Commenting on the new initiative, Discovery MD Kiran Karnik says: "We are delighted to add a Hindi audio to selected programmes. This will provide an opportunity to our present audience to enjoy the best of Animal Planet‘s spectacular and high-quality programmes in a language that many of them may prefer."

Launched in 1999, the channel already reaches 7.5 million homes, according to a company press release.

Intelsat yesterday launched a new brand identity, the centre point of which is a new visual identity that includes three panels that intersect to form the letter "i" in the middle, representing how Intelsat is a bridge that helps its customers

Intelsat CEO Conny Kullman, speaking at the Satellite 2001 conference in Washington DC yesterday, commented: "Our key challenge in developing this brand was to show how our resources and technology in the sky make people‘s lives on earth better - how we create opportunities for our customers by connecting the world. We also wanted our new brand identity to reflect collaboration, innovation, flexibility and partnering, as these are the drivers that we believe will be key in our future. We are aligning our business practices and priorities with the marketplace, and we believe that this new brand projects Intelsat as a modern, customer-centric company, geared for the future."

At the same time, Intelsat also announced that it had redesigned its web site to conform to the new brand look and feel.

Intelsat offers Internet, broadcast, telephony and corporate network solutions around the globe through 19 satellites. Telecommunications companies and broadcasters in more than 200 countries and territories are connected to Intelsat.

In India, Intelsat is represented by government telecom gateway Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited.

The first flight of India‘s Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was aborted during lift-off at 3:47 PM today after one of its four engines failed to ignite properly, leading to an automatic shutdown of the rocket. The GSLV was to carry the G-Sat 1 communications satellite into orbit.

For the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which was behind the project (and way behind schedule as well), it is back to the drawing board to figure out what could have gone wrong.

The GSLV has been designed to launch 2.5 tonne class of communication satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO-22,000 miles high) for about $70-80 million per launch.

GSLV is a three stage vehicle, 49m tall. The first stage, GS1, comprises a solid propellant motor (S125) and four liquid propellant strap-on stages(L40). The second stage (GS2) is powered by a single liquid propellant engine (L37.5). The third stage (GS3) is a cryogenic stage (C12) with re-startable engines.