The Weekly Focus Edition 25

Shukrayaan: The ISRO Venus Mission

Shukrayaan-1 is a proposed orbiter to the planet Venus, which is the second closest to the sun and the hottest planet in our solar system. It will study the planet for over four years focusing on the chemistry, atmosphere and surface of the planet. Venus has an extremely dense atmosphere and the temperature can possibly go up to 470 degrees celsius. Even though it is scorching on Venus, the atmosphere 50 kilometres above the surface is similar to Earth’s and there is the possibility of signs of life. In September this year, a group of international astronomers discovered the presence of phosphine gas of Venus and back in 2011 there were signs of an ozone layer in Venus. These gases are also found in traces of the earth's atmosphere but are easily destroyed by the oxygen. The Swedish Institute of Space Physics is also collaborating with ISRO in this project which has attracted several collaborative contribution opportunities. Earlier, ISRO had set the date of launch to June 2023 but it has been postponed to late 2024 or possibly even 2026.

Google Taskmate

Google’s Taskmate will soon allow you to earn money by doing simple tasks if all goes well with their current testing of this new app for the android platform. Currently, only certain users are allowed to use this app. You may download it on the Google Play Store but you will not be able to go ahead without a referral code. The tasks on this application are simple to do and there are two types which are known as sitting tasks or field tasks. The field tasks will track the number of steps you walk and may ask you to go to a particular location and take a picture of something present there. For sitting tasks, you might have to record yourself saying a sentence, transcribe a sentence or check the details of some shops. These tasks are primarily for limited survey questions and the app is expected to come out in public soon.

The Farmers’ Fight:

At the Delhi Haryana border, thousands of farmers have gathered up to protest new bills which are currently being discussed in the Indian Parliament. The reason why these farmers are rallying is since they believe the bill will make them slaves to corporates and will only affect the ‘Hoarders’ and multinational companies. The farmers are adamant that they don’t want the bill and are attempting manoeuvring through the security into Delhi which is the house of the Parliament. Additionally, this bill supports the privatisation of electrical services which will drastically increase the electricity rate. During the pandemic, many have faced economic and financial problems, and farming, being a primary economic activity, does not pay as much anyway. With all the money needed to maintain their farms, if electricity rates go up our countries backbones might drop down on their knees. Not only will the farmers face economic fears, but many of them are also being imprisoned in Punjab which due to

the stubble burning. This is another reason as to why they are protesting. Many believe that the reason Delhi keeps its gates close is because the stubble burning negatively impacts the air quality, hence if banned in Delhi there will be a positive impact on reducing its pollution. Farmers rallying on the border have faced tear gas and water canons but are giving a hard fight and are not budging. The Delhi police stated that due to COVID-19, they do not want to risk their citizens. Countering the police, farmers questioned why the Bihar polls took place.

By Arhaan Zaveri

Other News

~ Terrorists attack the Indian Army's road opening party in Srinagar, two soldiers killed.

~ The US hits it's highest death toll since May with hospitals already full.

~ German Chancellor Angela Merkel says COVID-19 vaccine could arrive before Christmas.

~ Nearly 100 whales dead in New Zealand after mass stranding.

~ The Mumbai Civic Body as allotted over 569 crores to clean up the Mithi River.

~ Protests continue to rage on in Thailand as protestors demand the resignation of their monarchs

Tech News

~ Sony has said that the PS5 stock will be refilled by the end of the year.

~ JioGames, Clash Royale Tournament to start from November 28th.

~ PUBG Mobile to be released in the first week of December in India.

~ Vivo V20 Pro to launch in India on December 2nd.

~ Samsung launches Odyssey G7 and G9 Curved Gaming Monitors in India.

~ A new season of Fortnite will be announced this week.

~ Argentinian Football legend Diego Maradona passed away on 25th November.

~ Australia beat India by 66 runs in a run feast of a match, with India eventually succumbing to the target set by Australia.

~ "I can Keep for the next three World Cups," says KL Rahul.

~ The ICC player of the award decade votings is now open on the ICC official website.

~ Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin have been included in the ICC Player of the decade award, and India is the only country to have two players on the list.

Five Little Liars

Author: Amanda K. Morgan

Rating: ★★★★★

Age: 11/12+

Blurb: Nothing ruins summer break like a secret… especially when that secret is a dead teacher. Ivy, Tyler, Kinley, Cade and Mattie were virtual strangers before Dr. Stratford’s psychology summer class. That all changes when an altercation after class leaves the five students standing over their teacher’s corpse. Now, they have to get rid of the body and come up with a story that doesn’t end in jail time. With the police hot on the case, they don’t have long to figure out how to trust each other. But in order to take the lead, you have to be first in line… and that’s the quickest way to get stabbed in the back.

Review: This book runs through a series of characters, incidents and even very realistic ideas that blend in with a wonderful, breathtaking mist of murder and guilt, all swarmed up in five high schoolers. For those of you that like mystery, crime, or even simple teen-fiction. It’s not too long and grabs the attention of the reader- me especially- completely, stamping shamelessly over a sense of reality. It would be a big shame to give away even the tiniest of clues- the book is too precious for that- and so, I only leave you with the thought of a perfect mystery novel set in the time of summer school and the idea of its perfect pages waiting to be read by you.

By Dia Makhecha

~ On 23rd November 1863, the patent was granted for colour photographs. ~ On 24th November 1859, Charles Darwin changed the view of evolution after publishing his "On the Origin of Species" paper. ~ On 25th November 1926, 27 tornadoes hit the town of Heber Springs, Arkansas. ~ On 26th November 2008, terrorists entered Mumbai and opened fire on the public. ~ On 27th November 1895, Alfred Nobel's will officially establish the Nobel Prize. ~ On 28th November 1960, Mauritania became independent after leaving the French community.

Written by Krishnav Bubna

Edited by Sanaa Dharamshi

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