Mumbai: Fire breaks out at hotel; 8 people rescued

A fire engulfed a five-storey hotel in Mumbai’s Santacruz area on Sunday afternoon. The blaze erupted on the second floor of the Galaxy Hotel located in Prabhat Colony, according to the fire officials.

Following the incident, a rescue operation was launched. The victims, who sustained injuries were rushed to the Cooper Hospital for medical attention, a fire official informed.

“It is a level-one fire. All rescued people have been rushed to the Cooper Hospital,” the official said.

Emergency assistance including four fire engines, several water tankers were rushed to the spot as when the fire broke out.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/w1nYc2P

ISRO shares observations on Lunar surface temperature captured by Chandrayan-3 rover

ISRO on Sunday shared the first set of observations gathered by the Chandryaan-3 on the temperature of the top layer of the Lunar surface at its south pole.

The ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) tool on Vikram Lander, which landed on the Moon on Wednesday, measures the temperature profile of the lunar surface by penetrating up to 10 cm deep.

ISRO on X (formerly Twitter) said: “ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon’s surface. It has a temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10 cm beneath the surface. The probe is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors.”

“This is the first such profile for the lunar south pole. Detailed observations are underway,” it added.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
Here are the first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander.

ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon’s… pic.twitter.com/VZ1cjWHTnd

— ISRO (@isro) August 27, 2023

Earlier on Friday, Isro said the Chandrayaan-3 rover, called ‘Pragyan’, has successfully traversed a distance of about eight metres and its payloads have been turned on.

“All planned rover movements have been verified. The rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 8 metres. Rover payloads LIBS and APXS are turned on,” the space agency said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally,” it confirmed.

The Surface Thermophysical Experiment tool was turned on thursday, alonf with the ILSA and RAMBHA payloads.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/uAtSXqd

Several killed, many injured in explosion at fireworks factory in West Bengal

Several people have been killed and many others are feared trapped in an explosion at the illegal crackers factory in West Bengal’s Duttapukur.

The victims, who have sustained injuries have been shifted to Barasat Hospital for the treatment, according to Duttapukur Police sources.

#WATCH | West Bengal: Several people feared dead in an explosion at the Illegal crackers factory in Duttapukur. A rescue operation is underway. The injured are being taken to Barasat Hospital for treatment: Duttapukur Police sources pic.twitter.com/YzKW7cU8gM

— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2023

A resuce operation has been launched and is underway.

This is a developing story, further details are awaited.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/6dMJD41

Security concerns rise as pro-Khalistan activists deface Delhi metro stations ahead of G20 Summit

Fuelling security concerns ahead of the G20 Summit, which is set to be hosted in the national capital next month under India’s presidency, suspected activists of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a front for the separatist Khalistan Group, defaced more than five Metro stations with pro-Khalistan slogans, an official said on Sunday.

In pictures shared by Delhi Police, slogans are seen inscribed on the walls of Metro stations, reading “Delhi Banega Khalistan” and “Khalistan Zindabad”.

Pro-Khalistani graffiti appears at Delhi metro stations; case registered against unknown suspect; Delhi Police has initiated a probe

News18's @shankar_news18 with more details, listen in@GoyalYashco brings in live updates from the ground, take a look@Sriya_Kundu| #delhimetro pic.twitter.com/P4CDAek3HD

— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 27, 2023

“Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) also released raw footage of Delhi Metro stations which were defaced with pro-Khalistan slogans,” an officer said.”

Suspected SFJ activists defaced multiple Metro stations in Delhi — from Shivaji Park to Punjabi Bagh — with pro-Khalistan slogans,” the officer added.

Confirming the defacement of Metro stations, they were pursuing necessary action in the matter, as per law.

The defacement of the Metro stations comes at a time when the national capital is playing host to the B20 Summit India, 2023.The three-day summit started on August 25 and will end on Sunday. The event has drawn over 1,500 delegates from 55 countries.

As many as 18 heads of state are expected to attend the G20 summit in the national capital next month.

Many heads of state and diplomats, including US President Joe Biden, Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/1rq9Ejz

MEA S Jaishankar charts out global south leader role for India at B20 Summit

Making the case for shifting the focus on the global south, the Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar, pictured India as leading the way in solving the problems in the developing world during his address at the B20 summit in Delhi on Sunday.

Jaishankar underscored the lack of balance in the global order and called for the urgent need to focus on the developing world, especially after witnessing the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is however an undeniable reality that the international system remains dominated by the global north. This is naturally reflected in the composition of G20 as well. Perhaps this mattered less when the globalisation process appeared to offer more opportunities but as its inequities & unevenness became more apparent & then as we saw the Covid pandemic take a horrific toll across the world the need to focus on developing countries became more compelling…”

Pointing to the lack of representation for Global South — countries in the regions of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia (without Israel, Japan, and South Korea), and Oceania (without Australia and New Zealand) — in the G20 grouping, Jaishankar recalled efforts in reaching out to these countries to ascertain their problems and make them front and centre of agenda under India’s presidency.

“When India assumed the G20 Presidency last December, we were acutely conscious that most of the global south would not be at the table when we meet, this mattered very much…therefore PM decided to convene the Voice of the Global South Summit in January this year and we heard about their challenges and priorities and these have been made central to the G20 agenda”, said the Minister.

“The core mandate of the G20 is to promote economic growth & development and that cannot advance if the crucial concerns of the global south are not addressed…For a variety of reasons that range from scale, subsidy, technology, human resources & strategic choices the global south was reduced to being a consumer rather than a producer,

“Today’s India is the one where the world simultaneously witnesses experimentation, scaling up, deployment, innovation, & breakthroughs. I stress these developments not only because they solve 1/6th of the world’s problems, but because they provide replicable models for the rest of the global south,” he said.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/TUuD29a

ISRO Chief claims India can travel to 'Mars and Venus', calls for more investment

The success Chandrayaan-3 is taking India’s expectations in space to a new high and in the same view ISRO Chief S Somanath on Sunday claimed that India can reach even Mars and Venus if the space sector gets more investment.

“India has the capability to travel to the Moon, Mars and Venus but we need to increase our confidence. We need more investment and the space sector must develop and by this, the whole nation should develop, that is our mission. We’re ready to fulfil the vision that was given to us by PM Modi,” Somnath told reporters Saturday late evening.

On Wednesday the Chandrayaan-3, India’s third unmanned Moon mission’s lander module made a flawless soft-landing, making it only the fourth country to achieve this feat, and the first to reach the uncharted South Pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.

A couple of days later on Friday, ISRO said the Chandrayaan-3 rover, called ‘Pragyan’, has successfully traversed a distance of about eight metres and its payloads have been turned on.

After hitting the moon, the ISRO is already aiming for the Sun. The Indian space agency is gearing up for a solar mission launch just in a week, most probably on 2 September, according to the news agency PTI.

Aditya-L1 spacecraft is designed to provide remote observations of the solar corona and in situ observations of the solar wind at L1 (Sun-Earth Lagrangian point), which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth.

It will be the first dedicated Indian space mission for observations of the Sun to be launched by the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency.

Yesterday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was returning from a four-day visit to South Africa ( for the BRICS summit) and Greece, steeped out of the usual routine of coming straith to Delhi and chose to first land in Bengaluru to be with the ISRO team behind the successful Lunar Mission.

Addressing his supporters who had gathered at HAL airport to welcome him, the PM hailed the “historic feat” achieved by the country’s scientific community. “I could not come earlier as I was not in the country, but I decided to visit Bengaluru first and meet our scientists on arrival in India,” PM Modi said.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/riLUG7v

Watch: PM Modi stops his address midway, asks medical team to check on fainted SPG personnel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stopped his address midway at the Palam airport after an SPG personnel fainted. He immediately asked his medical team to check up on the personnel.

Watch:

#WATCH | Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi asks his team of doctors to check on a person who collapsed during his address. pic.twitter.com/Stw4eL97CW

— ANI (@ANI) August 26, 2023

The PM was addressing the public after his return from the BRICS Summit in South Africa and a one-day visit to Greece.

“I went to attend BRICS in South Africa…I got a lot of congratulatory messages during BRICS for Chandrayaan-3. The whole world has sent congratulatory messages”, said Prime Minister Modi.

Earlier in the morning he landed straight in Bengaluru from a foreign visit to meet the ISRO team after the successful landing of the lander module of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

“I could not stop myself as I was not in the country, but I decided to visit Bengaluru first and meet our scientists right after visiting India,” PM Modi said.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/AHLE1pc