ABP Live News Shots: Successful Launch Of Chandrayaan-3 To Flood Fury In Delhi — Top Headlines This Week

ABP Live News Shots: From India's successful launch Chandrayaan-3, flood fury in the national capital to 'dangerous' heatwave in the US — bringing to you all the big news that made headlines this past week, in case you missed it.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was applauded by citizens and leaders across the country as it launched its third lunar mission Chandrayaan 3 on board the heavy-lift LVM3-M4 rocket in Sriharikota of Friday and while this called for celebrations, heavy rain caused heavy waterlogging and flooding in several parts of the national capital, prompting evacuation of people residing in the low-lying areas which were inundated by an overflowing Yamuna. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the United Arab Emirates where he met with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. In the world of sports, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced equal prize money for men's and women's teams at all world competitions. Here's all that happened this week.

INDIA

As North India grappled with heavy rainfall over the last few days, some states, including Punjab, Haryana, and national capital Delhi saw some respite as the floodwaters that inundated several parts, started receding on Saturday, news agency PTI reported. However, the traffic advisories are still in place and relief operations in the flood-hit states are underway. Meanwhile, heavy rains lashed parts of Odisha, mostly the coastal region, throwing life out of gear, with severe waterlogging reported in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday successfully launched the Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 2:35 pm IST. Chandrayaan-3, India's third Moon mission, is equipped with a lander, a rover and a propulsion module. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's voyage towards the Moon began after ISRO's largest and heaviest rocket, the Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3), carried India's third lunar exploration mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Chandrayaan-3 is expected to reach the lunar surface on August 23 or 24, 2023. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the United Arab Emirates where he met with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the fifth visit in the last eight years. “The leaders expressed satisfaction that UAE-India relations have witnessed tremendous progress on all fronts,” stated the joint statement by India and the UAE during the PM’s visit. Modi thanked President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his warm hospitality to his delegation, as per the statement, and looked forward to his participation in the New Delhi G20 Summit in September this year.

WORLD

The controversial cluster bombs from the United States have arrived in Ukraine a week after the announcement as the conflict with Russia continues, reported Reuters. The cluster munitions, banned in more than 100 countries, are a part of an $800-million security package offered by the US. However, Ukraine pledged that it will only use the bombs to dislodge concentrations of enemy soldiers, Reuters said in the report. The Pentagon also announced their arrival, the report added. 

Heat advisories have been issued for parts of the US that are expected to see record temperatures on Sunday, reported BBC. The alert of "dangerous" heat levels predicts soaring temperatures next week across the south-west, it added. The country's National Weather Service (NWS) has meanwhile urged people not to underestimate the risk to life. As per BBC, on Saturday, an all-time high of 118F (48 degrees Celsius) was recorded in Phoenix, Arizona. Temperatures have hit 110F (43 degrees Celsius) for 16 days running, which is almost a record in itself, BBC stated in its report. 

In a rare appearance, at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, a North Korean envoy defended his country’s recent launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) calling it an exercise of its "right to self-defence". He further accused the United States of driving the situation in northeast Asia to the brink of nuclear war, as per an Associated Press report. Kim Song told the 15-member council that on Wednesday it tested the latest Hwasong-18 ICBM. He said that the missile had no negative impact on a neighbouring country’s security, possibly hinting South Korea's objection to its missile tests.

BUSINESS

Retail inflation in India rose to a three-month high of 4.81 per cent in June from 4.25 per cent in May, according to a data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Wednesday. The previous high CPI was in March at 5.66 per cent. The headline inflation rate snapped its four-month falling streak and was pushed up by a rise in vegetable prices and the fading away of the favourable base effect. The food inflation saw a sharp rise to 4.49 per cent from 2.96 per cent in May. The inflation is, however, lower than 7.01 per cent in June 2022. The inflation was mainly driven higher by food and beverages where the consumer price index (CPI) rose to 183 in June from 179.1 in May. 

Industrial production in India grew by 5.2 per cent in May, according to official figures issued by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Wednesday. In April, industrial output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), come in at 4.5 per cent. This number was revised from 4.2 per cent reported last month.  In May 2022, Industrial output grew by 19.7 per cent, the data showed.  According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) figures, the manufacturing sector's output climbed by 5.7 per cent in May 2023. Mining output increased by 6.4 per cent in the month and the sector power output increased by 0.9 per cent.

The Ministry of Finance is not planning to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns. The last date for filing income tax (I-T) returns for the financial year 2022-23 (assessment year 2023-24) is July 31. Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Friday said that there is no proposal under consideration for extending the ITR filing deadline like last year.  “There is no proposal under consideration and we don’t intend to. My advice to all the taxpayers is that they should file their tax returns. There will not be any extension in the deadline like last year and the earlier they do it the better,” said Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra.

TECH

Carl Pei's consumer tech brand Nothing on Tuesday launched Phone (2), its flagship smartphone and a successor to last year's Nothing Phone (1). The Nothing Phone (2) brings some notable changes, such as the new Glyph Interface at the back, which aims to let users minimise screen interactions by accessing key information at a glance, revamped Nothing OS 2.0, and top-tier Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, among others. This is the first premium device from Nothing that comes with a 50MP dual rear camera.

Popular creators on Twitter may get ad revenue share as soon as "within the next 72 hours", the media has reported. However, it will be applicable to only those paying for the premium Twitter Blue service. Also, Twitter Blue subscribers would need a significant number of followers to get payment.

Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday announced the launch of an artificial intelligence firm - xAI to “understand the true nature of the universe”. Musk announced the formation of the AI startup with the launch of its website, unveiling a team made up of engineers who have worked at companies from Alphabet-owned Google to Microsoft and OpenAI. The website said that xAI will hold a Twitter Spaces event on July 14.

SCIENCE

Delhi Flood: On Wednesday, July 12, 2023, the level of the Yamuna river in Delhi breached the 1978 record-high level of 207.49 metres, resulting in inundation in the national capital. The water level is now receding. The 1978 floods were catastrophic, and affected areas spanning 43 square kilometres around the National Capital Region (NCR). ABP Live spoke to scientists, and asked them about what Delhi has learnt since Yamuna's record rise in 1978. Dr Somil Swarnkar, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES), IISER Bhopal, said that it is possible that the people living near floodplains will be affected the most in the event of the 1978 water level being breached due to increased intensity of rainfall events and altered land use and land cover conditions. Explaining what Delhi has learnt since Yamuna's record rise in 1978, Dr Swarnkar said that left and right bank marginal embankments have been constructed to protect the trans-Yamuna regions from catastrophic floods. "Further, these flood-protecting structures are strategically located in the NCR, protecting low-lying regions."

Superagers, or adults in their eighties with razor-sharp memory, have lower rates of depression and anxiety. These adults, who recall everyday events and life experiences with the same accuracy as someone aged 20 to 30 years younger to them, show faster movement speed than other older adults, according to a study published July 14 (in India) in The Lancet Healthy Longevity journal. Superagers, unlike other older adults, have been observed to be able to avoid the age-related deterioration of memory function. Superagers were found to have more grey matter than typical older adults. Grey matter consists of tissues important for normal brain function, including memory and movement signals. The degeneration of grey matter in superagers over a period of five years was slower than that in typical older adults. A machine learning model showed that better mental health and faster movement speed were the factors associated with superagers.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its third lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3, on Friday, July 14, 2023, at 2:35 pm IST. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft's voyage towards the Moon began after ISRO's largest and heaviest rocket, the Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3), carried India's third lunar exploration mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Chandrayaan-3 is expected to reach the lunar surface on August 23 or 24, 2023. ISRO aims to land Chandrayaan-3's lander softly on the Moon's south pole. If this is achieved, India will become the fourth nation to complete the soft landing of a spacecraft on the Moon, and also the first country to land a spacecraft on the Moon's south pole. Chandrayaan-3 has three phases: the Earth-centric phase, the lunar transfer phase, and the Moon-centric phase. The Earth-centric phase, or Phase-1, involves the pre-launch phase; the launch and ascent phase; and the Earth-bound manoeuvre phase, which will help the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft change its directions. The lunar transfer phase includes the transfer trajectory phase, as part of which Chandrayaan-3 will choose the path that will lead it towards the lunar orbit. The Moon-centric phase involves all the steps from lunar orbit insertion to landing. 

SPORTS

Murali Sreeshankar, the talented long jumper, etched his name in history on Saturday by becoming the first Indian track and field athlete to secure qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He accomplished this feat by winning a silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships, leaping a remarkable distance of 8.37m, which marked his second career-best performance. While four 20km race walkers have already qualified for the Paris Olympics, including Akshadeep Singh, Vikas Singh, Paramjeet Singh Bisht, and Priyanka Goswami, it's important to note that race walking is classified as a road event in the Olympics.

In what comes as a massive boost to women's cricket and a move towards gender parity, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced equal prize money for men's and women's teams at all world competitions. The decision was taken during the world cricket governing body's Annual Conference in Durban, South Africa. The decision marks a significant milestone in ICC's effort to achieve prize money parity by 2030 which would surpass it's previously decided timeline.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Indian men's and women's squad for the Asian Games 2023 on Friday (July 14). Ruturaj Gaikwad has been appointed as the captain of the men's team. The Asian Games 2023 will be played in China from September 23 to October 8 where the men’s cricket event will take place from September 28 to October 8 in the T20 format. The Indian Cricket Board has opted to go for a second-string squad with most of its first-choice players set to be busy ahead of the ODI World Cup at home which begins on October 5. India will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8. In contrast to the men's squad, the women's team picked by the selectors is a full-fledged team led by Harmanpreet Kaur.

ENTERTAINMENT

Priyanka Chopra was most recently featured in the critically praised Amazon Prime Video series 'Citadel', which is a spy thriller. She recently began filming 'Heads of State', an action thriller. However, the strike of SAG-AFTRA actors has temporarily halted production. Now, Priyanka Chopra has come out in favour of the current SAG AFTRA strike. On Friday night, Priyanka took to Instagram to declare her support for her "union and colleagues." 
It has been speculated that the strike might go on until the end of September. Actors are said to be planning a strike that will effectively halt all U.S. film and scripted television productions, with the exception of non-unionized, independently produced works. 

The Delhi High Court has refused to restrain the continued online streaming of a film based on the life of the late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Justice C Hari Shankar Tuesday dismissed an application by Krishna Kishore Singh, the father of the deceased film star, who claimed the movie 'Nyay:The Justice', which is streaming on an online platform, included defamatory statements and news articles, and violated the personality rights associated with Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR). The application formed part of a lawsuit by SSR's father against the filmmakers for making the movie without his consent.

Sarah Brady, the former partner of Hollywood actor Jonah Hill, has accused him of being "emotionally abusive". Brady underlined that the claimed abuse was not physical in nature while releasing their alleged chats on her Instagram account. Multiple screenshots showing different allegedly exchanged text messages between them were posted by the surf instructor on social media. Sarah pointed out that Hill had been "emotionally abusive" to her in a string of Instagram Story posts between Friday, July 7, and Saturday, July 8. Sharing the conversations, she wrote, "This is a warning to all girls. If your partner is talking to you like this, make an exit plan. Call me if you need an ear."