Bangalore, Oct 25 : ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair has said that Chandrayaan-1 has covered 20 percent of its journey towards moon as scientists on Saturday performed the second orbit-raising manoeuvre.

“So far, Indian-made satellites have reached to a height of only 36,000 km. Today’s firing has taken Chandrayaan-1 to something like 75,000 km. That’s well beyond what we have reached so far. It was a good event, and done precisely,” Nair, also secretary in the Department of Space, said.

Bangalore, Oct 25 : Union Defence Minister A K Antony today said that the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) would be delivered to the Indian Air Force by 2011.

Talking to media during his visit at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Antony said, "The final operational clearances for the indigenously developed aircraft will be given by 
2010."

Antony, who also witnessed an air show in which latest aircraft including LCA, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and SARAS showed their capabilities and strength, said that LCA and ALH ''Dhruv'' would be the prized induction in Air Force.

Bangalore, Oct 24 : Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair has said that India''s manned mission would take atleast another three years.

India''s space programme took a leap on Wednesday when the ISRO undertook a flawless lift off of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carrying Chandrayaan-I, a cuboid spacecraft which includes a Moon Impactor Probe gadget.

India hopes to send an astronaut into space by 2012 and a manned mission to the moon by 2020.

The Indian Government has approved the launch of Chandrayaan-2, which is expected to take off between 2010 and 2012, and will include a rover that will land on the moon. 

Bangalore-based hospitality firm Phoenix Group Global has announced that the company has set aside Rs 450 crore to set up its branded luxury hotels and resorts and expand its floriculture business in India.

The group, which runs three hotels across the country, now proposes to come up with its own hotels and resorts, under the Zuri brand.

To expand its floriculture business in India, the company envisages pumping Rs 150 crore.

Bangkok - Former Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej, who was forced out of office last month by a court ruling, said Saturday that he has cancer.

The rotund, outspoken Samak, 73, said that after the court ruling, abdominal pains prompted him to seek medical treatment and doctors discovered he has liver cancer, he told a local television programme.

An operation to alleviate the cancer had gone well, he said.