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China’s first Mars rover starts exploring red planet

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(Last Updated On: May 22, 2021)

China’s first Mars rover, Zhurong, drove down from its landing platform and set its wheels on Martian soil at 10:40 (Beijing Time) on Saturday, according to the telemetry data from the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Zhurong’s first successful drive made China the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on Mars.

The six-wheeled solar-powered rover slowly trundled off a ramp on the lander to hit the red and sandy soil of Mars, starting its journey to explore the fourth planet from the sun.

China’s Mars probe Tianwen-1, consisting of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. The lander carrying the rover touched down in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the northern hemisphere of Mars, on May 15, eight days before the rover left the lander.

“The reason why we need eight days is that the rover needs to capture the clear images of the area where it will touch down. If the assessment came out to be no difficulties, risk-free and safe, we will decide which way to go for the guide rail on the lander, which can stretch to this direction or this direction,” said Zhang Yuhua, deputy chief commander of Tianwen-1 mission, with the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

As planned, Zhurong will stay on Mars for 92 Earth days for explorations, during which the orbiter of Tianwen-1, with a design life of one Martian year (about 687 days on Earth), will relay communications from the rover to Earth. And after it completes the relay communications, the orbiter will continue its own scientific detection operations of Mars.

While on Mars, Zhurong will record the Martian landscape with high-resolution three-dimensional images, analyze the material composition of the planet’s surface, detect its sub-surface structure and magnetic field, search for traces of water ice and observe the surrounding meteorological environment.

“The real Mars-orbiting exploration starts only after the three-month relay communications completes. We hope we could have a comprehensive covering of Martian topography, landform and environment, and the exploratory data of the radar detecting the Martian subsurface during one Martian year. By doing so, our country will have our own abundant and first-hand data about Martian resources,” said Zhang.

Zhurong is named after the god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology. The name echoes with the Chinese name for the red planet, Huoxing (the planet of fire), while the name of the mission, Tianwen, means Questions to Heaven, the title of a poem by the ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan (circa 340-278 BC).

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Faryab mother gives birth to quadruplets

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(Last Updated On: March 23, 2023)

Local health officials in Faryab Province have confirmed a local woman has given birth to healthy quadruplets.

Dr. Satar Salimi, from the 20-bed Gynecology Hospital in Faryab said the mother, named Maryam, was from Ghormach district and gave birth to three boys and a girl on Tuesday night.

Doctors have said the mother and the babies are all doing well.

Last month, another woman in the province gave birth to quadruplets.

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UN renews calls for IEA to reopen schools for girls and women

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(Last Updated On: March 22, 2023)

The United Nations has renewed its call for Afghanistan’s Taliban to immediately reopen schools to teenage girls, saying the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has no justification for denying the right to education on any grounds, including religion or tradition.

“The ongoing unlawful denial of girls and young women’s right to education in Afghanistan marks a global nadir in education, impacting an entire gender, a generation, and the future of the country,” a U.N. panel of experts said this week.

There is no indication the Taliban intend to lift the ban on female education as secondary schools across the South Asian nation reopen later this week after winter break, the statement read.

“Instead, it appears that for the second successive school year, teenage girls will be banned from resuming their studies,” the U.N. panel said, adding that Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and young women are barred from receiving an education.

Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while launching the 2022 Human Rights Report on Monday, renewed Washington’s denunciation of curbs on Afghan women’s access to education and work, VOA reported.

Blinken said the IEA leadership “relentlessly discriminates and represses” Afghan women. He noted the authorities have so far issued 80 decrees that restrict women’s freedom of movement and the right to education and work.

“I’ll say very simply that we deplore the edicts,” Blinken told reporters.

He said the order banning Afghan female employees of nongovernmental organizations from workplaces “imperils” millions of Afghans who depend on humanitarian assistance for survival.

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Baradar visits Kamal Khan Dam, stresses need to increase water storage capacity

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(Last Updated On: March 22, 2023)

Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, visited Kamal Khan Dam in southern Nimroz province on Tuesday and emphasized the need to increase water storage capacity and cleaning up of the surrounding canals.

Baradar discussed solutions to the water issues faced by the people of Nimroz province, including the timely water supply to agricultural lands, his office said in a statement.

The Deputy PM and the accompanying delegation examined the installation of turbines at the dam and provided guidance to the officials on increasing the capacity of water storage, canal cleaning, and overall effective management.

He acknowledged the national importance of the Kamal Khan Dam and commended those responsible for the initiative.

The visit of the delegation to Kamal Khan Dam took place one day before the World Water Day.

Experts say the Islamic Emirate has great opportunities to manage the country’s waters in such a way that the people of Afghanistan benefit the most.

“On behalf of the private sector, we thank the dignitaries who visited the Kamal Khan dam. It is the responsibility of each of us to protect the national assets of our country in order to become self-sufficient like other countries,” said Mirwais Hajizada, an expert on economic affairs.

According to other experts, the country’s water management can get Afghanistan out of economic problems in a short time, and the government should focus on creating water dams.

“Afghanistan is a country that has a lot of agricultural land and relies mostly on agriculture. Therefore, for the lands that need water, if water management is done, it can make Afghanistan self-sufficient in terms of grains, and it can also become an exporting country,” said Kamaluddin Kakar, an economic expert.

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