Daily Bulletin: NASA finds Vikram Lander, NATO summit to begin in London, SPG amendment bill in RS; day's top stories

NASA finds Vikram Lander, releases images of impact site on Moon surface

ASA on Tuesday found Vikram Lander of Chandrayaan-2 and released images of its impact site on the Moon, where the spacecraft had lost communication moments before making a soft landing on the far side of the lunar surface.

The NASA posted images clicked by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Camera, showing the site’s changes on the Moon and the impact point before and after the spacecraft had made a hard-landing on the lunar surface.

It also indicated the impact spot of the lander and an associated debris field created by the crash with blue and green dots respectively.

Amit Shah to move SPG amendment bill in Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha to discuss loss of crops due to various reasons

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will move two key bills in Rajya Sabha today. The Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the bill to provide for merger of Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu will be taken into consideration in the Upper House, as passed by the Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, in Lok Sabha Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh and Shiv Sena’s Gajanan Kirtikar will to raise a discussion on crop loss due to various reasons and its impact on farmers. The report of Standing Committee on Agriculture will also be presented in both Houses.

BJP to expel Jharkhand rebels ahead of state polls

The BJP said that any party leader contesting against its official candidates or indulging in anti-party activities stand expelled, per se.

The statement was issued by the BJP’s state unit president Laxman Gilua. “Those BJP leaders who are contesting against party’s official candidates or opposing them publicly or indulging in anti-party activities, flouting party discipline stand expelled from the party per se,” the statement said.

This is the first official statement issued by the party in the face of some senior party leaders jumping into poll fray after being denied tickets for the ensuing assembly elections in the state.

Prominent among them are former minister Saryu Roy, who is challenging Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das from Jamshedpur (East) after being denied ticket from his sitting seat, Jamshedpur (West). The two seats are going to polls in the second phase on 7 December.

Read also: Crusade against corruption by Raghubar Das cost me my BJP ticket, Saryu Roy tells Firstpost

NATO summit 2019 to begin in London from today

NATO leaders will gather in London on Tuesday as the world’s biggest military alliance, marking its 70th anniversary, battles with one of the most confounding of adversaries: Itself.

As thousands of troops stand ready along Europe’s eastern flank to deter Russia — the reason the trans-Atlantic alliance was founded in 1949 — or help keep the peace in places like Afghanistan and Kosovo, the leaders of countries with NATO’s largest armies are wildly taking pot shots at each other.

Before the two-day summit, to include receptions at Buckingham Palace and Downing Street plus a working session at a golf resort in outer London, Karen Donfried, president of the German Marshall Fund think tank, said the 29 NATO allies are approaching this meeting “with a sense of foreboding.”

German chancellor Angela Merkel, in the final period of her reign, has played the go-between, trying to keep the NATO leadership train on the rails. From the outside, and quite possibly from the Kremlin, it looks like a great act of self-harm.

NATO has no real wars to fight but its power, and Europe’s security, lies in the abilities of the allies to deter adversaries like Russia and potential ones such as China. That deterrence depends on a balanced mix of military posturing and shows of political resolve by speaking with one voice.

Supreme Court to hear Delhi pollution case today

The Supreme Court will continue today the suo motu hearing on severe air pollution in Delhi-NCR. The court is expected to examine the feasibility of Hydrogen based fuel technology for cleaner air. Earlier, the court had delayed lifting the ban on construction activities in the region to ensure that the air quality can improve aided with weather factors.

EU antitrust regulator launch investigation again Google and Facebook

EU antitrust regulators have launched a preliminary investigation into how Google and Facebook collect, process, use and monetise user data for advertising purposes. Reportedly, the investigation documents focus on data related to the company’s local search services, online advertising, online ad targeting services and login services and web browsers.

Centre asks states to act against onion hoarders, create buffer stocks as price touches Rs 11,000 per quintal mark in parts of India

The Centre has asked state governments to crackdown on traders hoarding onions, create buffer stocks and distribute imported edible bulb at a reasonable rate in order to provide relief to common man from soaring prices. Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a meeting of the Committee of Secretaries to review the issue of rising onion prices across the country, an official statement said. Onions are selling at a high price of Rs 75-100 per kg in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, while the wholesale price of onions of the summer variety rose to Rs 11,000 per quintal.