Soyuz’s re-entry capsule lands safely in Kazakhstan

October 11th, 2009 Russian spacecraft with circus tycoon lands safelyMOSCOW — The Russian Soyuz capsule carrying Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte and two other space travelers landed safely in Kazakhstan Sunday, ending the entertainment tycoon's mirthful space odyssey. Laliberte, who wore a bulbous clown nose during his stay aboard the International Space Station, was extracted from the tiny Soyuz capsule Sunday morning following its landing in the steppes of northern Kazakhstan.

October 10th, 2009 Russian space official says Soyuz lands safelyMOSCOW — A Russian space official says the Soyuz capsule with circus tycoon Guy Laliberte, a Russian cosmonaut and U.S. astronauts, has landed in Kazakhstan.

September 13th, 2009 ASTANA - At least 38 people were killed in a fire that broke out in a drug abuse clinic in southern Kazakhstan, authorities said Sunday. The fire started early Sunday at the narcological dispensary in the town of Taldykorgan, the administrative centre of the Almaty province.

September 11th, 2009 ASTANA - A mountaineering expedition team comprising six members of the Indian Army and eight from the Kazakhstan Army has successfully scaled the Mount Marble Wall Peak in Kazakhstan. The expedition was jointly led by Lt Col SS Shekhawat and Ilinski, and the team reached Base Camp on August 23 at 3300 meters and established three camps on the mountain by August 27.

September 9th, 2009 ASTANA - The Embassy of India in Kazakhstan has organized an "India Week and Food Festival" in Astana and Almaty from September 8 to 18 in collaboration with the Rixos President Hotel Astana, Intercontinental Hotel Almaty and Air Astana as part of its continued efforts to promote people-to-people contacts and strengthen bilateral relations between India and Kazakhstan. India's Ambassador to Kazakhstan Ashok Sajjanhar, Kairat Sarybai, Assistant to Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Akan Bizhanov, Member of Parliament (Senate) addressed the gathering of about 100 specially invited guests.

August 21st, 2009 ASTANA - Kazakhstan's first satellite KazSat-1 has been put into orbit for a "space burial", the country's mission control reported Friday. The $100 million communications satellite, built for Kazakhstan by Russia's Khrunichev Space Centre, was put into orbit about 36,000 km above the Earth in June 2006.

August 15th, 2009 ASTANA - India's 63rd Independence Day was celebrated in this Kazakhstan capital Saturday with a flag hoisting by Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar and the singing of the national anthem and patriotic songs. Indian nationals living in Astana and cities like Karaganda (250 km), Atyrau (3,000 km), Pavlodar (500 km), officials of the embassy along with their families and children participated enthusiastically in the celebrations.

July 29th, 2009 LONDON - A cheesemaker's stunt to launch a wedge of cheddar cheese into space fell flat on its face after the organisers lost contact with its payload just minutes after lift-off. West Country Cheesemakers, who organised the stunt, attached 300kg chunk of cheese to a weather balloon, which lifted off from Pewsey, Wilts, at 4am on July 28.

July 7th, 2009 ASTANA - Kazakhstan is "very keen" on Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari visiting the Central Asian republic and is waiting for its next big international event that would give him an opportunity to do so, a top official said. Ansari, in fact, had been personally invited by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev to attend a just-concluded global faith meet here but could not make it because of his commitments in the Indian parliament, where he is chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the legislature.

July 2nd, 2009 ASTANA - Eighteen years ago, Kazakhstan became the last of the former Soviet republics to reluctantly part ways with Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now the strategically located Central Asian nation is preparing to head a key European-led security grouping as it asserts the right to fashion its own foreign policy initiatives.

June 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A Continental airlines pilot died at the controls of a plane en route from Brussels to Newark, New Jersey. The two first officers onboard, who have extensive experience flying the Boeing 777, landed the plane Thursday with 247 passengers on board in Newark, according to broadcast images.

June 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Japanese scientists have announced that a 1,124-pound (510-kilogram) space probe will "collide" with our home planet in June 2010 to simulate an approaching asteroid. According to a report in National Geographic News, the Hayabusa spacecraft is currently on its way back to Earth after a successful mission that landed on and hopefully collected samples from the asteroid Itokawa.

May 29th, 2009 MOSCOW - The Russian space capsule Soyuz successfully docked with the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) Friday, bringing three more crew members to the ISS, Russian TV reported. The Soyuz had been launched from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan Wednesday.

May 26th, 2009 ALMATY - Indian and Kazakhstan business ties received a significant fillip when 71 Indian premier companies participated in a major trade promotion jamboree in this scenic commercial capital of Kazakhstan. The Indian trade fair provided an "excellent opportunity for Indian and Kazakhstani businessmen to forge one-to-one contact and promote and enhance economic cooperation", Indian Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar said in a press statement issued here Tuesday.

April 8th, 2009 MOSCOW - Two astronauts from the US and Russia and a space tourist left the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday morning on board a Soyuz space capsule to return to Earth. The flight centre near Moscow reported that Soyuz undocked from ISS Wednesday morning and is expected to land in the Kazakhstan steppe around 0716 GMT, the Interfax news agency said.