India's Chandrayaan-1 helps NASA find water on moon

Earlier studies had shown the existence of magmatic water in lunar samples returned during the Apollo programme, NASA said in a media release.



Using data from instruments aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists have found evidence of water locked in mineral grains on the surface of the moon from an unknown source deep beneath the surface.

Using US space agency NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument on the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) spacecraft, scientists remotely detected magmatic water, or water that originates from deep within the moon's interior, on the surface of the moon.

The findings of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) funded research, published in Nature Geoscience, represent the first detection of this form of water from lunar orbit, the agency said.

Earlier studies had shown the existence of magmatic water in lunar samples returned during the Apollo programme, NASA said in a media release.

M3 imaged the lunar impact crater Bullialdus, which lies near the lunar equator. Its central peak is made up of a type of rock that forms deep within the lunar crust and mantle when magma is trapped underground.

"This rock, which normally resides deep beneath the surface, was excavated from the lunar depths by the impact that formed Bullialdus crater," said Rachel Klima, a planetary geologist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.

"Compared to its surroundings, we found that the central portion of this crater contains a significant amount of hydroxyl — a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom — which is evidence that the rocks in this crater contain water that originated beneath the lunar surface," Klima said.

In 2009, M3 provided the first mineralogical map of the lunar surface and discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the moon.

This water is thought to be a thin layer formed from solar wind hitting the moon's surface. Bullialdus crater is in a region with an unfavourable environment for solar wind to produce significant amounts of water on the surface.

The detection of internal water from orbit means scientists can begin to test some of the findings from sample studies in a broader context, including in regions that are far from where the Apollo sites are clustered on the near side of the moon, NASA said.

For many years, researchers believed that the rocks from the moon were bone-dry and any water detected in the Apollo samples had to be contamination from Earth, it said.

Yasin Bhatkal trapped in Nepal, handed over at border in big IB operation

Indian Mujahideen lynchpin Yasin Bhatkal, one of the country’s most wanted men, was trapped in a house in Pokhara in Nepal by local cops and whisked away into the waiting arms of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Bihar Police in the early hours of Thursday.


Sources said that in his interrogation by the NIA at Motihari, Bhatkal admitted his part in explosions in Pune in 2010 and 2012 and the Mumbai triple blasts ofHis arrest culminated a nerve-wracking Intelligence Bureau-led operation that had gathered steam over the past week. Bhatkal, named for the coastal Karnataka town where he was born, had risen over a decade to become the IM’s executioner-in-chief, playing a key role in blasts across India that killed scores.

2011 but denied any hand in the Bodh Gaya attacks this year.

He was to be flown to Delhi on Friday, likely by special plane. Interrogators will be keen to establish any link with Pakistan, widely thought to provide logistic and financial support to the IM.

“A reliable informer gave us information on Bhatkal’s whereabouts and a phone number for him,’’ a senior home ministry official told HT on the condition of anonymity. Bhatkal’s phone was tapped for a few weeks, and the IB passed information to the Nepal police, who tracked him to the Pokhara house.

Bhatkal’s right-hand man Asadullah Akhtar, also known as Haddi, was also nabbed in the same house, and was described as a “bonus catch” by a security official.

He is thought to have planted the explosive devices in Mumbai and Pune, among other attacks, and was identified only when the duo were handed over to the Indians at Raxaul on the Nepal-Bihar border at 3am.

Two laptops were recovered from the men.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was briefed about the arrest in the morning by IB chief Syed Asif Ibrahim who was personally monitoring the operation.

In March, NIA had declared a reward of Rs. 10 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the two men and secured a non-bailable warrant.



The 750-km-long porous border of Bihar with Nepal offered Bhatkal the opportunity to use the country as a transit base en route to Saudi Arabia to meet his handlers, thought to be Pakistani. He and Akthar had also travelled to Bangladesh and Dubai.

Decision on Telangana today, BJP to oppose Hyderabad as joint capital

All eyes are on two crucial meetings in Delhi scheduled Tuesday evening, which are likely to decide the future of Andhra Pradesh.

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coordination panel will be meeting at 4 p.m. and this will be followed by the meeting of Congress Working Committee (CWC) at 5.30 p.m. amid strong indications that the Congress has made up its mind to carve out Telangana state.

A formal announcement to meet nearly six-decade-old demand for Telangana state is likely to be announced after the two meetings, Congress sources said.

If the party leaders from Telangana are to be believed, their region is all set to become 29th state of the country. They believe it will be the same state, which existed as Hyderabad State before its merger with then Andhra State in 1956.

"Everything will be settled today (Tuesday). We are 100 percent positive. Telangana is going to be a reality with Hyderabad as its capital," Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha told reporters before leaving for Delhi Tuesday morning.

Telangana state will comprise 10 districts with Hyderabad as its capital, said D.K. Aruna, a minister from Telangana.

The Congress leadership has reportedly dropped the proposal for Rayala-Telangana, comprising Rayalaseema and Telangana in view of strong opposition from leaders of both the regions. It is also understood to have given up the idea of union territory status to Hyderabad due to reservations by Telangana leaders.

The other state comprising Rayalaseema and Andhra regions is likely to retain the name Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad is likely to be made joint capital of both the states for some years till Andhra Pradesh develops its own capital.

According to reports, the BJP will oppose if government decides to make Hyderabad the joint capital.

Coastal Andhra has nine districts and Rayalaseema region four districts. The Congress leadership has directed Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, his deputy Rajanarasimha and state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana to be available in the national capital for consultations before CWC meeting.

The Congress party is likely to inform UPA coordination panel of its decision to carve out Telangana. The CWC will then meet to take a final decision.

The Union Cabinet, which is likely to meet August 1, will decide on tabling a bill in parliament for formation of new state. The bill may be tabled in the monsoon session of the parliament beginning August 5.

300: Rise of an Empire - Official Trailer [HD]

President's Speech

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION ON THE EVE OF INDIA’S 67TH INDEPENDENCE DAY

New Delhi : 14-08-2013








Fellow citizens:

1. On the eve of the 66th anniversary of our Independence, I extend warm greetings to you and to all Indians around the world.

2. My thoughts turn first towards the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, who shaped our liberation struggle and the martyrs who made supreme sacrifice for the freedom of our country and great patriots whose relentless struggle liberated our motherland from the colonial rule of nearly two hundred years. Gandhiji sought freedom from both foreign rule as well as the indigenous social chains that had imprisoned our society for long. He launched every Indian on a path of self-belief and hope for a better future. Gandhiji promised Swaraj- self-rule based on tolerance and self-restraint. He promised freedom from want and deprivation. For nearly seven decades now we have been masters of our destiny. This is then the moment to ask: are we heading in the right direction? Gandhiji's vision cannot be turned into reality if we spurn the very values that were compulsory to his cause: sincerity of effort, honesty of purpose and sacrifice for the larger good.

3. Our founding fathers created the first oasis in the desert of a colonized world nourished by democracy. Democracy is much more than the right to vote every five years; its essence is the aspirations of the masses; its spirit must influence the responsibilities of the leaders and duties of the citizens every day. Democracy breathes through a vibrant Parliament, an independent judiciary, a responsible media, a vigilant civil society, and a bureaucracy committed to integrity and hard work. It survives through accountability, not profligacy. And yet we have allowed unbridled personal enrichment, self-indulgence, intolerance, discourtesy in behavior and disrespect for authority to erode our work culture. The biggest impact of the decay in the moral fiber of our society is on the hopes and aspirations of the young and the poor. Mahatma Gandhi had advised us to avoid, and I quote, “politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice”, (unquote). We have to pay heed to his advice as we work towards building a modern democracy. The ideals of patriotism, compassion, tolerance, self-restraint, honesty, discipline and respect for women have to be converted into a living force.

Fellow citizens:

4. Institutions are a mirror of national character. Today we see widespread cynicism and disillusionment with the governance and functioning of institutions in our country. Our legislatures look more like combat arenas, rather than fora that legislate. Corruption has become a major challenge. The precious resources of the nation are being wasted through indolence and indifference. It is sapping the dynamism of our society. We need to correct this regression.

5. Our Constitution provides a delicate balance of power between various institutions of the State. This balance has to be maintained. We need a Parliament that debates, discusses and decides. We need a judiciary that gives justice without delays. We need leadership that is committed to the nation and those values that made us a great civilization. We need a state that inspires confidence among people in its ability to surmount challenges before us. We need a media and citizens who, even as they claim their rights, are equally committed to their responsibilities.

Fellow citizens:

6. A re-ordering of the society can be brought about through the educational system. We cannot aspire to be a world class power without a single world class university. History records that we were the cynosure of the world once. Takshashila, Nalanda, Vikramashila, Valabhi, Somapura and Odantapuri comprised the ancient university system that dominated the world for eighteen hundred years beginning Sixth Century BC. They were a magnet for the finest minds and scholars in the world. We must seek to regain that space. A university is the banyan tree whose roots lie in basic education, in a vast network of schools that build the intellectual prowess of our communities; we have to invest in every part of this knowledge tree, from seed, root and branch to the highest leaf.

Fellow Citizens:

7. There is a direct relationship between a successful democracy and a successful economy, for we are a people-driven nation. People serve their interests best when they participate in decision- making at the level of panchayat and other forms of local government. We have to rapidly empower the local bodies with functions, functionaries and finances to improve their performance. Faster growth has given us the resources, but larger outlays have not translated into better outcomes. Without inclusive governance, we cannot achieve inclusive growth.

8. For a developing country of more than 1.2 billion people, the debate between growth and redistribution is vital. While growth builds the scope for redistribution, redistribution sustains growth over time. Both are equally important. A disproportionate emphasis on any one, at the expense of the other, can have adverse consequences for the nation.

9. The last decade has seen India emerge as one of the fastest growing nations in the world. During this period, our economy grew annually at an average rate of 7.9 per cent. We are today self-sufficient in food grains production. We are the largest exporter of rice and second largest exporter of wheat in the world. The record production of 18.45 million tonne of pulses this year augurs well for our march towards self-sufficiency in pulses. This was unthinkable just a few years ago. This momentum has to be sustained. In a globalized world, with increasing economic complexities, we have to learn to cope better with adversities, both external and domestic.

Fellow citizens:

10. At the dawn of our Independence, we lit the glowing lamp of modernity and equitable economic growth. To keep this lamp aflame, our highest priority has to be the elimination of poverty. Though a declining trend in the poverty rate is clearly visible, our fight against this scourge is far from over. India has the talent, ability and the resources to overcome this challenge.

11. Reforms that have enabled us to come this far have to be pursued at all levels of governance. Favorable demographic changes over the next two decades can pay us handsome dividends. It requires industrial transformation and rapid creation of employment opportunities. It also requires an orderly urbanization process. Several initiatives taken by the Government in the recent past including the New Manufacturing Policy, the renewal of urban infrastructure and the ambitious skill training programme will need close monitoring in the coming years.

12. We have given our citizens entitlements backed by legal guarantees in terms of right to employment, education, food and information. We now have to ensure that these entitlements lead to real empowerment for the people. We need robust delivery mechanisms to make these legislations work. New benchmarks of efficient public service delivery and accountability have to be established. The Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme, launched earlier this year, will bring in greater transparency, enhance efficiency and eliminate wastage of precious resources.

Fellow citizens:

13. In our race for development, we must be careful not to disturb the balance between man and nature. The consequences of such imbalance can be disastrous. My heartfelt condolences to the many who lost their lives, and the innumerable who suffered in Uttarakhand; and my salutations to those brave personnel of our security and armed forces, government and NGOs who did so much to alleviate suffering. This tragedy owes as much to the avarice of human nature as to the rage of Mother Nature. This was nature’s wake-up call. And it is time to wake up.

Fellow citizens:

14. We have seen in the recent past grave challenges to our security, internal as well as external. The barbaric face of Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh led to a loss of many innocent lives. Despite India's consistent efforts to build friendly relations with neighbours, there have been tensions on the border and repeated violations of the Ceasefire on the Line of Control, leading to tragic loss of lives. Our commitment to peace is unfailing but even our patience has limits. All steps necessary to ensure internal security and protect the territorial integrity of the nation will be taken. I applaud the courage and heroism of our security and armed forces who maintain eternal vigilance and pay homage to those who have made the supreme sacrifice of the most precious gift of life in the service of the motherland.

15. There will be a general election in our country before I have the privilege of addressing you again on the eve of our next independence day. This great festival of democracy, is an opportunity for us to elect a stable government which will ensure security and economic development. Every election must become a crucial milestone in our nation’s journey towards greater social harmony, peace and prosperity.

16. Democracy has given us an opportunity to re-create another golden age. Let us not squander this extraordinary opportunity. The journey ahead calls for wisdom, courage and determination. We must work on across-the-board revival of our values and institutions. We must realize that rights go with responsibilities. We must re-discover the virtue of self-scrutiny and self-restraint.

17. Let me conclude by quoting from the great classic Bhagvad Gita where the Teacher propounds his views and then says, and I quote, “ÿatha icchasi tatha kuru” “even as you choose, so you do. I do not wish to impose my views on you. I have presented to you what I think is right. Now it is for your conscience, for your judgment, for your mind to decide what is right.” (unquote)

On your decisions rests the future of our democracy.