ABOARD
USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH: A bat-winged drone touched down smoothly on the
deck of a US aircraft carrier on Wednesday, marking a historic milestone
for robotic flight. The US Navy's X-47B floated down toward
the carrier USS George H.W. Bush at reduced speed and then caught an
arresting wire on its tail hook, bringing it to a stop in a textbook
landing, as reporters and top brass watched. "You saw the future today," Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told journalists afterward. The
experimental plane had taken off about an hour earlier from the
Patuxent River naval air station in Maryland before arriving at the
carrier about 80 miles off the Virginia coast at about 1:40 pm local
time (1740 GMT). Naval pilots require years of training to learn
how to land a fighter jet on a carrier floating at sea, one of the most
daunting tasks in aviation. But Wednesday's unprecedented landing
by an unmanned plane showed that sophisticated computer software could
perform the same task, guiding a robotic aircraft safely onto the deck
of a ship at sea. The touch down by the unmanned plane, dubbed
"salty dog" by the Navy, represented a new era in naval flight, 102
years since a bi-plane made the first arrested landing on a ship. Escorted
by two F-18 fighter jets, the grey X-47B was perfectly aligned with the
carrier deck as it made its descent, readjusting its position
automatically with a GPS navigational system installed in the aircraft
and on the carrier below. In contrast to older model drones such
as the Predator and Reaper, the X-47B can fly with more autonomy and
does not require flight operators to exert constant step-by-step
direction using a joystick. In Wednesday's test, the plane calculated on its own when to put its wheels down. As
the drone made its initial approach, there was a final precaution to
test the aircraft. The landing officer on the carrier issued digital
instructions to call off the landing, and the aircraft pulled up and
gained altitude, circling above the ship. As planned, the drone
then came in for a second approach, gliding in gracefully and catching
the arresting line in a flawless performance. Rear Admiral Mat
Winter, head of the Navy 's unmanned aviation program, called it an
event for the "history books," but said the successful outcome came as
no surprise after years of research and testing. AFP | Print this story
NEW
DELHI: Razia Sultana, a teenager from a village in Uttar Pradesh's
Meerut, was awarded the United Nations' Special Envoy for Global
Education's Youth Courage Award for Education on Friday. The award is in
recognition of her efforts to help liberate 48 children from child
labour bondage and motivate them to go to school. On Friday, the world
learnt about Razia's struggle and courage as she recounted her tale to
youth delegates from across the world in New York.
The day,
too, has a special significance — it is observed by the UN as Malala Day
to highlight and emulate Pakistani child activist Malala Yousafzai's
fight for education. Malala turned 16 on Friday.
Razia, named
after India's first woman ruler, too, has been fighting an uphill battle
at her Nanglakhumba village in Meerut. School education for this class
XII student would have remained a distant dream since she had begun
working to help her family when she was only five.
Most
households in Nanglakhumba village, where inhabitants are predominantly
Muslims, eke out a living by stitching footballs. Malala, eldest of two
sisters and two brothers, too, stitched footballs with rest of her
family members to supplement her factory worker father's meagre income.
"Education
was considered an unnecessary distraction that hurt the family's
income," said Sher Khan, a Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) activist from a
neighbouring village.
In 2005, BBA activists initiated a
programme to make the village child-friendly. "We would visit the
villages and explain the importance of education and rights of a child,"
said Rakesh Senger of the BBA.
But, they met with huge protests.
Parents refused to allow the children to give up football stitching and
go to school instead. It was more difficult to convince parents about
girls' education. Razia's father, who is now proud of his daughter, had
also refused to send her to school on the same plea.
Gradually,
with dogged determination and explaining the importance of education,
some children could be weaned away from labouring away at football
stitching. It took Razia two years to break the shackles of child
labour. Later, a bal panchayat was formed in the village and Razia was
elected its head. She went on to become a leader of the National
Children's Parliament.
Little Razia began campaigning in the
village for children's education and their rights. A flurry of
complaints by villagers to her father followed. Villagers complained
that Razia was a bad influence on their children.
But, the teenager was undeterred. "We were surprised by her indomitable spirit at such a young age," said Khan.
Her
village had no toilets or water pumps. The school building was in
shambles. When Razia was elected a panchayat head, she took up such
problems with the village panchayat. They could not ignore her for long.
Razia wants to continue studying and fight for children's
education. The UN award has lifted her spirits and boosted her
confidence.
