On September 8, at 11:11 pm local time a powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck central Morocco, a country in North Africa. The epicenter was about 70 kms from the popular city of Marrakesh, towards the Atlas mountains.
It caused huge damage in several areas, as well as destroying large areas of the historic centre of Marrakech. Thousands of people are thought to have been killed or injured. King Mohammed VI has declared three days of national mourning. Many countries, including the UK and the US, have offered support, aid and help. The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Morocco has soared to more than 2,000, with a similar number of injured.
arabnews.com
It was Morocco’s deadliest earthquake since Agadir was devastated by a 6.7-magnitude quake in 1960, which killed more than 12,000.
The Moroccan government says it has accepted aid from four countries so far – Britain, Spain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
France, the US and some other countries say they are also ready to help.
In 1970, the Turin-based Federation of Independent European Female Football organised an unofficial women’s world cup, in which 7 teams participated and Denmark became champion.
lostmediawiki.com
FIFA, wary of lending the World Cup branding to what might turn out to be a failure, first organised a women’s invitational in China in 1988. Norway won this tournament. After this FIFA agreed to officially endorse a first Women’s World Cup to be played in 1991, also in China. In this inaugural edition, only 12 teams took part in the competition and the US team emerged as champions.
The current trophy measures 47 cm, weighs 4.6 kg and is made of sterling silver, covered in 23-karat white and yellow gold. The design is a spiral, with a football at the top, in an effort to symbolise the “athleticism, dynamism and elegance of women’s football. At its base, the trophy has a cone-shaped platform where the name of each of the winning teams from Women’s World Cups past are displayed.
en.vietnamplus.vn
In 1991, only a total of 510,000 viewers came to watch the entire tour-nament. Whereas, 1,978,274 tickets were sold for Women’s World Cup 2023.
impetusfootball.org
After becoming the first-ever champions, the US women’s team has won the most number of World Cup finals. Out of the eight previous editions, the United States has won 4, Germany 2, Japan, and Norway, with 1 each.
www.ussoccer.com
This year it was the first time that 32 nations competed. Eight new countries made their debut, including the Republic of Ireland, Haiti, Panama, Morocco, the Philippines, Portugal, Zambia, and Vietnam.
Did you know that 61 years after FIFA established the first men’s world cup, the first women’s version was organised?
www.concacaf.com
HERE’S HOW 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP MADE HISTORY
1. England’s Chole Kelly’s penalty against Nigeria was at a speed of 110.79 kmph, breaking the record of the fastest goal scored at a Women’s World Cup.
2. Sarina Wiegman has become the first coach to lead 2 nations to a World Cup final. Previously, she led the Netherlands women’s team to the final in 2019 and this year the England’s women team.
3. This year the teams received increased prize money. The winning team Spain took home $4.29 million.
Did you know that the prize money for the World Cup 2022 (Qatar) winning mean’s team was $42 million?
4. This is the first time the World Cup was jointly hosted by two countries. The matches were scheduled in Australia and New Zealand.
5. 164 goals were scored in this Women’s World Cup, the highest at any edition of the World Cup
6. The official match ball for the 2023 Women’s World Cup celebrates the natural landscape of host countries Australia and New Zealand. The ball has been designed by Aboriginal artist Chern’ee Sutton and Maori artist Fiona Collis.
7. The current trophy was designed in 1998 for the 1999 Women’s World Cup in the US.
India Becomes The First Country to land on the moon’s south pole with chandrayaan-3 mission
“India Is On The Moon” – ISRO Leader, Sreedhara Somanath
Chandrayaan-3 Mission: India, I Reached My Destination And You Too!
The Indian Space and Research and Organisation (“ISRO”) has successfully landed a spacecraft on the Moon on August 23, 2023. It’s the first time that any country has safely landed at the Moon’s South Pole. This is a historic moment for India and the whole country broke out in celebration. To mark the success of Chandrayaan-3, India will celebrate August 23 as “National Space Day“. The Chandrayaan-3 lander’s touchdown point will be called Shiv Shakti.
Chandrayaan-3 consists of a Lander Vikram, the Rover Pragyan, and a propulsion module.
The rover and lander are solar-powered, and are expected to work for one Lunar day, which is equivalent to 14 Earth days. After that, the Sun will set at the South Pole, and the machines will no longer have power. The objective of the mission is to study the Moon in different ways, including investigating its temperature, earthquakes, and minerals.
The six-wheeled rover will hunt for ice and other signs of water – clicking pictures, taking measurements and collecting data to be sent back down to Earth. Scientists believe craters that are permanently in shadow on the dark side of the Moon may hold frozen water.
India’s Moon rover took its first steps on the lunar surface on August 24.
“India took a walk on the Moon!” -ISRO said.
ONLY FOUR COUNTRIES HAVE EVER SUCCESSFULLY LANDED ON THE MOON
FORMER SOVIET UNION – 1966USA- 1966CHINA- 2013INDIA- 2023
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CHANDRAYAAN-3
Chandrayaan is Sanskrit (an ancient Indian language) for “moon craft”.
The Vikram lander was named in honour of Vikram Sarabhai, who started India’s space program.
Pragyan means “wisdom” in Sanskrit.
Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to the previous Indian missions to the Moon. It is India’s third Chandrayaan mission.
The Lunar South Pole is also called the dark side of the Moon for the reason that the side of the moon is never visible from the Earth’s view. The dark side of the Moon is also called so because of the fact that there is no sunlight.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CHANDRAYAAN-3 AFTER 14 DAYS?
According to a Hindustan Times report, after 14 days, it will be night on the Moon for the next 14 days. Since Vikram and Pragyan can only work in the Sun, they will become inactive there. However, ISRO scientists have not ruled out the possibility of the duo coming back to life when the Sun rises again. It is also reported that the moon craft will not return to Earth.
THESE ARE THE FIRST PICTURES OF THE MOON TAKEN BY CHANDRAYAAN-3 LANDER DURING ITS DESCENT.VISUALISATION OF CHANDRAYAAN-3 LANDING ON THEJULY 14 CHANDRAYAAN-3 LAUNCHED AUGUST 5 CHANDRAYAAN-3 ENTERS LUNAR ORBITAUGUST 23 CHANDRAYAAN-3 LANDS ON THE MOON
WORD CHECK
Soft landing means landing a spacecraft at a soft, gentle, and controlled speed so that the spacecraft is not damaged while landing.
FINDINGS OF THE CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION
As of the date of printing this Issue, the Pragyaan rover has made and sent some important observations. The Pragyaan rover has travelled around 100m from the Vikram lander.
isro.gov.inisro.gov.in
The observations made by Chandrayaan-3:
1. During its ten-day observation cycle, the Pragyaan rover has made some interesting discoveries. It has also encountered and safely bypassed a crater on the Moon’s surface.
2. It has confirmed the presence of sulphur, aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen and silicon on the lunar surface near the south pole.
3. It found that while the surface temperature was 50°C, within just 80mm (8cms) beneath the surface, it dropped to -10°C! It reached freezing point (0°C) at just 7cms under the surface!
The ISRO has announced that rover Pragyan has completed its assignment and now has been safely parked and put into sleep mode to survive the lunar night. “Currently, the battery is fully charged. The solar panel is oriented to receive light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023. The receiver is kept on”, ISRO said.
According to a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (“UNESCO”), there is evidence that excessive use or inappropriate student use of technology in the classroom and at home, whether smartphones, tablets or laptops was linked to worse performance in school. Such use could be distracting, disruptive, and have a detrimental impact on learning. High levels of screen time also had a negative impact on children’s emotional stability as well.
The report has recommended that smartphones should be banned from schools in order to take care of classroom disruption, improve learning, and to protect children from online bullying. The UNESCO wants to ensure that the use of technology in education should be beneficial and not distracting. The report has further stated that even though technology has many benefits and provides many learning opportunities, it is expensive and unfair for people who cannot afford it.
ca.sports.yahoo.com
Based on its analysis of 200 education systems around the world, The UNESCO estimated one in four countries had banned smartphones in school, either through law or guidance.
This would not only put a limit on screen time but also stop people under age 18 being able to access the internet between 10apm to 6am. The CAC has further stated that parents should be allowed to opt out of the time limits if they wanted to. Previously, China has regulated screen time for children. In 2019, some rules were introduced to restrict children from playing games for up to three hours during holidays periods or 1.5 hours on other days, In 021, it was further reduced to one hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays. The plans are open to feedback from the public until September 2.
edition.cnn.com
Chinese authorities are worried about the number of young people who are addicted to the Internet, and also becoming short-sighted (struggling to see far away). Scientists find it difficult to agree on the effects of excessive screen time for children. According to UNICEF, There are some benefits From using digital devices too, like helping children develop creativity, imagination, and a range of social skills.
DID YOU KNOW?
TAIWAN
A law called the Child and Youth Welfare Protection Act requires parents to monitor their children’s screen time. Parents could be fined if their children use electronic devices for too long – especially if it causes them to be unwell, either physically or mentally.
businessworld
JAPAN
There is a law in place that limits how long children can spend playing games. Children are only allowed to play games for up to an hour a day on any weekday and an hour and a half on the weekends. They’re also only allowed on their smartphones in the daytime and not past 10pm.
apnews.com
FRANCE
Children below 15 years of age are not allowed mobile phones in school.
