01-07-2021 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
NEWS
01-07-2021 to 15-07-2021
23
China shares Zhurong rover's landing
footage, sounds from Mars
Beijing : China has released landing
process footage from its Zhurong
rover as well as video and sounds of
the vehicle roving on Mars.
Footage of the entry, descent and
landing shows the deployment of a
supersonic disk-gap-band parachute,
separation of the backshell, followed
by powered descent, a hazard-avoidance
hover phase and landing,
SpaceNews reported on Sunday.
The China National Space
Administration (CNSA) published the
footage in a Zhurong mission update
on early Sunday Beijing time.
Video of the descent of the Zhurong
rover from its landing platform,
including sounds made by the vehicle's
egress, was included in the
release.
The sounds were created by the
metal on metal interaction of a rack
and pinion system and recorded by
Zhurong's climate station, which
intends to capture sounds of Martian
winds.
"With the files, we released this
time, including those sounds recorded
when our Mars rover left the lander,
we are able to conduct in-depth analysis
to the environment and condition
of Mars, for example, the density of
the atmosphere on the Mars," Liu
Jizhong, deputy commander of
China's first Mars exploration programme,
told media.
NASA's Perseverance captured
similar sounds of driving on Mars in
March.
The 240-kilogram Zhurong rover
successfully landed in Utopia Planitia
on May 14. The deployment took
place late May 21 Eastern, following a
week-long series of checks and analysis
of the environment.
The six-wheeled, solar-powered
Zhurong has since covered 236 meters
on the Martian surface, the report said.
An undated panorama shows
Zhurong and tracks leading back to the
landing platform, along with surface
and horizon features, it added.
Zhurong had earlier dropped a
remote Wifi camera when still close to
the landing platform.A
The rover then returned to pose for
a joint selfie with the lander. The new
update this time featured footage of
Zhurong's drive back to the landing
platform and later making a turn.
The rover is part of the Tianwen-1
mission, China's first independent
interplanetary mission. Consisting of
an orbiter, a lander, and a rover,
Tianwen-1 launched in July 2020. It
entered Mars orbit on February 10.
Pak Interior Minister admits
country hosting Taliban families
RLD questions
new memorial for
Dalits in UP
Lucknow : The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has questioned the
Yogi Adityanath government's intention behind the announcement
of a memorial after Dr B.R. Ambedkar and asked why the government
did not remember the Dalit icon in the last four and a half
years.
"Now that only a few months are left for the elections, instead
of starting welfare programmes for Dalits, a desperate attempt is
being made to mislead them," said Anupam Mishra, national
spokesperson of the RLD.
Two days ago, the state government had announced a proposal
to set up a Dr Ambedkar Cultural Centre in Lucknow.
"When a grand Parivartan Sthal has already been constructed
by the BSP government in the past, what is the need for wasting
crores of rupees on a new centre? If the chief minister wants to
establish a cultural centre, he should get it constructed at Samajik
Parivartan Sthal, so that the money to be spent on land can be
saved and put to good use. But the chief minister will not do this
because he feels that by doing so, the credit for this would go to
former Chief Minister Mayawati," Mishra said. He said Dalits had
risen above superficial politics and the Rs 45.4 crore meant for the
memorial could be used for the uplift of Dalits. "Today, Dalits
want health, education, security and prosperity and not any memorial
or museum. If the state government wants to do something for
Ambedkar and his society in true sense, the government should
strengthen the social and economic condition of Dalits which
would be a true tribute to Dr Ambedkar," he added.
Islamabad : Pakistan
has for long completely
rejected assertions of having
Taliban footprints on its
soil. However, incumbent
Interior Minister Sheikh
Rasheed Ahmed has admitted
that Islamabad not only
hosts families of the
Taliban, but it also is aware
of fighters getting medical
treatment in the country.
Ahmed, well known for
his outspoken attitude, has
admitted that families of
Taliban fighters reside in
the country and many of
the group's members
receive medical treatment
in local hospitals.
In an interview to a local
television network, the
Minister said many of
those familiesreside in the
surrounding areas
Pakistan's capital
Islamabad.
"Taliban families live here, in Pakistan,
in Rawat, Loi Ber, Bara Kahu and Tarnol
areas. Sometimes their (fighters) dead bodies
arrive and sometimes they come here in
hospital to get medical treatment," he
added.
Ahmed's admission bcompletely
negates Islamabad's outright rejection of
allegations leveled by Kabul and
Washington that Taliban terrorists use
Pakistani soil to direct and sustain their
activities in Afghanistan.
On the other hand, Pakistan has counterblamed
Afghanistan for facilitating militants
and other illegal movements from its
2,600 km-long open border into Pakistan.
Pakistan has also maintained that it
facilitates about three million Afghan
refugees for decades, which at times does
serve as a hiding place for the Taliban
insurgents.
Recently, the Pakistan Foreign Office
had categorically rejected the remarks of
the Press Office of the Afghan Minister of
Foreign Affairs, regarding activities of the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in
Afghanistan.
"The assertion of the Afghan side are
contrary to facts on ground and various
reports of the UN, which also corroborate
the presence and activities of over 5000-
strong TTP in Afghanistan"" said the
Pakistan Foreign Office.
"Over the last many years, TTP has
launched several gruesome terrorist attacks
inside Pakistan using Afghan soil without
any retribution from its hosts. The 12th
Report of the UN Monitoring Team issued
in June 2021, acknowledges TTP's distinctive
anti-Pakistan objectives and notes its
location within Afghanistan near the border
with Pakistan.
"The TTP following its orchestrated
reunification with its splinter groups with
the help of Hostile Intelligence Agencies
(HIAs), its continued presence in
Afghanistan with impunity and its crossborder
attacks against Pakistan pose persistent
threat to our security and stability,"
the Office added.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi has stated that Pakistan's gains
against terrorism, could be undermined
severely if the security situation worsens in
Afghanistan, and lead towards a civil war.
"We are already hosting and looking
after almost three million Afghan refugees
and we cannot take more because we are
not in a position to shoulder the burden,"
said Qureshi, insisting that the worsening
security situation in Afghanistan could also
trigger another exodus of refugees into
Pakistan. However, the statement by the
Interior Minister certainly has raised many
eyebrows, who are now questioning the
Imran Khan-led government and reminding
it of its claims of now allowing terrorists
to operate from its soil.