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- In a significant development, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has developed an atomic clock that will be used in navigation satellites to measure precise location data. The space agency currently imports atomic clocks from European aerospace manufacturer Astrium for its navigation satellites.
- Tapan Misra, director of Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre (SAC), said, “SAC has developed an indigenous atomic clock and this clock is currently undergoing a series of qualification tests. Once it successfully clears all tests, the desi atomic clock will be used in an experimental navigation satellite to test its accuracy and durability in space.”
- The SAC director said, “With the development of the desi atomic clock, Isro has become one of the few space organisations in the world which have gained the capability to develop this highly sophisticated technology.
- We don't know the design and technology of the imported atomic clock. But the desi clock has been developed based on our designs and specifications. This clock is as good as the imported one. We are hopeful that it will easily work for more than five years.”
- All seven navigation satellites launched earlier as part of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) or NaVIC have three imported Rubdium atomic clocks each.
- On functioning of these atomic clocks, Tapan Misra said, “Atomic clocks in all the seven satellites launched earlier are synchronised. The time difference between the atomic clocks of different satellites positioned at different orbits are used to measure the accurate positioning of a navigation receiver or an object on the Earth
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- In another instance of Indian interests in Afghanistan being targeted, seven Indian nationals working for a power company in the country's northern Baghlan province were abducted, allegedly by Taliban gunmen, on 6 May.
- There was speculation over the exact number of men but they are understood to have been accompanied by a driver, an Afghan national, who is also missing.
- The abduction, coming days after India and China announced that they will develop a project jointly in Afghanistan, is a reminder of the vulnerability of Indian projects that have been targeted by Taliban and other extremist militia, often on the instructions of the Pakistani army and ISI.
- The foreign ministry in New Delhi said it was in touch with Afghan authorities and was ascertaining details of the incident.
- According to television reports, local police officials said they had been told by the Taliban that the Indians were being held by the group. However, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told TOI, "So far, we don't have any update about the abduction issue."
- The men are employees of Indian company KEC and went missing early on Sunday morning in Bagh-e-Shamal area of the provincial capital Pul-e-Khomre, local news reported. The employees were abducted while they were travelling to the area where the company owns an electricity sub-station contract, the report said.
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- Nearly 60% of children adopted in the last six years were girls across states in India, led by Maharashtra which also recorded the highest number of adoptions in recent years, government data showed. Of the 3,276 children adopted in the country in 2017-18, a total of 1,858 were girls, the data showed.
- In reply to an RTI filed on the number of adoptions in every state since 2012, Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) said Maharashtra was at the forefront in adopting girls. The number of girls adopted in 2017 was 353 out of a total of 642 adoptions in the state. Karnataka followed with 286 adoptions, 167 of them girls, CARA, the apex body for adoption in the country, said.
- Maharashtra's high score was not just because of the size of the state, but because of the large number of adoption agencies there, said CARA CEO Lieutenant Colonel Deepak Kumar. "Maharashtra has the highest number of adoption agencies in the country at 60 while other states that are bigger have on an average 20 adoption agencies," he said.
- In 2017-18, there was an increase in the number of in-country adoptions. Of the 3,276 children adopted within India, 1,858 were girls and 1,418 boys, according to the data given in response to the RTI query.
- The inter-country adoption also saw an increase, with the number rising from 578 in 2016-17 to 651 in 2017-18.in 2016-2017, out of the 3,210 children adopted within India, 1,915 or almost 60% were girls. Maharashtra (711) and Karnataka (252) again recorded the highest numbers, followed by West Bengal (203).
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- Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia's President for a fourth term at a ceremony in the Kremlin on 7 may, extending his almost two-decade rule by another six years.
- Vladimir Putin was on Monday sworn in for a fourth term as president of Russia after winning the election in March.
- He has been in power for 18 years, whether as president or prime minister. Putin was re-elected president with more than 76% of the vote, his best ever election performance.
- First elected President in 2000, Putin renewed his four-year term in 2004 before stepping aside in 2008 to serve as Prime Minister under Dmitry Medvedev, because by law he could serve only two consecutive terms.
- In 2012 Putin returned as President for a term of six years. When he reaches the end of his fourth term in 2024, he will have been in power for nearly a quarter of a century.
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