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SpaceX pays tribute to late Air Force Space Wing Commander

By
The Commune
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SpaceX launched the ‘military’s newest, most accurate GPS satellite to “deliver an upgraded global positioning satellite into the orbit.” The rocket was launched from Florida’s Cape Carnival Air Force on 30 June 2020. It was initially scheduled to take place in April but was delayed considering the health and safety over the past few months due to the ongoing pandemic.

“This is the third in the most advanced line of GPS satellites and joins a constellation of 31 GPS satellites in orbit,” according to the Space Force.

United States Space Command congratulated SpaceX and the team behind the launch of the third GPS satellite. “The next generation of GPS enables more resilient, precise navigation and timing to US & Allied warfighters & more than 4 billion users worldwide,” it says.

The launch was a tribute to Col. Thomas Falzarano. He was a commander of the 21st Space Wing at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. He died in the month of May at age 47.

Air Force officials described him as a talented space officer who was heading to become a general officer in the Space Force, according to a source.

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, also known as SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk is an aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company. The private company aims to reduce space transportation costs and colonize Mars.

TN Govt withdraws circular directing Tehsildars to stop issuance of income and assets certificates

By
The Commune
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The Tamil Nadu government has withdrawn the circular dated June 4, 2020 that directed the District Collectors to instruct the tehsildars to stop issuance of income and assets certificates for EWS quota.

The move comes in response to the petition filed against the government’s move at the Madras High Court by All India Brahmin Association and Reddy Sangha.

The petition was filed by T.P Kulathumani, President of Akhil Bharatiya Brahmin Association and advocate G. Girubakaran who is an executive member of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Pondicherry Reddy Nala Sangam.

Advocate General Vijay Narayan submitted that the matter will now be referred to a group of ministers who will now take policy decision on the same which will be conveyed to the court.

The advocate general representing the state government submitted before the court that the erstwhile Revenue Commissioner had issued the circular without consulting the government. He said that the current Revenue Commissioner has withdrawn the circular after consulting the government.

The matter is currently under the purview of the group of ministers who will take a policy decision and the court will be apprised of the same. The case is due for hearing on July 13.

Source: The New Indian Express

Israel faces backlash from the rest of the world over the annexation of the Palestinian territory

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has warned that the shock waves that could possibly be caused by this annexation of Palestine by Israel could last for decades.

“Annexation is illegal. Period,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. “Any annexation. Whether it is 30 percent of the West Bank or 5 percent,” she said, urging Israel to “listen to its own former senior officials and generals, as well as to the multitude of voices around the world, warning it not to proceed along this dangerous path.”

There have also been petitions to Prime Minister Netanyahu repeatedly, asking him to to withdraw this declaration to occupy the West Bank region of Palestine as well as the Jordan valley.

While countries like Germany have come out in opposition to this decision, US President Donald Trump said that he stood by the Israel Prime Minister’s decision saying that it this would be another step towards his vision for peace in the region.

Israel has planned to annex a third of the West Bank, including parts of the strategic Jordan Valley. Annexing the Jordan Valley would mean that Israel would officially consider it part of its state. In addition, significant tracts of private lands would likely be expropriated, and even in cases where this does not occur, many Palestinians could lose access to cultivate their own lands. The annexation is set to begin on July 1, in an attempt to fulfill an election pledge by Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Suspects arrested under the new security law could be tried in mainland China

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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China implemented its new security law for Hong Kong on the 30th of June. Following this, all the suspects that were arrested under the jurisdiction of the new security office could possibly be tried in mainland China. This new piece of information has started striking terror in the hearts of the citizens of Hong Kong.

This comes as a result of Article 55 of the new security law, which states that Beijing could exercise its power over complex or serious cases. This also bans violators of the law from contesting in elections and greater oversight of non-government organizations and news houses.

Speaking at a flag-raising ceremony to mark the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover in 1997, the city’s embattled leader Carrie Lam said the law was the most important development since the city’s return to Beijing.

“It is also an inevitable and prompt decision to restore stability in the society,” Lam said at the same harbor-front venue where 23 years ago the last colonial governor, Chris Patten, a staunch critic of the security law, tearfully handed back Hong Kong to Chinese rule.

After a long-drawn series of protests and opposition, The authorities have come out and said that this legislation is only aimed at “troublemakers” and will not affect the common public or their freedom, despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

US buys out entire world stock of Remdesivir from Gilead sciences

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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The United States has virtually bought out the entire inventory of Gilead Sciences’ Remdesivir, which is the first approved drug for the treatment of coronavirus infection. This means that no other country in the world will have access to this drug for the next three months. This has alarmed experts all over the world us this unilateral decision by the USA has outmaneuvered every other country’s access to the medical supplies.

Notably, the first 140,000 doses of this drug have already been sold out for drug trials. Following this, the Trump government has now bought more than 500,000 doses is which amounts to the total inventory of Gilead Sciences thus far.

As this deal was announced, one fact that became clear was that the number of cases in the United States has spiralled out of control.

Speaking about this, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told that the US was sliding backwards. “We are going in the wrong direction,” said Fauci. Last week the US saw a new daily record of 40,000 new coronavirus cases in one day. “I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around,” he said. He could not provide an estimated death toll, but said: “It is going to be very disturbing, I guarantee you that.”

Close to 2.5 million confirmed cases have been recorded in the United States, and this move has only tightened the ‘America first’ attitude that has been recklessly adopted by the Trump government.

 

Millions sign a petition to change the American flag and National Anthem

By
The Commune
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Will Wahony, who currently has over a million followers on TikTok attracted viewers to sign a petition to change the United State of America flag and anthem. Surpassing over a million signatures, it is proposed to replace the blue in the top left corner to black owing to the Black Lives Matter movement and red stripes with yellow ones. It was said that people who were in favour of the petition wanted to add the image of the character ‘Manny’ from ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ book series.

The author of the book series, Jeff Kinney clarified that although he supports the Black Lives Matter movement, he does not feel right about the usage of one of his characters on the American flag. He says that using a fictional character to the American flag and symbolizing it with movement trivializes the overall cause.

Given what is happening in the USA, the protests against police brutality and racial discrimination against the black community, the petition garnered plenty of signatures. However, many Americans were against signing this petition.

The petition titled ‘Changing the American flag and National Anthem’, it states that “Our flag is outdated, doesn’t portray a good message, and frankly, is ugly looking. Generation Z has developed this prototype for our flag as we dive into our future of the U.S.A.”

The petition has also received flak for trivializing an important cause and distracting attention to a grave issue.

Google News partners with local news publishers for news on COVID-19

By
The Commune
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Google on Monday announced that it will partner with local news publishers to bring local news about the COVID-19 pandemic to its Google News application.

Google is working across their news products to highlight the latest local developments by surfacing more content from local news publishers so that users can understand how the virus is affecting their community.

Daniel Rocha, Director, Engineering, News, said in a blog, “Finding consolidated and trustworthy COVID-19 guidance is challenging. Google News app is piloting a new feature of partnership with local news publishers. We will test this in a few geographic areas in the COVID-19 special section of the app, where users can view community reopening timelines, plus updates about the business and school openings,”

“They can also see the status of the local healthcare infrastructure, public transportation, events, and sections with resources for residents looking for or wanting to help families in need. This feature is available in more than 21 areas ranging from both small and large newsrooms from The Raleigh News and Observer, NOLA.com, CBS Chicago, Oregon Live, and Gothamist,” added Rocha.

He also said that Google News will continue to expand its coverage across the U.S. and Canada, and plan to bring this feature to products beyond the Google News app in the future.

Agreement for hydroelectric project in Bhutan signed

By
The Commune
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The Concession Agreement for the 600 MegaWatt Kholongchhu (Joint Venture) Hydroelectric Project between Bhutan Government and Kholongchuu Hydro Energy Limited was signed today in Thimphu. This was carried out in the virtual presence of External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar and his Bhutanese counterpart Tandi Dorji.

This 600 MW run-on-the-water project is located on the lower course of Kholongchhu River in Trashiyangtse District in Eastern Bhutan.

The project envisions an underground powerhouse of four 150 MW turbines with water impounded by a concrete gravity dam of 95 meters height. It will be implemented by Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited, a Joint Venture company formed between Druk Green Power Corporation of Bhutan and Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited of India. The signing of the Concession Agreement will lead to the commencement of construction and other works. The project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.

Both the External Affairs of India and Bhutan expressed the importance of this project as an important pillar of mutually beneficial bilateral economic corporation.

The Hydropower sector is the flagship-area of the India-Bhutan ties. The 720 MW Mangdechhu hydroelectric project was jointly inaugurated in last year August by the Prime Ministers of India and Bhutan. With this, four hydroelectric projects of bilateral corporation totaling over 2100 MW, are already operational in Bhutan.

72-year-old man wrongly declared COVID-19 positive, dies in Meghalaya

By
The Commune
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A 72-year-old man was erroneously declared as having tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya, which officials said was a mechanical error. The person died four days after he was discharged.

The patient was admitted to a private hospital after he complained of respiratory problems. The man from Umsamlem village in Ri-Bhoi district bordering Assam was declared COVID-19 positive after the RT-PCR test. He was admitted on 9th June to a hospital in state capital Shillong and was diagnosed with an acute respiratory infection.

An official said, “Following the outcome of the test, we started contact tracing but none of his contacts tested positive for COVID-19. This made us curious and RT-PCR and rapid antibody tests were subsequently conducted on him. This time the results came negative for the infection. More tests were done on the man and all the tests returned negative. The RT-PCR machines record 99 percent accuracy, this may be out of 1% category.” state Health Services Director Aman War told.

Officials of the state health department and the response team met to discuss and concluded it was a “false COVID-19 positive” case. The patient, however, died after four days of his discharge which he insisted and family requested, on 22nd June. He was buried in the Catholic Church cemetery in the village.

Source: ANI, Deccan Herald

“Nothing will happen to the democracy of India”: Manoj Bajpayee shuts down journalist who tried to stir controversy

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Manoj Bajpayee was recently interviewed by Arfa Khanum Sherwani, a journalist from The Wire. During the course of the interview, she had tried to put words in his mouth regarding the internal politics in Bollywood. She had also repetitively tried to make him agree to her statements about whether movies in Bollywood are created with a sinister purpose to defame a ‘particular community.’

At one point, the Family Man actor shut her down by saying, “There is an election every 4-5 years in the country. Whoever is afraid (that democracy will cease to exist) can contest elections against the government.” He also countered her arguments about Padmaavat being derogatory to a certain community, by quoting examples like Mughal-e-Azam. He added that any period film was part fact and part fiction and that “historical correctness” was not the key element to be looked for in such cases.

He also spoke about highly about movies like ‘Uri’, the same movie that had been mocked by Arfa on their portal as being filled with ‘toxic, hyper-nationalism.’

This isn’t the first time that Arfa had had an agenda behind such interviews, as fear-mongering as well as claiming that the democracy as we know it in India is dead and we are heading towards what she likes to call ‘Nazi Germany’. She was also found suggesting to protesters of the CAA-NRC protests to shed their Islamic identity while doing to ‘gain more support’.

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TheCommune
The Commune is a news and views portal focusing on social and political issues of the southern part of India with a focus on Tamil Nadu.
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