India witnesses supermoon
Kolkata, Aug 1: India joined the rest of the world in witnessing the supermoon on Tuesday night, the first of the two this month.
Explaining the phenomenon, astrophysicist Debiprosad Duari said the moon goes around the Earth once in 27.3 days in an elliptic orbit. As a result, at some point in its orbit, it will be farthest from the Earth, the distant point being called the apogee, and at some other time it will be closest to Earth, which is called perigee.
"When we have a full moon near the perigee, closest to the Earth, we get what is termed as a supermoon," he explained, adding that it will again be visible on August 30.
The last time two supermoons were seen in the same month was in 2018, and the next such phenomenon will be witnessed in 2037, he said.
The 'supermoon' was visible from Delhi, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Punjab, but sky gazers in Kolkata missed it due to a thick blanket of clouds.
"It is exciting as this coincides with the time Chandrayaan 3 module will be injected into the lunar transfer trajectory," Duari said.
Chandrayaan 3 is expected to make a soft landing on the moon on August 23.
From the Earth, a supermoon seems 7 per cent bigger and 16 per cent brighter than a normal full moon, he said.
The average distance between the Earth and its moon is 3,84,000 km. The distance can vary because of the elliptical shape of the moon's orbit around the Earth, and can range from 3,56,000 km at perigee to 4,04,000 km at apogee.
On Tuesday night, the moon was at a distance of 3,57,530 km from the Earth, he said.
On August 30, the moon will be even closer -- 3,57,344 km from the Earth, Durai said.
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Moradabad lynching: Deceased Muslim man booked, friend arrested for cow slaughter
Moradabad: Days after a 37-year-old Muslim man, Shahideen Qureshi, was brutally assaulted by a mob over allegations of cow slaughter and later succumbed to his injuries, police arrested his friend on Wednesday but have yet to apprehend any suspects in the murder case.
The attack occurred in Moradabad’s Majhola area when Qureshi and his friend, Mohammad Adnan, were allegedly seen slaughtering an ox. A mob attacked Qureshi, leaving him critically injured. Adnan reportedly fled the scene.
Majhola Station House Officer Mohit Chaudhary confirmed that two FIRs were registered in the case. “We took suo motu cognisance and registered an FIR against Qureshi and Mohammad Adnan under charges of cow slaughter. Another FIR was filed based on a complaint by Qureshi’s brother, Mohammad Shahjad, under IPC Section 302 (murder) against unidentified persons,” he said.
Despite registering the murder FIR, no arrests have been made. Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Kumar Ran Vijay Singh said investigations are ongoing. “We have not been able to arrest anybody in connection with the killing of Qureshi so far,” he said.
Following the attack, Qureshi was rushed to the Moradabad district hospital in critical condition but succumbed to his injuries on Monday evening. His body was handed over to his family for burial.
Qureshi, a bodybuilder with a passion for fitness who had participated in various competitions, lived in the Asalatpur locality. He is survived by his wife, Rizwana, and three sons, aged 13, 11, and 9.
Rizwana expressed her anguish over the incident, questioning the mob’s actions. “Who gave them the right to take a human life over the death of an animal? What happened to my husband is cruel. He was killed before his time,” she told The Print.
While police claimed the mob did not know Qureshi’s religion, a video of the assault circulated online shows attackers shouting “Jai Shri Ram” slogans, suggesting communal undertones. The video, purportedly shared by Hindutva vigilantes, has sparked outrage.
Additional Superintendent Singh dismissed claims that the incident constituted lynching, stating, “The technical definition of lynching is if someone is killed over caste, creed, or religion. Here, the mob didn’t know his religion, so it cannot be called lynching.”
