The Weekly Focus Edition 82
State Elections in India
Last Saturday, the ECI (Election Committee of India) announced the schedule for the assembly elections in states such as Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. UP or Uttar Pradesh will conduct the elections in 7 phases; the poles will be conducted from February 10th to March 7th. At the same time, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will vote in a single phase on February 14th. However, Manipur will vote in 2 phases on February 27th and March 3rd. The poll body also declared that the counting will be on March 10th. Elections will be held for 403 assembly seats in UP, 117 in Punjab, 70 in Uttarakhand, 60 in Manipur, and 40 in Goa. The elections will be a challenge due to the spread of the Omicron variant. However, all measures have been taken into consideration and this is a well thought out decision.
Vaccination for teenagers in India
Earlier, the Indian government announced that vaccines will be given for children aged 15-18, a huge move and the first sign of vaccinations in minors in India. Anyone born in 2007 or earlier is now eligible for the vaccine and should get vaccinated now. The child could register by creating a new COWIN account and entering all the necessary details on this online portal, or could simply use their parent's COWIN account and register from there. Cases of a few symptoms such as fever, and body pain in some areas have been reported by those who take the vaccine, but it is indeed mild and will go away after a few days. The PM also announced in the same session that a 'precautionary dose', which is more popularly known as a booster dose can be taken for frontline workers as well as for patients with comorbidities above the age of 60. Ever since the beginning of vaccinations almost a year ago in India, vaccination stocks were always on the lower side and the shortages wouldn't end. However, India is now comfortably vaccinating most of its population, having administered 141 crore doses since its inception, which is slightly over India's current population. For anyone out there eligible for the vaccine, it is highly recommended that you take the vaccine, as it has been proven to work against Omicron, and is our only protection against future variants.
The top 10 biggest exoplanet discoveries of 2021
1. Exoplanet in another galaxy-
In October scientists found what could be the first exoplanet outside of your galaxy. They spotted this in the Whirlpool galaxy which is 28 million light-years away from the Earth.
2. Astronauts captured a baby planetary photo-
This planet was first spotted in 2018 but took 3 years to confirm if it is an exoplanet or not. The image of the baby exoplanet was captured as its light was reflected off the young world.
3. Rogue planets could be bending lights and revealing themselves-
The astronomers used a phenomenon called lensing to find 27 rogue planets that are the size of the Earth and float freely in space, and they aren't even bound to a star like we are to the sun.
4. A planet making a ring outside our solar system-
Astronauts caught another alien in the younger development stages, this was known as the moon-forming a disk around a planet in the solar system.
5. An exoplanet may have spawned a new atmosphere-
A planet near the Earth possibly could have created a new atmosphere around as it had lost a previous atmosphere.
6. There are possibly water clouds on a Neptune like exoplanet-
The reason why water clouds could possibly be present on an exoplanet which is like Neptune is because of the really high atmosphere in one of the exoplanets present around.
7. The exoplanet with the shortest orbit known has been detected-
A few astronomers who used NASA’s TESS mission discovered an exoplanet that orbits its star in just 16 hours. Reports also say that its rate is slowly becoming faster which means it can orbit faster too.
8. A nearby star Alpha Centauri A may host a Neptune sized exoplanet-
A $3 million project called Near Earths in the Alpha Cen Region has been searching for planets in the habitable zone of the stars of the Alpha Centauri system.
9. GOT 'EM-1b takes more than 200 days to orbit its star-
An exoplanet with an unofficial and funny name GOT ‘EM-1b has an orbit of 218 days around its parent star, scientists hope this is located 1300 light-years away from Earth because it can help improve scientific understanding and that planet's population and migration.
10. TESS spots one of the oldest-known rocky exoplanets-
One of the oldest stars in our galaxy may be hot and rocky, this is according to a few reports and a paper that was published last year in January.
Fact or Fiction
1) Hot water will turn into ice faster than cold water.
2) The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.
3) The strongest muscle in the body is the biceps.
4) Ant's take rest for around 8 minutes in a 4 hour period.
5) "I Am" is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
6) Coca-Cola was originally blue.
7) The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
8) When the moon is directly overhead, you will weigh slightly less.
9) Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from the heat.
10) There are only two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."
Other News
Ethiopia free a host of opposition leaders to promote peaceful talk in the conflicted region.
India sends over 2 tonnes of medical aid to war-ravaged Afghanistan
The New York times reportedly buys sports website The Athletic for over half a billion dollars.
Suicide Bombers now a part of the Taliban’s army in Afghanistan, cite the need for a ‘special operation’.
Bitcoin falls under the 41,000 mark, a huge fall since its sudden rise.
In a shocking turn of events, a 19-year-old world junior champion in shooting accidentally shoots himself, passes away.
Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic denied entry into Australia over the vaccine, controversy erupts.
Usman Khawaja smashes twin hundreds in the ongoing Ashes series in his comeback test, breaks records and garners praise.
In Bangladesh’s first-ever away win in Test cricket history, they beat New Zealand on their home turf in an exciting test match earlier this week.
Written By Vivaan Dharamshi
Edited by Nirvaan Zaveri
Article 1 by Arhaan Zaveri
Article 3 by Krishnav Bubna
Fact or Fiction by Nikunj Gupta
Answers:
1) Fact
2) Fact
3) Fiction (it is the tongue)
4) Fiction (it’s a 12 HOUR PERIOD)
5) Fact
6) Fiction (it was green)
7) Fact
8) Fact
9) Fiction (It’s from blowing desert sand)
10) Fact