NASA invites India to part of its Moon Base Mission.

The ambitious Moon base mission is a program to build humanity's first lunar outpost near the Moon's South Pole.

Invite follows US-India Space Group Meet

According to the US space agency, the project aims to unlock scientific discoveries and prepare for future deep space exploration. India and the US explored expanding space co-operation at a meeting of their Civil Space Joint Working Group held in Bangalore last week. The two sides agreed to advance discussions for co-operation on open scientific data sharing.

Step-by-step approach to build base

* The Moon base will be built in phases, says NASA. It will begin with robotic missions to test new 

   technology, then build systems and infrastructure needed to establish humanity's first long-term

   presence on the Moon.

* The first phase will focus on gaining reliable access to the lunar surface and building a deeper

   understanding of the environment.

9th meet of India- US Space Joint Working Group was held last week.

Muziris project set for a global push.

Revived water-taxi services by Onam

* To feature in upcoming Travel Mart.

   The plan is to revive and relaunch the Muziris project by featuring it as a major global attraction

   in the upcoming edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM). Around 1,200 tour operators are exp-

   ected to participate in KTM, providing a platform to promote Muziris as a heritage tourism dest-

   ination.

* Earlier, the project had a total of 11 vessels, including five water taxis and six open-top boats.

   Three outdated boats had been scrapped, while the remaining boats have been taken up for

   repair and maintenance.

* Plans on

   * Tourism department expects the repaired vessels to resume services during the Onam holiday

      season.

   * Water tourism circuits connecting various heritage locations are also being planned as part of

      the revival. 

Kerala's fishermen rescue system.

The key concerns 

1. Rescue infra exists but operational readiness a concern.

    Rescue vessels face issues due to lack of maintenance. They become ineffective if they can't be

    deployed immediately during emergencies.

2. Lack of trained personnel to operate rescue boats.

    Proposals to appoint dedicated trained personnel for operating rescue boats remain unimplemented.

3. Delayed emergency response during critical hours.

    Rescue mechanism needs to become operational within the golden hour after an accident, as survival

    chances reduce rapidly when fishermen go missing at sea.

4. Fragmented rescue system with multiple agencies.

    Coastal police, Marine enforcement, Coast Guard, Navy and other agencies share responsibilities.

    However, absence of a single, co-ordinated command mechanism often leads to delays in decision-

    making and mobilisation.

5. Delayed access to aircraft and advanced rescue assets.

    Requests for aircraft support through the Joint Operations Centre at Kochi Naval Base reportedly

    pass through multiple administrative levels. Delays in approvals can hamper aerial and search

    operations during crucial initial hours.

6. Fishermen's rescue capacity remains under utilised.

    Fishing communities have repeatedly played a key role in rescue missions, including deploying

    dozens of boats during major operations. However, their roles have not been formally integrated

    into the state's disaster response framework through training, equipment and recognition.

7. Livelihood pressures weaken compliance with warnings.

    Fishermen often venture into the sea despite warnings because staying ashore directly affects

    their daily income. Safety advisories need to be linked with timely livelihood compensation.

8. Inadequate preparedness for extreme weather events.

    Despite lessons repeated extreme weather events, fishermen argue that Kerala's marine disaster

    preparedness remains inadequate for increasingly unpredictable sea conditions.

9. Warning systems not sufficiently localised.

    Broad coastal warnings may not reflect variations in sea conditions between different districts

    and fishing zones. Fishermen demand zonal or panchayat-level weather advisories for more

    accurate decision making.

Courtesy. TNIE 10 Aug

My take.

Along with what have been cited above come the personal egos and intense departmental rivalry

that have this typical Indian problem of looking at the other side as being 'not up to the mark!' A

sure recipe for disaster!

Bringing "Green Boots" home!

India plans high-risk mission to bring "green Boots" home

India is seeking a specialist recovery team to retrieve the remains of Dorjee Morup, a 48-year-old lance naik of ITBP, from Mt Everest's summit.

Part of historic Everest expedition

For nearly 30 years, a body known as "Green Boots" has been frozen under a rock near Mount Everest's summit, Morup was part of a historic 1996 ITBP expedition aiming to become the first Indian team to summit Everest from the Chinese side. Three climbers reached the top; but a blizzard claimed all three. Two bodies remain missing. The third was Morup's.

Tricky recovery has September deadline

* Authorities hope to return Morup's remains to his family in Ladakh for DNA confirmation and final

   closure.

* Recovery from the death zone at 8,500 metres is hazardous. Temperatures can fall to -40 degrees                 Celsius and the Chinese side lacks helicopter evacuation. ITBP aims to complete the operation by               September.

300

At least 300 people have died in the region since records began. 

Pakistan-Saudi-Turkiye pact.

It's a NATO-style pact under which an attack against one will be treated as an attack against all three. Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan signed the trilateral agreement in the holy city of Mecca yesterday. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia already have a bilateral defence pact.

The trilateral defence agreement was signed a day after Iran said it was in the final stages of an agreement with Oman on a framework for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian lawmaker had said the trilateral "paper agreement" will not bring security.

India is watching the fall out and further developments.

Indian astronaut Anil Menon conducts spacewalk.

NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir began a spacewalk yesterday to carry out modifications for a future power upgrade at the ISS.

Duo performs ISS power system upgrades

The spacewalkers spent hours in the vacuum of space, carrying out necessary modifications for future installation of Roll-Out Solar Arrays on the International Space Station. The arrays are expected to provide additional power to support critical station operations, NASA said. This was the 281st spacewalk in support of ISS maintenance and upgrades.

Menon's first spacewalk, Meir's sixth

* Menon was born in Minnesota in 1976 to Indian and Ukrainian immigrants. This was Menon's first         and Meir's sixth spacewalk.

* Menon was SpaceX's first flight surgeon, helping it to launch its first humans to space during the             Demo - 2 mission. He joined NASA in 2014 as a space surgeon and began a tw0-year astronaut               training in 2022.

6 PM IST, 06 Jul

When the astronauts stepped outside the ISS to carry out tasks.

 

The 7th anniversary of the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A in J&K.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, seven years ago, ushered in a "decisive new chapter" for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, asserting that the constitutional changes have driven progress in infrastructure, education, healthcare, entrepreneurship and social empowerment across the two Union Territories.

The move had transformed the lives of people in the region by ensuring the full application of the Constitution and extending constitutional rights to communities that had remained deprived for decades.

The region has since witnessed changes in key sectors. Women and marginalised communities, who had long been denied full constitutional rights, have been empowered.

Tailpiece.

As Pakistan had rightfully said, then, "Modi hai toh mumkin ho!"