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India celebrates its 74th Independence Day this We also welcome contributions from our Saturday. Catch the live telecast from Red Fort as PM young members. Modi hoists the Indian flag and delivers his speech. The Member Corner section will feature

articles from our young writers and With schools closed let's celebrate the day at home. reporters. You can send them by email to Make your own flags or hang tricolour streamers. Send the ID given below. When you send in us pictures of your I-Day posters. entries please mention the Name and age of the child. A volcano, an underwater research station to a boy To receive a copy of the paper performing ballet in the rain, read on to find out in this edition. - send an email to [email protected] - WhatsApp us on +91 98409 10678

Yours, Sparky

Coronavirus Updates

India's tally stands at 2.5 million (25 lakhs) people infected so far. The recovery rate is high though with close to 18 lakh people having recovered from the infection.

Around 21 million people around the world have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Cases continue to raise with 5 million cases reported so far in the US and Brazil crossing 3 million cases. Europe is seeing a second wave of coronavirus infections with numbers climbing across Germany, France and Spain.

Meanwhile Russia became the first country in the world to register a COVID-19 vaccine. Russian President Vlamdimir Putin announced this week that it has successfully tested a vaccine for Covid- 19.

Called Sputnik V, the vaccine is expected to provide immunity from the coronavirus for up to two years, according to Russian health ministry.

Experts are skeptical though as a vaccine requires several rounds of testing before it can be approved. WHO has said that it does not have enough information on the Russian vaccine to pass judgement.

Kamala Harris Creates History

Kamala Harris is creating history after becoming the first black woman to be nominated for Vice President of the United States.

But she is getting everyone in India and particularly in even more excited because of her Indian connections. Yes, her father is Jamaican and mother is Indian.

But before that a preview of the US elections.

US Presidential elections will be held in November this year. Donald Trump's 4 year tenure is ending and a new leader will be elected by the people.

In the US there are 2 major parties - Republican and Democratic and the people will choose the leader of one of these parties to be the next President.

Donald Trump will contest as the Republican candidate and he hopes to win a second term. the current VP will be his running mate.

The Democratic party's Presidential candidate is Joe Biden. He had earlier served as the Vice President of the US when Barack Obama was the President.

There was a lot of expectation on whom Joe Biden will pick as the VP candidate since he had promised to choose a woman candidate.

And this week he made the announcement - Kamala Harris will be his running mate.

Who is Kamala Harris? Kamala's mother Shyamala Gopalan migrated to the US to pursue her studies and went on to become a cancer researcher. She married Donald Harris who was from Jamaica.

The mother's family hails from and Kamala’s grandfather PV Gopalan worked for the Government and was also posted as a diplomat in Zambia, Africa for some time.

Kamala used to visit her grandparents in Chennai during her early years. She remembers accompanying her grandfather for walks near the Besant Nagar beach.

Kamala went to law school and worked her way through the ranks to become Attorney General of California. She contested the elections from California and became a Senator in 2017 (like our MP- Member of Parliament).

Kamala Harris and her sister Maya were entirely brought up by their mother and are very much in touch with their Indian heritage. Kamala says she owes her success to her "amma" who inspired and taught them to rise against all odds.

If Joe Biden wins the election, Kamala Harris would become the first woman of color to become the Vice President of the United States. That would be a proud moment for all!

Indonesia Volcano Erupts

Mount Sinabung volcano in Indonesia erupted this week sending a column of smoke 16000 feet into the air. The surrounding areas were plunged in darkness and covered in a thick layer of debris.

The volcano in the Sumatra island of Indonesia erupted Monday morning emitting a thunderous noise and turning the sky dark, authorities and witnesses said.

Residents and tourists have been warned about possible lava flow and have been told to stay outside a 3km radius from the crater's mouth.

The Sinabung volcano was inactive for 400 years before it erupted in 2010.

Indonesia lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire and has several active volcanoes.

Ring of Fire

The "Ring of Fire" is a region in the Pacific ocean which has chain of volcanoes. Because the volcanoes frequently erupt in fiery explosions, the region is known as the Ring of Fire. Many earthquakes occur in the region as well.

The Ring of Fire is a direct result of plate tectonics: the movement and collisions of Earth's plates

The Ring of Fire surrounds the edges of the giant Pacific Plate. A plate is a section of the rocky outer layer of Earth. Earth’s plates move at different rates and in different directions. As the Pacific Plate and the plates around it grind into each other, they cause earthquakes and volcanoes.

-Kids Britannica

The Ring of Fire is home to about 75 per cent of the world’s volcanoes and about 90 per cent of its earthquakes.

Mauritius Oil Spill

Mauritius is an Island nation in the and its blue green waters make it a popular tourist destination.

A Japanese ship named M V Wakashio, struck a coral reef resulting in an oil spill of over 1,000 tonnes into the Indian Ocean. The ship was carrying an estimated 4,000 tonnes of oil.

The oil spill occurred near Mauritius coast and the area is near an environmentally protected marine ecosystem. Experts are hence worried about damage to the marine ecosystem.

A huge clean-up operation has been launched from the shore with many local people volunteering to help.

On 7 August, nearly two weeks after the shipwreck, the Mauritian government declared the incident a national emergency.

The marine environment in Mauritius is home to 1700 species of animals and has several plants unique to that region as well.

Proteus - Undersea Research Station

Fabien Cousteau, a well-known ocean explorer, has announced plans to build a large research station under the ocean. The goal of the project is to become an “underwater version of the International Space Station” (ISS).

Mr. Cousteau is the grandson of Jacques Cousteau, an ocean scientist who brought the wonders of the sea to the attention of people around the world. Jacques Cousteau helped invent the Aqua-Lung, an early version of the scuba breathing gear now used by divers everywhere.

The oceans make up 70% of the Earth but are still largely unexplored. Hardly 5% of the world’s oceans have been explored according to Cousteau.

Space seems to have gotten much more attention, even though it’s farther away. The ISS has been around for more than 20 years, and more people have gone to the moon than have gone to the deepest point in the ocean.

Mr. Cousteau believes exploring the ocean is far more important than exploring space. “It’s our life support system. It is the very reason why we exist in the first place,” he says.

But though the ocean is all around us, studying it is a challenge. Divers are limited in how far down they can go and how long they can stay below. Returning to the surface can be dangerous. After a deep dive, divers must wait for hours before they dive again. All of this means that undersea experiments are very limited.

The new undersea laboratory is designed to solve many of those problems. Named “Proteus”, the lab is a 4000-square-foot structure that can be a home for up to 12 people at a time.

By actually living beneath the sea, scientists will be able to dive and work for much longer without worrying about the dangers of coming to the surface.

The power for the station is expected to come from solar energy and the movement of the ocean. Proteus is also expected to have the first underwater greenhouse in the world, so that the lab will be able to grow some of its own food.

Proteus will be located off the coast of Curacao, in a biodiverse marine protected area in the Caribbean, about 60 feet beneath the surface of the water. It will encompass 4,000 square feet of space and accommodate up to 12 research scientists at a time.

There are plans to make it available for academics, private companies, scientists and nongovernmental organizations that are involved in ocean exploration and research and development. Mr. Cousteau hopes to have the lab completed and read to use by 2023.

Ballet In the Rain

Have you ever danced in the rain? Or at least felt like it? Here is a boy who has danced his way to fame.

Anthony Mmesoma Madu, a Nigerian boy captivated the world with his ballet in the rain. The 11- year-old was seen dancing barefoot outside the dance studio in Lagos, Nigeria where he trains. The video went viral in the past month and has been viewed by more than a million people.

Many were thrilled that Anthony broke stereotypes and showed that boys can learn ballet too.

The American Ballet Theatre in New York has now offered him a scholarship and arranged internet access for the 11-year-old to experience virtual training sessions this summer.

"When I am dancing, I feel as if I am on top of the world," he told Reuters.

"When my friends see me dancing, they feel like, what is this boy doing, is he doing a foreign dance? Now I have won a grand prize to go to the U.S. ... I will be in the plane and this is what I am waiting for, and ballet has done it for me," he said.

"Where I live there are no male ballet dancers like me," said the 11-year-old. "When people see ballet they think it is only for girls, they don't know that it is not only for girls.

It has also led to a flood of donations to the Leap of Dance Academy in Nigeria where Anthony currently trains. The Academy trains people for free.