Tag: Chandrayaan3

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-35

About: the world this week, 27 August to 2 September 2023; fighting, shooting, banning, kissing, worming, releasing, probing and exploring, running, and throwing.

Everywhere

Ukraine Fights

Ukrainian and Russian drones are overrunning the battlefield these days as both countries are increasingly relying on the unmanned aerial Drones to wage a modern war. At any given time, dozens of Ukrainian and Russian drones are patrolling the skies above Vuhledar in the East, near ongoing fighting in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The Drones fly criss-crossing flight paths, causing air-traffic jams, and occasional collisions.

A Drone Operator remarked, ‘it’s like a crossroads in India’.

America Shoots

The shooting, on ordinary people, continues with regular frenzy in this part of the World, with no end in sight. And the United States (US) has already seen more than 400 mass shootings this year. They love their guns like hell?

Last weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, a White gunman opened fire at a Dollar General Store, killing three Black people. Later, the gunman shot himself to death. The 21 years old shooter was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and a Glock handgun that he bought legally. One of the guns was painted with swastikas. And the shooter made racist statements before opening fire. He had first tried to get into Edward Waters University, a small HBCU (Historically Black College or University) in the city, but was asked to leave by on-campus security.

Jacksonville is a city where 30% of its residents are Black.

Later, it was revealed that the shooter wrote several manifestos filled with ideology of hate. The US Justice Department is investigating the attack as a hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism.

France Bans

France’s Education Minister has announced a ban on abaya -a loose-fitting, full length dress worn by some Muslim women – in France’s state-run schools, describing the garment as ‘a religious gesture’. France has long banned all religious signs at educational institutions, but abaya had skirted the law until now. Students studying in public schools will no longer be allowed to wear the abaya.

Typically, the abaya is a black garment constructed like a loose robe or kaftan and covers everything but the face, hands, and feet. It’s not to be confused with a burqa or hijab-other Islamic forms of dress for women. The burqa is a garment that covers the entire face, with a crocheted mesh grill over the eyes. The hijab, on the other hand, is a head-scarf. Styles vary not only by geography, but also fashion trends.

The move is in keeping with a long line of steps that France has been taking against what it says is as an ‘affront to secularism’.

Spain Kisses

In nearby Spain a controversial ‘Football Kiss’ engulfed the country and refuses to die down.

Leading officials within the Spanish Football Federation called on suspended President Luis Rubiales to resign on account of his behaviour at the Women’s World Cup, including forcibly kissing Spain’s Women’s World Cup player Jenni Hermoso, 33, on the lips, sparking worldwide outrage.

Rubiales, 46, has been defiant regarding the kiss. At a meeting of the federation, last week, where he had been widely expected to resign, Rubiales instead refused to step down, calling the kiss “spontaneous, mutual, euphoric, and consensual”. Rubiales also said he made a mistake, but that the kiss was consensual. Hermoso, on her part, said she did not give her permission and felt violated.

Meanwhile, the mother of Rubiales went on a hunger strike at a church in southern Spain, in support of her son, saying she would fast night and day until, what she called, the ‘inhumane hounding’ of her son ends. She had stayed back in the church after a service to start the hunger-strike. Later, she was admitted to a hospital.

Pakistan Releases

This week, Pakistan’s Islamabad High Court suspended former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s conviction and three-year sentence in the Toshakhana Corruption case, ordering his release.

Imran Khan was accused of unlawfully selling State gifts acquired by him and his family during his tenure as Prime Minister between 2018 and 2022. He was barred from politics for five years, preventing him from contesting an upcoming Election.

However, legal wrinkles are to be ironed out, before Imran Khan actually leaves jail.

India Probes the Moon and Winks at the Sun

Last week India’s Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) conquered the South Pole of the Moon with the Chandrayaan-3 Mission successfully landing Vikram on the Moon. And it in turn rolled out the six-wheeled robot Pragyan (meaning wisdom) to size-up the Moon.

This week, Pragyan went about moon-probing and sent back temperature details of the Moon’s surface besides beaming photos of a handsome Vikram. And found a host of chemicals on lunar soil. In-situ instruments confirmed the presence of sulphur and preliminary analysis also unveiled the presence of aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon, and oxygen.

ISRO also received the first set of data about the temperatures on the lunar topsoil and up to the depth of 10 centimetres below the surface, from a probe onboard Vikram. While the temperature on the Moon’s surface was nearly 60 Degrees Centigrade (C), it plummeted sharply below the surface, dropping to (-) 10C at 80 millimetres below the ground.

The Moon, however, is known for harbouring extreme temperatures: daytime temperatures near the lunar equator reach a boiling of 120C, while night temperatures can see-saw and plunge to (-) 130C.

The Moon’s Poles are even colder- one crater near the North Pole recorded (-) 250C, which makes it the coldest temperature measured anywhere in the entire solar system. Equally cold temperatures have been recorded at some of the craters, which remain permanently in the shadows in the South Pole.

Having found something to chew-upon on the awfully cold Moon, India is heading towards absolutely hotter parts – the Sun to find what’s cooking over there. ISROs first space mission to study the Sun – Aditya L1 – is scheduled to be launched this Saturday. Aditya means ‘Sun’ in Sanskrit and…and that’s as close to Sun as one can get!

Aditya L1 will be placed in a halo orbit around what is called the Lagrange Point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million kilometres (km) from the Earth. It will take Aditya about 4 months, from the time of launching, to reach the designated orbit. The beauty of this spot is that a satellite placed in this orbit will have an unobstructed, continuous view of the Sun at all times – never mind the eclipses.

Aditya carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors. Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.

Aditya L1 is expected to work for about 5 years, sending back ‘hot’ information to ‘cool’ the World.

Brain Worms

This is probably the first known discovery – an astonishing one – of a live worm inside a human brain: neurosurgeons in Canberra Hospital, Australia extracted a 8 centimetres (cm) long parasite roundworm – which was not only alive but wriggling – from the brain of a 64 years old Australian woman.

The incident came to light in 2022 and the extraordinary medical case was published in the latest edition of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The symptoms first appeared in January 2021 when the women developed abdominal pain and diarrhoea followed by fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, and night sweats. As they worsened over a period of three weeks she was admitted to her local hospital in southeast New South Wales. Respiratory samples were examined and lung biopsy was carried out, but no parasites were detected at that stage.

By 2022 the woman was experiencing forgetfulness and worsening depression prompting an MRI scan, which showed brain changes and a lesion in her brain. When the neurosurgeon investigated deeply, they were shocked to find the worm.

Doctors believe that after hatching within her body the larva must have made its way to the brain. A brain biopsy was expected to reveal a cancer or an abscess. But a big lump appeared in the frontal part of the brain from where the worm was picked up.

The woman is relieved and glad that the Doctors found out the cause of her problems. She is on the road to recovery.

The creature is the larva of an Australian native roundworm not previously know to be a human parasite, named Ophidascaris Robertsi. The worms are commonly found in Carpet Pythons, living their oesophagus and stomach.

The worms eggs are shed in snake droppings, which are eaten by small mammals. The life cycle continues as other snakes eat the mammals. The woman lived near a carpet python habitat and foraged for native vegetation called Warrigal Greens – a type of grass- to cook. While she had no direct contact with snakes it is hypothesised that she consumed the eggs from the vegetation or contaminated hands.

Clever Washing – that we all religiously learnt and diligently executed during the Covid19 pandemic -may still work at all times?

India Strikes

The 19th World Athletics Championships was held in Hungary’s Budapest between 19 and 27 August 23 – a first in Hungary- and India having conquered the South Pole of the Moon woke up to conquer or ‘land safely’ in three other domains. Indeed, a glittering week for India in the Milky-Way Galaxy.

First, the Indian men’s 4×400 metres(m) relay team achieved a historic milestone by qualifying for the final for the first time ever. The team’s remarkable performance also resulted in setting a new Asian record with a time of 2:59.05 seconds during the semi-final heats, finished second.

Though ultimately the team finished 5th in the Finals clocking a time of 2:59.92, they created a huge, running sensation in India. The United States continued their dominance as they finished first with a time of 2:57.31, and the French set a new national record by clocking a time of 2:58.45. Great Britain won the bronze with a time of 2:58.71, their season’s best.

The Indian men’s relay team consisted of Muhammed Anas, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, and Rajesh Ramesh. They finished narrowly behind the heavyweights of world athletics and have become new heroes in India.

Second, India’s Parul Chaudhary was running another race. She finished 11th in the women’s 3000 m steeplechase final, but ran the race of her life to set a new National Record and also go past the entry standard for the upcoming Olympics.

She is the first Indian runner to clock 9:15.31 in the women’s 3000m steeplechase event. She broke Lalita Babar’s mark of 9:19.76 set during the 2016 Rio Olympics, while also finishing comfortably under 9:23.00, the automatic qualification mark for next year’s Summer Olympic Games to be held in Paris, France. In July 2023, she won a Gold in women’s 3000m steeplechase in the Asian Athletics Championships held at Bangkok.

Third, now to the Gold part. India’s reigning Olympic Champion and World Champion, Neeraj Chopra won Gold in javelin, with a throw of 88.17m becoming the first Indian to win Gold in the World Athletic Championship.

Recall that Neeraj Chopra won the Gold Medal in the 2020 (held in 2021) Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.58m becoming the first Indian Olympian to win a gold medal in athletics.

Later in the week Chopra missed being crowned the Diamond League Champion as well, coming second by the narrowest of margins of 0.15m. He finished being Czech Republic’s Akub Vadlejch (85.86m) who had won a bronze in the World Championships. Previously, Chopra had won the Diamond League Meetings in Doha – 5th May and Lausanne – 30 June.

Neeraj Chopra works as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army. He was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian award- the Padma Sri – in 2022. He is fast evolving into the best sportsperson India ever had, setting an example on and off the field – going by reports of the way he carries himself.

More stories worming-up in the weeks ahead. Kiss your loved ones and stay with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-34

About: the world this week, 20 August to 26 August 2023; India’s Mission Possible – first country to land an unmanned space-craft at the South Pole of the Moon and explore…and other stories.

Everywhere

Mission Possible

It was an unbelievable historic moment for India on 23 August 2023, at 6.04 pm, when its unmanned Spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 achieved the most import mission objective of flawlessly landing on the dark, South Pole of the Moon – and lighting it up. No country in the world has been able to do this up to now, and India becomes the first country to explore this ‘small-pox’ like ridden surface of the Moon.

India joined the United States, Russia, and China in being able to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon. And do the Rover ‘moon-walk’.

Chandrayaan-3 was launched on 14 July 2023 from the Indian Space Research Centre’s (ISRO) launch facility at the island of Sriharikota, off the coast of Andhra Pradesh State. It was set on course to the Moon with a Propulsion Module carrying the Moon-Lander Vikram, with the Moon-Rover Pragyan, inside Vikram’s belly.

After revolving around the Earth in gradually increasing orbit raising manoeuvres Chandrayaan crawled out of Earth’s gravity and without-hitch made the trans-lunar journey to the Moon’s orbit, on 1st August. Then following a series of orbit adjustments and in a reverse of what it did around the Earth, it gradually circled itself close to the Moon to ‘fall within its gravity’. Then Vikram separated from the Propulsion Module on 17 August, and in a series of de-boosting manoeuvres it was brought to the desired low orbit from which it could ‘strike the Moon’.

Last week, when Chandrayaan-3 was about 103 km away from the Moon, it established contact with the previous Mission’s Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter, which incidentally is still around and apparently ‘rich in knowledge of the neighbourhood’. And gathered all possible ‘tricks of the trade’ to ensure success of the Mission.

The speed of Vikram was reduced in calculated steps following a well-planned trajectory, combining horizontal and vertical velocities controlled by the ISRO Mission Centre in Bengaluru, India. Once Vikram was positioned at the designated landing point at an altitude of about 30km, at 5.44 pm on 23rd August, the Automatic Landing Sequence (ALS) was initiated. Prior to this step and a few hours ago, all required commands were uploaded to Vikram from ISRO’s Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) facility.

The ALS is a critical part of the Mission and takes control of Vikram, when it is without Mission Control support, relying entirely on its own sensors and instruments with the onboard computer to make the final calculations for a soft landing. Upon receiving the ALS command, Vikram activated its throttleable engines for a powered descent, with the ISRO team closely monitoring on ground Earth.

Vikram then entered what is called ‘the powered braking phase’. This involves using its four thruster engines by ‘retro firing’ them to gradually reduce its speed, preventing a crash due to the Moon’s gravity. At an altitude of around 6.8 km Vikram shut down two of its engines to provide reverse thrust as it descended further. When it reached an altitude of about 150-100 meters, it employed its sensors and cameras to scan the lunar surface for obstacles to cleverly initiate the landing.

The process saw the Vikram initially reduce its horizontal velocity, re-orient itself for a horizontal position to a vertical one for vertical landing, and then reduce its vertical velocity to land at a safe speed. In a span of 19 minutes, the craft slowed itself from an initial velocity of 1.6 kilometres per second to 1 to 2 metres per second. And then, it just touched-down softly.

After landing and allowing the moon dust to settle- to prevent fogging of Vikram’s cameras-and after taking its first ‘Moon breaths’ in the thin air of the Moon, Vikram got to work. The lunar gravity being barely one-sixth of Earth’s gravity, it took a while for the dust to settle.

Vikram then opened-up: a two-segment ramp was rolled down for the Rover – which is inside Vikram – to roll-out, after which the Rover’s solar panel was quickly deployed to harness the sun’s power for the strength of walk. And then the six-wheeled Pragyan walked down the ramp and onto the surface of the Moon leaving India’s indelible imprint on the moon, as its wheels carry the Indian State Emblem and the logo of ISRO.

Everything happened exactly to plan as a nation of 1.4 billion watched, with tears of joy in the eye.

Vikram and Pragyan are expected to have a mission life of approximately one lunar day, which is about 14 Earth days, to conduct studies of the lunar environment. However, ISRO hopes to extend the mission duration by another lunar day.

This is a great accomplishment by India’s ISRO – a job very well done. There was widespread jubilation and celebrations, across the country, on this incredible unforgettable achievement. Tons of hard work surely makes things appear light and easy!

Meanwhile, Russia’s unmanned Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon on 20th August after Russia’s Space Corporation, Roscosmos, lost contact with the spacecraft. Roscosmos said it had ‘ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon’. The craft was due to be the first ever to land on the Moon’s South Pole, but failed after encountering problems as it moved into its pre-landing orbit. It’s a communications failure and I’m sure Russia would find the reasons, which would be useful for future ‘Moon-Slayers’.

This is Russia’s first Moon mission in almost 50 years. The previous attempt was successful when its Luna-24 softly landed on the Moon on 18 August 1976. Once on the Moon Luna-24 collected a soil sample by using its robotic arm to dill about 2 metres in the nearby soil and stowing it away in a small return capsule. After spending nearly a day on the Moon, Luna 24 lifted off the next day entered Earth’s atmosphere and parachuted safely to land on 22 August 1976, about 200 km southeast of Surgut in Western Siberia.

The Russia-Ukraine War, and ‘Unforgiven’

Ukraine’s counter-offensive taking the battle into the heart of Russia, saw drones attack a skyscraper in Moscow. Before this drone attack another suspected attack on 18th August caused damage to an exhibition hall at Moscow’s Expo Centre, next to the city’s main skyscraper district. There have been over 150 suspected aerial drone attacks this year in Russia and in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

In another news the head of the Wagner Mercenary Group, Yevgeniy Prigozhin who briefly challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin by ‘marching his troops towards Moscow and ‘suddenly giving-up’ was killed – presumed dead – in an Air-crash along with 10 others. Unverified reports say that his private plane – an Embraer-135 – was flying from Moscow to S tPetersburg and was shot down by Russian air defences.

Prigozhin led an aborted mutiny against Russia’s armed forces in June this year and seemed to be ‘forgiven’, until this end.

Women’s Football: Maiden Win

Like I said the previous week, the Queen of Spain’s presence perhaps worked like magic and Spain beat England 1-0 to lift the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 for the first time. Spain become only the second country in the history of football -along with Germany – to win the Men’s and Women’s FIFA World Cups.

Spain’s Queen Letizia and her younger daughter, Princess Sofia, traveled to Sydney, Australia, for the World Cup finals on Sunday. And then took part in the celebrations on the field after Spain defeated England.

Spain’s skipper and defender-in-Chief, Olga Carmona opened the scoring-and the winning goal- in the 28th minute of the 1st half, shooting across England’s goalkeeper, Mary Earps. Later Spain’s star midfielder Jennifer Hermoso got an opportunity to make it 2-0, when Keira Walsh’s hand-ball was penalised with a spot-kick, but England’s goal-keeper saved the penalty.

There was a controversy about the trueness of ‘saving the goal’ but FIFA quickly resolved the issue, following a Video Assistant Referee check and another by the referee on the monitor. The Rules say, ‘The defending goalkeeper must remain on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts until the ball is kicked. When the ball is kicked, the defending goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot touching, in line with, or behind, the goal line.’ After due diligence, FIFA determined that Mary Earps’ feet was on the line when the kick was taken.

Japanese player Hinata Miyazawa won the Golden Boot scoring five goals through the tournament. Spanish player Aitana Bonmati was voted the tournament’s best player, winning the Golden Ball, whilst Salma Paralluelo was awarded the Young Player Award. England goalkeeper Mary Earps won the Golden Glove, awarded to the best performing goalkeeper of the tournament.

The closing moments of the Work Cup saw the kicking up of another controversy. During the presentation ceremony, Spanish football Chief Luis Rubiales, 46, gave Spanish midfielder Jennifer Hermoso an unsolicited kiss on the lips. Earlier, in the stands he was seen celebrating victory by grabbing his genitals.

Rubiales has since agreed to quit, after initially refusing, on being roundly condemned by the football world for his actions following the World Cup final.

Indian Chess

While Chandrayaan-3 was making its moves to kiss the Moon, and ‘Pragyan’ to start strolling on the Moon, another Indian – an original child prodigy- an 18 year old going by the name of Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was making his own calculations to land the FIDE (International Chess Federation) World Chess Championship Title.

He became only the second Indian and the the youngest player ever to enter the World Chess Final to face World No 1 Norwegian, Magnus Carlsen after defeating the World No 2 and World No 3, all in the same event.

Praggnanandhaa had stunned World No 3, Fabiano Caruana on Monday in the tie-break in the semifinals. He became the third youngest player after the legendary Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament.

However this landing on the chess board was not soft and after two-drawn matches Praggnanandhaa lost to Magnus Carlsen in the first tie-breaker.

India is on the move. Tomorrow is another day!

More mission possible stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Invest in India, think Chess and stay with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-28

About: the world this week 9 July to 15 July 2023. A Defence Alliance summit; politics in the Netherlands; a disease outbreak in Peru; floods all over the World; poll violence in India; onwards to the Moon; Hollywood strikes; Badminton and Tennis stories; and a transgender beauty.

Everywhere

NATO Summit

This week, leaders from the 31 countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance met in Lithuania’s Vilnius, on a two-day event. They discussed the war in Ukraine, defence spending, and Sweden and Ukraine’s membership. At least one of those is making progress. Sweden is now on its way to joining NATO, after finally gaining Turkey’s support. As for Ukraine, NATO’s Secretary General said that the NATO will extend an official invitation once the ongoing war with Russia is over with an accelerated process. And in the meantime Ukraine will be supported with arms, ammunition, and kind, to keep up their spirits.

Turkey’s argument for keeping Sweden out of NATO was that it is harbouring Kurdish separatists whom Turkey has designated as terrorists. Sweden has toughened its stance against the PKK (the Kurdish militant group) and lifted restrictions on arms sales to Turkey.

Go Dutch

Netherlands is heading to the polls in November 2023 following a collapse of the current four-party coalition Government headed by Prime Minister (PM) Mark Rutte of the VVD – People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy. The other coalition parties are, Democrats 66, Christian Democratic Appeal, and Christian Union.

The coalition parties disagreed over asylum policies and were split in crisis talks chaired by the PM, late last week. The PM had been trying to limit the flow of asylum seekers, following a row last year about overcrowded migration centres, which were opposed by other coalition partners. Asylum applications in the Netherlands jumped by over a third last year to more than 47,000, and about 70,000 applications are expected in 2023. PM Rutte tried to force through a plan, which included a cap on the number of relatives of war refugees allowed into the Netherlands at just 200 people per month. A compromise proposal, known as the ‘emergency brake’, which would only trigger the restrictions in the event of an excessively high influx of migrants, was not enough to save the government. The four parties could not reach an agreement on migration, and therefore decided to end the Government.

Mark Rutte at age 56, is the country’s longest serving Prime Minister. He has been in office since 2010 – heading different coalitions. The current government, which took office in January 2022, is his fourth coalition.

The Farmer-Citizen Movement, which became the biggest party in the upper house of parliament after a shock election win in March this year, said they will not serve in any future government led by Mark Rutte. Wait until November!

Gulliain-Barre Syndrome

Peru has declared a national emergency after an unusual outbreak of rising cases of Gulliain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder triggered by an acute bacterial or viral infection. The serious, but rare neurological disorder affects the nerves and causes weakness in the muscles, and even paralysis. Symptoms include back pain, numbness or tingling sensation in feet and arms, loss of reflexes and breathing difficulties.

Four people have died and over 180 cases have been reported. Peru had a similar outbreak in 2019. And now the country is struggling with the worst dengue outbreak in its recorded history, this year.

What does GBS do to the human body?

In a person with GSB, the immune system starts attacking healthy cells instead of sick cells. The Myelin sheaths (a layer that wraps around the nerve cells/neurons) of the peripheral nerves are attacked and prevents neves from sending certain information, such as touch sensations, to the spinal cord and brain. This causes a feeling of numbness. In addition the brain and spinal cord can no longer transmit signals back to the body, leading to muscle weakness.

Causes are unknown but it normally sets in after an infection. Two in every three people with GBS had diarrhoea or a respiratory illness several weeks before developing GBS symptoms. There is no specific cure but symptoms can be treated and the disease managed. On the positive side, it is not contagious and cannot spread from one person to another.

Floods

Floods in North India watered the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi – an outcome of the Monsoon’s torrential rains.

The summer Monsoon brings South Asia 70-80% of its annual rainfall, as well as death and destruction due to flooding and landslides.

In the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, flash floods over the last weekend brought down a bridge and swept away several hutments. Many districts in the State received a month’s normal rainfall in a single day.

Streets across the northern states, including in Punjab, Delhi, and Uttarakhand, were flooded. In some areas, rescue personnel used rubber rafts to rescue people stranded inside their homes.

Roads in several parts of New Delhi were submerged in knee-deep water as it was inundated with 153mm of rain, the highest in a single day in July in 40 years. The River Yamuna has crossed the danger mark of 206 metres in Delhi, prompting the relocation of people residing in flood-prone areas to safer locations.

Delhi, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh have received 112%, 100% and 70% more rainfall than average so far in the current monsoon season that started on 1st June.

Floods are flooding the news not only in India but in the United States where deadly floods stumped the north-east, while heatwaves set to boil much of the southern and western United States, kicking off a week of dangerous weather as warnings about the climate crisis intensify.

Flash floods overwhelmed New York’s Hudson Valley. And flood warnings were still in place in parts of nearby Vermont this week, as the state capital Montpelier’s downtown was under water and officials fear a local dam could fail for the first time since it was built, threatening further inundation.

Japan too joined the flood-bath. Three people were killed and three others are missing in flooding in southwest Japan caused by the region’s ‘heaviest’ rain ever. Rivers overflowed and hillsides collapsed as record amounts of rain were dumped on parts of Kyushu island. The national weather agency logged 402.5mm falling in Kurume this Monday, the highest ever recorded in the city. Roads and power-lines were cut, and thousands were ordered to evacuate as further downpours were expected. The Japanese Meteorological Agency, said the rains were perhaps ‘the heaviest ever experienced’ in the region.

Poll Violence

A democracy places at its cornerstone a simple mechanism for people to choose who will govern the country or their immediate locality and deliver on improving the quality of their lives: voting. Periodically, people vote for candidates of political parties in free and fair elections – ensured by the ruling Government- which is almost always followed by a peaceful transition of power, at least in India.

In perhaps one of the worst poll-related violence seen in recent times more than 25 people were killed during the civic body elections in India’s State of West Bengal. The mayhem, intimidation and ransacking that have accompanied the Panchayat Polls in the State last fly in the face of fundamental principles of democracy and underline a stark reality: the fairness of the election is under a cloud.

Several districts reported booth capturing, damaged ballot boxes, and attacks on presiding officers. This violence is not an aberration in West Bengal: It is entrenched in the state’s political culture, with parties in government — the Trinamool Congress (TMC) now, and the Communist Part of India (CPM) and Congress before it — wielding it to control the street, and thereby monopolise state power.

This time, in village after village, the ruling party systematically used bombs, barricades and cadres to ensure that opposition candidates and supporters were unable to move about on polling day. Where they have the clout to do so, some opposition parties have acted in a similar manner. As a result of the violence in the run-up to filing nominations last month, the High Court had ordered that central forces be deployed in the state. But the onus of ensuring a safe election is not on the uniformed personnel alone-the political class in the state, especially the ruling party and State Election Commission, bears a lion’s share of that responsibility. From the 1960s until the 1990s, tactics such as booth capturing and intimidation of voters and polling officials defined electoral politics in many states, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Most of India has rejected that form of politics and moved on. However, West Bengal still lives with it.

India heads to the Moon

India aims to put its man on the Moon in the future. And in the run-up it’s testing out end-to-end capability in safe landing and ‘moon-roaming’.

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-up on Chandrayaan-2 which got to the moon and its Lander swooned just above the surface of the Moon and crash-landed when the Moon was expecting a soft kiss on its rugged cheeks. ISRO is now wiser and hopes to keep the Lander ‘in check’ and from ‘falling too quick’ to the charms of the Moon.

India launched Chandrayaan-3 it’s unmanned spacecraft to the Moon with a flawless lift-off from base Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, this friday afternoon using the time-tested launch vehicle LVM3.

Chandrayaan-3 consists of a Propulsion Module (PM), a Lander Module – Vikram, and a Rover – Pragyan. The PM will carry Vikram, with Pragyan safely ensconced inside, on an orbit around the Earth; and then gradually take it into a lunar transfer trajectory after which it will inject Vikram into the lunar orbit at about 100km from the Moon’s surface. After orbiting around the Moon and getting closer, Vikram will be de-boosted to land with the Propulsion Module separating and saying good bye. Vikram will then softly touch-down on the Lunar South Pole region – previously unexplored – and after giving the Moon a few winks, will open its doors for Praygan to roll out and roam the Moon.

The Moon Landing is scheduled on 23 August 2023. If successful, India will be the fourth nation to land on the Moon after the United States, Russia, and China.

Hollywood Strikes

Hollywood’s Actors and Writers are on a strike. And this is the first time two Unions – Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA)- are doing this together. The last time was in 1960 when future United States President Ronald Reagan led the strike.

Actors Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp are card-holding members of the SAG-AFTRA and are lending their fire-power and magic.

The strike follows a row over pay and the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with film studios and streaming services and failing to reach an agreement on how to go about it. The Unions are worrying about contracts keeping up with inflation, residual payments in the streaming era and safeguards against the use of AI mimicking their work on film and television shows.

Sports

This week, India’s Lakshya Sen, ranked 19th in the World, won the men’s single title at the Badminton World Federation (BWF)’s 58th Canadian Open 2023. He defeated China’s Li Shi Feng, the reigning All England Champion, in straight games, 21-18 and 22-20.

This remarkable victory marks Sen’s second BWF World Tour Title. His previous triumph was at the India Open, in January 2022.

Sen displayed amazing talent and ability to excel under pressure outclassing his opponent. The match was filled with extraordinary rallies, characterized by fast-paced exchanges at the net. Sen saved four game points in the second game before clinching the championship point with a decisive smash.

The Wimbledon Tennis Tournament is rallying to a close in London and in the Women’s Singles Finals it’s Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur versus Czechoslovakia’s Marketa Vondrousova. Both reached the finals coming through enthralling semi-finals at the All England Club, and are seeking their maiden Grand Slam title having previously fallen short in major finals.

Meanwhile in the Men’s Singles, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic beat Italian Jannik Sinner to enter the finals. Djokovic will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Daniil Medvedev, in Sunday’s final where he is bidding to tie Roger Federer’s record by lifting an eighth Wimbledon crown.

Please Yourself

Rikkie Valerie Kolle has made history as the first transgender woman to win the Miss Netherlands Title. It’s the first time in the Dutch pageant’s 94-year history that a transgender woman has been crowned winner.

It means the 22 year old will be the second openly transgender competitor to take part in Miss Universe in December this year. Rikkie says she dreamed of winning pageants like this as a child. “The journey started as a super insecure little boy,” she said. “And now I’m standing here as a strong and empowering and confident woman. I’m really proud of that”.

More gripping stories will be launched in the weeks ahead. Roam the world with World Inthavaaram.