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- Two foreign female mountaineers, who were stranded for three days at an altitude exceeding 6,000 meters during their expedition to Chaukhamba-3 peak, were recently rescued by Indian Air Force (IAF) teams utilizing helicopters.
- About Chaukhamba Peak:
- Chaukhamba Peak is an impressive four-pillar mountain located in Uttarakhand, northern India, just west of the revered Hindu town of Badrinath. This mountain massif features four distinct summits along a ridge trending northeast to southwest, situated within the Gangotri group of the Garhwal Himalayas. The summits are designated as Chaukhamba I, II, III, and IV, with elevations ranging from 7,138 meters to 6,854 meters. Chaukhamba I is the highest of the four, standing at 7,138 meters above sea level, and it majestically overlooks the Gangotri glacier, serving as the eastern anchor of the group.
Saryu River
- A 35-year-old woman tragically drowned recently in the Saryu River in Kapkot.
- About Saryu River:
- The Saryu River, also known as the Sarayu or Sarju River, flows through the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. This river holds ancient significance, with references found in the Vedas and the Ramayana.
- Course:
- The river primarily originates from the foothills of the Himalayas and serves as a tributary to the Sharada. It meanders through towns such as Kapkot, Bageshwar, and Seraghat before merging into the Sharada River at Pancheshwar, near the India-Nepal border. The Sharada River, also called the Kali River, then continues to flow into the Ghaghara River in Sitapur District, Uttar Pradesh.
- In India, the lower section of the Ghaghara is commonly referred to as the Sarayu, particularly as it passes through Ayodhya. This city, known as the birthplace of Lord Rama, is situated along the banks of the Sarayu River, where the banks are frequently a hub for various religious rituals.
- World Arthritis Day is observed every year on October 12th to raise awareness about arthritis, a condition that impacts millions of people globally.
- About Arthritis:
- Arthritis refers to the inflammation or degeneration of one or more joints, which are the areas where two bones meet. There are over 100 different types of arthritis.
- Causes:
- Arthritis involves the deterioration of joint structures, especially cartilage. Healthy cartilage serves to protect joints and enables smooth movement, while also absorbing shock during activities like walking. When there isn’t enough cartilage, the underlying bones can become damaged and rub against each other, leading to swelling (inflammation) and stiffness.
- The two most prevalent forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis leads to the breakdown of cartilage, the tough tissue that covers the ends of bones at the joints. In contrast, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the joints, starting with the joint lining.
- Treatment:
- Treatment options vary based on the specific type of arthritis. The primary goals of arthritis management are to alleviate symptoms and enhance the quality of life for those affected.
- As Ukraine appeals for Taurus missiles to strengthen its defenses against the Russian military, the South Korean Air Force recently conducted a live-fire drill featuring the German-origin Taurus missile.
- About Taurus Missile:
- The Taurus missile is a precision-guided, long-range air-to-surface cruise missile developed in the mid-1990s through a collaboration between the German company LFK (now part of MBDA Deutschland) and the Swedish firm Saab Bofors Dynamics. It is designed for accurate strikes on both stationary and semi-stationary targets.
- Features:
- Weighing approximately 1,400 kg and measuring about 5.1 meters in length, the Taurus missile is versatile and can be launched from various platforms. It is powered by a turbofan engine, achieving subsonic speeds with remarkable fuel efficiency.
- One of its standout features is the dual-stage warhead known as MEPHISTO, specifically engineered to penetrate hardened bunkers and underground facilities before detonating. The missile operates at a low altitude of just 35 meters, making it difficult for radar systems to detect.
- Range: The Taurus missile has a striking range of 500 km.
- Its guidance system combines GPS, INS (Inertial Navigation System), and TERCOM (Terrain Contour Matching) technologies, ensuring high precision even in GPS-denied conditions. Additionally, its low radar cross-section and advanced defensive mechanisms provide protection against interception and neutralization efforts.
- Recently, India’s AstroSat and NASA’s space observatories have captured striking eruptions from stellar remnants surrounding a massive black hole.
- AstroSat is India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory designed to study celestial sources across X-ray, optical, and UV spectral bands simultaneously. Launched by the Indian PSLV rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on September 28, 2015, the mission is managed by the spacecraft control center at the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) of ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru. The AstroSat mission has a minimum operational life of approximately five years.
- Equipped with five scientific payloads, AstroSat enables the imaging and analysis of the temporal and spectral characteristics of both galactic and extra-galactic cosmic sources across a wide range of wavelengths from a single platform.
- Objectives:
- To investigate high-energy processes in binary star systems that contain neutron stars and black holes.
- To estimate the magnetic fields of neutron stars.
- To study star formation regions and high-energy processes in star systems beyond our galaxy.
- To detect new transient X-ray sources in the sky.
- To conduct a limited deep-field survey of the universe in the ultraviolet region.