07 JANUARY 2024 www.thestatesman.com INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR KHARGE LAUNCHES LOGO, TAGLINE OF BHARAT JODO NYAY YATRA P5 WEATHER Mainly clear sky with fog/ mist in the morning. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 29 °C and 21 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 93 % Min. 49 % Max: 25.7°C (+1) SUN RISES 06:18 hrs MOON RISES 01:4 hrs Min: 15.5°C (+2) SUN SETS 17:6 hrs MOON SETS 12:33 hrs TEMPERATURE New Moon on 11 January THUMBNAILS People visit the exhibition 'Know your Army festival 2024' in Lucknow on Saturday.  ANI DGCA directs airlines for one-time inspect tion of emergency exits on all Boeing 737-8 8 Max aircraft: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday directed all Indian air operators to carry out a onetime inspection of the emergency exits immediately on all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft currently operating as part of their fleet. This comes after an Alaska Airlines flight that took off from Oregon's Portland on Friday returned to the airport for an emergency landing after experiencing an "incident" after departure. US SC WILL DECIDE IF TRUMP CAN BE KEPT OFF PRESIDENTIAL BALLOTS ‘MODI KI GUARANTEE MEANS GOOD GOVERNANCE’ P4 WARNER SIGNS OFF IN STYLE P9 ISRO’s Aditya L1 in place; enters Lagrange orbit The solar observatory was launched by a PSLV-C57.1 rocket from Sriharikota in September STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 6 JANUARY ndia's first solar observatory, Aditya-L1, has reached its destination orbit successfully. This was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. The Prime Minister posted on X: “India creates yet another landmark. India's first solar observatory Aditya-L1 reaches its destination. It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions.” He wrote: “I join the nation in applauding this extraordinary feat. We will continue to pursue new frontiers of science for the benefit of humanity." Aditya-L1 has reached Lagrange Point L1, about 1.5 million km from earth. The PSLV-C57.1 rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh last September. A Lagrange Point is the point where the gravitational pull of two large I My Gov India shared this picture as the Indian Space Research Organisation’s maiden solar mission, Aditya-L1 enters the final manoeuvre to reach its destination and be injected into its final orbit, on Saturday.  ANI bodies ~ Sun and Earth in this case ~ will be equal and hence the spacecraft will not gravitate towards any one of them. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors. “Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1, thus providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium," ISRO had said. Aditya-L1's seven payloads are expected to provide the crucial information to understand the phenomena of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, propagation of particles and fields and others, the Indian space agency said. ISRO said the major science objectives of the Aditya-L1 mission are: Study of solar upper atmospheric (chromosphere and corona) dynamics, the study of chromospheric and coronal heating, physics of the partially ionised plasma, and initiation of the coronal mass ejections, and flares. It will also observe the in-situ particle and plasma environment providing data for the study of particle dynamics from the Sun. Other objectives are to study the physics of solar corona and its heating mechanism, the diagnostics of the coronal and coronal loops plasma: Temperature, velocity and den- sity, development, dynamics and origin of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME), to identify the sequence of processes that occur at multiple layers (chromosphere, base and extended corona) which eventually leads to solar eruptive events, magnetic field topology and magnetic field measurements in the solar corona, and the drivers for space weather (origin, composition and dynamics of solar wind). The Indian space agency said all the seven payloads carried by Aditya-L1 are indigenously developed by different laboratories in the country in close coordination with it. The Sun, estimated to be 4.5 billion years old, is a hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium gases and is the source of energy for the solar system. The Sun is the nearest star and therefore can be studied in much more detail as compared to other stars. By studying the Sun, we can learn much more about stars in our MilkyWay as well as about stars in various other galaxies, the ISRO said. P12 Navy trying to track down pirates involved in ship hijack bid STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 6 JANUARY A day after thwarting an attempted hijacking of Liberian-flagged vessel MV Lila Norfolk and rescuing its crew inthe Arabian Sea, the Indian Navy is trying to track down the pirates involved, officials said. Naval forces are on Saturday investigating suspected vessels in the area to track down the pirates involved in theattempt to hijack the merchant vessel with 21 crew members, including 15 Indians, according to the officials. The crew of the bulk carrier are now engaged in restoring the propulsion system, power supply and steering gear of the vessel, the Navy said. "Thereafter, MV Lila Norfolk will recommence her passage to her destination under escort of the Indian naval warship," it said. The Navy deployed the guided missile destroyer INS Chennai, maritime patrol aircraft P-8I, helicopters and MQ9B Predator drones to assist the vessel after it sent a message on the UK Maritime Trade Operations portal, saying unidentified armed personnel had board- Indians, who were a part of the crew on board the hijacked vessel MV Lili Norfolk, chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' after being rescued by Indian Navy's marine commandos on Friday.  ANI ed it on Thursday evening. On Friday, Indian Navy’s elite marine commandos rescued all 21 crew members of the commercial vessel after boarding it. In a video shared by the Navy, the Indian crew thanked the force for saving their lives. In the first visuals of the rescued crew members, they are heard chanting “Bharat Mata ki jai” and thanking the Navy. “We were locked inside for 24 hours and the Indian Navy rescued us," said one of the crew members in the video. “We are proud of the Indian Navy,” remarked another as others in the background chanted “Bharat Mata ki jai”.