Woman to head missile project for first time

After rising to the ranks of Lt Generals in the army and Air Marshals in the IAF, a woman is now set to head the country's key missile project.

45-year-old Dr Tessy Thomas, one of the around 200 women scientists and technicians working for the DRDO, has been cleared to be appointed to the post of project director of the upgraded version of the 2000 km-long nuclear capable Agni-II missile.

Thomas is presently the associate project director of the 3,000 km range Agni-III missile project.

Asked about the new version of Agni-II being planned, Thomas, who was honoured along with the entire team of Agni-III by the Prime Minister, said that "It is still a confidential project. It will be called Agni-II A (2)".

"I like my job. I feel I am contributing to my nation's security," Thomas, who has named her son after the country's light combat fighter Tejas, said. A BTech from Thrissur Engineering College, Calicut, and M.Tech from Pune, she is an expert on all solid system propellant.

Thomas, who did the post analysis of the failure of the first Agni-III missile, said there were some shortcomings in the test of the missile which were overcome for a smooth flawless test flight on May seven.

ELCOT allots land for TNEB at proposed IT park

The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) has allotted land to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) for installing power infrastructure at the proposed information technology park at Ilandhaikulam near here.

“Two 10 MVA (Mega Volt Amperes) capacity transformers will be erected at the 1.17 acres allotted along with one 110 kilo volt substation initially. Depending on the power requirement of entrepreneurs, either one or both will be enhanced to 16 MVA,” K. Balasubramanian, Chief Engineer (Distribution) of Madurai region, told The Hindu here on Monday.

The TNEB was awaiting detailed information regarding the number of units and their individual power requirements from ELCOT.

The power requirement of Ilandhaikulam IT Park would be lesser compared to the one at Vadapalanji, which was expected to occupy over 230 acres.

The Ilandhaikulam IT Park would occupy around 30 acres.

“We estimate that Vadapalanji IT Park would require a 230 kV substation along with one or two 50 MVA transformers,” he said.

The TNEB had asked for 15 acres at Vadapalanji which would include around 6 acres for the substation and rest for residential quarters for staff and other purposes. “While Ilandhaikulam does not require staff quarters in its vicinity, the Vadapalanji substation requires one,” he said.