India launches first Moon mission

[COMCAM]

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y man bahoan pa d i na cla?

ha? diba unmanned mani, they don't need showers

[diatabz]

of course, that's a huge assumption on my part. coz that's how i see it.

if u talk of social goals for the space program, looking at the nature, of course, it has nothing to do for the alleviation of poverty (well, maybe perhaps job-generation). social goals is not even all about poverty. social goals has a lot of things in it. it could include uplifting pride of their country. it could also mean the social goal of letting the world know what they can do. it could also mean social responsibility.

A social responsibility to make sure India doesn't lag behind in the space exploration department? India's most pressing social goal is to alleviate poverty, almost everyone understands that.

even if it's been done before, it doesn't mean one don't need to do it again. if Japan has been making cars, it doesn't mean India wouldn't too. if one has already made the longest line of barbecue in Guiness book, it doesn't mean one don't have to do it also.

First of all, car manufacturing is totally different. Indian taxpayer money doesn't go to car companies, at least not in the classic bureaucratic sense. Notice that I haven't criticized the ISRO in general? They've done some exemplary work, but this moon launch has "political maneuver" written all over it.

and btw, India has already been way long in the medical research field. even their Indian Journal of Medical Research is one of the oldest medical journals in the world.

and genetic research? what, u didn't know? well, here's one: Koduru Ishwari Varaprasad achieved with panache what “bigpharma” couldn’t. In 1997, he and his Argonauts created India’s first genetically engineered (GE) hepatitis B vaccine: Shantha Biotech’s Shanvac B. It captured 40 percent of the market and unleashed a price war that four years and more competitors later has resulted in the vaccine being available for 50 rupees (US$1) per dose!

in 2002, The Dep't of Biotechnology has announced an ambitious 10-year vision—vaccines for cholera, malaria, and tuberculosis; biofertilizers, biopesticides, transgenic crops; and gene therapy trials against cancer. State governments—notably those in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh—are bending over backward to lure firms into their “genome valleys.” Foreign firms and research institutes are rushing in. The Tamil Nadu Industrial Dev't Corp. and the U.S. firm Genome Technologies are collaborating to set up a 4.5-billion rupee genomics and bioinformatics project in Chennai.

The Hyderabad-based Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology’s (CCMB) 85-million rupee research facility, the first of its kind in Asia, will hunt for new genes and proteins that may help identify the genetic root of diseases like cancer.

and that's not even all...

so don't even begin to compare their medical and biotech research programs w/ their space program.

Ah, let me reiterate my point.

Why not do research on say, genetic engineering, medical research or whatnot?

I'm pertaining to other fields of science and not just genetic engineering and medical research. I know very well of the breakthroughs they've made in medicine, but that doesn't mean they can now rest on their laurels. I'd have no qualms whatsoever if the ISRO decided to do something new really. I'm all for space exploration mind you, but India's ruling party needs to be mindful of their problems in the ground before making moves that've already been done. India's politicians have already expressed their desire to have their presence felt with China's lunar ambitions in the works. Even the idea of lunar colonization is in their heads.

[jutai]

basin naa ni sila plan mag 5-6 sila didto... di lang diay pang international,pang universal nasad sila....hehehe

[giddyboy]

A social responsibility to make sure India doesn't lag behind in the space exploration department? India's most pressing social goal is to alleviate poverty, almost everyone understands that.

no, u didn't understand the point. Social goal has a lot of aspects to consider. Social responsibility too. and the social responsibility im talking about here is making sure their space programs are reasonable and doesn't hamper w/ poverty alleviation and other programs relating to it. Just like the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) acctg concept.

i even cited percentages of their budgets. i even cited increases in their poverty budgets and program improvements that goes w/ it.

if we take it to the corporate world, that's CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility, well, in some rough analogy.

"While social responsibility hold obvious moral value, it carries with it economic value as well."---wiki

i know (and we all know) their most pressing social goal is to alleviate poverty. But they have specific programs for that specific purpose.

that's why i took the analogy of the bird messenger.

First of all, car manufacturing is totally different. Indian taxpayer money doesn't go to car companies, at least not in the classic bureaucratic sense. Notice that I haven't criticized the ISRO in general? They've done some exemplary work, but this moon launch has "political maneuver" written all over it.

Second of all, with the cars and longest line of bbq, those were only analogies my friend. op kors they are totally different per se, but the idea is, at least roughly. that's why it's called an analogy.

and op kors, there's a political aspect to this. who would want to deny that?

Ah, let me reiterate my point.
I'm pertaining to other fields of science and not just genetic engineering and medical research. I know very well of the breakthroughs they've made in medicine, but that doesn't mean they can now rest on their laurels. I'd have no qualms whatsoever if the ISRO decided to do something new really. I'm all for space exploration mind you, but India's ruling party needs to be mindful of their problems in the ground before making moves that've already been done. India's politicians have already expressed their desire to have their presence felt with China's lunar ambitions in the works. Even the idea of lunar colonization is in their heads.

of course, they can't, shouldn't and won't (resting their laurels). they aren't...well, for one, they have vast improvements on their IT research. investments are even booming on this field.

another research fields that they have?

Math research i.e. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)
Physics research i.e. Institute for Plasma Research (IPR)
Robotics research i.e. Center for Ai and Robotics ( CAIR )
Chemistry research i.e. National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research
Biology research i.e. Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology
Environmental research i.e. Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF)

need i say more?

and if we go back to genetics research, well to put it more general, Biotech research, it actually has various fields and applications. it could involve GMO's. it could involve decoding genomes. it could involve treatment for diseases intertwined w/ medical research. it could mean food supplements that improves height, nutrition and health.

as i've said before not everyone can be satisfied by their decision. u can't please everybody. it's one of their hard-lined decisions and let's just respect that. (mura naman kog spokesperson ani sa India oi)

if u come to think of it, it is just one those issues that people have been perpetually debating about like Global warming, Birth control, Morality, etc etc ek ek...and before i forget, the Bible...way kahangturan...

[Dorothea]

India has successfully launched its first mission to the Moon.

The unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft blasted off smoothly from a launch pad in southern Andhra Pradesh to embark on a two-year mission of exploration.

The robotic probe will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals.

The launch is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia.

This is a major waste of money. They need to be addressing the issue of extreme poverty among their people and how to improve living conditions, and not waste time and money with stuff like this.

The money could have been put to better use. Tsk, tsk, tsk

[shaven.poodle]

kanindut sa india...

[lordraven]

nice.. good job aning India ky next daw sa nirvana nga mission (lol)

[dominate]

wow nirvana..hahahaha...=)

[krstn is sensen]

nice job india!

[lordraven]

mga buddhist man ang mag launch ani daw (joke)...thru meditation daw.. wla'y gasto