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Winds delay launch of NASA’s Pluto probe
USA changes visa procedures
Lawsuit filed against Bush for spying on Americans
Indian observers for Palestinian poll
Mercury dips to -30ºC in Moscow
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Winds delay launch of NASA’s Pluto probe
Cape Canaveral, January 18 The piano-sized New Horizons probe was due to take off yesterday on a massive unmanned Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station between 1.24 p.m. and 3.23 p.m. (1824 GMT and 2023 GMT). But launch commentator Bruce Buckingham said ground level winds at the Florida launchpad exceeded safety limits. “The winds were just too strong and they kept us on the ground today,’’ Mr Buckingham said. The next opportunity will be between 1.16 p.m. and 3.15 p.m. (1816 GMT to 2015 GMT) on Wednesday, but weather forecasts were not very favorable. The US space agency has a window until February 14 to launch the satellite, but postponements could add up to five years to the journey. The earliest that New Horizons can reach Pluto, if it launches in time to slingshot itself off the gravity field of Jupiter, is July 2015. As Pluto is too far from the sun for the spacecraft to tap solar energy, it will draw power from the natural decay of 24 pounds (11 kg) of plutonium pellets that are contained in an on-board generator. The $ 700-million project will be NASA’s first mission to Pluto, the only unexplored planet in the solar system. Pluto is the largest and best known of a relatively new type of planetary body called a Kuiper Belt object. The Kuiper Belt is located beyond Neptune’s orbit, which is 30 times farther away from the sun than Earth. It contains frozen objects believed to be leftover remains from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. “It is fantastically interesting to me to have a chance, maybe within my lifetime, for scientists to see up-close what those objects look like and to begin our reconnaissance of that region of space,’’ NASA administrator Michael Griffin told reporters yesterday.
— Reuters |
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USA changes visa procedures
Washington, January 18 According to the State Department, overseas American diplomatic posts are now working closely with local US Chambers of Commerce in over 100 countries “to expedite the visa process for bonafide business travellers”. It has also established a Business Visa Centre to lessen the waiting time for visa appointments for visitors and all American Embassies and Consulates have stabilished procedures to expedite the processing of business visas. The Departments of State and Homeland Security have also announced changes to the length of time foreign students may be issued student visas and arrive in the USA before their academic session begins. Under the new scheme, student visas will be issued up to 120 days ahead and holders will be allowed entry 45 days in advance of studies. Earlier student visas were issued only in advance of 90 days and a student allowed only a 30 day window for entry ahead of the start of academic studies. The two federal departments have also announced that they will align travel document application processes by creating what is known as a global enrolment network so that the data first captured of an applicant can be viewed by both the Homeland Security and State Department officials.
— PTI |
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Lawsuit filed against Bush for spying on Americans
CIVIL liberties groups and journalists on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the Bush administration from spying on Americans, and a former Vice-President and the White House traded punches about the legality of the programme. “President [George W.] Bush may believe he can authorise spying on Americans without judicial or Congressional approval, but this programme is illegal and we intend to put a stop to it,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, (ACLU) that filed the lawsuit. “The current surveillance of Americans is a chilling assertion of presidential power that has not been seen since the days of Richard Nixon,” Mr Romero said, referring to the US President who was forced to quit office following the Watergate spying scandal. “I think the American people clearly understand the importance of what we’re trying to do to protect them and prevent attacks from happening. And that’s why this authorisation is so vital,” the White House spokesman added. According to news reports, Mr Bush signed an order in 2002 allowing the NSA to monitor the telephone and e-mail communications of “hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States” with persons abroad, without a court order as the law requires. Under the programme, the NSA is also engaging in wholesale datamining by sifting through millions of calls and e-mails of ordinary Americans. The programme, which was first disclosed by the New York Times on December 16, has sparked national and international furore and has been condemned by lawmakers across the US. The ACLU lawsuit was filed on behalf of a group of journalists, scholars, attorneys and national non-profit organisations who frequently communicate by phone and e-mail with people in the Middle-East. The journalists and scholars, including Christopher Hitchens and Afghanistan scholar Barnett Rubin, say the programme is disrupting their ability to talk with sources, locate witnesses, conduct scholarship and engage in advocacy. “President Bush’s claim that he is not bound by the law is simply astounding. Our democratic system depends on the rule of law, and not even the President can issue illegal orders that violate Constitutional principles.”
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Indian observers for Palestinian poll
Ramallah, January 18 The six-member team, led by Deputy Election Commissioner of India Anand Kumar, includes K.R. Prasad, senior official, Deepak Prasad and K.V. Kurundkar, Additional electoral officers from Bihar and Maharashtra respectively, senior civil servant, Hoshiar Singh from Madhya Pradesh, and D. Satya Murty from Karnataka, they said. “We welcome the involvement of the world’s largest democracy in pushing forward our own efforts in this direction”, a spokesperson of the Palestinian Election Commission said. The elections have generated immense interest around the world with more than 500 international observers expected in the region. Election commission sources expressed hopes of a large turnout like in the recently concluded local council elections with almost all major Palestinian factions participating in the much-awaited polls. Islamic militant faction Hamas is said to be running neck-to-neck with the ruling Fatah party in the opinion polls and is said to be heading towards achieving major political
gains.
— PTI
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Mercury dips to -30ºC in Moscow
Moscow, January 18 Sub zero temperatures are usual in Russia’s long winters. However, this time the drop in the temperature is 20ºC below normal. In Moscow, the weather bureau has forecasted further drop till -37ºC, less than last time record of January 1942 when temperature dropped to -42ºC. For the first time Moscow has introduced power shedding for the industrial and commercial sectors during the peak hours in the morning and evening to meet the energy requirements for keeping residential apartments, hospitals, schools and other public facilities warm in the unusual cold. The average January temperature of Moscow hovers around 10-15 degrees below zero. Moscow authorities have opened night shelters for the homeless, and the police has been instructed not to drive out vagabonds and homeless people from the heated railway stations and subways.
— PTI |
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