Category: Life & Style

Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya revealed intentions to merge the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) with the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). This will enable ESIC beneficiaries to receive medical care from over 30,000 institutions accredited by AB-PMJAY, removing the distinction between government, public sector, and private hospitals.

Mandaviya provided this briefing during the third regional conference of western states in Rajkot. Participants included prominent officials from Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep.

This meeting was one of six regional conversations centred on critical labour and employment concerns.

The minister also emphasised efforts to update the National Career Service portal with innovative technologies such as AI and integrate it with e-Shram to improve job matching across sectors.

He emphasised the importance of reliable employment data collection and the creation of a centralised dashboard for policy formation. States and Union Territories were encouraged to improve feedback channels from assistance recipients.

Mandaviya emphasised the government’s commitment to providing social protection to all workers in both organised and unorganised sectors, and he advocated for increased coordination among the Centre, states, and UTs to improve service delivery through IT and AI breakthroughs.

Following a five-day mission in space, billionaire Jared Isaacman and his crew successfully completed the first private spacewalk and safely returned to Earth. On Sunday morning, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft made a splash landing in the Gulf of Mexico, close to Florida. In an orbit 460 miles above Earth, the crew—consisting of two engineers from SpaceX and a former Air Force pilot—surpassed both the International Space Station and the Hubble Telescope.

There have been 264 spacewalks, with Sarah Gillis of SpaceX becoming the 265th and Isaacman the 264th. The spacewalk, which lasted less than two hours, was a test run for both of their new spacesuits. The entire capsule had to be depressurized for the exercise, which was meant to test spacesuit technologies for future missions. For the most part, Isaacman and Gillis could only emerge from the capsule in a half-formed state.

As part of his Polaris initiative, Isaacman’s second space mission with SpaceX aimed to push the boundaries of space exploration. He co-founded the mission with SpaceX, but no one knows how much it cost. More than $250 million was raised for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Isaacman’s first mission in 2021.

A new milestone in space exploration has been attained, with 19 people presently orbiting Earth, setting a record. The previous high was 17, set last year. On September 11, a Russian Soyuz capsule launched three astronauts, NASA’s Don Pettit and Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, to the International Space Station (ISS), raising the total number of humans in orbit.

The Soyuz crew is slated to arrive at the ISS about 3:30 p.m. EDT. When they arrive, they will join nine other astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the station, including NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Barry Wilmore, and Suni Williams, as well as cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.

Wilmore and Williams took part in Boeing’s Crew Flight Test (CFT), the first crewed voyage with the Starliner capsule. Originally scheduled for a 10-day trip, the crew was delayed owing to thruster troubles aboard the Starliner. NASA elected to return the capsule uncrewed, with Wilmore and Williams planned to return in February 2024 aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.

This event marks another milestone in human spaceflight, with an unprecedented number of astronauts operating in orbit at the same time.

On Wednesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo broke ground on a new 25-kilometer (15-mile) line for Jakarta’s mass rapid transit (MRT) network. One of the busiest cities in the world, Jakarta, is undergoing this expansion thanks to a roughly $1 billion loan from Japan as part of a larger effort to reduce severe traffic congestion.

The significantly larger population in the surrounding municipalities of Jakarta, which has a population of over 10 million, exacerbates the city’s severe traffic problems.

The planned MRT line will connect Bekasi, located on Jakarta’s eastern border, to the city’s western districts. Widodo emphasised that the first MRT line, which opened in 2019, had already had a substantial influence on Jakarta’s transportation network and that the additional line would further improve the city’s mobility. The new line is anticipated to be completed in 2031.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has granted a loan of 141 million yen (about $998,000) for this project, extending its support from the original MRT line. This first line, which extends 8 kilometres (5 miles) between southern and central Jakarta, is also being extended northward, with completion expected by 2029.

On Tuesday, four private astronauts launched SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission to conduct the first private spacewalk and test new spacesuits. The crew consists of billionaire Jared Isaacman, a veteran Air Force pilot, and two SpaceX engineers. At 5:23 a.m. EST, they launched in a modified SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, reaching orbit in 10 minutes.

On the mission’s third day, the highlight is a 20-minute spacewalk at 700 km altitude. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will depressurise the cabin, and Isaacman and Sarah Gillis will walk attached to oxygen lines while the other two astronauts stay inside. This is Crew Dragon’s seventh private trip and the most ambitious ever, with the spacecraft travelling up to 1,400 kilometres from Earth—the furthest human journey since the Apollo program in 1972.

The Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on a seaborne pad. The launch had already been delayed due to weather and technical concerns. Only government astronauts have performed spacewalks to date, with over 270 aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since 2000.

Polaris Dawn is part of Isaacman’s privately funded program, including an upcoming Crew Dragon mission and a SpaceX Starship launch. The crew will also undertake studies on how space affects the human body.

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari stated during a convention by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) that India currently has 63 operational vehicle scrapping centres, with 60 under construction and 40 more in the pipeline—insufficient for the nation’s automobile population. Gadkari emphasised the scrapping industry’s potential, claiming that it could raise sales by 18-20% while creating 35,000 jobs. He also applauded SIAM’s move to provide a 3% discount on new vehicle purchases for destroyed autos.

He unveiled a new testing agency worth ₹450 crore in Pune, which is anticipated to be completed in three months and benefit the automobile business. Gadkari emphasised the rising CNG market, which is expected to increase from 6,000 to 20,000 stations by 2030.

The minister advocated for the use of alternative fuels such as methanol and LNG, which might reduce expenses for truck drivers and industries. He added that the government is also working on developing hydrogen technology, which has the potential to create 6 lakh jobs and generate 125 GW of energy.

Road safety and pollution reduction remain top issues. Last year, India reported 1.68 lakh road deaths, and Gadkari urged automakers to open driving schools to boost safety standards.

India has become the world’s second-largest 5G mobile market, surpassing the United States and trailing only China. The country’s quick adoption of 5G technology is being pushed by the rising availability of low-cost 5G phones and data plans, resulting in broad high-speed access.

According to a Counterpoint Research analysis, global 5G handset shipments increased 20% year on year in the first half of 2024. Apple topped the market with a 25% share, owing to the success of its iPhone 15 and 14 series, while Samsung followed, aided by its Galaxy A and S24 series. In India, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Samsung played critical roles in driving 5G adoption with low-cost choices, propelling the country to second place in the worldwide market.

Tarun Pathak, Research Director, credited India’s exceptional rise to the expansion of 5G networks and the increasing affordability of devices. As 5G becomes more accessible, particularly in lower-cost segments, this trend is projected to continue.

This spike reflects a larger worldwide trend, with emerging markets quickly adopting new technologies. India’s advancement demonstrates not only its expanding technological prowess, but also its increasing competitiveness in the global tech environment.

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has landed in New Delhi for his first official visit to India. When he arrived, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, welcomed him with a red carpet greeting and both countries’ national anthems.

His Highness reviewed a ceremonial guard of honour before seeing a cultural performance commemorating India’s rich heritage. Senior Indian government officials as well as Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Dr. Abdulnasser Jamal Alshaali, the UAE Ambassador to India, welcomed him.

Sheikh Khaled is accompanied by a high-level UAE delegation that includes Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technologies; Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation; Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Minister of Investment; Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority; Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development; and Saif Saeed Ghobash, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

The visit underscores the UAE and India’s increasing bilateral ties, which aim to strengthen economic, trade, and cultural cooperation.

An underwater mountain about four times the height of the Burj Khalifa has been discovered in the Pacific Ocean, around 1,448 kilometres off Chile’s coast. The Schmidt Ocean Institute’s oceanographers studied the 3,109-meter seamount during a 28-day mission aboard the research vessel R/V Falkor.

Using sonar technology, they constructed a precise map of the seafloor, which is still largely unexplored, with only 26% surveyed in this manner.

This seamount is part of a marine biodiversity hotspot that includes ancient corals, sponge gardens, and recently discovered species like a ghostly white octopus known as “Casper” and the first-ever footage of a live Promachoteuthis squid. Two unusual Bathyphysa siphonophores were also observed.

Jyotika Virmani, the institute’s executive director, noted that the discovery advances our understanding of deep-sea ecosystems, which are critical habitats for a variety of marine life. The mission mapped 25 seamounts, providing data for the region’s preservation under a future United Nations convention.

The team’s previous excursions uncovered 150 undiscovered species, with another 20 species perhaps discovered during this journey. These findings will be shared with the Ocean Census, a global program that aims to catalogue 100,000 undiscovered species over the next decade.

NASA scientists have discovered Earth’s mysterious “polar wind,” which is an electromagnetic field that drives air particles from the poles to space. This phenomenon was first noticed in the 1960s but remained unexplained until the Endurance mission, which launched from Svalbard in Norway in May 2022, verified its occurrence.

Glyn Collinson of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre led the expedition, which employed specialised sensors to monitor a tiny 0.55-volt change in the electric field. This fluctuation was sufficient to explain how the polar wind propels particles such as hydrogen ions into space at supersonic speeds. This force lifts even heavier oxygen ions into space. The electric field, positioned around 150 miles above the Earth’s surface, counteracts gravity and permits particles to escape.

“This field has been here since the beginning, alongside gravity and magnetism,” Collinson told reporters. “Despite its weakness, it’s crucial to understanding how our planet works.”

The discovery offers light on Earth’s atmospheric loss and may provide insights into similar processes on Venus and Mars. The report, published in Nature on August 28, 2024, represents a substantial leap in atmospheric science.