India a 'third world' country for Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden of OZ has discribed India a "third world" country

Back home after the 2-0 series defeat, Hayden spoke about, what he perceived, poor ground conditions and inordinate delays during the matches "that happen in Third World countries".

If he feels that India is "Third World" country then why the hell he played in the IPL , I think he may not like the country but he like the money that this "Third World " country pays for the sports men,

A player like Hayden should have looked at his own team performances instead of blaming other things, This shows what a bad loser's the OZ are,

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China Doubts India's Moon Mission

Chandrayaan, India’s unmanned mission to the moon which was launched late last month, has received favourable international reaction. On Saturday, the spacecraft successfully entered the lunar orbit, where it is to spend two years scanning the moon’s surface for signs of significant minerals and also water and ice. In many ways, the country’s first flight to the moon projects the spirit of international scientific cooperation in a relatively virgin field. Of the 11 instruments it is carrying on board, three are from the European Space Agency (ESA), two from the US, and one from Bulgaria. Seen in this light, the Indian effort is a part of the shared striving for widening the frontiers of knowledge to benefit the human race. It is therefore surprising to find a contrary reaction to Chandrayaan from China. This is not an official reaction of the Chinese government or its scientific community, but convoluted write-ups in the media purporting to examine technical parameters when the launch was only a few days old. The disparaging observations, whose scientific validity is yet to be commented on, are decidedly premature.

Only a week from now are we expected to have a clearer picture of how India’s unmanned moon probe is going. A couple of months ago, China landed an astronaut on the moon, a remarkable feat. India has moved slower in that direction, and hopes to have its first "gagan-naut" only in the next decade. Its own quicker progress should have made the Chinese self-confident. But that is apparently not the case. Only recently China had become uncertain of itself and made unsuccessful sideways manoeuvres to block the international acceptability of this country’s civilian nuclear programme. A certain element in China’s dealings with India is now becoming evident. It seeks to expand trade and business ties with India. But it continues to remain obstreperous on sorting out the boundary mess, and appears resentful of India’s advances in the more rarefied fields of science and technology involving nuclear and space probes. Of course, these areas have a military side. However, India’s space programme is seen by the leading powers as being wholly civilian in nature, but the same cannot be said of China’s space programme. And perhaps it is this which irks Beijing. Perhaps it is somewhere fearful of India moving in step with the leading democracies in the field of space research (unlike the nuclear field in which India’s experience has been a painful one, much to Chinese glee). The Chinese need be apprehensive of nothing at this stage if they dedicate themselves to building their own brand in the field of space rather than running down another country’s.

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Chandrayaan-1 In The Moon's Orbit

Isro’s mission controllers on Saturday evening plucked the lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 out of earth’s gravitational influence and safely inserted it into an orbit around the moon.

Isro executed the maneuver by sending a command to the spacecraft at 4.51 pm from its nerve center in Peenya, Bengaluru, to fire its engine for precisely 817 seconds. Isro chairman Madhavan Nair said the operation was the "most critical part" of the mission. "We have done it," he exulted. "For the last 20 minutes almost all our hearts were at a standstill," he said.

"The reason the lunar orbit insertion is risky is that we do not get an extended time window to conduct the operation. It had to be done when the spacecraft was exactly 500 km from the moon," Isro spokesperson S. Satish told this newspaper. "At the precise moment that the spacecraft goes out of the influence of earth’s gravity, it must also be captured by the moon’s gravity. Otherwise the spacecraft will be lost in deep space," he explained.

In the past, this earth-to-moon hand-off has proved to be the death knell of several spacecraft which either missed the moon to be lost in deep space, or crashed onto the lunar surface,

Chandrayaan-1 is now in an elliptical orbit that passes over the moon’s polar regions. Its nearest point to the moon (periselene) is 504 km and farthest (aposelene) 7,502 km. In about four further maneuvers, Isro will lower the spacecraft into a circular orbit 100 km above the moon.

The first instrument on the spacecraft has been switched on. The honor went to the Bulgarian instrument Radom which is gathering radiation intensity data.

The Moon Impact Probe piggybacking on Chandrayaan-1, with the Indian tricolor embossed on it, will hard-land on the moon by November 14-15. Isro will then test and switch on one instrument every day.

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Bhutan crowns new king

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has crowned an Oxford-educated, 28-year-old bachelor as its new king.

In an ancient ritual in the white-walled palace overlooking the Thimphu valley on Thursday, Jigme Singye Wangchuck handed his eldest son, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, the Raven crown which gives him the title of Druk Gyalpo, or Dragon King.

The palace was packed with hundreds of foreign dignitaries, including Pratibha Patil, India's president, Sonia Gandhi, India's ruling party leader, as well as Bollywood stars.

It was also surrounded by lines of jubilant locals dressed in their national costumes.

The new king has been assuming the responsibilities of monarch since his father abdicated nearly three years ago in an effort to allow the "leadership of a new king and a democratic system of government".

But the coronation was delayed as the century-old Wangchuk dynasty waited for astrologers to give an auspicious date.

Reforms

The three-day ceremony caps the former king's vision of reforming and modernising the deeply traditional and insular nation.

"The best time to change a political system is when the country enjoys stability and peace," the deeply revered former king, who is 52, had said when he first initiated the reform process in 2005.

"Why wait for a revolution? Why crown an heir only when the nation is in mourning for a late king?"

Bhutan, a nation of just over 600,000 people wedged in remote hills and mountains between India and China, held its first democratic elections for a new parliament and prime minister in March.

The new king - the world's youngest reigning monarch - will continue to face the challenge of striking a balance between traditional values and exposure to the world, especially with the younger generation having access to satellite television and the internet.

Bhutan had no roads or currency until the 1960s and allowed television only in 1999.

The new king has pledged to maintain his father's unique philosophy of improving "gross national happiness," and not common economic indicators, to ensure well-being in the country.

Despite being tucked away in the Himalayas, however, the tiny nation has not been immune to modern problems such as drugs and crime, as well as potential external threats.

"The changes we've had are good but there have also been less good things happening," Sonam Subha, a local trader, said. "I'm sure our king will keep us safe."

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Obama wins the WhiteHouse

Reports coming in suggest that Obama will win the race for the White House by a two third majority in the US election.

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