A crater is formed when an asteroid crashes into the surface of a larger body like a planet or a Moon.

Aerospace startup Space Kidz India to select one student from each of the 108 participating countries who will travel to India for hands-on training in building payloads, spacecraft prototypes

The manoeuvre was performed from ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru. The spacecraft is now just 177 km away from the moon.

Union Cabinet today approved the 'Chandrayaan-4' mission, aimed at developing and demonstrating the technologies required for landing Indian astronauts on the moon and ensuring their safe return to Earth. 

The Indian Space Research Organisation had then resolved to launch the project again. It had said the project is likely to be launched by the end of the year.

The Union Minister also said that the upgraded configuration in Chandrayaan-3 will make the spacecraft more robust in terms of design and it will also have an enhanced spacecraft capacity without compromising with the heritage of Chandrayaan-2.

A four-way conference call between us, Sharon Isbin, and Ayaan and Amaan Ali Bangash makes one thing crystal clear. The two sarod-playing brothers have unfettered respect for the Grammy-winning American guitarist, since they consider it an "honour" to be collaborating with her for an unusual concert slated for later this week. It's a word they use multiple times during the phone call. And Isbin, on her part, tells us from Kolkata that she's as enthused about the performance as anyone else.

The gig is unusual because it isn't everyday in our country that the worlds of Indian and western classical music collide on stage. Isbin is one of the world's leading lights in the latter genre. But her introduction to western classical music was wholly by accident. "We were living in Italy for a year when I was nine years old, and my older brother asked for guitar lessons. But he didn't want to study classical. He wanted to be Elvis Presley. So, I volunteered to take his place and raised my hand out of family duty," she reveals, adding that while her father was a nuclear scientist, it was her mother who ensured that she received a solid musical education.

It's a different story for the Bangash brothers, of course. It's almost as if it was preordained that they would take to the sarod, considering that their father, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, is one of the world's most prolific practitioners of the instrument. But even though they have collaborated with many different musicians — including with Derek Trucks of the rock band Allman Brothers — this is the first time that they will be playing in India with Isbin, who they have known for years.

Ayaan and Amaan Ali Bangash

Ayaan says, "Sharon and we have had mutual admiration for each other's cultures, and I think it's really important to connect with the individual with whom you'll be performing. Also, since we have known each other for a long time, it was easier to develop the music. It's taken us around six years to compose this piece, and I'm glad that everything has fallen into place for us to perform it in India for the first time."

And Isbin adds that her affinity for Indian string instruments began when she was in college. "I loved listening to the sitar, sarod and the tabla back then, and would go to raga concerts because I found them to be meditative. I have also studied transcendental meditation, which of course originated in India, and have been practising it since my teens. That's every single day for many years. So, I have a certain spiritual attraction to the culture and the music here," she says.

Amaan, meanwhile, points out how the sarod and classical guitar have a shared commonality, in that they belong to the larger family of string instruments. Think about it. The guitar, in India, has had a profile that's associated more with jazz, rock 'n' roll and electronic music. Rarely, if ever, has the western classical guitar been heard here in this kind of a collaboration, which also features tabla player Vijay Ghate and mridangam exponent Sridhar Parthasarthy. "We have never played these pieces with a guitar before. But both are string instruments. One is played with the fingertip and the other is played with the finger nails. So, the technical approach isn't wholly different," he tells us, while Ayaan adds that playing this composition will be different for the brothers because they are sticking to a written score.

He further says, "I think everyone's music is a reflection of who they are as individuals. Their soul comes out through their music. And all of us have come out of our comfort zones here to reach a meeting point. Eventually, though, things just happen on stage, you know? You might rehearse all you want, but at the end of the day, what the piece shapes us as is something that has some kind of energy and universal blessing, and we hope to reach that final destination with dignity and grace."

ON February 21, 8 pm
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Versatile Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan passed away at the age of 53 on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 at 11:11 am due to colon infection. The actor was undergoing treatment for Neuroendocrine cancer and was admitted at Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital due to a colon infection. The actor's last rites were performed on the same day in the presence of his family, close relatives and friends. Irrfan is survived by his wife Sutapa and sons – Babil and Ayan.

Soon after news of Irrfan's death broke on the internet, social media was flooded with messages from fans and celebrities expressing their grief. Son Ayaan also mourned the loss of his father by sharing beautiful memories of his father through his childhood pictures.

In the picture, Irrfan is seen riding a bike with Ayaan sitting in front. He captioned the black and white picture, "The flesh we roam this earth in is a blessing, not a promise (sic)". In another photo, the father-son duo looks handsome.

 

 

 

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The flesh we roam this earth in is a blessing, not a promise.

A post shared by ayAAn khan (@arkane_7) onMay 1, 2020 at 9:36am PDT

Earlier, Irrfan's elder son Babil had shared has posted a video of the late actor indulging in pani puri after a shoot. "When you're on diet for so long and then the shoot ends and you can have pani puri," Babil captioned the video posted on Instagram.

 

 

 

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When you’re on diet for so long and then the shoot ends and you can have pani puri.

A post shared by Babil Khan (@babil.i.k) onMay 1, 2020 at 6:42am PDT

Earlier, Babil had shared a heartfelt note on his Instagram handle. In the note, Babil thanked everybody for their support and condolence messages as his family faced with the most difficult challenge. He wrote: "I'm deeply grateful for all the condolences you beautiful friends are pouring in for me. Although I hope you understand that right now I’m not being able to reply because my vocabulary is dizzy. I will get back to each one of you but just not right now. Thank you so much. I love you (sic)."

On April 28, the Piku actor was admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital with a colon infection and was in the Intensive Care Unit. In 2018, Irrfan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour and was undergoing treatment for the same.

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A payload on board Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter, circling the Moon’s orbit at 100km, has measured solar flares between September 30 and October 1, which will help scientists better understand various processes on the Sun. Currently, the solar cycle is heading towards minima and the Sun has been extremely quiet for the past few months. Therefore, XSM could observe a series of small flares.

COVID-19 pandemic recently brought the entire country to a standstill. ISRO too halted the launch of satellites and preparations for various missions including the Gangayaan, Chandrayaan-3, and others. However, now it looks like these missions might face a very uncertain future,