Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover has confirmed the presence of sulphur on the moon’s surface, near its south pole, and is still searching for hydrogen, the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Tuesday.

The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-3’s rover has made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole. “These in-situ measurements confirm the presence of Sulphur (S) in the region unambiguously, something that was not feasible by the instruments onboard the orbiters,” ISRO said. “Search for Hydrogen (H) is underway,” it posted on X (formerly Twitter).

‘Nabhmitra’, a device developed by ISRO-Space Applications Centre (Ahmedabad) for the safety of fishermen, was successfully tested at Neendakara on Saturday.

The satellite-based communication system enables two-way messaging services from and to the sea. While weather and cyclone warnings will be communicated in the local language, the boats can also send distress messages to the authorities. In emergency situations like capsizing and fire, fishers can press a button on the device and get in touch with the control centre. While the control centre will receive the alert including the location of the boat, the crew on the boat will get a response message from the control centre.

Kolkata Metro Railway, which has relied on steel Third Rail for four decades, is now upgrading to composite Aluminium Third Rail for all new and existing corridors. This transition will place Kolkata among prestigious metros such as those in London, Moscow, Berlin, Munich, and Istanbul, all of which have made the shift.

“Metro Railway Kolkata has floated a tender for replacement of existing Third Rail, in the first phase to cover the section between Dumdum to Shyambazar,” an official statement said.

As per the 6th census report on minor irrigation schemes, Maharashtra is the second-highest State that possesses the largest number of minor irrigation (MI) schemes in the country after Uttar Pradesh. The Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation released the report yesterday.

The report stated that 23.14 million minor irrigation (MI) schemes have been reported in the country, out of which 21.93 million (94.8 per cent ) are Ground Water (GW) and 1.21 million (5.2 percent) are Surface Water (SW) schemes. There has been an increase of about 1.42 million in MI schemes during the 6th MI census as compared to the 5th Census. GW schemes comprise dugwells, and shallow, medium, and deep tube wells. The SW schemes include surface flow and surface lift schemes.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Friday unveiled the expansion of Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme across the state in 31,008, a move that will benefit 17 lakh government school students studying in classes one to five.

The scheme was inaugurated by Stalin at Union Panchayat Middle School in Nagappattinam’s Thirukkuvalai, the birthplace of Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar, a statement by the Tamil Nadu government said.

After completing one year in power, Stalin in 2022 had made the announcement on the scheme in the Tamil Nadu assembly.

India defeated Thailand 7-2 in the final here on Monday to win the inaugural Women’s Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier and seal its berth in the next year’s World Cup.

Mariana Kujur (2nd, 8th minutes) and Jyoti (10th, 27th) scored a brace for India, while Monika Dipi Toppo (7th), skipper Navjot Kaur (23rd) and Mahima Choudhary (29th) were the other goal scorers.

The decision was taken with an objective to inculcate the values of patriotism, devotion to duty and courage and sacrifice among school children and increase the participation of youth in nation building, according to a Defence Ministry statement

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has included a chapter on the National War Memorial in Class 7 English textbook with an aim to inculcate the values of patriotism, devotion to duty and courage and sacrifice among school children, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Monday.

ISRO on 27 August released a graph of the temperature variation on the lunar surface and a senior scientist of the space agency has expressed surprise over the high temperature recorded on the Moon.

The space agency shared an update saying that Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) payload onboard Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander measured the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole to understand the thermal behaviour of the Moon's surface.

China's recent unveiling of its updated "standard map" has stirred controversy, as it incorporates contentious territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin, Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea regions. The release, which occurred on August 28, has raised diplomatic concerns and rekindled existing disputes.

China's official map, referred to as the 2023 edition, was introduced via the Ministry of Natural Resources' standard map service website. The map employs a method involving national boundaries to depict China's perspective on global geography, potentially inflaming tensions with neighbouring nations.

Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) introduced today, an e-billing system for the online payment of service charges to the tenants and residents of MHADA of all Divisional Circles, including Konkan, Pune, Nagpur, and Amravati. MHADA chairman and Chief executive officer Sanjeev Jaiswal inaugurated the system at Bandra in Mumbai.

Mr Jaiswal informed that the e-billing system also facilitates an online payment facility for shop owners in all divisional circles. Along with this, mailboxes have also been made available on the e-billing website for any complaints regarding the payment of service charges, he added.

Shop owners can, now, use the e-Billing system under the Citizen Corner window on the official website of MHADA at
https://mhada.gov.in