Feb 02,2021:Tehran, Iran – Iran has completed the test launch of a satellite-carrying rocket below orbit, the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics said.
State television aired footage of the rocket being fired in daylight on Monday in a desert area but it is unclear exactly when or where the launch took place.
“For the first time in the country’s space field, the first research launch of the hybrid Zuljanah satellite carrier was conducted with the aim of below-orbit testing through achieving the technology for the most powerful solid fuel engine in the country,” said Ahmad Hosseini, the spokesman for the defence ministry’s space division.
Zuljanah was the name of the horse of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
According to Hosseini, the satellite carrier uses solid fuel in its first two stages of launch and liquid fuel in the third. It can carry a satellite weighing up to 220kg (485 pounds) for 500km (310 miles), he said.
The spokesman said Zuljanah will be able to place operational satellites into orbit after it finalises its test launches, and can be launched from mobile launching pads.
Iran maintains that its satellite programme, like the nuclear programme, is aimed at peaceful applications.
But the United States and other Western powers have for long held suspicions that the programme could have military applications for missile development.
In April 2020, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps successfully launched the country’s first military reconnaissance satellite – dubbed Nour or “light” – after two failed launches and a launchpad rocket explosion.
Chandigarh (Punjab), February 2,2021: An ‘amputee clinic’, the first of its kind in India, with the aim of improving amputation patient care by providing a collection of services under one roof with significant coordination was launched in Chandigarh.
The clinic was formally inaugurated by the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Director Prof Jagat Ram on Monday.
“The basic intent of this initiative is to bring an Amputee as a near-normal functional human being in society. This initiative will attempt to provide appropriate management to amputees to guide them in their path to rehabilitation in society and will support patients with counseling and medical facilities during their treatment and recovery,” Jagat Ram told ANI.
Prof MS Dhillon, Head of the Department of Orthopaedics, who spearheaded the initiative said, “This is the first of its kind clinic in the country. Over the last few years, it has been our endeavor to provide comprehensive care to Post-Trauma amputees, with various aspects of multidisciplinary care. We have combined all the specialties that help in patient care and rehab under one roof and we have now formalized this as PGI AMPUTEE CLINIC.”
New Delhi, Feb 1,2021 : Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced “One Nation One Ration Card” for providing benefits to workers in unorganised sectors.
‘One Nation One Ration Card plan is under implementation by 32 states and UTs, reaching about 69 crore beneficiaries – that’s a total of 86 per cent beneficiaries covered,’ Ms Sitharaman said.
Last year, the labourers and migrants were hardest hit from Covid-19 crisis and nationwide lockdown due to hardships in getting rationed food and jobs. This in all forced many to leave cities and return to their villages.
This scheme allows beneficiaries to claim their rations from anywhere in the country, especially the migrant workers, with a partial claim from where they are stationed, while their family, in their native places, can claim the rest, the minister said.
Ms Sitharaman also proposed to launch a portal that will collect relevant information on gig, building and construction-workers among others. This will also help formulate health, housing, skill, insurance, credit, and food schemes for migrant workers.
The government will implement the new labour codes for extending social security benefits to gig and platform workers with the application of minimum wages across all categories of workers.
Women will be allowed to work in all categories and also in the night-shifts with adequate protection, Ms Sitharaman said.
Washington, Feb 1,2021: The US has threatened to take action against those responsible for the detention of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as President Win Myint in Myanmar.
“The United States is alarmed by reports that the Burmese military has taken steps to undermine the country’s democratic transition, including the arrest of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian officials in Burma [Myanmar]. President [Joe] Biden has been briefed by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan,” White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Earlier, western media reported that Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as President Win Myint, were detained along with other members of Myanmar’s ruling party in an early morning military raid on Monday.
“We continue to affirm our strong support for Burma’s democratic institutions and, in coordination with our regional partners, urge the military and all other parties to adhere to democratic norms and the rule of law, and to release those detained today. The United States opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections or impede Myanmar’s democratic transition, and will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed,” Psaki said.
In January, Myanmar’s military raised the prospect of a coup d’etat after what they believed was widespread voter fraud during the November 8 election, which was the country’s second general election since the end of military rule in 2011.