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Gurudwaras are open to all but in Pakistan, Muslims are discouraged from visiting the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib. While the government has levied a charge of Rs. 200 for paying obeisance to Bana Nanak, the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) doesn’t allow Muslims to visit the sanctum Sanctorum.

PSGPC on Muslims visiting the gurudwara

According to PSGPS president Satwant Singh, Muslims are kept out of the sanctum Sanctorum for fear of violations of Sikh code of religious conduct that makes it mandatory for visitors to remove socks, wash hands and cover head before entering the gurudwaras.

The president further said that since the staircase leading to the sanctum at first floor is narrow, the PSGPC had to prevent locals from entering the gurudwara to make way for visitors. He said that up to 5000 to 6000 visitors visit the gurudwara daily.

On the Rs. 200 charge levied on Muslims for paying obeisance to Bana Nanak, the president reasoned that had written to the government to waive the charge from Muslim devotees. But he said that Muslims should also follow the Sikh code of religious conduct and avoid activities like taking selfies in the gurudwara.

Guru Nanak had Muslim devotees

Muslims call Guru Nanak Dev ji as Bana Nanak and the come to Kartarpur Sahib to pay their obeisance to Guru Nanak Dev. When Guru Nanak passed away, their devotees decided to cremate the departed soul according to their religions. While Hindus made Samadhi of Guru Nanak, Muslims made mazar of Bana Nanak.

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National Viral

Larry Page And Sergey Brin Make Way For Sundar Pichai Take Over The Reins Of Business

HT News दिसम्बर 4, 2019

Sundar Pichai is promoted as CEO of Alphabet. Presently he is CEO of Google but ready to take the new responsibility as the founding fathers of the tech giant Larry Page and Sergey Brin decided to step down from the active management.

Why Page and Brin opted out of management?

The founding fathers of Alphabet had already started reducing their roles in the day-to-day operations of the company since 2015. And they thought that the it was the right time to share the responsibility.

Alphabet is well-established and Google and the “Other Bets” working properly. Also, there is little need to different CEOs for Alphabet and Google. Sundar Pichai was considered the right man for becoming CEO of Alphabet and Google. He will the executive responsible for managing the parent company and the “Other Bets”.

What was the role of Page and Brin in the present setup?

It is made clear that Larry Page and Sergey Brin are only limiting their responsibilities and that they will continue to be in the board of the company. As board of directors, they will remain in touch with Sundar Pichai in important matters. They said that the transition won’t have any affect on day-to-day business of the company.

What are the challenges for Sundar Pichai?

Google is already under pressure for mounting scrutiny over its size and data practices and the potential impact of its data policies on the society. The present shuffle is considered the biggest change in Silicon Valley. It made Sundar Pichai one of the most powerful CEOs of the world.

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National

Navy Day 2019: Indian Warships Attacked Karachi Harbour With Anti-Ship Missiles And Sank PNS Khaibar

HT News दिसम्बर 4, 2019

Every year on 4th December Indian Navy commemorates the victory of Indo-Pak war of 1971 as Navy Day. On this day, Indian Navy launched a fierce attack on Karachi harbour with anti-ship missiles and it was for the first time that these missiles were used in this war.

Naval attack on Karachi port

It was the chill of the intervening night of December 4-5that Indian Navy sailed its warships towards Pakistani waters and inflicted heavy losses to Pak with their anti-ship missiles. But the most amazing thing is that they sailed safely back to Indian waters.

Three Indian warships – INS Nipat, INS Nirghat and INS Veer – sailed from Okha port in Gujarat towards Pakistani waters and reached 70 miles south of Karachi at night. They fired anti-ship missiles that sank a Pakistani vessel, PNS Khaibar. The Indian government honoured its naval officers with gallantry awards after the successful operation.

Navy Day celebrations

Celebrations start with a Beating Retreat ceremony at Gateway of India in Mumbai on the eve of the Navy Day. The audiences that include political bosses see naval band performing between Gateway of India and Radio Club in Mumbai. Also, the Navy opens its warships and aircrafts for visitors especially school children.

Objective of Navy Day

Navy Day encourages the Indian Navy to work towards securing marine borders and strengthening relations with neighbours through joint exercises and partnering in humanitarian missions and relief operations. It is a very important day for armed forces as it highlights the strength of India as a power.

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National

When NASA Asked Public To Find Vikram Lander?

HT News दिसम्बर 3, 2019

Shanmuga Subramanian became the first person to locate the debris from the Vikram moon lander on the images shared by NASA. It is a fete for this 33-year old engineer from Chennai that he guided space scientists in spotting the place where Vikram crashed.

Who is Shanmuga Subramanian?

He is a Chennai based mechanical engineer with interest in space research and this self-professed space nerd spend close to seven hours everyday after the crashing of Vikram. He studied old images and new images on side-by-side laptop in his Chennai apartment. He kept his search within 2 square kilometer area of the Vikram’s crash site. Finally, he came up with a positive identification and shared his details with NASA and ISRO on twitter.

NASA’s view on Subramanian’s findings

The US space research organizations performed additional searches to verify his claims and officially announced the findings two months later. NASA released a mosaic image of the moon taken by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and invited public to find the crash site. Shanmuga Subramanian found the debris about 750 meters northwest of the main crash site. It was visible as a single bright pixel in the first mosaic.

Vikram incident

Vikram lander lost communication with its orbiter Chandraayan 2 while making soft landing on the moon on September 6. The US space agency released an image taken by its LRO showing the site of the spacecraft’s impact. But it is only Subramanian that could track the exact site of crashing on his laptops.

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National

World AIDS Day 2019: Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Community by Community

HT News दिसम्बर 1, 2019

Since 1988, the 1st December is celebrated as World AIDS day. Objective behind celebrating AIDS is to spread awareness about the deadly disease. Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome is an infection spread by Human Immunodeficiency virus that attacks the immune system and damages it permanently.

How is World AIDS Day celebrated?

Different organizations across the globe try to reach out to as many people as possible to educate them about HIV and AIDS. They use different forums to reach out to the last person in the society. It is taken as an opportunity to fight against HIV. The celebration motivates the people affected by HIV to continue their fight until the last breath.

How is world fighting with HIV?

The fight against HIV is fought on different platforms and at different levels. For example, the medical science has found effective treatment for AIDS. Also, the people are educated to prevent discrimination of the AIDS patients. The HIV+ people are proper medical and emotional care to keep their spirits up. But a lot needs to be done before it is too late.

Quick facts about HIV/AIDS

• In 2018, the number of HIV+ people were 37.9 million
• 79% of the patients are receiving testing
• 62% of them have received treatment
• 53% AIDS patients have achieved suppression of HIV with reduced risk of spreading infection

This year the theme for the World Aids Day 2019 is “Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Community by Community”. The world community will take a pledge to remove the HIV virus from the world.

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National News & Politics

What Does 4.5% GDP Say About The Country’s Economy?

HT News नवम्बर 30, 2019

The latest data released by National Statistical Office (NSO) revealed startling details about the country’s GDP. The economy grew at its slowest pace in 26 quarters in the July-September period of the current fiscal.

Highlights of the NSO data

• GDP grew by 4.5% in the September quarter
• It is slower than 5% in the previous quarter
• The manufacturer contracted 1% in September quarter
• Eight core sectors that account for 40% of index of industrial production contracted 5.8% in October

The data shows that the GDP remained slower despite the 4.3% expansion in the January-March quarter of 2012-13.The decline in manufacturing sector is the first in the nine quarters. It highlights lack of demand in the economy. The factory out with the core sector also contracted.

The eight-core sectors coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity witnessed the sharpest slide that shows that the weakness in economy has continued in the third-quarter too.

Political slugfest over economic slowdown

Former PM Manmohan Singh said that 4.5% GDP was unacceptable. But the chief economic adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian countered that the fundamentals of the economy continued to be strong. Economists also expect the economy to see some growth but they predict the economy to remain around 5.5-5.6% in 2019-20 fiscal year. But it is much lower than the 7% growth estimated earlier this year.

Former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg terms the current GDP like a recession than a slowdown for a country that has grown in excess of 7.5% per annum for 20 years.

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National Technology

ISRO Successfully Sends CARTOSAT-3 With 13 Commercial Satellites From US In The Space

HT News नवम्बर 27, 2019

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched the advanced earth observation and mapping satellite CARTOSAT-3 along with 13 other commercial nano-satellites from the US at 9:28 AM on Wednesday.

CARTOSAT-3

This satellite is the ninth in series of ISRO and this 1,625 kg satellite is expected to fulfil the demand for llarge scale urban planning, rural resource and infrastructure development, coastal land use and land cover. It is also expected to help in military purposes.

13 commercial satellites

These satellites are sent according to the commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space. It is a set of 13 nano-satellites including FLOCK-4P that are 12 in numbers. Their mission objective is observation of the earth. One satellite named MESHBED is sent with the objective to be used as a communication testbed.

What did ISRO say about this launch?

The premier space research organization said that this launch would be 74th launch mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. ISRO specified that the mission life of CARTOSAT-3 will be for five-years.

It is to be noted that the launch of CARTOSAT-3 with 13 commercial satellites would be the first big launch after Chandrayaan-2 mission that was ISRO’s most ambitious project to soft land on the moon.

The Chandrayaan-2 failed to land on the moon stopping India from entering into the group of countries that had successfully landed their satellites on the moon. But today’s launch proves that the ISRO is determined to take bold steps towards space research.

Source: https://bit.ly/2qSHnW6

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National News & Politics

What is Fit India Grading System For Schools?

HT News नवम्बर 25, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday rolled out Fit India School grading system for schools across the country. Divided into three categories, the grading system ranks schools according to their contribution in fitness program.

What is Fit India School grading system?

It is a fitness system developed to check participation of educational institutions in popularizing fitness among students, teachers and other staff members. Also, the schools would have to invest in developing infrastructure for supporting fitness programs.

Grades of Fit India School

• The Fit India Schools

• Fit India School (3 Stars)

• Fit India School (5 Stars)

The level of ranking would be determined from the efforts, schools make for inculcating fitness in students and teachers. Also, the availability of fitness equipment would be a factor in grading.

How could schools participate in the fitness grading system?

Schools need to visit Fit India portal to declare themselves fit. They would be given ratings according to the set procedure. The portal would give Fit India three star and five-star rating to schools. The participating schools would be allowed to use Fit India flag and logo.

What did PM Modi say during launch of Fit India School?

Narendra Modi launched the Fit India School grading system in his popular radio program Mann Ki Baat on Sunday. He invited all schools across the length and breadth of the country to participate in the grading system to declare their fitness.

He appealed to all schools to enroll in the Fit India ranking system and make it a mass movement to bring awareness about what the country must strive for.

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National News & Politics

Essar Steel, Adani, GAIL, HPCL buy Bul of Reliance gas- Skip fertilizer companies

HT News नवम्बर 18, 2019

Industry sources said that Essar Steel, Adani group and State-owned GAIL recently have brought a large part of natural gas from the Reliance Industry at the inductive price of $5.04- 5.16 per unit.

On November 15, the Essar Steel select 2.25 million normal cubic meters per day or some half volume in a day-long in the Auction.

The GSPC (Gujarat State Petroleum Corp) choose 1.2 mmscmd where the GAIL and Adani Group, Mahanagar Gas Ltd picked up mmscmd each. The HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd choose 0.33 mmscmd and remain 0.10 mmscmd went to GNFC/GSFC. The partner BP PlC of Reliance of UK and they Had a search for the bids from Potential users for the 5 mmscmd of the Natural gas and they planned to generate from the R-Cluster Field in KG-D6 block from mid-2020.

New Delhi News on Reliance Limited

The bidder was said to recite the supply interval and the volume gas required. The meaning of Dated Brent is the mean of Brent published for three calendar Months straight away preceding the applicable contract month in which gas supply should be made.

8.4 percent of Dated Brent price reliance had to set a floor. On 15 November the Auction bidders recite between 8.4 and 8.6 percent slope of the corner of 5 mmscmd supply available. This gives a price of between $ 5.04 per million British terminal unit and 5.16 per mm Btu rate and the Brent price of oil is $ 60 per barrel.

For the usage in West India, the volumes are mostly planned especially in Gujarat where the gas provides through a single pipeline called the East-West pipeline. The … Read the rest

National

Delhi Is Expected To Get Its First Anti-Smog Tower By Next Winter?

HT News नवम्बर 17, 2019

Delhi will get an anti-smog tower on the lines of China by next winter. The Supreme Court advised the state and center to check feasibility of setting anti-smog towers to clean capital of pollution. Now the Delhi government come up with a plan to set one.

How is Delhi’s first anti-smog tower planned?

IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay are working on a 20-25 meters tower with 30×30 feet dimensions. The University of Minnesota that also helped China in installing an anti-smog tower recently is assisting India in making its first air purifier.

Highlights of the Delhi tower

• 20-25 meters height

• 30×30 dimensions

• Cleaning capacity of 1 sq km

• Multiple filters to release fresh air in every direction

• The filters will be made at different heights

What people associated with the project have to say about the upcoming anti-smog tower?

It would be a pilot project and the location to install the first tower is yet to be finalized said Harsha Kota assistant professor in the civil engineering department at IIT-Delhi. Kota further revealed that the Delhi tower would be different from its counterpart in China.

While the Chinese tower releases fresh air only from top, the Delhi tower will release fresh air from all directions and at different heights. He maintained that the tower would clean air within 1 sq km area and it would work locally. Professor Mukesh Kharesaid that the structure would be permanent and it would consume 1 MW of power hence would require connectivity to grid.

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