Sriharikota: India has launched its first mission to Mars on Tuesday at 02:38pm (0908 GMT) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre here in Andhra Pradesh.

The spacecraft was carried onboard the indigenous PSLV-C25 rocket which injected it into Earth's orbit after 40 minutes from lift-off.

The 350-tonne launch vehicle will orbit earth for nearly a month before picking up the necessary velocity to break free from Earth’s gravitational pull.

The Rs 430-crore project, informally known as "Mangalyaan", was approved on 3 August, 2012 and the Indian Space Research Organisation immediately jumped into action to create India’s first interplanetary spacecraft.

"I am extremely happy to announce PSLV-C25 placed Mars Orbiter spacecraft very precisely in elliptical orbit around Earth. Now it will be a complex mission to take the Mars Orbiter from the Earth's orbit to Mars orbit," K Radhakrishnan, ISRO chairman, said.

The Bangalore-based organisation and its 16,000 staff also share their rocket technology with the state-run defence body responsible for India's rapidly evolving missile programme.

So far only three other space agencies including United States’ NASA, Russia’s Roscosmos and the Europe’s space agency have achieved the feat of reaching Earth’s closest neighbour.

Some of the objectives of the mission are to develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission and also to study the Martian surface and atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments.

NASA, which will launch its own probe to study Mars on November 18, is helping ISRO with communications. 

 As a Sachin Tendulkar mania sweeps Kolkata, West Indies operations manager and former skipper Richie Richardson says the little master deserves all the adulation, but that will not affect his focus once he enters the field.

Describing Tendulkar, who plays the 199th and penultimate Test match of his career at Eden Gardens beginning Nov 6, Richardson said: "He has been a great ambassador of the game. He deserves every bit of adulation and celebrations surrounding him. But once he enters the field, the celebrations will not affect his focus."

Tendulkar will be retiring after the second and the last Test - his 200th - at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, Nov 14-18.

Richardson said Tendulkar was a great both as a sportsperson and a human being.

"It is difficult to express in words Tendulkar's contribution to cricket and humanity. What I like most about him is he is humble despite his achievements, and always smiling," said Richardson after Windies' practice session at the Eden Gardens.

"He is a great human being. You do often find somebody who is great at sports, but may be he is not equally great as a person. But Sachin is blessed to be both. People admire him forever," he said.

Richardson said the Caribbeans were happy to be a party in the final two matches of Tendulkar's Test career. "But at the same time we are here to play, to compete and to win."

He praised the Indian team, and said the visitors needed to work hard to make a mark in the two Test series.

"India are playing very well at the moment. They have some very good players, and they will come hard at us. We will have to work hard, but we will be pretty competitive," he said.

Krrish 3, starring Hrithik Roshan, has struck the right chord with the audience and is reaping rich dividends at the box office - it did a business of Rs.72.7 crores within the first three days of its release. The superhero sci-fi is still counting.
Watch Video: Krrish 3 cast spills beans about wild Diwali memories

The figure includes collections from the Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions as well.

Krrish 3 is director-producer Rakesh Roshan's third instalment of the franchise that hit the road to glory in 2003 with Koi...Mil Gaya.

Krrish 3 came out on Friday and collected Rs.25.20 crores on the first day, followed by R .23.20 crores on the second day with impressive Diwali day collections at Rs.24.30 crore, said a statement.

If the audience lapped up Hrithik as superhero again, they have also appreciated the performances by Vivek Oberoi and Kangana Ranaut who play negative characters in the film. Priyanka Chopra is the female lead.

 A defiant Mohamed Morsi today appeared at a court here to face charges of inciting murder and violence during the ousted Egyptian president's year-long rule, even as his high-profile trial was adjourned to January 8.

Morsi, in his first public appearance since the army deposed him in July, called the court "illegal" and asserted: "I am Dr Mohamed Morsi, the president of the republic...".

"This court is illegal," the 62-year-old Muslim Brotherhood leader said, clad in a suit rather than the customary white detention clothes.

He slammed his ouster and demanded that the military leaders, who staged the coup, face trial.

"This was a military coup. The leaders of the coup should be tried. A coup is treason and a crime," Morsi said.

After Morsi's remarks and his refusal to wear a uniform, the judge adjourned the trial until January 8 to allow prosecution and defence to examine documents.

During the trial, Morsi asserted that he is the "legitimate president of the country," appealing to the "Egypt's judiciary not to provide cover for the criminal coup d'etat," in reference to his ouster on July 3.

Supporters of the leader protested outside the court and elsewhere.

At least 10 people died in the clashes at the Ittihadiya presidential palace in December 2012 which broke out after pro-Morsi protesters attacked a sit-in held by opponents of a presidential decree which had granted the Islamist leader expanded powers.

If found guilty, Morsi and 14 others could face lifetime imprisonment or the death penalty.

The deposed Islamist president was brought from a secret military facility where he has been detained for the past four months.

He was flown down to the venue of the trial, a police academy in an eastern district here, by a helicopter.

For top Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientists, it has been a tradition to visit Tirupati temple before any major launch. It has been no different in the run-up to the launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission on Tuesday.

Isro chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan visited Tirupati on
Sunday to seek blessings for the successful launch.

Former Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair on Monday said, “This has been a tradition. I had also gone to Tirupati before the Chandrayaan mission.”

But more than religious beliefs, he said these temple visits helped des-stress the mind and offer clarity.

But beyond this, do superstitions and other beliefs have a hold on the scientists?

“Not really,” said Mylswamy Annadurai, the project director of moon missions Chandrayaan 1 and Chandrayaan 2. “I read a page of Bhagawad Gita daily and will do so on Tuesday.”

He added, “But yes I have just got a jar of peanuts and a good luck card from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Nasa. This is a very nice gesture. I will distribute these peanuts in my office on Tuesday morning.”

Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) consider circulation of peanuts auspicious.

Vijay Saradhi, group director, project management, said, “Beliefs and prayers are personal. We had simply broken a coconut just before the entire process started in July. That’s all. We don’t believe in making our beliefs public.”

SK Shivakumar, director, Isro Satellite Center, agrees. “I am just focussed on the launch. All these things are secondary.”

Another scientist, who did not want to be named, said, “I will pray for the success of the launch during my routine daily worship. Nothing beyond that.”

BlackBerry Ltd. is abandoning a plan to find a buyer and will instead raise $1-billion of new funds and replace its chief executive and some directors, sources said.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based smartphone company had spent the past two and a half months seeking a buyer, and had received a letter of intent from investor Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. to purchase the company for $4.7-billion. Fairfax had until today to complete its detailed examination of BlackBerry’s books.

The new plan will involve raising roughly $1-billion by selling convertible notes to a group of investors, according to people familiar with the transaction. Chief executive officer Thorsten Heins will depart the company, and the company will announce changes to its board, the people said.

John Chen, the former chief of Sybase Inc., will be appointed executive chairman of the board, responsible for the company's "strategic direction, strategic relationships and organizational goals."

He will be interim CEO when Mr. Heins leaves.

Mr. Heins was named to the top job early last year, taking over from Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, who had run the company since its earliest days.

Mr. Heins’ short tenure was marked by the rocky launch of BlackBerry’s new phone lineup. The new phones met tepid demand, and BlackBerry made the decision to officially put itself up for sale in August.

Fairfax had offered $9 a share in its tentative letter of intent, and was working to pull together a group of backers. The market was skeptical that Fairfax would be successful, and BlackBerry shares have been trading well below that price.

The process also attracted interest from various sources, including a potential group bid from private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, Mr. Lazaridis and chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.

oe Cornish could replace J.J. Abrams as king of the "Star Trek" universe. That's the report from Deadline.com's Mike Fleming, who writes that Paramount "is sweet" on the idea of Cornish directing the franchise's next installment.

This isn't the first time Cornish, who directed the cult hit "Attack the Block" and co-wrote the script for "Ant-Man" with Edgar Wright, has had his name attached to "Star Trek 3." Back in May, Latino Review reporter Umberto "El Mayimbe" Gonzalez tweeted that Cornish was under consideration as a possible replacement for Abrams, who is next directing "Star Wars: Episode VII."

Other reported contenders for "Star Trek 3" have included Jon M. Chu and Rupert Wyatt. In an email to HuffPost Entertainment, however, Chu's representatives denied that "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" director was up for the job. Wyatt's involvement was never confirmed or denied, but Abrams did discuss the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" director in an interview with HitFix.

"Whomever it is that directs the film will be someone we all know is going to keep the cast and crew in good hands," Abrams told Collider back in September. "I feel very lucky to have been part of it, and it definitely feels like the right time to let someone come in and do their own thing. I certainly don’t want someone to come in and try to do what I would have done. We want to hire someone who's gonna come in and bring their own sensibility. I'm very excited to see what comes next, despite feeling jealous of whomever that person is."

Dolly Parton is Miley Cyrus' godmother, so of course she has nothing but kind words about the 20-year-old singer. But that doesn't mean she's taking her mentoring opportunities to an extreme.

In a new interview with the the London Evening Standard, Parton, 67, said she has advised Cyrus at times but "would never dream of" inserting herself in the singer's career moves unsolicited.

“I’ve loved her through the years and watched her grow up, and I’ve seen how smart she is and how talented she is," Parton said. "I don’t think people really realize yet what a great singer and writer she really is. She’s just trying to find her own place and wings and learn to fly."

Even if it's a given that Parton would voice her support for Cyrus, she still serves as a tally mark on Team Miley. A number of musicians (Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Kanye West) have joined the coterie of Cyrus supporters, while others (Cher, Sinead O'Connor, Elton John, Pink) have taken a seat on the other side of the fence.

“It’s not easy being young," Partons said. "It’s hard to know what to do. You’ve almost got to sacrifice your damn soul just to get anything done.”

Parton also voiced an interest in recording a duet with Cyrus, which is clearly the best idea she's had since rapping about Oprah and "Duck Dynasty" on "The Queen Latifah Show" two weeks ago.