Indian Space Research Organization has called-off Moon mission after scientists lost contact with the orbiting Chandrayaan-1 space ship. Spacecraft was introduced last October as a two-year mission of traveling around.

This launch was a major step for India. ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair said to the reporters in spite of the called off, mission was a great success and 95% of its purpose is finished. He quoted saying we could collect a large volume of data, including 70,000 images of moon. ISRO scientists add a conversation with US and Russia to track the spacecraft, which travel round 200km from the surface of Moon. Southern state of Andhra Pradesh last October expected robotic probe would orbit the Moon, accumulate a three- dimensional atlas of lunar surface and distribution of elements and minerals. The satellite did experience technical problem when an antenna broke down. During that, time information was already gathered through pictures even though picture quality did affect the malfunction.  Mission was likely to cost up to 3.8bn rupees greatly less than Japanese and Chinese survey says when they sent Moon last year. Not all-Indian government welcomed a space effort. Some critics looked upon the space effort as a waste of resources in a country where people still not have basic needs.

On Tuesday afternoon, two more cases of swine flu deaths have been reported from Gujarat and Maharashtra. The 63-year old elderly lady, Sayeeda Dorjeewala, a resident of Mumbra, in close by Thane district was admitted on 6th August to the Noor hospital in Mumbai, died after enduring major health complications subsequent to being tested affirmative for the H1N1 virus. Earlier, the 53-year old Famida Panwala was the earliest swine flu victim from Mumbai. This sums up the death toll in Maharashtra that has steadily increased to seven.

In Vadodara, Gujarat, a seven year old minor girl also died after succumbing to swine flu in Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad Hospital, a Government hospital. The seven year old girl identified as Arya Borde was admitted to the hospital in a precarious condition last Wednesday. Her swabs were sent for viral pneumonitis analysis to the National Center for Disease Control or NCDC located in Delhi that came out to be affirmative on 8th August.

Ravi Saxena, the Principal Secretary of Health said that the girl had been started on a dose of Tamiflu following her admission to the SSG hospital and was kept on ventilator support from 7th August. This morning her health deteriorated considerably and she died at close to 12:30 hours.

This ups the death count in Gujarat to two, with the first fatality being the 43-year old NRI, Praveen Patel who passed away on Sunday in a civil hospital.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Tokyo and other parts of central Japan injuring 43 people. The main impact of the earthquake was on transport systems as it stopped Shinkansen bullet train service and also authorities had to close a motorway in Makinohara which was damaged due to a landslide caused by the quake. Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in Shizuoka was shut down after the quake. The power plants two reactors were shut down to check the impact of the quake.

Although a tsunami alert was raised but was cancelled later. Japan is one of the most seismically active zones on earth and geologists have warned that Tokyo could be hit by a major earth quake in next 50 years. The quake hit Japan at 2007 hrs GMT on Monday and had its epicenter 170 kilometers south west of the capital.

Another earthquake stuck off the coast of Andaman Islands. The quake was of 7.6 magnitude and its epicenter was in the Indian Ocean, 257 kilometers not the Aandaman capital Port Blair. There was a tsunami warning issued post the quake for the costal areas of India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh and Andaman Islands. But it was later on cancelled.

As a reminder of the cold war era when Russian and American submarines use to monitor each others activities, two Russia attack subs were patrolling the eastern cost of United States in the Atlantic Ocean. But this did not ring any alarm bells as it would have been in the cold era days. According to latest reports the submarines were 300 kilometers of the US eastern coast line in the international waters.

The Attack Submarines belong to the newer Akula II Class and are one of the most advanced vessels in the aging Russian Fleet. Akula II Class Attack Submarines are nuclear powered and equipped with cruise missiles and surface to air missiles.

But some see it as a marketing tactics to promote Russia as a weapon supplier. Russia was one of the main weapons suppliers in the cold era time but its share has dwindled. Russia is already in the process of leasing two Akula Class submarines to India. This is like a follow-up to the last year when the Russian Navy conducted a “tour around the world”. So its another of those Russian stunts to prove that Russian weapon systems are reliable and still state of the art.

All the four latest swine flu victims in Pune belong to the schools in that city. Two of them were from Symbiosis School located in Prabhat road while the remaining two belonged to the New India School.

Of the total count of 48 persons who have contracted swine flu in Pune, thirty three of them are students from schools located there. On Sunday, a helpline service has been put into place by the local authorities to provide assistance to anxious kin.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, there were sixteen fresh cases accounted of swine flu across India raising the tally to 429. The ministry has stated that of the 1,946 individuals who had been tested, 429 turned out to be positive.

Of the four cases reported from Delhi, one was of a 14-yr old girl student from Vasant Valley School located in Vasant Kunj, who had arrived from Britain. The class she belonged to has been suspended for a few days. The other case was that of a thirty year old man who had come back from Singapore and had displayed symptoms on arrival, following which he was taken to a health care facility. A twenty year old man in Delhi has been infected from an individual who had previously been tested affirmative with the H1N1 virus.

Of the confirmed swine flu cases, seven individuals were detected with the virus in Pune, two cases from Kozhikode and one case each cited from Gurgaon, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

There was the huge uproar in the Indian parliament over president Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam was frisked by staff of Continental Airlines before boarding a flight to the US. Several Members of the Parliament confirmed the report and have asked the aviation minister to take this matter seriously. As per protocol former presidents and similar level dignitaries are exempted from such searches. Mr.Praful Patel, the minister of civil aviation also confirmed to the house that this matter would be investigated and action will be taken accordingly.

However the Continental Airlines spokeswoman said that it was a normal security procedure for all boarding the aircraft and Mr Kalam was “very co-operative” and “happily underwent the entire process”. She also added that there were no separate rules for any VIP or VVIP traveler and the airline follows the same procedure for everyone.

Mr. Kalam was president of India from 2002-2007. He is also knows as the father of Indian space program, as under his leadership the Indian space program reached new heights.

This incident happened in April when Mr. was on his way to the US, he was made to take off his shoes, empty the content of his pockets and checked by hand held metal detectors.

An aggregate of 1,549 individuals who have been tested, 298 are affirmative cases of the swine flu virus. About 181 people have been released after been treated from health service organisations.

There were 13 new found laboratory corroborated cases cited with three each from Gurgaon and Delhi, two each from Hyderabad and Chandigarh and one each from Punjab, Pune and Kerala.

In Delhi, the reported three cases comprised of a two teen boy and girl, who had contracted the virus from an infected source. The third case was a seven year old boy who made a trip from London to Delhi on July 18 and was detected with swine flu-like symptoms and was admitted to a health care facility where the virus was confirmed on Sunday.

In Chandigarh, a 29 year old doctor from PGIMER who had lately been at a seminar in Britain and a 50 year old elderly lady who had come back from Singapore on July 14 were suffering from sore throat and runny nose. When their travel record was studied the necessary safety measures were undertaken and they were put in secluded wards. The doctor has been admitted to the PGIMER and the elderly woman is put up in a government run hospital.

An Eight year old boy from Roopnagar, Punjab, who has made a trip from Singapore through Bangkok when landed in Delhi was diagnosed with the virus. In Kerala, a six year old boy from Kasargod who had come back from Sharjah on 14 July, was put up in a hospital post his visible swine flu symptoms.

In Gurgaon, three girls of the ages 11, 14 and 8 years caught the virus from another school mate. In Hyderabad, two people, one a physician hailing from Riyadh and another from Malaysia were tested positive ensuing which they were quarantined at the Andhra Pradesh Chest Hospital that has been the core centre tending to swine flu cases. This ups the toll in Hyderabad to 39 of whom 30 have been cured and released. In Pune, a 13-yr old girl caught the infection from an infected batch mate in her school.

The only surviving suspect Ajmal Kasab captured during the 26/11 terrorist assault on Mumbai has confessed his involvement in the attack. He took a U-turn on his stand and gave a full confession of how the act was planned and carried out. He also gave full details of who all from across the border in Pakistan were involved in planning and providing logistic supports to carry out the terror attack. Out of the 10 terrorists of Pakistani origin who carried out the attack 9 were killed by the armed forces.

Police sources confirmed that the terrorists had killed more then 160 people which also included many foreigners as targets were Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and Oberoi-Trident hotel, Mumbai’s historic CST train station and the Jewish cultural center, Chabad House. Police sources also confirmed that Ajmal Kasab, age 21, was trained in Pakistan by the banned terrorist outlet Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

The Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has provided all the evidence which also includes video footage from surveillance camera and 134 witnesses. Kasab was involved in the massacre at CST station and Cama hospital. He faces 86 criminal charges which also include murder, attempt to murder and waging war against India.

Today during the court proceeding when prosecution witness Constable Arun Jadhav stepped into the witness box, Kasab asked court permission for speaking to his lawyer Abbas Kazmi. After talking to him for 30 seconds, his lawyer confirmed to the court that Kasab wanted to confess. After that Kasab said in the court that “Mujhe mera gunha kabool hai (I plead guilty to my crime).”

Prior to her meet up with top Indian bureaucrats on the final segment of her visit to India, Hillary Clinton gave a speech to a chosen congregation of students and teaching staff at Delhi University on Monday morning.

Clinton addressed a gathering held at the 700-capacity Convention Hall located in the Old Vice Regal Lodge, Delhi University, North Delhi in the midst of heightened security measures. Close to 2000 officials inclusive of Delhi Police and intelligence agencies in close collaboration with the US security officers had left no stone unturned to solidify the security stance at the Delhi University on Sunday, with their bevy of sniffer dog crew and teams on stand having undergone major combing operations of the venue, sanitising it to avert any possible disruption.

Clinton has been offered the highest diplomat grade security cover, touring around in a bullet resistant car navigated and lead by security personnel. The venue of her stay at the capital, the Taj Palace Hotel is a citadel of sorts with rigid monitoring of guests and hotel staff engaged in catering her. The whole floor on which Clinton’s room is placed has been acquired by the US intelligence personnel with the information of her suite withheld.

On Sunday, Hillary Clinton had visited the ITC Green Buildings located in the Gurgaon, the satellite town and visited the agricultural event held at the Pusa Institute situated in central Delhi.

She is meeting up with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his 7RCR residence. The one-to-one discussion with the Prime Minister would last for 40 minutes followed by lunch. She would be meeting external affairs minister S.M. Krishna with a likely signing of the MOU, followed by a meet up with UPA president Sonia Gandhi and Opposition party leader, Mr. L.K. Advani with a media briefing due for the day.

Terror tops Hillary Clinton’s Agenda along with end user verification to facilitate Defence Corporation. She is likely to sign agreement on sale of nuclear deal and agreements on health and agriculture.

Some say it is a bad omen, but astronomers wait for them. On 22nd July 2009, India will wake-up to an extended night, a night that can not be missed, and an opportunity of a life time. A total solar eclipse in India will last for 3 min and 44 seconds. The next total solar eclipse will happen in 13th June 2152. This is the longest solar eclipse of the century and is of a magnitude 1.080 and would be visible from a narrow corridor with passes through India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Mayanmar, China and then moves off land into Pacific Ocean. The shadow will be at it peak in the pacific where the eclipse will last for 6 minutes. The best spot to watch the eclipse in India are Surat and Taregana. The total solar eclipse will be visible in many large cities on the corridor that includes Surat, Vadodara, Bhopal, Varanasi, Patna, Dinajpur, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hefei, Hangzhou and Shanghai.

Kurakshetra is a holy city and pilgrims visit the city especially during eclipse to have a holly dip in the Brahma Sarovar and this time is expected to have 3 to 5 million visitors.

It is believed that a dip in the Brahma Sarovar during the solar eclipse washes one of all sins.