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A TO Z OF NEWS“If you can't understand it without an explanation,you can't understand it with an explanation.” Haruki Murakami 03

News...To The

Today, in order to comment, debate or even opinionate, one needs to dig deep and know the A TO Z of news. Startingwith letter A, TIMES NIE takes you on a news-ical journey,explaining every name, place and context associated with it

NASA

Photo: Getty images

Photo: Getty images

Nasa toexploreVenus, moons ofJupiter and Neptunein new upcoming missionsIN THE NEWS FOR: Nasa is funding crucialstudies that aim to understand more aboutVenus – Jupiter's moon Io and a unique andhighly-active icy moon of Neptune – Triton.These selected studies will develop conceptstudies for new missions.

Although they are not official missionsyet, and some ultimately may not be chosento move forward, the selections focus oncompelling targets and science that are notcovered by Nasa’s active missions or recentselections, announced the US space agency recently.

MOTERA STADIUM➧ When the Motera stadium inAhmedabad opens its doors to crick-et enthusiasts in March 2020, it willbecome the game’s largest arena inthe world. Built at a cost of `700crore, the new structure has a seat-ing capacity of 1,10,000 spectators.

➧ The new stadium was built afterthe old Sardar Patel stadium waspulled down in 2015. It has takenfour-and-a-half years for Larsen &Toubro (L&T), the constructor, tobuild it. The foundation stone hadbeen laid in January 2017.

➧ The stadium was originally named

as the Gujarat Stadium, but was laterchanged to Sardar Patel Stadium as atribute to the legendary freedomfighter. The stadium is also known asthe Motera Stadium.

➧ The stadium hosted its first OneDay International in 1984. The recon-struction of the stadium was recent-ly proposed by the Gujarat government.

➧ The renovated stadium will beinaugurated on February 24, 2020,during President Trump’s visit.

➧ The stadium is likely to host anexhibition match between Asia XIand World XI later this year.

➧ The stadium will also have anindoor cricket academy, with a hostel for 40 athletes.

➧ There will be a whopping 76 corporate boxes, four dressingrooms and an Olympic-size swim-ming pool in the complex.

➧ The new Motera stadium will have11 different pitches, built from threedifferent soils. Pace, bounce, turn:everything will be on offer.

NAMASTE TRUMP

IN THE NEWS FOR: ‘Namaste Trump’ –A mega event at Motera cricket stadi-um and visit to Sabarmati Ashram,are the two engagement the US Presi-dent, Donald Trump, will have inAhmedabad on February 24. SabarmatiAshram that was removed from theitinerary, has been added at the lastmoment. President Trump will attenda high profile event at world’s largestcricket stadium at Motera.

Donald Trump to visitMotera Stadium

NASA HISTORY

1 In 1958, Nasa was estab-lished by president DwightD Eisenhower. At the time,

it was established as a civilianindependent agency of the USfederal government executive branch.

2 Before the establishmentof Nasa, presidentWoodrow Wilson started

the National Advisory Com-mittee for Aeronautics (Naca).The main function is to super-vise and to direct scientific re-search and to study problemsrelated to flight.

3 Do you remember, Sputnik1, which was the first ar-tificial satellite in the

world that was launched by Soviets just one year before theestablishment of Nasa?

4 By the end of 1960s, pres-ident John F Kennedy gaveNasa a goal of sending

man to the Moon. On 20 July,1969, the first man walked onthe Moon as a part of the Apol-lo 11 mission. During all Apol-

lo missions around 12men walked

on theM o o n .

T h e

lunar landing of Apollo 13 in1970 was aborted after the ex-plosion of an oxygen tank.

5 The headquarter of Nasais in Washington, DC. Ithas nine centres, the jet

propulsion laboratory and sev-en test and research facilitieslocated in several states aroundthe country. Do you know thatmore than 17,000 people workfor Nasa and many work withthe agency as government contractors?

6 Nasa helps teachers to pre-pare students who will bethe engineers, scientists,

astronauts, etc. In fact, Nasa hasa tradition of investing in pro-grams and activities that inspire students, educators,families, etc.

NAT GEO MAGAZINE

This is the official magazine of the National Geo-graphic Society. It has been published continuous-ly since its first issue in 1888, nine months after the

society itself was founded. It primarily contains articles about science, geogra-

phy, history, and world culture. The magazine is knownfor its thick square-bound glossy format with a yellowrectangular border and its extensive use of dramatic

photographs. Control-ling interest in the mag-

azine has been held by thefamous The Walt Disney

Comp-any since 2019. The first issue of the Na-

tional Geographic magazinewas published on

September 22, 1888. Starting withits January 1905 publication of sev-

eral full-page pictures of Tibet in 1900-01, it changed from being a text-oriented

publication closer to a scientific journalto featuring extensive pictorial content, and

became well known for this style. The June1985 cover portrait of the presumed to be 12-year-

old Afghan girl Sharbat Gula, shot by photographerSteve McCurry, became one of the magazine's most recog-

nisable images.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

IN THE NEWS FOR: Susan Goldberg, editor-in-chief, National Geographic,wrote, ‘Why we dedicated our cover story to the end of trash’:

“Eliminating trash may sound far-fetched, but continuing to trash theplanet is untenable. So innovators arepioneering solutions. What if we couldrecapture waste and turn it into some-

thing else? This concept, calledthe circular

economy, isthe fu-ture,” she

says.

NATALIE PORTMANPortman is an actress and filmmaker with dual Israeli andAmerican citizenship. Prolific in movies since a teenager, shehas starred in blockbusters and also played psychologicallytroubled women in independent films, for which she hasreceived several accolades, including an Academy Awardand two Golden Globe Awards.Portman began her acting career at age 12 by starringas the young protégée of a hitman in the action dramafilm ‘Léon: The Professional’ (1994). While in highschool, she made her Broadway theatre debut in a1998 production of ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’and gained international recognition for star-ring as Padmé Amidala in ‘Star Wars:Episode I - The Phantom Menace’(1999). From 1999 to 2003,Portman attended HarvardUniversity for a bachelor'sdegree in psychology,while continuingto act.

IN THE NEWS FOR: Natalie Portman’s subtletribute to female filmmakers at the 2020 Oscars did not go over well with Rose Mc-Gowan, who called Portman’s show of sup-port —wearing a cape with the names ofwomen who directed films in the past year— “an actress acting the part of someonewho cares.”

McGowan took to Facebook with herthoughts, writing, “I find Portman’s activismdeeply offensive to those of us who actual-

ly do the work... I just wanther to walk the walk.” Tothis Portman said: “Iagree with McGowanthat it is inaccurate to

call me ‘brave’ for wearing a garmentwith women’s names on it...Brave is aterm I more strongly associate with ac-tions like those of the women who havebeen testifying against Harvey Weinsteinthe last few weeks, under pressure.”

NATALIE PORTMANMcGowan sees red over Natalie’s gown

In New York,fungi filamentsare used to create com-postable packaging. InLondon, researchers arefeeding beer waste toinsects, which are madeinto animal feed. Inhotel kitchens aroundthe world, chefs arereducing food wastewith AI garbage cansthat measure it.

NISSAN LEAFWhy Nissan Leaf is known as adream drive car?IN THE NEWS FOR: Nissan introduced LEAFDream Drive — the world's first zero-emission‘lullaby’— dreamt up by Nissan engineers incollaboration with sound designer and sleepcoach, Tom Middleton. The peaceful sound fre-quencies of a humming combustion engine istrusted to put children to sleep, at no CO2 emis-sion cost. Combustion engines transmit a soundfrequency, a combination of white, pink andbrown noise varied in tone – creating an or-chestral soundscape that is especially soothingand comforting to children.

DREAM DRIVE

Dream driving isa term associat-ed with power,

control, fun and yet re-sponsible towards theenvironment. Thiswould mean an amal-gamation of power andresponsibility, speedand environment. Thecompany claims thatdream driving in a Nissan LEAF avoids upto 70,000g of CO2 emis-sions every year.

➤Why this? Researchshows 60% parents relyon the method of dreamdriving to help theirbabies fall asleep.

➤70% said owning anEV would make them feelless guilty about dreamdriving. In addition, features like ProPILOTAssist significantlyreduces driver stress.

‘The End of Trash’ becomes cover for Nat Geo