Earth  

Calling it as 'Mission Shakti', Prim Minister Narendra Modi said it is an important step towards securing India's safety, economic growth and technological advancement

In Mission Shakti, India used indigenously made Anti-Satellite Weapons (A-SAT) for hitting the live satellite target, which was on a ‘Low Earth Orbit’ at a height of 300 kilometers from the earth’s surface

Calling it Mission Shakti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India has entered an elite club of space powers by destroying a low earth orbit satellite using a missile. There are only four countries in the world that have achieved this feat. This includes America, Russia and China while India stands at the fourth place.

India used indigenously made Anti-Satellite Weapons (ASAT) for hitting the live satellite target, which was on a ‘Low Earth Orbit’ at a height of 300 kilometers from the earth’s surface

Narendra Modi announced that India has successfully completed Mission Shakti, which was led by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj accepted the Grand Cross of Order of Civil Merit conferred by Spain for India’s support during the Nepal earthquake in 2015

According to reports, from 1965, the Indian Rare Earth Ltd (IREL) started mining in Alappad, Kerala. According to the 1955 survey reports, the Alappad village was spread over 89.5 square km. But at present, it has reduced to 7.5 km. 

Residents claim hamlet after hamlet kept 'disappearing' from the map due to mining activities by the Indian Rare Earth (IRE) and state government-owned Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited (KMML).