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Showing posts from March, 2021

Australian government amends National Anthem to honour indigenous people

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  The first line of the anthem, “Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free”, will now be ending with “one and free”. The Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison informed on December 31, 2020, that the country brought in the New Year in a different way by tweaking their National Anthem ‘Advance Australia Fair’ in order to recognize the nation’s indigenous communities and history. The change in the anthem took effect on January 1, 2021. The first line of the anthem, “Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free”, will now be ending with “one and free”.  The change in the anthem reflects the spirit of unity and Australia’s Indigenous population. The National Anthem ‘Advance Australia Fair’ was composed by Peter Dodds McCormick. It was first performed in 1878 and was later adopted as the National Anthem in 1984. Prime Minister on the change in the anthem: According to the Prime Minister, it is time to ensure that the great unity in the country is reflected m

Kazakhstan sanctions international protocol to abolish death penalty

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  The Second Optional Protocol commits its signatories to ensure the abolition of capital punishment within their jurisdiction, only with the exception of wartime. The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law that sanctions the ‘Second Optional Protocol’ to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The protocol entails a formal commitment to abolishing the death penalty. In late September 2020, Kairat Umarov, Kazakhstan’s permanent envoy to the United Nations had signed the Second Optional Protocol. The document then later went to the Parliament of Kazakhstan and was ratified by it on December 29, 2020. The Second Optional Protocol commits its signatories to ensure the abolition of capital punishment within their jurisdiction, only with the exception of wartime. Temporary suspension of the death penalty in Kazakhstan: The first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in 2003 had signed a decree which temporarily suspended the death penalty in t

Japan working to develop first wooden satellites to reduce space junk

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  All the satellites which re-enter the atmosphere of Earth burn and create tiny alumina particles. A Japanese Company and Kyoto University have decided to collaborate to develop the world’s first wooden satellites which will be made out of wood by 2023. The research has already started on tree growth and the use of wood materials in space. As more satellites are being launched by the countries globally, space junk is becoming an increasing problem. The collaborators will begin the experiment with different types of wood in extreme environments on Earth. How space junk is harmful to Earth? According to a Professor at Kyoto University and a Japanese Astronaut, Takao Doi, there is a concern with the fact that all the satellites which re-enter the atmosphere of Earth burn and create tiny alumina particles. They will then float in the upper atmosphere for many years and eventually will affect the Earth’s environment. The traveling speed of Space Junk is incredibly fast and is more than 22,

What is Disease X? New disease deadlier than COVID-19 sparks fear of next pandemic

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  Disease X, where  X stands for unexpected, is reportedly an unknown virus that can reportedly spread as fast as the novel coronavirus and has a fatality rate of 50-90 percent as the Ebola virus.  The scientist who discovered the Ebola virus in 1976 has warned against an unknown number of new and potentially fatal viruses faced by humanity, among which is a deadly disease called  'Disease X'.  What is Disease X? Disease X, where   X stands for unexpected , is reportedly an unknown virus that can reportedly spread as fast as the novel coronavirus and has a fatality rate of 50-90 percent as the Ebola virus.  According to the World Health Organization, Disease X is still hypothetical but could spiral into a deadly pandemic. Where has 'Disease X' originated from? •A woman from a remote town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, identified as Ingende, was found suffering from symptoms of a hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola, which could have been caused by an unidentifie