Russia launches world's first floating nuclear reactor in Arctic
\
Russia’s floating nuclear power station Akademik Lomonosov expected to change the Arctic, warn environmentalists
The reactor's trip is expected to last between four and six weeks, depending on the weather conditions and the amount of ice on the way
Russia will launch the world's first floating nuclear reactor and send it on an epic journey across the Arctic on Friday, despite environmentalists warning of serious risks to the region.
Loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov will leave the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin its 5,000 kilometre voyage to northeastern Siberia.
Nuclear agency Rosatom says the reactor is a simpler alternative to building a conventional plant on ground that is frozen all year round, and it intends to sell such reactors abroad.
But environmental groups have long warned of the dangers of the project, dubbing it a potential "Chernobyl on ice" and a "nuclear Titanic."
A deadly explosion this month at a military testing site in Russia's far north, causing a radioactive surge, has prompted further concerns.
MARIANA TRENCH THE BIGGEST SEA OF THE OCEAN Mariana Trench, also called Marianas Trench, deep-sea trench in the floor of the western North Pacific Ocean, the deepest such trench known on Earth, located mostly east as well as south of the Mariana Islands. It is part of the western Pacific system of oceanic trenches coinciding with subduction zones—points where two adjacenttectonic plates collide, one being forced below the other. An arcing depression, the Mariana Trench stretches for more than 1,580 miles (2,540 km) with a mean width of 43 miles (69 km). The greatest depths are reached in Challenger Deep, a smaller steep-walled valley on the floor of the main trench southwest of Guam. The Mariana Trench, which is situated within the territories of the U.S. dependencies of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam, was designated a U.S. national monument in 2009.
Measuring the greatest depths in the Mariana Trench is an exceedingly difficult task, given the technical challenges of delivering instrumentation to such a remote location and then obtaining accurate readings. The first attempt was made in 1875 during the Challenger Expedition(1872–76), when a sounding of 26,850 feet (8,184 metres) was obtained near the southern end of the trench. In 1899Nero Deep (31,693 feet [9,660 metres]) was discovered southeast of Guam. That sounding was not exceeded until a 32,197-foot (9,813-metre) hole was found in the vicinity 30 years later. In 1957, during theInternational Geophysical Year, the Soviet research shipVityazsounded a new world record depth of 36,056 feet (10,990 metres) in Challenger Deep. That value was later increased to 36,201 feet (11,034 metres). Since then several measurements of the Challenger Deep have been made, using increasingly sophisticated electronic equipment. Notable among these is the depth of 35,840 feet (10,924 metres) reported by a Japanese expedition in 1984 and one of 36,070 feet (10,994 metres) obtained by a U.S. research team in 2011. In addition, another deep hole—originally called HMRG Deep (for Hawaii Mapping Research Group, the discoverers of the location) and later renamedSirena Deep—is situated south of Guam and east of Challenger Deep. First encountered in 1997, its depth has been reported variously as 34,911 and 35,463 feet (10,641 and 10,809 metres).
Mariana Arc: sea lifeTropical fish swimming among soft corals on the summit of the East Diamante submarine volcano in the Mariana forearc region. These organisms differ substantially from those found at the floor of the Mariana Trench miles below.Dr. Robert W. Embley—PMEL/NOAA
U.S. Navy bathyscaphe TriesteJacques Piccard, codesigner of the bathyscaphe Trieste, and his assistants departing on the vehicle's first deep dive in the Mariana Trench, November 1959; off Guam, the bathyscaphe dove to 18,600 feet (5,670 metres). Later, on January 23, 1960, the Trieste—with Piccard (who had helped his father, Auguste Piccard, design the bathyscaphe) and U.S. naval officer Don Walsh aboard—made a record dive to 35,814 feet (10,916 metres) in Challenger Deep.U.S Navy
The renaming of the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium will take place on September 12 at a function where a stand at the Kotla will be named after India captain Virat Kohli as announced earlier.
HIGHLIGHTS
* Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium will be renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium
* Former finance minister Arun Jaitely, who passed away on Aug 24, was former president of DDCA
* The renaming of the stadium will take place on September 12
Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) on Tuesday decided to rechristen Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium as Arun Jaitley Stadium in the memory of its former president who passed away on Saturday.
The renaming will take place on September 12 at a function where a stand at the Kotla will be named after India captain Virat Kohli as announced earlier.
Meanwhile, the DDCA tweeted out a clarification that seems to be a little confusing.
Speaking on this initiative, DDCA president Rajat Sharma said: "It was Arun Jaitley's support and encouragement that players like Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Rishabh Pant and many others could make India proud.
The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award is the highest national recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on land, sea and air. A cash Award of Rs.5.00 lakh and a certificate of honour is given to each Awardee. This Award is at par with the Arjuna Award for sporting excellence. Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards are conferred by the Hon’ble President of India, along with Arjuna Awards, in a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the month of August every year. This year, the Awards were conferred on 5 individuals on 29.08.2016.
1)) Aparna is the first IPS officer to be bestowed with this prestigious award. President Ram Nath Kovind will give her the award on August 29, 2019 on occasion of National Sports day at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The names of the winners of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards were announced by the government on Tuesday. Besides Aparna, five more personalities are going to receive the award this year. The other personalities are late Dipankar Ghosh, Manikandan K, Prabhat Raju Koli, RameshwerJangra and Wangchuk Sherpa.> * LAND ADVENTURE : Aparna kumar, shri dipanker ghosh, shri manikandan k *WATER ADVENTURE : Prabhat raju koli * AIR ADVENTURE : Rameshwar jangra * LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT : Wangchuk sherpa
Addressing the Indian community at the packed Bahrain National Stadium in Manama, Narendra Modi said his visit was as the head of the government, as the Prime Minister of the country, but its main purpose was to meet the Indians diaspora and communicate with them.
Narendra Modi is the first indian prime minister to visit Bahrain
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the Indian community in Bahrain for their hard work and said his heart was filled with happiness when he heard words of praise about the Indian diaspora's contributions in the Gulf country.
Addressing the Indian community at the packed Bahrain National Stadium in Manama, Narendra Modi said his visit was as the head of the government, as the Prime Minister of the country, but its main purpose was to meet the Indians diaspora and communicate with them and thousands not friends in Bahrain.
"The diversity and colours of India are our strength, it astonishes and attracts the world," Narendra Modi told the Indian expats, who switched on their mobile flash lights to welcome the prime minister upon his arrival.
"It took quite a long time for an Indian Prime Minister to visit Bahrain," Narendra Modi said, adding that he was fortunate enough to be the first Indian prime minister to visit the tiny Gulf Kingdom.
Narendra Modi said that the diversity and colours of India are its strength, which astonishes and attracts the world as he appealed to the Indian diaspora in Bahrain to avail the new opportunities for growth being generated by his government.
"Today, we have signed ia MoU, our aim is to provide you the facility to send money to your home in India through RuPay Card,' he said.
Noting that 'Chandrayaan-2 ' would land on the surface of moon on September 7, Narendra Modi said the entire world is discussing India's space missions today.
"The world is astonished that how are we able to gain these results in such small budget, using only our skills," he said.
"Our relation with Bahrain has been of trade and business, but more than that it has been of humanity, values and culture," he said and asked Indians to invite their Bahraini friends to visit and explore India.
Narendra Modi also said that India and Bahrain will expand cooperation in new field including space.
Narendra Modi said he will visit the historic Shrinathji's temple tomorrow and pray for the prosperity and peace of all.
Around 350,000 Indian nationals, mostly from Kerala, live in Bahrain. The Indian community comprise a third of Bahrain's total population of 1.2 million.
The FATF blacklist was the common shorthand description for the Financial Action Task Force list of "Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories" (NCCTs). [1][2] The FATF blacklist or OECD blacklist has been issued by the Financial Action Task Force since 2000 and lists countries which it judges to be non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, calling them "Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories" (NCCTs).[3] Although non-appearance on the blacklist was perceived to be a mark of approbation for offshore financial centres (or "tax havens") who are sufficiently well regulated to meet all of the FATF's criteria, in practice, the list included countries that did not operate as offshore financial centres.[citation needed] The FATF updates the blacklist regularly, adding or deleting entries.[3]
History
FATF was established by the G-7 Summit that was held in Paris in 1989. Founding stakeholders include the G-7 Heads of State or Government, President of the European Commission and eight other countries.[4]
The term "non-cooperative" was criticized by some analysts as misleading, as a number of countries on the list simply lacked the infrastructure or resources to cope with relatively sophisticated financial criminals who tried to operate there. Since 2008 the FATF has, at the behest of G20 leaders, installed a more analytical process of identifying jurisdictions deficient in their anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regimes.[3]
Primary Works
One of the main objectives of the FATF is to establish norms and standards of “legal, regulatory and operational measures” to fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the security and integrity of the international financial system. However, FATF “has no investigative authority.” FATF works with nation-states to bring legislative changes and regulatory reforms in the aforementioned sectors.[3] In addition, FATF also provides policy recommendations that meet international standards to countries for combating “money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. FATF has been providing policy recommendations since 1990 and their recommendations have revised four times since then. FATF also monitors the situations of its members in establishing adequate measures and institutions to fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. FATF also makes sure that it is aware of national-level vulnerabilities of its member states “with the aim of protecting the international financial system from misuse.”[5]
Member States
According to its official website, there are 39 member of FATF, representing most financial centres around the world.[6]
