Tuesday, August 7, 2012

HEADLINES

• Supreme Court dismisses CBI appeal seeking to quash the anticipatory bail granted by the Karnataka HC to Yeddyurappa and his family members in the case involving alleged kickbacks from mining firms
• AIADMK decides to back Jaswant Singh for Vice-President
• Mary Kom wins in the quarterfinals and is assured of a medal; So far shooter Vijay Kumar and Badminton player Saina Nehwal have won medals
• August 6 is known as Hiroshima Day. It was on August 6 and 9 in 1945 that America had dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively

NATIONAL NEWS

• Floods, landslides lash North India
  • Many areas in North India received rain while some stared at floods and landslides due to incessant downpour. In Uttar Pradesh, swollen rivers in the eastern districts have sent alarm bells ringing. The Ghaghra and Saryu in Gonda and Ayodhya, flowing above the danger mark, have forced residents of over a dozen villages to rush to safer places;
  • A Central Water Commission report here said the Ganga was showing a rising trend from Kanpur to Ballia while Ram Ganga was also rising at Moradabad. In Uttarakhand, Indo-Tibetan Border Police has begun erecting a ‘rope bridge’ across the Bhagirathi in Gangotri area to resume communication links in the rain-ravaged State;
  • These rivers were overflowing beyond the danger mark in several places.
• The West Bengal Govt has moved the Supreme Court challenging the June 22 order of the Calcutta HC striking down the law intended to reclaim Singur land leased out to the Tatas and to give a part of it back to farmers who were yet to receive compensation for it

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Wade Michael Page (40), a U.S. Army veteran, has been identified as the suspect in a shooting incident at a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on Sunday. Six members of the Sikh community were killed and dozens injured in the attack
• Syria’s Prime Minister Riad Hijab joined the anti-regime revolt and fled abroad, in what Washington and the opposition called on Monday as a major blow to President Bashar Al-Assad. He accused his former master of carrying out “genocide” against his own people but said four decades of Assad family rule was collapsing

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on India's path in relation to Syria and any vote it may have to participate in at the UNSC
• Read this editorial on the newly elected GTA and the challenges that lies ahead
• Read this article on the problem of less staff in the Indian Foreign Service
• Read this response from the Paraguayan Govt through its ambassador on the issue of the impeachment of its President Fernando Lugo
• If you have time, read this article on the situation of Indian labour in West Asia (i.e. the Middle east)

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Curiosity sets down on Mars; beams first image
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States opened a new chapter in the history of interplanetary exploration on Monday when its $2.5 billion nuclear-powered robot, Curiosity, beamed back pictures from the surface of Mars;
  • The one-tonne mobile lab is the largest rover ever sent to Mars, and its high-speed landing was the most daring to date, using a rocket-powered sky crane to lower the six-wheeled vehicle gently to the red planet’s surface. France and Australia were also involved along with US in this mission;
  • The rover is set for a 2 year mission to explore Mars, including a long climb up a mountain to analyse sediment layers that are up to a billion year-old. The spacecraft had been collecting data on radiation during its approx 8 month journey following launch in November 2011 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Previous attempts by space agencies since 1960 have seen a near 40% success rate in sending landers, orbiters or other spacecraft to Mars;
  • Curiosity would be looking for embedded signatures on Mars. It would be able to throw light on precursors, which could be signatures for potential and possible existence of evolution of life on the surface of Mars;
  • Indian scientist Amitabh Ghosh, part of the Science Operations Working Group at NASA Mars Exploration Rover Mission, was a member of the team that zeroed in on the Gale crater location where the car-sized rover successfully landed. Gale crater was chosen after observations from orbit identified clay and sulfate minerals in the lower layers, indicating a wet history. You can also read this editorial on the Mars mission.