar Pradesh), the Sangh Parivar and the Congress.
But now the order has changed. We believe it is the Congress that does not want to face the political fallout of this verdict," he said. The Congress has, in fact, officially maintained that the dispute should be settled amicably.
Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh said this and was backed by party spokesperson and general secretary Janardan Dwivedi.
"From the beginning, the Congress has maintained that the dispute should be settled amicably. Now that the matter is in court, the party will abide by the verdict," Dwivedi told reporters in Delhi last Friday. "A verdict either way does not suit them (the Congress) politically. That is why such hectic activity is under way," Jilani said.
According to political observers, this suspicion is based on the political circumstances the Congress is faced with. Faizabadbased journalist and writer Shitla Singh said the Congress knows the Muslims have owned the title of the land for centuries but it did not have the strength to dislodge Ram Lalla from the mosque site in case of a verdict to this effect.
And if the verdict went in favour of the Hindus, the BJP would find legal ratification for its Ram Janmabhoomi movement. The Congress is still the loser, Singh said.
" The Congress was wiped out from Uttar Pradesh after it dabbled in soft Hindutva. The BJP benefited from the Ram wave and the Muslims deserted the Congress en masse. It is almost two decades since and the Congress has found its feet in UP again.
The Muslims have softened and the upper castes too are getting drawn to Rahul Gandhi. But imagine the party's predicament when the title suit gets decided and the question of dislodging Ram Lalla comes up," Singh said.
A concerted effort seems to be under way to delay or postpone the verdict. Three other petitions seeking an out- of- court settlement were moved before the Allahabad High Court on September 3. Two social workers, Sunder Lal Jain and Choudhary Umar Qureshi, had moved applications to the effect. A third application was moved by a group of citizens.
Only Tripathi's plea was adjudicated. Though it was rejected by Sudhir Agerwal and S. U. Khan, two judges of the concerned bench, the third judge, D. C. Sharma, dissented. " All parties concerned can approach the bench till a day before the final verdict is scheduled to be pronounced," Sharma said.
Armed with this judgment and an earlier order of the same bench, Tripathi's counsel hopes to convince the Supreme Court that this dispute should be settled by communities, not courts. " The Muslim claim is based on fact and the Hindus are relying on faith. The court cannot settle matters of religion and faith," he reasoned.

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Marathi issue use for vote-bank politics: Chavan

Asserting that no one had a "monopoly on Marathi", Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan alleged that some political parties were using the language to seek votes.
"Marathi is not a monopoly of any political party. It is sad to see the language being used for vote bank politics," Chavan said at a function in Mumbai.
"Some political parties are seeking votes in the name of Marathi. I don't want to point out at any party," said the chief minister, who released a book about the use of Marathi in Information Technology sector.
On the recent controversy regarding the reluctance of multiplexes to screen Marathi films, Chavan said if the film was good, people would go and watch it.
"The government has been giving aid to Marathi films. If the film is good the multiplexes will not refuse to screen it," he said.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray had led a campaign separately against the multiplexes for refusing to screen Marathi films.

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Top RSS man gave SIMs for terror strikes

Investigators probing the Hindutva terror blasts that rocked Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan and Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid are untangling a complex web of SIM card transfers, pointing the finger of suspicion to a senior RSS functionary.

Ashok Varshney, former prant pracharak of the RSS in Jharkhand, allegedly sourced and handed over two SIM cards to Devender Gupta, key accused in the October 11, 2007, Ajmer Sharif blast, investigators said. These SIM cards were also allegedly used to stage the May 18, 2007, Mecca Masjid explosion. As many as 17 people died in the two terror strikes.

Investigators said they were still in the process of gathering evidence on the exact usage of the SIM cards in the two strikes, and added these might have been used to trigger the low- intensity explosions at both places.

These SIMs were procured from Hyderabad and Ajmer and passed on to Gupta, also an RSS worker. Rajasthan Police arrested Gupta with two others on April 30 this year in connection with the terror strike at the Ajmer Sharif dargah , allegedly masterminded by Hindutva activists.

Acting on specific leads, the anti-terrorism squads (ATS) of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), have questioned Varshney as well as RSS central committee member Ashok Berry several times since June 21 both at Lucknow and Delhi.

Investigators said they had confronted Varshney and Berry on the SIM card purchases, but both stoutly denied the charges and insisted that Gupta had acted on his own. Varshney's defence has all along been that he was never present at either of the blast sites - Ajmer and Hyderabad - and, therefore, could not have sourced the cards.

ATS officials had said Gupta had procured at least one SIM card from Dumka near Jamtara in Jharkhand. In all, nine SIM cards were procured from various locations in West Bengal and Jharkhand, in addition to Hyderabad and Ajmer. However, it is not known which of these were utilised to trigger the blasts.

Despite Varshney's dogged denials, the CBI insists that it sees similarities between the mobile phone- detonated explosives used in Ajmer and Hyderabad, and that it was more than likely that the same module was working on putting the bombs together. In fact, CBI director Ashwani Kumar has confirmed this on record.

"There is a definite link between the Ajmer and Mecca Masjid blasts," he said recently. He had specifically named Sunil Joshi, another RSS activist. "He played a key role in orchestrating the Ajmer blast… and a set of mobile SIM cards were used to activate the bombs, first in Ajmer and then again in Hyderabad," Kumar said.

Though Varshney denied any involvement in sourcing the SIM cards, both he and Berry acknowledged their association with Gupta. In fact, before his arrest on April 30, Gupta had stayed at Varshney's Kanpur home. From there, he went to Sitapur where Hindutva leaders had arranged a safe house for him.

A CBI team traced these links and arrived at Sitapur recently looking for more evidence against Varshney and Berry. Following these leads, CBI summoned the RSS leaders last week to Delhi and questioned them further, looking to piece together strands of the conspiracy that led to the terror strikes at Ajmer, Hyderabad and Malegaon in Maharashtra.

Investigators now concede that as they dig further, more rightwing Hindutva leaders are likely to come under the scanner. The RSS would find it difficult to deny their association with Varshney and Berry.

Berry was, till now, the kshetra pracharak (regional in-charge) of Uttar Pradesh. He is also a member of the RSS national executive, which has between 15 and 20 members. Varshney was the prant pracharak (state incharge) of Jharkhand.

Therefore, in a meeting between top RSS functionary Madan Das Debi with the BJP brass - Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar and organisation secretary Ram Lal - on July 7, the discussion reportedly centred around future strategy depending on how deep the Congress-led government would dig in probing the RSS for terror links.

Subsequent to this meeting, Varshney reportedly met with Jaitley, but the BJP chose to not comment on the meeting saying nothing of this sort had happened.

The "political and legal" ramifications of the investigating agencies probing Sangh links with terror strikes, especially regarding Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blasts were discussed.

The RSS, however, has completely denied all association with any terror outfit. "The position of the Sangh was articulated by our sarkaryavah Bhaiyyaji Joshi some time back," RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya said. "We maintain that terrorism should be dealt with strongly. The Sangh is a cultural organisation and we have nothing to do with any of these activities. The RSS denounces violence of any kind."

On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad was ambivalent whether the party will provide legal assistance to the RSS functionaries accused of terror links. "It is the right of every accused to have legal assistance. But where does the question of the RSS needing legal help arise? As far as the BJP is concerned, our position on terrorism remains the same, that it should be dealt with strongly and that the government should not play vote bank politics," Prasad said.

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Water theft: MNS workers beat people

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers are on a rampage once again. Making a mockery of the Ashok Chavan government's law and order machinery, groups of MNS activists have been going around the state capital beating up people for allegedly stealing water.

Mumbai's water woes have become a political plank and parties are trying to outdo each other to hijack it. Parties are sending out vigilante groups to hunt down anyone fetching water illegally.

Taking the law into their hands, Raj Thackeray's party workers have been conducting raids at several places. Late on Wednesday night, they attacked people in Kalbadevi and chased them through streets before beating them up.

Justifying its act, the MNS claimed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was not taking any action against people stealing water.

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Terrorism being fanned to destabilise economy: Chidambaram

Terrorism and militancy are being fanned to destabilise the economy of the country which is at the threshold of a double digit growth, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today said.

He said hostile forces seek to undermine the security and stability of our nation.

"Even while they (hostile forces) challenge our borders and our boundaries, they make attempts to destabilise our economy. Terrorism and militancy are being fanned to hinder the growth of our country," Chidambaram said in his address at the CISF Raising Day Parade here.

He said since the 1980's, India has emerged as one of the most happening economies of the world. "The past decade has seen good growth and our economy is on the threshold of a double digit growth," Chidambaram said.

He said the country's growth depends on infrastructure and the CISF, which guards some of the most critical installations, is securing India's future.

About the renewed mandate of the force to provide security to private installations also, the Minister said his Ministry continues to receive requests which are being examined and security will be provided as per priority.

At present the government has selected Information Technology, Power, Oil and Natural Gas sectors as the top three priorities.

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Vancouver 2010 to Be Warmest Winter Olympics Yet

The Vancouver 2010 games will be the warmest Winter Olympics yet, at least within city limits, experts say. And that may actually be good news for Olympians.

Already the warmest city ever to host the Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver in February 2010 is going to be even balmier than usual, experts say.

The Pacific Northwest Canadian city (Vancouver map)—which will host the games from today through February 28, 2010—just experienced its warmest January since record keeping began in 1937. Temperatures averaged 44.8 degrees Fahrenheit (7.1 degrees Celsius), considerably warmer than the average of 37.9 degrees Fahrenheit (3.3 degrees Celsius). Average February temperatures for Winter Olympic host cities are typically below freezing.

(Related: Vancouver must-dos for travelers.)

At first glance the culprit behind the city’s balmy winter weather appears to be the current El Niño, a game changer in worldwide weather patterns that occurs every two to seven years. During an El Niño event—such as the current one, which began in summer 2009—the Pacific Ocean warms up near equatorial South America and disrupts large-scale atmospheric circulation.

"Once El Niño starts, Vancouver typically gets warmer and slightly drier weather," said William Hsieh, an atmospheric scientist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

El Niño usually peaks in the tropical Pacific Ocean in December and January, but it takes about a month for El Niño waters to travel north to Vancouver's latitude. "So our peak El Niño effect is around February,” he said—just in time for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

Even so, Hsieh said, "This is not a particularly big El Niño, whereas it's a record [warm] January." Hsieh said.

The discrepancy may in part be explained by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (or PDO) an apparent North Pacific temperature cycle. Since about 1900 the PDO has resulted in 20 or 30 years of cooler temperatures followed by 20 or 30 years of warmer temperatures for Vancouver and other western North American cities.

In recent years, though, the PDO has been fairly erratic, with fairly short cool and warm periods. The phenomenon had a cooling effect on Vancouver starting around late 2007, but last summer that effect disappeared quite rapidly.

"It sort of appeared to have faded and no one knows why," Hsieh said. And just as the PDO's cooling effect sputtered, in stepped El Niño. "That really stacked the deck against us," he said.

(Related: "Spring Coming Earlier, Study Says.")

But the warmer weather for the Vancouver 2010 games may not put a damper on the 2,000-plus Olympic athletes' quests for gold—snowfall has been plentiful at some Olympic ski venues, and the warmth may actually improve performance, experts say.

Vancouver 2010 Snow: Good News, Bad News

Outdoor events for the Vancouver 2010 games will take place at several venues around Vancouver and Whistler Blackcomb, an alpine resort town about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Vancouver. (Test your Vancouver knowledge.)

Thanks to higher altitudes and mountainous surroundings, Whistler Blackcomb and Callaghan Valley—the main outdoor venues for the games—haven't been as affected by El Niño, and have seen good snowfall rates. In fact Whistler Blackcomb has enjoyed record snowfall in winter 2009-2010, boasting 32 feet (9.9 meters) of the white stuff.

Not so at Cypress Mountain on Vancouver's north shore, which will host the 2010 Olympics' snowboard and freestyle skiing events. Cypress usually sees about 98 inches (250 centimeters) of snow during February and March, but this winter's warmer coastal temperatures have plagued the resort with a snow drought.

To compensate, the resort is trucking in natural snow from a park just shy of the Canadian Rockies, since Vancouver is so warm right now that on-site snow machines can't meet the demand alone.

Warm Temps and Vancouver 2010 Venues, Gear

To cope with the expected warmer, wetter snow—which means more friction, and therefore slower speeds—skiers and snowboarders athletes will turn to specially formulated ski waxes and finishes.

At the Vancouver 2010 games, for example, the home team will be trying out a brand-new, top-secret, water-repellent base. Christo Stamboulides, a chemical engineer at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, found a chemical additive that—when mixed with the plastic base of a snowboard or ski during manufacturing—makes the gear perform better in warm and wet snow.

So far the base is available only to Canadian Olympians and so hasn't been widely tested, but, Stamboulides said, "I know that for our athletes this is the best they have used, and they're very happy with it."

Regardless of the difficulties in creating the perfect Olympic conditions for Vancouver 2010, the risk—and charm—of the games is dealing with the uncertainty of competing outdoors, said Carl Foster, director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse.

In events such as alpine skiing or snowboarding, one competition may last two to three hours—enough time for the conditions of the course to change dramatically.

"The big issue is competition fairness and how consistent conditions stay during the day," Foster said.

For example, during the speed skating competition at the Albertville Winter Olympics in 1992, conditions on the race track shifted as the sun moved along the rink. The incident prompted speed skating competitions to be brought indoors at future Olympics, where temperature can be more closely controlled.

Improved Performance at Vancouver 2010?

In general, the less exposure to extreme cold, the better physical performance you can expect from an athlete, said Matt White, an environmental physiologist at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

"What's happening in the cold is their muscle strength or performance decreases dramatically as [the muscle] cools," White said.

(Find out how the Vancouver 2010 Olympics is spurring "gene doping" warnings.)

Manual dexterity—key in events such as the biathlon, during which competitors shoot at targets—also decreases, as anyone who's had to tie shoelaces in the bitter cold knows.

"Those are the kinds of impediments that would be removed if they were competing in warmer temperatures.

"I would expect that performance would improve," he added, "so you might see some pretty close races."

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Cricket can join brigade to jump into Olympic bandwagon

Vancouver Cricket was cleared to pursue its bid to be included in future Games after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rubberstamped the sport's

recognition on Thursday.

Cricket, powerboating and sports climbing became the latest sports to be officially recognised by the IOC, a status necessary before launching a bid to become part of the Olympic programme.

"The session gave definite recognition to the three federations," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters.

The three sports can now bid to join the 2020 Olympics as the programme is always determined seven years in advance.

Golf and rugby were latest inclusions in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games when an IOC session voted them in last year.

The decision about new sports for the 2020 Games will be taken at the IOC session in Buenos Aires in 2013 where the host country will also be picked.

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Govt announces ToR on Telangana, TRS calls it betraya

New Delhi The high-level committee appointed by the Centre to go into the emotive issue of Telangana has also been asked to examine the option of a united Andhra Pradesh and given time till the end of the year to submit its report, prompting the proponents of the separate statehood to denounce it.

The seven-point terms of reference has mandated the committee headed by Justice (retd) B N Srikrishna to review the developments in Andhra Pradesh since its formation and their impact on the progress and development of the different regions of the state.

It will "examine the situation in the state of Andhra Pradesh with reference to the demand for a separate state of Telangana as well as the demand for maintaining the present status of a united Andhra Pradesh," the ToR said. The committee has been asked to submit its report by December 31 this year.

In Hyderabad, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has been spearheading the Telangana agitation, said, "The Centre has betrayed us once again". He directed all his party MPs, MLAs and MLCs to resign from their posts immediately in protest against the "betrayal".

The committee, constituted on February 3, will examine the impact of the recent developments in the state on the different sections of the people such as women, children, students, minorities, other backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

The committee includes Ranbir Singh, Abusaleh Shariff, Ravinder Kaur and former Home Secretary Vinod K Duggal as member-secretary.

Justice B N Srikrishna is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court. While Ranbir Singh is the Vice Chancellor of National Law University, Delhi, Abusaleh Shariff is the Senior Research Fellow at International Food Policy Research Institute, Delhi.

Ravinder Kaur is professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT, Delhi.

The terms of reference said the committee will "identify the key issues that must be addressed while considering the matter".

It said the panel "will consult all sections of the people, especially the political parties, on the aforesaid matters and elicit their views; to seek from the political parties and other organisations a range of solutions that would resolve the present difficult situation and promote the welfare of all sections of the people; to identify the optimal solutions for this purpose; and to recommend a plan of action and a road map".

The committee will consult other organisations of civil society such as industry, trade, trade unions, farmers' organisations, women's organisations and students' bodies on the specified matters and elicit their views with specific reference to the all round development of the different regions of the state and make any other suggestion or recommendation that the Committee may deem appropriate, the ToR said.

Both Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who were at a function together, said they would react after studying the ToR.

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BJP not with Shiv Sena on MNIK issue: Gadkari

Thiruvananthapuram BJP president Nitin Gadkari said his party is not supporting its ally in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena, in its protests against the release of Shah Rukh Khan’s starrer ‘My Name Is Khan’.

“We are definitely not with Sena on this issue. We are two different parties,” he said in reply to questions on the issue at a meet-the-press here.

He also said his party does not agree with the Sena slogan that Mumbai is for Mumbaikars. “We believe that Mumbai is for all Indians. We believe in unity in diversity.” However, Gadkari dared the Congress and the Left to proclaim that Srinagar was also open to all Indians like Mumbai. As long as Article 370 was in force, Indians from other parts cannot not buy land and live there, he said.

On the assault of Sriram Sene chief Pramod Mutalik in Bangalore yesterday, he said the BJP had no direct or indirect connection with the outfit. However, he said it was not proper for anybody to take law into their hands anywhere.

To a question on his description of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar as “cricket minister”, Gadkari said Pawar was always engaged in cricket. “Let him play cricket, but let him not play with the lives of people,” he said alluding to price rise affecting common man.

Gadkari said West Bengal government’s move to introduce 10 per cent quota for Muslims was part of vote bank politics for exploitation. BJP was not against minorities but was against terrorism, he said.

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Indo-Pak Foreign Secys to meet on Feb 25

Islamabad Pakistan on Friday announced that the Foreign Secretary-level talks with India will be held in New Delhi

on February 25 during which it will raise all "core issues" and the need for their "expeditious resolution through resumption of Composite Dialogue".

"It was decided that foreign secretary level talks between the two countries would be held on February 25 in New Delhi," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement in Islamabad.

A decision on holding the Foreign Secretary-level talks in New Delhi

on February 25 was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the PM's house here this morning.

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had invited her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir to New Delhi for talks. India

says the talks would be focussed on terrorism, but would be ready to discuss any other issue that Pakistan raises.

India had proposed February 18 and 25 for the meeting in New Delhi.

During the talks, the Pakistan side should raise all the "core issues and impress upon India the need for the expeditious resolution to resumption of the Composite Dialogue", the statement said.

Gilani directed Bashir, who was also present in the meeting, that the talks with his Indian counterpart should be "result-oriented and meaningful."

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Revamped DGCA with more teeth on anvil

New Delhi

, Feb 10 : Gearing up for newer challenges in the wake of enhanced air traffic, the government plans a host of steps to strengthen the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to brace itself for the new role.
According to official sources, among the priorities on the table was the DGCA's regulatory mechanism which needed strengthening as the present one fell short in tackling the new challenges.

Denying any move to divide the DGCA or segregate its supervisory and regulatory roles in order to deal with growing air traffic that has seen unthought of rise in recent years, the sources said any such proposal was not on the agenda as of now.

''However, the beginning to revamp and revitalise all the wings of the DGCA has already begun and soon important announcements were likely,'' the sources said, adding that the traffic increase from nearly 3.7 crore to touching seven crore between 2004-05 and 2008-09 was phenomenal and the DGCA needed additional teeth to deal with the new realities.

On the proposals of the 'feasibility study', commissioned last October to go into feasibility of setting up an Civil Aviation Authority within the DGCA, the sources said they were yet to be chiselled and discussed, and only after that something concrete could be said.

The 'study' is to be carried out in technical cooperation with the 'International Civil Aviation Organisation' of the United Nations, and the 'Authority' would work to sharpen the financial and administrative autonomy, besides overlooking the safety aspect, the sources added.

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ISRO successfully tests world's third largest solid booster

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) conducted a successful static test of its largest 'solid booster' on Sunday.

With this, it has reached a step closer to launching four-tonne class communication satellites on its own, doubling the current payload capacity.

The solid booster (S200) will form the first stage for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III (GSLV-Mk III).

"The booster test was conducted at ISRO's spaceport, Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north-east of Chennai," a space agency spokesperson said.

The step is significant as ISRO strengthens its foothold in the commercial satellite launch market.

At the recent Indian Science Congress, chairman K. Radhakrishnan said launcher development was a thrust area and the ISRO would like to launch six-tonne class satellites.

"The GSLV-Mk III is in an advanced stage of development," an ISRO spokesperson said. The GSLV-Mk III is shorter, fatter and stronger than the current version. The ISRO had earlier slated the launch for 2011.

The three-stage launcher will be 42.4 m tall and weigh 630 tonne at the launch. The payload fairing will be five metres wide.

The solid boosters that give it an initial 'brute force' will be strapped on to the second stage of the launcher that runs on liquid propellant.

The third stage will be cryogenic - using super-cooled liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidiser that help it burn.

S200 is the third largest solid booster in the world, next to the reusable solid rocket motor booster of the NASA Space Shuttle and P230 solid booster of Ariane-5 of the European consortium Arianespace.

The booster containing 200 tonne of solid propellant (fuel and oxidiser) in three segments, with a height of about 22 m and diameter of three metres, was developed at ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram.

The ISRO has used the indigenous GSLV-Mk I and II for launching five satellites, weighing 1.5 to 2.5 tonne, for communication, broadcasting, weather and education between 2001 and 2007. India currently uses Ariane launchers for heavier satellites.

While Mark-III remains on the anvil, a modified version of the existing GSLV, but with a new indigenous cryogenic stage, is slated for launch later this year.

"So far, India has been dependent on Russian technology for the complex cryogenic stage in these advanced launchers. The ISRO is going slow to make it flawless," Radhakrishnan said.

"The GSLV-Mk III will enhance India's capability as a competitive player in the multi-million dollar launch market," said ISRO public relations director S. Satish.

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