The Weekly Focus Edition 9

Beirut Blasts

Multiple blasts shook Lebanon this Tuesday critically injuring over 5000 people and displacing over 300,000. Hospitals were overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, and now wounded people are being treated on the roads due to lack of space. The government has declared a 2-week emergency. Shock waves were felt even 125 miles away in Cyprus, another country entirely. The cause of the blast is said to be an accidental explosion of the chemical ammonium nitrate, which is highly explosive. It was stored in the port since 2014. Lebanese officials stated a fire broke out at the storage facility in the late afternoon and at around 6:00 PM local time the blast took place. An investigation has been launched over the cause of the blast, and there is no hard

evidence of any of the theories about the cause of the explosion. This comes as Lebanon faces an economic crisis, a large outbreak of COVID-19 and internal political protests and tensions. The Lebanese army, The Red Cross, and foreign aid workers are all at the scene, trying to help. Disaster workers are trying extremely hard to find survivors under the rubble. Even strangers are helping to clean up and assist survivors of the blasts. The country is in complete chaos, and this is indeed a terrible catastrophe, at a terrible time.

Ram temple in Ayodhya

The foundation stone of the Ram temple in Ayodhya was placed by the honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. This spot has been heavily fought for Hindus and Muslims for decades. In the Supreme Court verdict last year, the plot had been given to Hindus to construct a temple, and another 5-acre plot elsewhere in Ayodhya had been given to the Muslims to construct their mosque. Millions watched the ceremony on television and on social media. This peaceful resolution puts an end to decades of violence.

A Space Butterfly!!

European Southern Observatory(ESO) has managed to capture an image of an alluring space butterfly. ESO announced in a statement that its Very Large Telescope (VLT) had captured a stunning and rare celestial event. In the statement, the ESO said that its VLT

captured a gas bubble, known as the NGC 2899, which resembles a flying butterfly due to its symmetrical structure, stunning colours and intricate patterns. According to the ESO, the NGC 2899 has never been clicked in such detail ever before, since this time, even faint outer edges of the nebula seemed to be glowing against a backdrop of stars. NGC 2899 is a nebula in which the gas is extending to a distance of a maximum of two light-years from its centre. Its gas, the ESO said, reaches temperature upwards of 10,000 degrees, due to the radiation from the planet star of the nebula. This large amount of radiation causes the nebula’s oxygen gas to glow in blue colour, encased within a reddish halo of the hydrogen gas, all the while glowing brightly against a background of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. NGC 2899 is 3,000 to 6,500 light-years away from the Earth and is located in the southern constellation of Vela or The sails. It has two central stars, which the astronomers believe is the reason for its almost symmetrical appearance. This detailed stunning image was captured by the astronomers using the FORS instrument fitted on UT1 or Antu, which is an 8.2-metre telescope – one of the four that make up the ESO’s VLT established in Chile.

Other News

~The cab company Uber buy its rival AutoCab in the UK. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed.

~Sony confirms PS4 controllers will not be compatible with the PS5.

~ 8 die after a fire in a hospital in Ahmedabad

~ As Indian telecom giant Jio bags deals with large tech companies, its rival Airtel secured a cloud deal with delivery giant Amazon.

~ Scientists have spotted over 11 large emperor Penguin colonies using satellites in Antarctica.

~ Medicine and Drug manufacturer Lupin launches Favipiravir under the name Covihalt.

~ Vivo confirms August 17 launch date for its new model iQOO 5 with 120W charging.

Markets this week

Nifty 11,200.15 +78.75

Sensex 38,025.45 +273.3

This Week in history

~ On the 5th of August 1945, the US dropped the first Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima in Japan. In the days to come, another bomb will be dropped on Nagasaki and Japan will surrender.

~ On August 3rd 1492, Christopher Columbus sets sail to discover India on his three ships Santa Maria, Pinta and Niña.

~ On August 2nd, 1858 the government of India is transferred to the British Crown from the East India Company.

Fact of the week

Genghis Khan had so many children,

that approximately 1 in every 200 people is a direct descendant of his!

Joke of the week

A guy goes to a pet store to buy a goldfish.

The salesman asks him, "Do you want an aquarium?"

The guy responds, "I don't care what star sign it is!”

Leisure

Credits: Dilbert Comics Official

Credits: Garfield comics official