Russian communication satellite, Express-A1R was launched from Baikonur over the weekend.
The satellite replaces a sister satellite that was destroyed in a failed launch in October 1999. Express A1R is the third of the next-generation Express A series to reach orbit, after two successful launches in 2000. The craft‘s 12 C-band and five Ku-band transponders are to be used for television and radio broadcasting services, mobile telephony, data transmission, video conferencing and high-speed Internet, according to reports. The 5,700-pound satellite will operate in orbit for at least 10 years, its footprints covering the European part of Russia, the CIS countries, the whole of Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Northern Africa.

Express A1R is designed to relay government radio and television programs to Russia?s central regions and CIS countries. The satellite was manufactured at the Siberian Prikladnaya Mekhanika (Applied Mechanics) scientific production association with the participation of Alcatel. Russian space troops and Rosaviakosmos, the Russian space agency, carried out the launch. The Russian Satellite Communications Company and the Intersputnik organization will both use parts of Express A1R‘s capacity and capabilities, splitting the satellite‘s services between the Russian government and the commercial market.

The satellite bus was developed by Russia‘s Krasnoyarsk-based NPO PM, while Alcatel Espace of France supplied the payload.

?Achanak... 37 saal baad? the weekly late night supernatural thriller on Sony is all set to conclude the first cycle with a ‘major revelation‘ this Friday.

Series writer Sridhar Raghavan says this week‘s episode will reveal the person responsible for the strange goings-on at Gahota, which have fuelled and propelled the story thus far. This would turn the plot inside out, as the protagonist is a person who has been a main figure throughout the story.

Raghavan says the show, that kicked off on 22 March is divided into four cycles, with the first one concluding with the unmasking of the villain. ? CID was rational, Aahat was irrational, bordering on the extreme. Achanak... lies somewhere in between, with small, strong occurrences occurring in conjunction making people question their lives and sanity,? he says.

?Cycles exist as structural levels we can play with. The show should

Sudden shocks...A still from Achanak 37 Saal Baad

ideally bewilder rather than confuse audience members. It won?t drag? he promises. Another unique aspect of the serial is that a couple of heroes have already been killed in the storyline, so ordinary people realise their potential by having to deal with extraordinary circumstances.

Talking about the future of the serial, Raghavan says the second cycle starts with people in Gahota not remembering any of the strange occurrences that have taken place over the past three months. Amnesia descends like blanket on the town and the minds of people are full of false memories. There will be fewer characters in this cycle as a few people have died in the first cycle, says Raghavan.