Tag: Space

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-9

About: the world this week, 25 February 2024 to 2 March 2024; The United Nations; Gaza and Israel; Russia and nuclear weapons; Sandeshkhali arrests; Moon Landing; India’s Astronauts; India’s Economy; a Princess in distress; and Japan’s Naked Festival.

Everywhere

In a moment of reckoning, United Nations(UN) Chief Antonio Guterres deplored how the UN Security Council had failed to respond adequately to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the conflicts had ‘perhaps fatally’ undermined its authority. And of course, the disastrous operations of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), in the Gaza Strip, being complicit with the terrorist Hamas, runs in our minds.

Guterres said the UN Security Council often found itself, “unable to act on the most significant peace and security issues of our time”. Asked if the Security Council could eventually be considered ‘brain dead’ Guterres quipped, “If the Security Council one day shows that it is incapable of doing anything, then it will be very close to this medical condition.” That’s the best loud-thinking one can hear all week! The UN is certainly in need of a complete overhaul. Wonder, who’s going to do it?

This week there was a stampede in Gaza when dozens of people were trampled to death or run-over when aid trucks had arrived for distribution of food and supplies. There are conflicting reports on what exactly happened. Hamas says that Israeli forces shot and killed at least 100 Palestinians during the rush to get food; Israel says it fired warning shots to try to break up the crowd, which was getting out of control. And the firing caused trucks to leave in panic.

Over the past few weeks, getting aid into Gaza has become increasingly difficult in the midst of the ongoing war, with a complete breakdown in public order. The UN says the Gaza population is close to famine and there are reports of people eating animal feed and grass to survive. But this latest incident may have even bigger consequences. And Gaza is on a deadline. Israel has said that if Hamas does not release the remaining 130 hostages by 10th March, which marks the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, it will begin its ground offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza, where more than 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering.

The war in Ukraine has triggered the worst crisis in Russia’s relations with the Western World, since the Cuban Missile Crisis in the year 1962. President Vladimir Putin has previously spoken of the dangers of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, but his nuclear warning, this week, was one of his most explicit.

Putin warned Western countries that there was a genuine risk of nuclear war if they send their own troops to fight in Ukraine, and he said Russia had the weapons to strike targets in the West. In Russia signs of opposition, to Putin’s regime, still flicker despite the state machinery working round the clock to snuff out the slightest dissent over the invasion of Ukraine and, more recently, the death in detention of opposition leader, Alexi Navalny. This week, Russia Authorities finally handed over Alexi Navalny’s body to his parents and he was buried at a cemetery on the outskirts of Moscow. His wife Yulia and their two children, who live in exile in the United States, did not attend on fears of being detained.

Sheikh Shahjahan, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader accused of turning Sandeshkhali in India’s West Bengal State into a hellhole of torture, land grab, and sexual exploitation, was finally arrested this week by the State police. He was on the run for over 55 days and was nabbed from a house around 30 km from Sandeshkhali, which is around 85 km from State Capital of Kolkata. A court sent him to 10 days in police custody. Shahjahan ‘dressed for the occasion’ walked to the courtroom with policemen behind him, escorting him like he was a VIP, waving to reporters gathered. Celebrations erupted in Sandeshkhali as the news of Shahjahan’s arrest broke, with residents distributing sweets. The TMC suspended Shahjahan for six years, but his body-language, the arrogance, and nonchalance spoke many things, all at once – a criminal controlling the system.

This week, India developed a swag in its stride, running on the double, to achieve its goal of becoming one of the largest economies in the World. The October to December 2023 GDP growth figures revealed a terrific 8.4%, beating all estimates. India’s growing economy is best amplified by Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, as recounted by my favourite news person, Minhaz Merchant.

“The Indian Economy, It’s just looking like a Wow. This dynamism and energy of a young country and an ancient civilisation that has found its voice and footing. There is a palpable sense that the country is on the move. India is awash with optimism, pride, and anticipation. This anticipation stems from our country’s accelerated high-growth trajectory”. I think India’s time has come.

Last Thursday, a spacecraft built and flown by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines landed on the Moon’s surface near its South Pole, becoming the first in more than half a century and the first ever by the US private sector. NASA had several research instruments aboard the vehicle. And is well into achieving its goal of sending a squad of commercially flown spacecraft on scientific scouting missions to the moon ahead of a planned return of astronauts to the Moon, later this decade.

Earlier, on 15 February 2024, the Odysseus– nicknamed Odie – lunar lander was launched into space, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The rocket fired Odie into Earth’s orbit and after burning through its fuel detached itself, leaving the lunar lander to fly solo through space. The robotic explorer then consulted an onboard map of the stars so it could orient itself in space, pointing its solar panels toward the sun’s rays to charge its batteries. Odie then went into an oval-shaped path around Earth, and after about 18 hours into spaceflight, ignited its motors, for the first time, to continue a fast-paced trip toward the lunar surface. The moon then gave Odie a gentle gravitational tug as the spacecraft approached, pulling the vehicle towards its cratered surface. The six-legged Odie made a nail-biting touchdown on 22 February in what was called a ‘white-knuckle touchdown’, meaning ‘alive and well’ but resting on its side instead of fully upright.

Human-error led to a failure of the spacecraft’s laser-based range finders, but engineers detected the glitch, by chance, hours before landing time, and improvised an emergency fix that saved the mission from a probable crash. But initial communications problems following the landing raised questions about whether the vehicle may have been left impaired or obstructed in some way.

The spacecraft was not designed to provide live video of the landing, which came one day after it reached lunar orbit and a week after its launch from Florida. It also took some time after an anticipated radio blackout to re-establish communications with the spacecraft and determine its fate. When contact was finally renewed, the signal was faint, confirming that the lander had touched down but leaving mission control immediately uncertain as to the precise condition and orientation of the vehicle. Odie could have broken a leg on landing too fast, and tipped-over: details are awaited.

Continuing with the space theme, this week, India named four astronauts to travel to space as part of the India’s first manned spaceflight mission in Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Gaganyaan. They are Test Pilots, Group Captains, Prashanth Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. The astronauts are already undergoing rigorous training. And the next step would be a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching them into an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bringing them back safely to Earth by landing in Indian sea waters.

India’s ambitious space plans, quickly brought back memories of Rakesh Sharma who made history, becoming the first Indian to travel to Space. In April 1984, he along with two Soviet Union cosmonauts flew the Soviet Spacecraft Soyuz T-11, which docked and transferred the three member crew to the Salyut 7 Orbital Station. Sharma spent about 7 days aboard Salyut 7 during which time he conducted scientific and technical studies with the team, practiced Yoga, and had a conversation with the then Prime Minister of India. The journey to space and back lasted about 21 days.

What’s going on with the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton? England’s Royal Family at Kensington Palace said that the Princess is recovering from a successful, planned abdominal surgery, but the meme-makers of the internet aren’t fully convinced. Kensington Palace previously announced on 17th January that Kate Middleton had undergone surgery and would be returning home after a hospital stay, adding that she wanted to keep her medical details private. It was said that she would likely not be able to return to public duties until after Easter. But the fact that she apparently hasn’t even been spotted by British tabloids since Christmas Day 2023 has concerned certain corners of the internet. But, the Royals know how to keep a secret!

For over 1250 years Japan has been celebrating the Hadaka Matsuri, or the ‘Naked Festival’ at the Konomiya Shrine, in central Japan. It’s always been a men’s only festival and this year, for the first time ever, women have been allowed to join. Turns out that there was never a ban on women participating; no one asked; and this time when someone asked, they were allowed, why not?

The ‘naked festival’ has been celebrated by men in an attempt to drive away evil spirits, before praying for happiness at the shrine. The men make a big scramble, rushing to the shrine yelling, “Washoi! Washoi!” – let’s go, let’s go! And clamber over one another to touch the Shin Otoko, or the ‘male deity’ – a man chosen by the shrine. Touching him, as the tradition goes, is meant to drive evil spirits away. However, in the scrabble, women are not allowed.

Hold on… ‘naked men’ and with women participating, ‘naked women’ too? Here, naked is defined as men wearing nothing but the traditional Japanese loin cloth. And the women wear ‘happi coats’ – long, purple robes – and white shorts, while carrying their own bamboo trunk offerings. They stand in two parallel lines and carry the long bamboo sticks wrapped in intertwined red and white ribbons, encouraging their men to make the naked dash!

Japan has one of the fastest ageing populations on Earth. Last year, for the first time, it was found that more than one in 10 people were aged 80 or older. Meanwhile, its birth rate stands at just 1.3 per woman, with only 800,000 babies born last year.

Hope Japan’s population woes are heard by Shin Otoko, and the men are driven to be be productive. Meanwhile, “Washoi Washoi,” the women too, join in the shout.

More naked and clothed stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Washoi Washoi with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-30

About: the world this week, 18th July to 24th July 2021. Floods of water, fish, spying, flying into Space; Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Everywhere

A ‘Deluge of Floods’

Over the years we have heard of innumerable Weather Satellites launched by various countries, to endlessly circle the Earth and send back tons of data, from up above the clouds, that enable us make humble weather forecasts and foresee potential natural disasters.

It is over 60 years since the first Weather Satellite, TIROS-1 (Television Infra Red Observational Satellite), was launched by the United States’, NASA, and surely mankind has made great leaps of faith – breaking into the clouds and beyond – in predicting the weather, using Satellites, among other things. But, now I wonder if all of this is actually working. Or am I missing something? Have the Weather Satellites become Aliens of a kind?

Over the past weeks, Europe – especially Germany and Belgium – has been devastated by unprecedented flash floods generated by torrential rains. Rivers, in turn, receiving the copious run-offs, became dissatisfied with the fixed deposits and bursted their Banks sending the water dashing into precious Homes. This is being touted as Germany’s worst natural disaster in more than half a century. Over 140 people died. Particularly hard hit were the German States of Rhineland Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, and Eastern Belgium. Around 700 residents were evacuated after a dam broke in the Town of Wassenberg, near Cologne.

On the other side of the World, parts of the United States have also felt the wetness of water. On 19th July, flash flooding occurred in Birmingham and the surrounding Jefferson County, Alabama, following heavy rains, disrupting otherwise dry lives. Cars could not become boats and people lost their legs, below the knees, to the water.

Jumping to Asia, on 21st July torrential rain pounded the Central Chinese province of Henan, bursting the banks of major rivers and flooding the streets of a dozen cities, including Zhengzhou. The sudden flooding inundated and trapped people in shopping malls, schools and even subway trains, leaving locals in a perilous situation. The region has seen the heaviest rain since record-keeping began 60 years ago. Zhengzhou experienced the equivalent of a year’s average rainfall in just 3 days!

In early July, a landslide hit the popular resort of Atami, in Central Japan: a torrent of black-mud crashed through the city. Several houses were swept away by the mudslide, which followed torrential rain. Atami has had more rainfall in the first three days of July than it usually sees in the whole month!

As communities devastated by the catastrophic flooding swam out and started drying themselves, they are wondering how it all went so wrong, so fast. Europe, for example, has a world-leading warning system that issued regular alerts for days before floods engulfed entire villages. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service sent more than 25 warnings, for specific regions, of the Rhine and Maas river basins in the days leading up to the flooding, through its European Flood Awareness System (EFAS), well before heavy rains triggered the flash flooding.

But few of these early warnings appear to have been passed on to residents early and clearly enough, catching them completely off-guard. Now questions are being raised over whether the chain of communication from the Central European level to regions is working. This is one example, in a modern developed country loaded with fabulous surveillance systems.

If we keep our heads above the water and look up to The Netherlands, just across its borders with Germany’s and Belgium’s flood-devastated areas, the picture is entirely different. The Netherlands too experienced extreme rainfall, maybe not be quite as heavy as in Germany and Belgium. And it has not escaped unscathed. But its towns are not entirely submerged and not a single person has died. Officials were better prepared and were able to communicate with people quickly.

The Netherlands’ water strength lies largely in its organisation. The country’s infrastructure is managed by a Branch of the Government devoted solely to water, the Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, which looks after some 1,500 km of man-made defenses. And they are doing a damn good job of it.

Moving closer to home, in several States of India, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka – to name a few – the story is about the same, with the rains battering cities, towns and villages and sending people scurrying to elevated dry land.

In one of the smaller Towns, in the State of Telangana, the nearby River, tired of sleeping on its bed, got up and started running on the streets. In a revenge mode, the people descended and flooded the streets armed with nothing but fishing nets: many caught giant fish, in the Indian Stream, that could put ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ to shame-of the Gulf Stream. Who said The Planet of the Apes is up ahead? Welcome to The Planet of the Fish!

Even while we are sinking in the floods there are several parts of the World, say, Western North America and Canada, being fried by a flood of heat waves. These places boiled this week in all-time high temperatures that have caused dozens of deaths.

Hold on… we have been flooded with stories of such breaking of records, frequently these days: worst ever, first time in a century, never-before seen, goes on…and of course that dreaded word, ’Climate Change’ and its good friend, ‘Global Warming’ as being the ubiquitous villain responsible for all of this.

We need to think beyond hurting each other with guns and nuclear weapons and instead build weapons against nature to prevent and avoid the mass destructions we are witnessing. With a gun in my hand, can I shoot down a wave, a flood, a hurricane? Are we up to the task of being responsible and making meaningful change? Only the ‘rise of the water levels’ will tell?

How about getting a Noah’s Ark ready! Ship ourselves to another Planet?

Snooping

Pegasus, in Greek mythology, is a divine winged horse, an offspring of the Olympian God Poseidon, usually depicted as pure white in colour. It is a mysterious creature capable of everything symbolizing the divine inspiration or the journey to heaven: in modern times it has been regarded as a symbol of poetic inspiration.

Leave alone being a poetic, I am inspired by the ‘mysterious aspect’.

In the real world, Pegasus is a spyware developed by Israeli cyber-arms firm NSO that can be covertly installed on mobile phones running on iOS and Android.

The NSO (named after Niv, Shalev, Omri – The founders) Group develops best-in-class technology to help government Agencies detect and prevent terrorism and crime.

Simply put, Pegasus hacks computers and smartphones, in order to gather data and serve it to a third party. It is malicious because it gathers such data without the consent or the knowledge of the person owing the device.

Once installed, the Pegasus spyware can turn the Android or iOS phones into surveillance devices. The earliest version of the hacking software Pegasus would infect phones through text messages or emails containing a malicious link that the target would click on. However, the technology has grown more discreet and dangerous since then. And now, Pegasus could infect a phone without any user interaction or with ‘zero-click’ – vulnerabilities, flaws and bugs in a phone’s operating system – that the phone’s manufacturer is unaware of, or has been unable to fix.

India was rocked by a deluge of reports, that a flood of people were on the Pegasus list of ‘Persons of Interest’ without any evidence whosoever on what was found, or not found, and whether it had any effect on the political or safety climate of India. Some even considered it an honour to be on the List!

However, with the mystery and the secrecy involved, this will be a very hard nut to crack unless we hunt down another offspring of Poseidon to ‘talk to and infect Pegasus’, or should we, at all?

Amazon adds Space

This week, Amazon founder, Billionaire Jeff Bezos, flying on the generous bounty of Amazon Staff and Buyers, lifted off in his Blue Origin, New Shepard Space Craft to Space. He was keeping one eye on the Virgin trail left by fellow Billionaire, Sir Richard Branson, who did a similar feat in the week gone by. He was accompanied by his brother, Mark Bezos, an 82 years old Space Race pioneer, Wally Funk, and an 18 years old student, Oliver Daemen. The flight lasted 10 minutes and 10 seconds.

Two minutes into the flight, the capsule carrying the Space travellers, separated from its rocket – at a height of about 76 km-continued its upwards trajectory towards the Karman Line, crossed it – going up to about 106 km – and curved back to achieve a safe, parachuted landing on the West Texas Desert floor in the United States. Jeff Bezos stepped out wearing a Texas Cowboy hat, and I almost expected him to grab a horse, hit the trail, and ride into Town. Meanwhile, unnoticed, the launch vehicle-booster return-landed at about 3 km away from the launch pad.

Looks awfully easy. Maybe there is a message out there that the Earth is unsafe and we better start flying up to grab a better place to settle…and escape the ‘water spills of Earth? Overall, the signal I get is we all need to lift ourselves (with or without rockets). Let’s say, move up in life.

The Olympics

The COVID-19 pandemic stumped and badly bruised Tokyo Olympics 2020, rescheduled to start on 23 July 2021, is itself a testimony to the spirit of sport, having weathered a great deal to get the Games started. I salute the persistence of the Organisers and Japan for leaving no stone unturned – as they say – to get the Games going.

The easiest and the most sensible way to face the pandemic would be to just cancel the Olympic Games. And it requires mind-boggling effort to carry on with the COVID-19 prevention protocols. On our part, we should encourage a safe Olympics, pressuring infected Athletes to quarantine and go home, and the others to blossom. Support our teams remotely, watching on Television or any other physically-distanced media.

Finally, this Friday, the Tokyo Olympics was officially declared open by Japan’s Emperor Naruhito. Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron to mark the formal start of Tokyo Olympics 2020. The opening ceremony took place in an almost empty Stadium, witnessed by about 1000 spectators, without the glitz and glam normally associated with such ceremonies. It was celebrated as a moment of global hope – we need every ounce of it to make the Games a success.

Citius, Altius, Fortius.

Please Yourself

Over the past year I went to war with the Vikings, fought to save The Last Kingdom, Resurrected myself with Ertugrul, played the Queen’s Gambit, and went on to wear The Crown. In the process, my body received a pounding, and the wounds of battle were hurting. It’s then, I decided to see ‘The Good Doctor’ on Netflix. It’s been great healing ever since. And I’m fighting fit again.

The Good Doctor is an American Television Series, about Dr. Shaun Murphy, a young autistic, savant, surgical resident at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital, California. Dr. Shaun’s brilliant savant abilities include near-photographic recall and the ability to note minute details and changes. It’s about how he finds acceptance in the Hospital and goes on to contribute to life-saving decisions and surgeries…and making wonderful friends on the way. I was inspired.

More savant stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay inspired and keep your head above the water.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-29

About: the world this week, 11th July to 17th July 2021 – a truly ‘incredible’ week. Read on to find out how ‘incredible’!

Everywhere

The Netherlands

Last week I wrote about the assassination attempt on prominent Dutch Crime Reporter-Journalist, and TV Presenter, Peter R de Vries, 64, who was shot, minutes after leaving a TV studio, in a Central Amsterdam Street. Five shots were fired at close range and he was hit in the head. Over the past week, he was struggling for his life in Hospital and this week the fight came to an end – he died due to injuries of the shooting.

Since 2019, Peter de Vries was on the hit list of the Netherlands’ most wanted criminal. Police now need to hunt down the killers and make the most wanted, not wanted any longer.

His family said that Peter lived by his conviction, ‘On bended knee is no way to be free’.

Truth-Unravelers are always on the cross-hairs of those wanting to stay hidden forever. And it’s a dangerous life they live.

America Quits Af’gone’istan

United States (US) President Joe Biden has decided that 31st August 2021 will be the end date for the nearly 20 years war in Afghanistan, days earlier than his original 11th September deadline. The US put boots on the ground after the 9/11 attacks in the US, to end the rule of the deadly Taliban and take down the terrorist Al-Qaeda Organization.

Later, the US along with the North Atlantic Treat Organization (NATO) Allies facilitated setting-up an Afghan Government leading to adopting of a new Constitution, Presidential, and Parliamentary Elections – happening in Afghanistan after at least 30 years. But America’s longest war has claimed the lives of more than 2300 US troops and about 35000 Afghan civilians.

President Biden said, ‘The US cannot sacrifice any more American lives in an un-winnable war. We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build. And it’s the right and the responsibility of the Afghan people alone to decide their future and how they want to run their country’. I couldn’t agree more. Fighting another Country’s dirty war has never been easy. You set your own targets and move on. What, with Osama Bin Laden finished-off (in Pakistan) and Al-Qaeda ‘reasonably contained’ long ago – that’s victory enough to celebrate.

The US definitely did its best. Together, with the NATO Allies, the US had trained and equipped near about 300,000 military personnel-of the Afghan National Security Force and hundreds of thousands of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces over the last two decades. It ’s now over to them to engage in battle with the Taliban and force an outcome on the seemingly endless, fruitless war.

However, with the official Afghan Security Forces failing to quickly fill the vacuum created by the US Troops withdrawals, the Taliban got sucked-in and began capturing vast swathes of territory. And enforcing its archaic rules and hard-line Islamic Laws. Looks like Afghanistan is going back to where it was twenty years ago.

India has temporarily pulled out its staff from its Consulate in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in the wake of intense fighting near the city.

In other heartbreaking news, Reuters photo-journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday, caught in a crossfire, while covering a clash between Afghan Security Forces and the Taliban near a border crossing with Pakistan.

Siddiqui was part of the Reuters photography team to win the 2018 Pulitzer Prize of Feature Photography for documenting the Rohingya Refugee Crisis. It was a series described by the judges as ‘shocking photographs that exposed the world to the violence Rohingya refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar’. RIP Danish Siddiqui.

It may be a long struggle, but I wish the Afghans are able to grow the muscle to fight-off the Taliban and gain the confidence to build themselves a strong, developed country.

Cuba

Cuba was discovered by Christoper Columbus in October 1492: he found himself on the Island while searching for ‘that famous route’ to India. Cuba then came under Spanish rule and served as a staging ground for the exploration of the nearby North American mainland. In 1898, the United States having grown in to a powerful nation, defeated Spain, which gave up all claims to Cuba, ceding the Island to the US. Thereafter it was ruled by US popped-up Governments.

In a fiery revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro led a 9000 strong guerrilla army into the Cuban capital of Havana and seized power, nationalising all American businesses in Cuba.

In 1961 Castro proclaimed Cuba a Communist State allying with the then USSR, following the disastrous, abortive US sponsored invasion by Cuban Exiles, in the Bay of Pigs Incident. The US went on to break off all diplomatic ties with Cuba.

There was also the much-talked about Cuban Missile Crisis, when Castro agreed to allow USSR to deploy Nuclear Missiles on the island (obviously targeting the US) but was subsequently resolved, with the USSR removing the missiles in exchange for the US secretly withdrawing its nuclear missiles in Turkey and agreeing not to invade Cuba. That is touted as one of President John F Kennedy’s (JFK) famous acts of adroit leadership.

Ever since, Cubans have been living under a communist government.

Nearly one million people emigrated to the US, leaving the island and its troubles behind. Those who have stayed have dealt with oppression and economic instability, driven in part by US sanctions.

In 2016, President Obama became the first sitting US President to visit Cuba in 88 years. And called on Congress to lift the embargo put in place by JFK. He began gradually dismantling years of sanctions. And eased travel restrictions for Americans, bringing economic opportunity to the island. But in 2017, President Donald Trump stepped-in and undid the changes.

The pandemic’s impact on tourism has added pressure to the already fragile economy. And the country’s been seeing food and medicine shortages as well as rising inflation, which could reach about 500% this year.

Last weekend and earlier this week, thousands of Cubans took to the streets across the island nation, in frustration, to protest chronic shortages of basic goods; curbs on civil liberties; and the government’s handling of a worsening coronavirus outbreak, marking the most significant unrest in decades. They also called for an end to the communist government. At least one person died during a clash between protesters and police. And over a hundred others have been arrested or reported missing.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel blamed the US Sanctions for the abysmal economic conditions in the country.

Earlier this week, President Biden said he stands with the Cuban protesters. But many want him to do more. We need to watch this space.

Space Edge

We have coolly travelled hundreds of kilometres(km) horizontally on Earth so often that a distance of 80 to 100km is ‘no big deal’. Many do it every day, on work or other kinds of travel, which should take a couple of hours to cover that kind of distance on land. But then, look up straight into the sky and say ‘Space’. They say a vertical distance of 80 km or more is the beginning of the edge of Space- a boundary we see all the time but cannot draw a line to.

It’s been difficult to pin the edge of Space at a particular altitude. In the 1900’s Hungarian Physicist Theodore Von Karman determined the boundary to be around 80 km above sea level in what is called the Karman Line. Today the Karman line is set at an imaginary boundary roughly 100 km above sea level.

To get a better perspective, ‘using the space between your ears’, the International Space Station orbits around the Earth at a height of about 400 km above the Earth’s surface. And that is well and truly in Space.

How about testing that boundary, going to the edge of Space to see the voluptuous curves of the Earth?

No better person to do that than UK Billionaire, Entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson, 70, founder of the Virgin Group of Companies, who did just that on 11th July 2021. Blasting off from the New Mexico Desert in the United States, he flew high above New Mexico in a vehicle named ‘Unity’ that his company, Virgin Galactic, has been developing for the last seventeen years.

Branson was accompanied by Unity’s two pilots, Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, and three Galactic employees – Beth Moses, Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla.

Sirisha Bandla, an Aeronautical Engineer, and a woman of Indian origin, became an overnight sensation in the Indian Media, and some called her the second Indian woman to fly in to Space – after NASA’s Astronaut Kalpana Chawla (who died when the Columbia Space Shuttle crashed during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere in 2003).

The flight lasted just more than an hour and included roughly four minutes of weightlessness. Branson and the crew returned safely to hug Earth again, after about an hour after lifting-off.

Unity is a sub-orbital vehicle, which means it cannot achieve the velocity and altitude necessary to keep it up in Space to circle Planet Earth. It is designed to give its passengers stunning views at the top of its climb and allow them a few minutes to experience weightlessness.

Unity is first carried, by a much bigger rocket-powered aeroplane, to an altitude of about 15 km from where it is released. A rocket motor of Unity then ignites to blast the vehicle skyward. The maximum height achievable by Unity is about 90km. Passengers are allowed to unbuckle and float to a window for the sights.

Unity folds its tail-booms on descent to stabilise its fall before then gliding home.

Sunday’s flight is the first step in Virgin Galactic’s hopes to begin commercial spaceflights with private customers next year with a reported cost of about USD 250,000 per person for a journey to space. The company has already got the necessary approvals to fly passengers on future commercial flights to sub-orbital space.

Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is waiting in the wings to do a similar stunt…A to Z and beyond? I’m sure the Google Brothers, the Facebook Founder, the Microsoft Founder…and others Founder are looking skywards to cross new boundaries and measure their own curves.

Football and Tennis

The finals of the Euro 2020 Football Tournament was held in England’s Wembley Stadium between Roberto Mancini’s Italy and Gareth Southgate’s England, both coming back from years of being bruised and booted out of winning an International Tournament – 55 years ago for England and 15 years ago for Italy.

England took the lead with a goal in the opening two minutes but Italy poked in an equaliser in the second half. The game played on to a goal-less extra-time period and as a consequence, into the murderous penalty shootouts. In the end, Italy beat England 3-2 to take the Euro 2020 Crown to Rome, and the hero of the game turned out to be Italian goal-keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made two great saves. Once again it was a bleeding heartbreak for England, failing at the penalty shootouts.

Thereafter English fans went berserk unleashing hooliganism of the worst kind inside and around Wembley Stadium, London, followed by racial abuse of the players who failed in their penalty shots. England has blackened its reputation forever. Unacceptable behaviour. You win some and lose some – you win more in the Game by showing grace in defeat.

Argentina’s Football superstar Lionel Messi has often been pilloried for failing to be part of a Tournament-Winning Argentinian Team despite earning innumerable wins for the Football Clubs he played for. That finally came to and end with Argentina winning their first major title in 28 years last Saturday with Argentina beating Brazil 1-0 win to win the Copa America Cup. Messi picked up his first ever title in a blue-and-white shirt after more than a decade of club and individual honours. He also finished as the tournament’s joint top goalscorer with four goals and was elected joint best player along with Brazil’s Neymar.

In the Wimbledon Ladies Finals, Australian Ashleigh Barty beat Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova in a gruelling three-set match, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 lasting near about two hours. The women’s finals has never gone so ‘incredibly’ deep since 2012. Long hailed as the player with the perfect game for grass, Barty held her ‘incredible’ nerve to take home the Trophy.

This is Barty’s maiden Wimbledon Title and fifty years since Evonne Goolagong became the first indigenous Australian to win the Wimbledon Title. She received the Trophy from the Duchess of Cambridge who came wearing a solid green dress, matching the colours of Wimbledon. That’s style!

I’ve tried to use as many ‘incredible’ words as I could, to match Barty’s ‘incredible-aced’ post-game interview during which she thanked her incredible team.

In the Men’s Finals, Novak Djokovic went on to win his sixth Wimbledon Crown, and a 20th Grand Slam beating Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in a four-set duel, which was pretty straight, after the first set was won by the runner-up.

Overall, there were some ‘incredible’ shots played throughout the Tournament that makes you want to get back to the grass, to eat the shots.

More revealing and ‘incredible’ stories coming up in the weeks ahead. And by the way, Richard Branson said flying to the edge of Space was an ‘incredible’ experience!

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2020-51

About: This is a light-hearted story on what happened this week, in our World.

Everywhere

Brexit, what exactly is happening over here? Let’s cross the English Channel.

The United Kingdom consists of the island of Great Britain and the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands, collectively called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Looking from another angle, the UK consists of the countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Island. Capitals are London, Edinburg, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. What most of us know as Britain is loosely applied to mean the UK, as defined above. Now, we have the boundaries in place!

The European Union (EU) was born in the year 1993 as a political and economic union of 27 member countries of Europe to develop together as a ‘single market’ for goods and services. Chief among the members are, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark. Chief ‘not among’ them is Switzerland, which is not part of the EU, but is associated though a series of treaties to participate in the single big market.

Going backwards in time, Britain has ‘exited’ from almost all the countries it conquered and ruled in the long tortuous history of the World. And these liberated counties make it a habit of celebrating their independence (from Britain), year after year – refreshing memories. It could be, that the hangover effects of colonisation that led the British to join the European Union (EU). Supreme loneliness got to them, I guess?

But then, over a period of time the once mighty British Empire probably realised that occupying other countries is one thing and others coming-in to occupy their own, under immigration, is quite another. Sovereign and monetary issues grew to be a stranglehold on the minds of the British, and they began thinking whether the marriage with the EU was indeed beneficial to delivering the kind of offspring they expected? The thoughts began to bulge. Then, a British Prime Minister won an Election promising to hold a referendum on ‘remaining’ with the EU or ‘leaving’ (Britain exiting the EU, called Brexit). On 23rd June 2016, the referendum was held: ‘Leave’ won with 51.9% votes and ‘Remain’ lost with 48.1% votes. On that day Britain decided to exit the EU.

After years of wrangling with how to go about it – and after many British Prime Ministers left Office on this account – Brexit finally happened, becoming an island, again, when the UK left the European Union on 31st January 2020. However, both sides agreed many things will ‘remain as they were’ for eleven months to allow the partners to get used to the divorce, feel the emptiness, and reach a deal by building bridges, on life thereafter. That time runs out on 31st December 2020.

When the UK was with the EU, Businesses could buy and sell goods across the EU borders without paying taxes (tariffs). If there is a no-trade deal, Businesses will have to start paying taxes, which could make things more expensive. Same for services. Agreements on movements across the borers, airline safety, medicine and hiring, or information about security threats are also very important.

I think that Brexit should not have happened at all, in the first place. Now that it has indeed happened, they should either sign clever trade deals to benefit from the common market – maybe, think and learn from Switzerland – or simply apply to rejoin the EU. Why ‘remain’ in splendid isolation. They voted to ‘leave’, didn’t they?

The Space above our heads has been dominated by The United States of America (USA) and Russia, until China and India began catching-up. India’s, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), became a force to reckon with due to its dirt cheap method of launching satellites throwing them into successful orbits; as many as 104 satellites in a single rocket launch from Sriharikota, India in February 2017. Remember, that was a world record. While our heads were spinning with satellites, private agencies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic came into being and suddenly Space was getting crowded, after all.

We lost count of the number of times Astronauts and Cosmonauts left for and returned from the International Space Station, riding on the many options before them. Space became another place on Earth.

After ISRO’s great struggle in the initial years and reaching this level of superiority – except in manner missions – I was wondering when would an Indian private player first launch a rocket from India.

We are reaching there, and we just need to keep looking hard at the skies during 2021. And learn to distinguish between shooting stars and man-made rockets.

Hyderabad-based, Skyroot Aerospace is getting its Vikram series of launch vehicles ready, and in the month of August this year successfully test-fired its upper stage Engine called ‘Raman’ which used a 3D-printed propellant injector -reduces engine mass by 50% and drops the components required and manufacturing time by as much as a whopping 80%. ISRO is lending a shoulder to this and other start-ups, and its Chairman K Sivan said, such new players should explore disruptive technologies and break away from conventional methods of manufacturing launch Vehicles. Wow, I reckon Skyroot was all ears on that one and got to the root of the message!

Chennai based, IIT-Madras incubated Agnikul Cosmos is also quietly building a satellite’ launch vehicle called ‘Agnibaan’, while yet another, Coimbatore-based Bellatrix Aerospace is working on its ‘Chetak’ launch vehicle. Looking for a ride is Pixxel which aims to put a constellation of 30 earth observation micro-satellites in a sun synchronous orbit anytime soon. All these companies started-up over the past few years.

While the new stars are rooting for the cosmos, ISRO quietly launched its 42nd communication Satellite, CMS-01 using its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C50, on its 52nd mission, on Thursday. Is was the 77th launch mission from India’s Sriharikota. Need I say more? India is one of the best in this kind of business.

Unbelievable pace of development in India for a slice of Space. In the month of June this year, India’s far-sighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up the launch pad by opening the space sector to private players and allowing use of ISRO’s facilities and technical know-how. That’s a rocket step for India, and an ISRO step for the Private Sector, I’m sure! Proud to be an Indian.

Meanwhile, with what’s happening to the World, we need another Planet to inhabit should Plant Earth decide to quit! Ask the sun, maybe a friendly black hole?

We are not done with space – the one just above the Earth – and ‘waves’, not yet. Not the loudly familiar waves of the coronavirus but a second wave of Locusts. New swarms of desert locusts are eating into the livelihoods of millions of people in the Horn of Africa and Yemen despite a year of efforts to control the spread. This year has already seen the worst East Africa invasion in 70 years.

The Locusts destroy large tracts of crops, vegetation and pastures and in turn deprive livestock of food, which in turn endangers the people dependent for a livelihood on one or all of them.

Central Somalia and Eastern Ethiopia received higher than average rainfall in the rainy season from September to November, which meant the ground saw significant generation and expansion of vegetation. This then become fertile breeding ground for the locusts. And these areas are really huge! With these conditions, within a couple of months locusts move from single insects to ganging-up as a group. This then leads to small bands of wingless hoppers and small swarms of winged adults. Desert locusts can multiply massively and within a year there can be 160,000 times as many as when they first started out.

Of course we can spray pesticides to get rid of them, which requires enormous funding and timely action based on close-knit surveillance. Maybe, we should hire all the Satellites India in pumping into space and eye the Locusts without battering an eyelid.

Is there no end to the kind of things that can happen in 2020? Should we learn to eat locusts for breakfast, lunch and dinner? No Time To Eat – the next Locust Film.

With COVID-19 Vaccines becoming the last word as we close this year I read this wonderful explanation about why we should not fear the ‘Virus in the Vaccine’ or that it would mix with our DNA. No it doesn’t.

“An mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccine doesn’t actually contain the virus itself. Think of it as an email sent to your immune system that shows what the virus looks like, instructions to kill it, and then – like a Snapchat message – it disappears. Amazing technology”. Long live the world!

Please Yourself

I’ve been reading Tamil historical fiction writer, Kalki’s, old classic Sivakamiyin Sabatham (Sivakami’s Vow) revolving around real historical events, in the Tamil region of South India. This was only my second foray into ‘epic reading’ of this kind after having first read and enjoyed the fantastic Ponniyin Selvan.

https://kumargovindan.wordpress.com/2020/03/31/on-first-reading-kalkis-ponniyin-selvan-2/

Initially, I was put-off by beautiful Bharathanatyam dancer Sivakami’s mindless love for the crown Prince Narasimhavarman, aka Mamallar, when the Pallavas ruled from Kanchi, but the story gets thrilling in the second half. The Pallava King, Mahendravarman, tries to break the romance of his only son and the heir to the throne, and instead tries to hook him on to a suitable Princess (read as a Pandya Princess) who can carry forward the royal bloodline and also strengthen the Kingdom with a regional marriage alliance. He does succeed, but in the process Sivakami is captured by an enemy Chalukya King, Pulakesi, who unsuccessfully tries to break -in the impregnable and heavily fortified Kanchi Fort. Sivakami is taken and held captive in his capital, Vatapi and forced to dance in front of visiting emissaries. Sivakami vows to return to the Pallava Kingdom (despite having a chance to escape during a rescue attempt by the Prince) only when her lover Narashimavarman burns down the city of Vatapi and rescues her.

I takes nine long years, a marriage to the Pandya Princess, two heirs produced for the next-in-line for the once-madly-in-love-with-Sivakami Mamallar and now King, to get the job done with the supremely combat-qualified Pallava Army Commander, Paranjothi, to assist him.

In the end Sivakami realises her fruitless love for the Prince who became King, and only learns about his marriage after being rescued. She dedicates her life to Lord Shiva of Kanchi and ‘continues to wow’ the Pallava Kingdom with her flawless, sculpture-making, bharatnatyam moves.

Writer Kalki keeps the language simple and the narrative pulsates with the dance rhythm at every twist and turn. If you can fairly read Tamil, it’s worth a fighting read, I swear!

Read that Warner Bros-DC Comics’ Wonder Women 1984 has just hit the movie screens. I liked Amazon woman, Diana (played by the ravishing Gal Gadot), getting in our world -to save it, in the first edition, and the reviews of this one say that, it is a full-of-heart, spectacular extravaganza, and one of the best releases of 2020. Look up, and wonder!

‘I wish’ Wonder Woman 2020-21 could rid the world of the coronavirus and use the Lasso Of Truth to get to the bottom of how the pandemic began. We need more superheroes, don’t we?

More ‘wonder’ful stories coming up in the week(s) ahead. We are here to stay for the long term.