Syrian rebels are said to have encircled the key city of Hama “from three sides”, a war monitor has said. Hama is strategically located in central Syria and, for the army, it is crucial to safeguarding the capital Damascus.The rebels are now present at a distance of three to four kilometres from Hama,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The UK-based Observatory said that Assad’s forces were “left with only one exit towards Homs to the south.”Meanwhile, Assad’s forces and Iran-backed militias are trying to push back rebels from the edge of Hama, Syrian army sources told Reuters. It comes as Russian airstrikes hit civilian areas overnight in a bid to push back fighters gaining ground just kilometers away from Hama. Hama’s fall would put major pressure on President Bashar al-Assad after the capture of Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, last week. n18oc_world n18oc_crux0:00 INTRODUCTION3:06 HTS CHIEF VISITS ALEPPO CITADEL4:18 REBELS SAID TO CAPTURE MiG-23 JET5:40 RUSSIA BLAMES “EXTERNAL FORCES” FOR SYRIA CRISIS

The emergency measures under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) dealing with air pollution in Delhi and neighbouring areas can be withdrawn in view of the downward trend noticed in the Air Quality Index or AQI level, said the Supreme Court on Thursday. 

The top court was hearing a matter over measures to curb air pollution in Delhi-NCR areas.

Delhi’s air quality improved today with the AQI settling in the ‘moderate’ category at 161 after the city faced persistent air pollution since last one month.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is among the main reasons for air pollution in Delhi-NCR and several steps are being taken to encourage farmers to use paddy residue for animal feed and industrial purposes, a top Union environment ministry official told parliamentarians on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the National Green Tribunal or NGT sought a response from the Centre on the “persistent air pollution crisis” in the national capital.

The NGT was hearing the matter where it had taken suo motu (on its own) cognisance of a media report based on a study about the reasons for air pollution being emissions from thermal plants and the prevailing weather conditions.

“As per the article, a recent study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has revealed that thermal power plants in the region are responsible for emitting 16 times more air pollution than the pollution caused by stubble burning,” a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said in an order passed on November 27. 

The green body also said that as per the article, weather conditions in Delhi were exacerbating the pollution crisis and calm winds and dropping temperatures, also known as cold air traps, had hindered the dispersal of pollutants by trapping dust, smoke, and other harmful particles in the air.

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) workhorse rocket PSLV today successfully achieved its launch objectives, deploying the European Space Agency (ESA) Proba-3 satellite into its “designated orbit with precision”.

The PSLV rocket lifted off today at 4:04 pm from the Sriharikota launch station in Andhra Pradesh, carrying the Proba-3 satellites.

✅ Mission Success!

The PSLV-C59/PROBA-3 Mission has successfully achieved its launch objectives, deploying ESA’s satellites into their designated orbit with precision.

🌌 A testament to the trusted performance of PSLV, the collaboration of NSIL and ISRO, and ESA’s innovative…

— ISRO (@isro) December 5, 2024

The launch was postponed yesterday after an ‘anomaly’ was detected in the satellites.

In its 61st flight, India’s workhorse rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), has been tasked by the European Space Agency (ESA) to launch a unique pair of satellites designed to simulate a total solar eclipse through precision formation flying in space.

ISRO stated that the vehicle will place the Proba-3 spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit as part of a dedicated commercial mission under New Space India Limited (NSIL), ISRO’s commercial arm.

Proba-3 is an in-orbit demonstration (IOD) mission by the ESA, aiming to showcase advanced formation-flying technologies. It consists of two spacecraft: the Coronagraph Spacecraft (CSC) and the Occulter Spacecraft (OSC). These will be launched together in a stacked configuration.

Weighing a combined 545 kg, the two satellites will be carried into space by the 44.5-meter-tall PSLV rocket, which weighs 320 tonnes at lift-off. Approximately 18 minutes after launch, the satellites will be deployed at an altitude of 600 km above Earth.

The Proba-3 mission involves two mini-satellites flying in close formation with the ability to precisely control their attitude and separation. This innovative configuration simulates a total solar eclipse and demonstrates cutting-edge formation-flying and rendezvous technologies. According to ISRO, Proba-3 is ESA’s-and the world’s-first precision formation-flying mission. The satellites will maintain a fixed configuration as if they were a single rigid structure in space.

This marks the second ESA satellite launch aboard an Indian rocket. The first, the Proba-1 mission, was launched in 2001 using the PSLV. Originally planned as a one-year mission, Proba-1 has exceeded expectations, remaining operational for over two decades.