From The Hindu, June 19, 1975: Weather modification, new U.S. war weapon
New Delhi, June 18: Weather modification as a new weapon of war might have startling implications for the world, writes PTI's Science Correspondent. A new super weapon, mentioned by the Soviet Communist Party Chief, Mr. Brezhnev, in a speech last Friday, was subsequently identified by the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee's daily as a ghastly weather weapon developed by the United States.
According to a Geneva report, the American and Soviet experts are now negotiating a possible ban on meteorological warfare.
Military scientists have been developing techniques for dispersing fog, modifying cloud cover and lightning, handling hurricanes, and even producing rain or snow.
Prof. Edith Brown Weiss of Princeton University recently wrote in Survival (published by the Institute of Strategic Studies, London) that weather weapons resulting from such research are on the 'horizon.'
Prof. Weiss said that the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. Defence Department has undertaken a worldwide climate modelling programme to detect modifications in climate and to predict the likely consequences.
'Attempts have been made to calculate the impact of introducing contaminants into the atmosphere and of depleting ozone', the Professor said.
Ozone shields people against dangerous ultraviolet rays of the sun.
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The Hindu
5 hours ago
- The Hindu
From The Hindu, June 19, 1975: Weather modification, new U.S. war weapon
New Delhi, June 18: Weather modification as a new weapon of war might have startling implications for the world, writes PTI's Science Correspondent. A new super weapon, mentioned by the Soviet Communist Party Chief, Mr. Brezhnev, in a speech last Friday, was subsequently identified by the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee's daily as a ghastly weather weapon developed by the United States. According to a Geneva report, the American and Soviet experts are now negotiating a possible ban on meteorological warfare. Military scientists have been developing techniques for dispersing fog, modifying cloud cover and lightning, handling hurricanes, and even producing rain or snow. Prof. Edith Brown Weiss of Princeton University recently wrote in Survival (published by the Institute of Strategic Studies, London) that weather weapons resulting from such research are on the 'horizon.' Prof. Weiss said that the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. Defence Department has undertaken a worldwide climate modelling programme to detect modifications in climate and to predict the likely consequences. 'Attempts have been made to calculate the impact of introducing contaminants into the atmosphere and of depleting ozone', the Professor said. Ozone shields people against dangerous ultraviolet rays of the sun.
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First Post
9 hours ago
- First Post
50 years of Aryabhata: India's journey through Space Age
India's space journey is no longer just about reaching the stars — it is about shaping the future read more On April 19, 1975, India achieved a significant milestone in space technology as it launched its first satellite, Aryabhata शं नो द्यावापृथिवी पूर्वहूतौ शमन्तरिक्षं दृशये नो अस्तु । शं न ओषधीर्वनिनो भवन्तु शं नो रजसस्पतिरस्तु जिष्णुः || — ऋग्वेदः सूक्तं ७.३५ 'May the heaven and earth invoked since eternity in the first yajna, and the middle regions so charming to see be good for our peace and joy. May the herbs instilled with the vitality of sun rays be for our peace and joy of good health, and may the victorious lord of life on earth and in distant regions be good and bring us peace, prosperity and happiness.' — Rig Veda STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Space has long captivated the human imagination, with mythological tales across cultures often alluding to celestial journeys and cosmic realms. India is no exception, with its rich heritage of stories that reflect a deep-rooted fascination with the universe. On the evening of November 21, 1963—about half an hour after sunset—India took its first nascent step into space technology. From the newly established Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) launched a 715 kg Nike-Apache sounding rocket. It soared to an altitude of 200 kms, releasing a brilliant sodium vapor cloud in the upper atmosphere that lit up the twilight sky—a modest yet momentous beginning for India's space programme. On August 15, 1969, India established Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under the Department of Atomic Energy, which replaced the erstwhile INCOSPAR. However, it was only in June 1972 that India established Department of Space (DOS) and brought ISRO under its purview. Aryabhata: India joins the space club On April 19, 1975, India achieved a significant milestone in space technology as it launched its first satellite, Aryabhata. The satellite was carried aboard a Soviet Kosmos-3M launch vehicle from the Kapustin Yar spaceport in Astrakhan Oblast as spart of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos programme. Aryabhata remained in contact with ground stations until March 1981. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Aryabhata remained in contact with ground stations until March 1981 To commemorate this achievement, the Government of India featured the satellite's image on the reverse side of the Rs 2 banknote, which remained in circulation from 1976 to 1997. Rohini Satellites: India's Orbital Genesis From 1979 to 1983, India conducted a series of four experimental satellite launches under the Rohini programme, which employed the indigenously developed four-stage solid-propellant Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3). From 1979 to 1983, India conducted a series of four experimental satellite launches under the Rohini programme These missions were aimed at validating launch vehicle performance, orbit injection accuracy, and establishing indigenous capability in satellite deployment. ISRO used the indigenously developed 'Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV)'. For each of these launches from its launchpad at Sriharikota High Altitude Range. The satellites were named as: Rohini Technology Payload (RTP), Rohini RS-1, Rohini RS-D1 and Rohini RS-D2. RS-1 was India's first successful satellite launch and India joined an elite group of countries to reach Earth's orbit after the USSR, the US, France, the UK, China and Japan. On July 18, 1981 Department of Posts commemorated Rohini Satellites by issuing a 1 Rupee postage stamp and a First Day Cover. The First Day Cover shows SLV-3 being transported to the launcher while the stamp shows the launch of SLV 3 Rocket with diagram of Rohini satellite. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD PSLV: The Workhorse of India's Space Missions As the Cold War neared its end in late 1980s, India felt the need to move away from foreign launch vehicles for launching its own satellites. An indigenous platform not only meant strategic autonomy but also saving of precious foreign exchange. Thus, the workhorse of India's space programme, PSLV, was born. The first launcher in this series was PSLV-G which powered the PSLV-D1 mission on 20 September 1993 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Till date, PSLV has had 63 launches, out of which 59 have been successful giving it an incredible success rate of 93.65 per cent! Some of the notable launches by PSLV include: PSLV-C2 which deployed Oceansat-1, DLR-Tubsat, and Kitsat-3, PSLV-C28 which successfully deployed 5 satellites, PSLV-C34 which deployed a record breaking 20 satellites from different countries in a single flight, PSLV-C35 which was the first mission to deploy satellites in 2 different orbits, PSLV-C57 which deployed India's first solar observatory Aditya-L1, PSLV-C56 which deployed a Singapore satellite along with 6 smaller satellites. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On April 10, 2015 Department of Posts released a set of 2 stamps of 25 Rupees and 5 Rupees in a Joint Issue with France to commemorate 50 years of space cooperation between the two countries. The 5 Rupees stamp shows the Satellite 'Megha-Tropiques' which was launched by PSLV in 2011 in orbit around Earth. The 25 Rupees stamp shows the 'Satellite with ARgos and ALtika' (SARAL), which was launched by PSLV in 2013, orbiting the Earth with the Map of India in the background. On April 10, 2015 Department of Posts released a set of 2 stamps of 25 Rupees and 5 Rupees in a Joint Issue with France to commemorate 50 years of space cooperation between the two countries Reaching for the Moon The Chandrayaan missions also known as the Indian Lunar Exploration Programme, is India's ambitious pursuit of moon exploration. On October 22, 2008, Chandrayaan-1 was launched aboard PSLV. The mission was extremely successful as the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) landed near the Lunar South Pole and made the historic discovery of existence of water on Moon. On September 6, 2019, Chandrayaan-2 crash landed on moon's surface during its descent. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Not to be deterred, ISRO launched Chandrayaan-3 mission and on August 23, 2023, Vikram lander made history by becoming the first human endeavour to land on the Lunar South Pole. Taare Zameen Par From Aryabhata to Chandrayaan-3, India's space missions reflect a saga of resilience, innovation, and vision. India has launched successful missions which have not only enhanced communication, weather forecasting, navigation, resource management but also saved precious foreign exchange and made India a key player in global space economy. India's space journey is no longer just about reaching the stars — it is about shaping the future. It is also about carrying the aspirations of a billion Indians with one cosmic milestone at a time. Krishna Kant Sharma (X: @krishnakant_75) is a New Delhi-based technology professional with experience in IT, Telecom & Digital Transformation domains. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Time of India
'Elio' directors on drawing inspiration from Steven Spielberg and Roald Dahl: We both are sci-fi fans
"Elio", Disney Pixar's new film about a space-obsessed boy who suddenly finds himself beamed across the galaxy and declared Earth's ambassador by a quirky council of aliens, borrows a lot from filmmaker Steven Spielberg's "E.T. " and Roald Dahl's books, say the movie's directors. The film is directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina. Both Shi and Sharafian spoke to PTI about their movie influences and crafting a story with a universal theme. The film's producer Mary Alice said "Elio" underscores the intrigue humans have towards aliens. Shi said she drew a lot of inspiration from Dahl's books like "James and the Giant Peach", and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", while putting together the lead character. "'E.T.' was a big inspiration for us. I've always loved books by Roald Dahl. He tells stories about these lonely boys that come from a sad upbringing, a lot of the time they're orphans or have horrible families, and through their gumption, passion and perseverance, they're able to find belonging and love through a quirky world. "The tone of our movie is like, oftentimes very Roald Dahl-esque, kind of the alien ambassadors that Elio meets, they're kind of ridiculous and pompous, but also a little silly and sweet," the director told PTI in a virtual interview. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software [Click Here] Esseps Learn More Undo Sharafian, co-director of "Elio" said they channelled their love for Spielberg's classic movies, such as "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", John Carpenter's "The Thing", and Ridley Scott's "Alien", to create a narrative that presents aliens as "warm and friendly" figures. "Domee and I are both huge sci-fi fans. We wanted to make a movie about aliens and a sci-fi movie that portrayed aliens in a positive light. But we still wanted to have fun and pay homage to these classics and these tropes. When you watch the film, you'll see a little bit of both, friendliness and warmth, but maybe a few scares along the way," she added. Shi added that with "Elio", they wanted to tap into the universal curiosity about what lies beyond Earth. "... Is space friendly? Is it threatening? We don't know. I love that our movie kind of proposes a what-if, like, what if space was friendly? What if it was welcoming and there was a sense of belonging out there for us, and for this lonely kid named Elio? So, I love all that. All the movies that Maddie mentioned, I'm a huge fan of Spielberg, Carpenter, and Ridley Scott," she said. In the movie, a scene features a pivotal shout-out to Mumbai, encapsulating a massive emotional turn for Elio as he discovers he is not alone. "I'm a huge fan of Indian films. So, I loved the shout-out. What we wanted that scene to encapsulate was this huge emotional turn for Elio as he realises that there were people like him all around who cared about the same things that he cared about and who were there for him and there to rescue and uplift him, all the things that he thought aliens, only aliens could do. So, I'm glad we got a Mumbai shout-out in there. I hope one day we could see more," Sharafian added. According to Alice, they wanted to understand human curiosity about universe through the eyes of Elio. "We're always looking up at the stars, and we're always wondering, is there life out there? It's such a universal thing. Carl Sagan (American astronomer and planetary scientist) said as we learn more and more about space and the universe and the vastness, we're always curious about that, maybe even sometimes when we're kind of sad or tired of Earth, we wonder if there's something like Elio where we could go out into space and wish for it. "But there are a lot of sci-fi movies, Maddie and Domee are such fans of and that have been the inspirations for the movie." "Elio" boasts a stellar voice cast featuring Yonas Kibreab as Elio, Zoe Saldana as Aunt Olga, Remy Edgerly as Glordon, Brad Garrett as Lord Grigon, and Jameela Jamil as Ambassador Questa, among others. The film will hit theatres on June 20 in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.
