India’s ambitious third moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit on August 5, the ISRO said. The required manoeuvre was done from an ISRO facility in Bengaluru, the city-headquartered space agency said in an X post.
“Chandrayaan-3 has been successfully inserted into the lunar orbit. A retro-burning at the Perilune was commanded from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network) , Bengaluru,” the agency said in the X (formerly Twitter) post.
Perilune is the spacecraft’s closest point to the moon.
The next operation — reduction of orbit — will be done at 11 p.m. on August 6, ISRO added.
ISRO also shared a message from the satellite to its centres, which read, ”MOX, ISTRAC, this is Chandrayaan-3. I am feeling lunar gravity.”
Over five moves in the three weeks since the launch on July 14, ISRO has been lifting the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into orbits farther and farther away from the Earth.
Then, on August 1 in a key manoeuvre — a slingshot move — the craft was sent successfully towards the Moon from Earth’s orbit.
Following this trans-lunar injection, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft escaped from orbiting the Earth and began following a path that would take it to the vicinity of the moon.
World Archery championship | Compound archer Aditi Swami becomes senior world champion at 17
Less than two months after winning the junior world title, 17-year-old Aditi Swami, on August 5, became the senior world champion after defeating Andrea Becerra of Mexico in the compound women’s final of the World Archery Championships, in Berlin.
The Satara teenager, who had won the Under-18 title in Youth Championships in Limerick in July, shot a near perfect score of 149 out of a possible 150 points to prevail over the Mexican by two points.
The 16th seed Andrea had knocked out reigning champion Sara Lopez in the pre-quarterfinals but faced a tough challenge from the sixth seeded Indian, who started off with a bang, drilling in all her first three arrows closer to the centre to take a 30-29 first round lead.
Aditi was on target in all of her 12 arrows in the first four rounds to extend her lead by three points.
It was only in the final end, she shot one 9 out of the three arrows, but by then she had already sealed India’s second World Championship gold ever.
Aditi along with Parneet Kaur and Jyothi Surekha Vennam had secured India’s first ever World Archery Championships gold by winning the compound women’s team final on August 4.
Earlier in the day, she had ousted her ‘idol’ and the most successful Indian compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam 149-145 in an all-Indian semifinal.
Jyothi, however, went on to win a bronze medal when she shot a perfect 150 to defeat Ipek Tomruk of Turkey by four points in the third-place play-off.
Jyothi now has one gold, four silver and three bronze medals from three editions of the World Archery Championships.
Article 370 abrogation anniversary | Mehbooba Mufti under house arrest, NC office sealed
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said that she was put under house arrest on August 5, along with other leaders of her Peoples Democratic Party, while the Srinagar office of the National Conference was sealed, according to a party spokesperson.
J&K’s regional parties accused the Lieutenant Governor’s administration of imposing such restrictions on the fourth anniversary of the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and end J&K autonomy.
Mufti posted about the “crackdown” against her party on the social media platform X (previously known as Twitter).
She said that “giant hoardings calling upon Kashmiris to ‘celebrate’ the illegal abrogation of Article 370” have been put up across Srinagar.
A PDP leader said that several party leaders were detained by the police. The PDP had sought permission from the District Magistrate (DC), Srinagar, for a public rally at the Sher-e-Kashmir park in Srinagar. “We were denied permission,” the PDP leader said.
NC spokesman Imran Nabi Dar said that the administration had sealed the party office in Srinagar. He said that these steps render hollow the administration’s claims regarding great improvements in the last four years.
Sajad Lone, chairman of the J&K Peoples Conference, said that August 5 was a sad day.
Meanwhile, the security agencies consulted shopkeepers in parts of the city and allegedly “disallowed any shutdown on the occasion” in Srinagar.
J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said that every citizen of J&K was living in peace. He claimed that the biggest change was visible on the ground, with “people living freely after so many decades”.
Three killed, three injured in fresh violence in Manipur, curfew relaxation hours slashed
Three persons, including a father-son duo, were killed by militants in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on August 4 night while another three sustained bullet wounds following heavy exchange of fire between state forces and armed men in the same district even as the 24-hour general strike called by the coordinating committee of 27 assembly constituencies paralysed normal life in Imphal valley, police said.
The three were gunned down while they were sleeping and their bodies were later slashed with swords at Kwakta in the district by unidentified men, police said on August 5, adding that the assailants came from Churachandpur.
Soon after the incident, an irate mob gathered at Kwakta and wanted to head towards Churachandpur but was stopped by security personnel, they said.
Eyewitnesses said several houses were burnt at Ukha Tampak in Bishnupur district by a mob in retaliation of the murders.
In another incident, three persons including one policeman were injured following heavy exchange of fire between state forces and militants near Kwakta on August 5, police said.
Across Imphal valley, women protesters came out on the streets and burnt tyres to block the movement of vehicles.
In the wake of renewed violence, the district administration clamped curfew from 10.30 a.m. in the twin Imphal districts.
In a statement, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) asked the state government on the steps being taken to stem the violence. According to the forum, more than 4,000 weapons and lakhs of ammunition were “looted” from different police stations and armouries by mobs in Imphal and the surrounding valley in May.
It said if the central government and security forces do not take cognisance of the risk posed by the circulation of such huge quantities of arms and act to retrieve the weapons, “we are afraid that Manipur could witness a bloodbath, the kind of which the country has not seen in decades.”
Imran Khan arrested in Toshakhana case; party to challenge sentence
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested by the police at his home in Lahore after he was found guilty in the Toshakhana corruption case.
A Pakistani trial court sentenced him to three years in jail in the case in which he has been accused profiting from selling expensive state gifts when he was in power.
Additional Judge Humayun Dilawar of the Islamabad-based district and sessions judge also imposed PKR 100,000 fine on Khan, adding that he would be kept in jail for another six months if failed to pay the fine. The verdict could bar Khan from politics.
Meanwhile, former Pakistan Foreign Minister and Khan’s close aide Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the sentencing and arrest was “politically motivated” and that their Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will challenge the verdict and use all legal means to defend the ex-PM.
Qureshi rejected the conviction and subsequent arrest, saying the “much-feared” ruling was state-sanctioned and premeditated. He also said he believed that the requirements of justice were not met. Noting that the decision was taken in haste and announced on the weekend, he also questioned the immediate arrest by Lahore police.
ASI conducts scientific survey of Gyanvapi mosque complex for second day
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on August 5 resumed its survey at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.
Five members of the Muslim side also participated in the survey. Its advocate Tauheed Khan said advocates of the Intezamia Masjid Committee, Akhlaq and Mumtaz, also accompanied the survey team. The Muslim side had not participated in the survey on August 4.
Lawyer for the Hindu side Sudhir Tripathi claimed, “Not idols, but fragments of idols have been found in the debris. We are quite hopeful that idols will also be recovered... The Intezamia Masjid Committee is cooperating... they gave the keys which they were not giving earlier.”
Another lawyer of the Hindu side Subhash Nandan told reporters that the ASI team is examining the central hall under the main dome.
Late on Friday night, joint secretary of the Intezamia Masjid Committee Muhammad Yasin said in a letter that they would cooperate in the survey work, honouring the orders of the Supreme Court.
A team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) is assisting the ASI in the survey work.
In Brief:
The Gujarat High Court granted regular bail to ex-DGP R.B. Sreekumar in a case of fabricating evidence to frame people in connection with the 2002 riots, nearly two weeks after the Supreme Court allowed the bail plea of social activist Teesta Setalvad in the same case. The court of Justice Ilesh Vora gave relief to former director-general of police (DGP) Sreekumar, who is already out on interim bail, on a personal bond of ₹25,000 and directed him to surrender his passport. Granting bail to Sreekumar, the court observed that the entire case is based on documentary evidence which is in the custody of the investigating agency. It also said that the applicant is 75 years of age and suffers from age-related ailments and nothing was reported against him that he misused his liberty during the interim bail.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
Published - August 05, 2023 08:46 pm IST
