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Volume 6, Issue 2 >> Thursday, 26 April 2018 >> Subscribe www.childfriendlynews.com >> Email [email protected]

GET READY FOR A HOT, HOT SUMMER Its April, summer has begun and the days are hot. And it is going to get a lot hotter soon before the cool rains arrive in June. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heat wave con- ditions across most of northern this summer. In states like , and , temperatures will be over a degree hotter than usual. A jump of 1°C doesn’t sound like a lot, but when it is already boiling hot at 44°C, a small increase can make a lot of impact. It is going to be one of the hottest summers ever, say weather experts. This also means that northern India will be drier than usual with fewer summer showers. The good news for central and southern India is that tempera- tures will be the same as usual and possibly even slightly lower than normal in some places. Water shortage It’s the season when one feels most thirsty, the time when you fancy a dip in a swimming pool or nearby lake. However, this year, India is also facing a water shortage. Reservoirs (that store water) are lower this year as com- pared to last and the searing heat may make the water evaporate faster too. The water situation has been party caused by low winter rainfall and malayas, when it snows less, rivers run low. snowfall. As many northern rivers are fed by ice melting in the high Hi- So conserve water as much as you can, and stay out of the hot sun too!

‘Catch a Summer Moment’ Photo Contest

Summer isn’t just any shot that captures the spirit of about the heat- it’s summer fun. also the time to G Along with the photo send us your do interesting name, age, school and class, along with things. Like taking a short description of the photo part in the Child G Contestants should be less than 16 Friendly News ‘Catch a Summer Moment’ years old photo contest! The rules are simple: G Last date for entries: July 15, 2018 G Email us any photo you took during the The winners will get prizes from CFN holidays that captures a summer mo- and the winning photos will also be ment – it could be a place you visited, published in the newspaper. something you saw on the street or Hurry, start clicking! Entries should be emailed to [email protected] ‘

It's better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your Features life. —Elizabeth Kenny CHILD FRIENDLY NEWS 26 April 2018 2 www.childfriendlynews.com And off to‘ space we go! There have been so many space missions over the years that it is hard to imagine that a human being hasn’t stepped out of low Earth orbit (LEO) for the last 50 years. United States (US) space agency NASA is set to change that with Orion, a spacecraft that will take astronauts further into space than anyone has ever been.

What is LEO? Low Earth Orbit or LEO refers to the movement of spacecraft around the Earth at heights less than 2000 kilometres above the Earth’s surface. Under- stand that the word ‘low’ here is relative. Regular airplanes fly at heights less than 12 km so a LEO orbit under 2000 km is still pretty high. The last human to step out of LEO orbit was astronaut Eugene Cernan who stepped on to the Moon as part of NASA’s Apollo 17 mission. The Moon is at a distance of 384,400 kilometres from Earth so it’s a long way from LEO orbit. Image courtesy: NASA courtesy: Image What is the Orion mission? An artist’s impression of the Orion spacecraft The Orion spacecraft’s manned space flight will occur within the next five years. The craft, which can carry a crew of four astronauts, will go deep into space. It will of Orion will be ‘printed out’ using 3D printers. In fact it circle Earth twice, go around the Moon and then head will contain more than 100 3D-printed parts. Some of home. A test flight minus humans is planned for 2019. these parts are being made with a special plastic that To travel so deep into space, Orion will need to be can handle extremely high temperatures and the launched on a very special rocket. That is why NASA tremendous forces it takes to launch a spacecraft into is working on the Space Launch System, a giant deep space. rocket that can produce the enormous thrust (force) Hello deep space! that can propel it into deep space. Orion will be the The Orion spacecraft is the platform on which NASA first spacecraft to be launched using the new rocket. is planning manned space explorations to Mars and Unusual build A 3D printer can print out three dimensional beyond. So, after fifty years of pretty much staying on Orion is unusual in more than its mission goals. Parts objects our planet, we humans are set to make a giant leap!

No monkey business, this Are the lions of Gir in trouble? Bonnet Macaques, a kind There has of monkey seen in South- been an un- ern India, have learnt to usually large communicate with hu- number of lion deaths in mans in order to ask for Gujarat’s Gir food, a new study has National found. The study was car- Park.184 lions ried out at Karnataka’s have died in Bandipur National Park. 2016 and 2017 The monkeys are using and 32 of hand gestures and sounds them died due to ‘unnat- to ask tourists for food. ural’ causes

The macaques are mak- Wikipedia Photo courtesy: A Bonnet Macaque like falling into wells or getting run over by trains. ing soft ‘coo’ sounds and Wells without a surrounding wall or parapet have become a death deliberately positioning themselves so that they can be seen by trap for lions and although there is plan to get parapets built for tourists. They also extend their hands to request for food. This is wells around Gir National Park, the work is not complete. The main one of the first times that such behavior has been documented in problem at Gir though is the increase in the lion population from wild monkeys. 359 in 2005 to 523 in 2015. As a result, lions are leaving the park to find territories outside. This results in deaths and conflicts with hu- mans as lions enter farmlands. Bonnet Macaques are monkeys seen in peninsular India south of the Gujarat has failed to create new reserve areas for the lions. The Godavari and Tapti rivers. In Northern India we find Rhesus Macaques. state is also not agreeing to shift lions to new areas in Madhya Although this division line was clearly drawn for many years, there are Pradesh. Unless some action is taken and soon, the fate of many now reports of Rhesus Macaques invading the territory of their lions is uncertain. southern cousins. ‘

Nature did not put whales on this earth to splash kids while stuck in a pen. —Jane Velez-Mitchell Features CHILD FRIENDLY NEWS 26 April 2018 www.childfriendlynews.com 3 ‘ NATURE MATTERS THE MARVELOUS EVOLUTION OF WHALES Our understanding of how animals evolved (de- veloped) is based on the theory of evolution that Charles Darwin came up with 150 years ago. New research on the evolution of whales may change that understanding. Darwin’s theory Charles Darwin’s ideas compared evolution to a tree with each species as a branch. He argued that each species grew differently based on the A Gray Whale different habitats they occupied and that they changed as they came up against climate but as a web. Unlike a tree where branches don’t change, change of diet or arrival of new preda- pleated throats, allowing meet once they’ve separated tors. The sheer distances between the different them to gulp huge mouthfuls from the main trunk, a web al- habitats kept each species unique and different. of seawater that they strain lows for multiple connections in Thus Darwin’s vision of evolution was of an ever- for food using baleen plates. different directions. branching tree. Central to his theory is the idea The researchers also studied This kind of family connections that once a species starts changing from the Gray Whales that belong to seen between species we original, it stays on its unique path, with no con- another family of whales. thought weren’t connected at nections to other species that may have also When they studied the genes all may have to do with the habi- branched out from the original. of these whales, they found tats whales occupy. They live in The new research on whales that Gray Whales were also vast oceans that are intercon- Researchers from Germany have been studying rorquals, and were in fact nected-thus it is more difficult the genetic connections between certain kinds closely related to Fin and to isolate (keep alone) a species. of whales. Genes are part of the cells of all living Humpback whales. In truth, A sketch from one of Darwin’s note- Therefore inter-breeding (when animals and they contain instructions based on Grays are more closely related books. Information we now have whales of two different species to Fin and Humpback Whales shows that instead of a tree of life, make a new family) and hybrids which the body grows and develops. Genes also the map of species in the world looks connect us to our family and the human species compared to the connections more like a densely connected web. (formed by such inter-breeding) as all members of a species share common between Fins, Humpbacks and may be more common than we genes. other rorquals. think. The whales studied were the baleen whales in- Web, not tree Genetic analysis of species is a new science, and cluding Humpback, Fin, Sei, Minke and Blue This new information on the connections be- it is quite likely that we will discover many more Whales. These whales are part of a family tween different whale species may push us to- such interesting connections between species known as rorquals-they are baleen whales with wards thinking of evolution not as a tree of life as we study the genes of more animals. THE BOOK NOOK

The Matilda Effect by Ellie Irving The Matilda Effect is the term used to describe how woman scientists are not given their due, with male scientists often getting the credit for the work done by women. The heroine of the story, also called Matilda, comes up against a similar problem when she finds out that a sneaky scientist has stolen her grandmom’s work and is now going to be awarded the Nobel Prize for it! All wound up with indignation, scientist-in-making Matilda and grand-mom set off to Europe to stop the Nobel prize distribution and set the wrong right. The quest takes them on a journey through Paris, Hamburg and Stockholm, during which they encounter a famous film star, a circus, and a wanted diamond thief... sounds like quite a tale doesn’t it? Do they make it in time? Is the sneaky professor unmasked? You’ll have to read the book and find out. Price: Rs.178 Available: Online ‘

Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game. Special Report —Michael Jordan CHILD FRIENDLY NEWS 26 April 2018 4 www.childfriendlynews.com India@Commonwealth Games 2018 ‘ The 21st ended on April 15th at the city of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. India ended the Games with 66 medals (26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze) and finished in third place overall behind Australia and England. Although India has stood higher in the tally or in total number of medals during two earlier editions of the Commonwealth Games- in 2002 in Manchester (England) where they won 30 gold medals and 2010 in where India finished in second place-the haul at the 2018 Games is more significant. Unlike in Delhi, where teams had the home advantage and India had the benefit of pick- ing three sports where it could shine (archery, tennis and Greco- roman wrestling), Indian teams at the 2018 Games had no such advantage. Back in 2002 in Manchester, the formula for giving medals was different, and had Gold Coast followed Manchester's medal distribution pattern, India's tally would have easily zoomed beyond 2002's 30 golds. SUMMER O India come up with our third best-ever performances the medals came from sports such as shooting, weig well in these sports? Find out in this Special Report The Indians at the closing ceremony of the Games The good news The truly wonderful news about India’s performance at Gold Coast is Teenagers who (literally) shot to fame that it came from multiple sports-athletics, badminton, , shooting, table tennis, weightlifting, wrestling. And for the first time at the ever, there were more gold medals than silver or bronze. Let’s now look at some of the sports where India did well.

Shooting for the Stars Shooting delivered 7 of the 26 gold medals India won at the 2018 15 year old Manu Bhaker 17-year-old Commonwealth Anish Bhan- grabbed the Mehuli Ghosh Games and 16 of the 66 medals wala won women's 10m won a silver India won overall. It is a sport in gold in the air pistol gold in women’s which India has done reasonably remains India’s only in- 25m rapid fire medal 10m air rifle well since 2000. In 2004, Rajyavard- dividual Olympic gold medalist. pistol event event han Singh Rathore won a silver medal in double trap shooting at the Olympics. In 2008, Abhinav Bindra won gold in shooting, becoming the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics. Another Know your sport shooter, , won a bronze at the 2012 Olympics. Rathore Shooting as a sport typically involves using pistols, rifles or shotguns. Tar- and Bindra’s early medals inspired a generation of Indians who wished gets are placed at different distances for different shooting events. to make a mark in the sport. ‘

Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play. —Mike Singletary Special Report CHILD FRIENDLY NEWS 26 April 2018 www.childfriendlynews.com 5 Know your sport Badminton is a sport that requires the least set-up. Sure, it would be ‘ nice to have a proper court, but in the absence of one, you just need to find a clear patch of ground and a partner and start playing! Wrestle away! Wrestling is a sport where India has been among the medals for a few years now. who won medals in both the 2012 (bronze) and 2016 (silver) Olympics is India’s only Olympian to win medals in two successive Olympic Games. Among the women, won a bronze at the Rio Olympics in 2016. The wrestlers did not disappoint at the Common- wealth Games either, winning 12 Medals (5 Golds, 3 Silver, 4 Bronze). Wrestling is one of the oldest Olympic sports and was one of the events at the ancient Olympics two thousand years ago. The ancient Indian form of wrestling called ‘Kushti’ is also the oldest sport in the world, practiced even today. There is a long tradition of wrestling in India and places like Delhi and Haryana are dotted with ‘’ where young wrestlers are trained. Not surprisingly, most of India’s medal winning wrestlers come from these states. Know your sport There are two kinds of wrestling seen in the Olympics and major com- petitions-Freestyle and Greco-Roman. The main difference is that in Greco Roman, wrestlers are forbidden from grabbing their opponent below the waist. Wrestlers are grouped into weight classes-for exam- OF SPORT ple, India’s won gold in the women’s freestyle 50 kg event. This is to ensure that opponents are evenly matched. s in the Commonwealth Games held recently. Many of ght lifting, wrestling and badminton. Why did India do t and along the way, learn more about these sports. Vinesh Phogat Sushil Kumar is India only The ancient sport of showed off some dual Olympian (individual Kushti is still prac- spectacular event) and he won gold at ticed in traditional Badminton High moves in her path the Commonwealth akharas. to the gold medal Games 2018 in the 74 kg India completely dominated badminton at the Common- category. wealth Games and in the absence of which is not part of the Commonwealth, they were the top ranked Some true heavyweights here! team. They lived up to the ranking, winning gold in the Weightlifting was another sport that India did well in at the women’s singles event (), silver in the men’s singles (Ki- Commonwealth Games where the team brought home 9 dambi Srikanth) and gold in the mixed team event. medals (5 golds, 2 silvers, 2 bronze). The stars of the Indian ef- The success at the Commonwealth Games reflects India’s position in fort were the girls from - world badminton. Consider this: India now has three Top 20 male play- and Sanjita Chanu, who both smashed tournament records to win ers-Kidambi Srikanth (ranked No 1), Prannoy HS (11) and Sai Praneeth gold for India. Born to not so wealthy families in India’s north-east, the (15). In the women’s Top 20 list, there is PV Sindhu at No 3 and Saina Ne- girls struggled even get their daily diet of milk and eggs so essential for hwal at No 12. sports like wrestling. But that didn’t stop them and they have risen to A clear reason for India’s rise in the sport is national coach Pullela the top of the sport, not just in India but even in global events. Gopichand whose sports academy at Know your sport Hyderabad has con- Like wrestling, weightlifters are also sistently produced grouped into weight categories, depending winners. The on the weight they want to lift. During the medals won by PV event, athletes lift bars known as barbells, Sindhu and Saina loaded with weights at each end. They are Nehwal are attract- allowed three attempts at each weight and after each successful attempt, the weight Saikhom Mirabai Chanu ing young Indians is increased. The winner is the person who to the sport. The Indians won the mixed team event too lifts the heaviest weight. ‘

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life News off our souls. —Pablo Picasso CHILD FRIENDLY NEWS 26 April 2018 6 www.childfriendlynews.com INDIA ‘ Move to remove India’s Chief Justice A group of political parties have come to- gether to push for the removal of the How can one remove the Chief Justice? Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra. The It’s not that easy and a long process is detailed in the Constitution move has been rejected by the Vice Pres- of India. The Constitution is the rule book according to which the ident Venkaiah Naidu but the fight country is run. seems far from over. The Chief Justice is 1. First a notice for removal has to be signed by at least 100 MPs of the highest ranked judge in India and the Lok Sabha or 50 MPs of the (The Lok Sabha and heads the Supreme Court which is based Rajya Sabha are the two Houses of India’s Parliament) in Delhi. 2. It has to be submitted to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chair- Last Friday, 64 Members of Parliament person of the Rajya Sabha (who is the Vice ). (MPs) belonging to seven political parties 3. If the notice is admitted, a panel of three persons checks the including the Congress, signed the notice charges made against the Chief Justice that calls for removal of the Chief Justice. Dipak Misra 4. Based on the report of the panel, the two Houses of Parliament They want Dipak Misra removed for the have to approve the removal of the Chief Justice-this can only hap- reason that the judge did not decide on pen if the majority (largest share) of the MPs vote to remove the Chief Justice certain cases in a fair or correct manner. 5. Once this is done, the President can remove the Chief Justice. The MPs seeking his removal also believe This is the first time an attempt has been made to remove the Chief Justice of India. With the that Misra put important cases in the Vice President shooting down the removal notice (Step 2), it remains to be seen if the Congress charge of certain judges so as to influ- and its supporters decide to appeal the rejection in the Supreme Court itself. ence the outcome (result).

Taking change into their hands Artist Ram Kumar no more You may have heard older people, including your parents, complain about how the government is not running things properly in the country. A group of former students from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) thought so too, but they decided to do something about it and are set to launch their own political party. The founding group consists of 50 people who studied at IITs across the country. The IITs as you may be aware are among the best colleges in the country. These 50 people have quit their regular jobs to work for their political party. They have submitted an application to the Election Commission of India to approve their political party which has been named ‘Bahujan Azad Party’. The main focus of the Party will be to fight for the rights of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes-groups that the IIT graduates be- lieve are not doing so well in terms of education, jobs and money. In fact many of the founding members themselves belong to these groups and believe that the Bahujan Azad Party is their way of giving back to society.

Ram Kumar, one of the India’s most famous artists died earlier this month. Ram Kumar was part of a group of artists that included MF Hussain, SH Raza and Tyeb Mehta whose work brought them fame in the decades (a decade is 10 years) after India’s independence (1947). The image above is typical of his work. It depicts the city of Varanasi that inspired many of his famous works. The painting does not directly represent the object-this is the style that Ram Kumar specialized in. The end result is a painting that reflects the feelings or emotions that the artist associates with the objects painted. In that sense the artist is sharing his own private thoughts and visions with the viewer. What is the sense that you get from this painting?

A poster of the Bahujan Azad Party-the national leaders whose images are on the poster are the inspirations for the new party. How many of them do you recognize? ‘

If there are no mangroves, then the sea will have no meaning. It is like having a tree without roots, News for the mangroves are the roots of the sea…” CHILD FRIENDLY NEWS —A Thai fisherman from the Andaman coast 26 April 2018 www.childfriendlynews.com ‘INDIA 7 New rules for coastal areas are a cause for worry India has a beautiful 7500 kilometre long coast- line. New rules for coastal areas suggested by the central government may destroy the coastal environment and hurt the rights of fisherfolk, feel those working for the environ- ment. What do the new rules say? The new rules propose to allow development and construction closer to the shore in areas where more people live. For example, in areas where more than 2161 people live per square A mangrove forest in Tamil Nadu kilometer (think of a square area of side one India has a very long coastline. The biggest issue kilometer), construction will be allowed upto with the new rules, say environmentalists, is that fishermen. They are worried that tourism and 50 metres from the high tide line. During high the rules view the coastline as a fixed line construction activities near the coast will hurt whereas, the play of sand and sea creates a tide (which occurs twice every 24 hours), the continuously changing coastline the environment of the beach areas and affect sea water comes closer to the shore. Under ear- their fishing. Plus the areas near the shore lier rules, nothing was allowed for 200 metres lows building of roads in mangrove areas. Man- where fisher folk used to park boats and dry from the high tide line. The fear is that tourism grove forests near the sea are a special habitat nets may no longer be available if they are sold and commercial activities (such as shops) will home to many birds and animals. Plus these by the government to hotel and shop owners. take over beach areas. mangroves also prevent sand from being Although the rules are only being shared now No protection for mangroves washed away and protect the coastline during for discussion before they are finalized, those The new rules also provide for construction of cyclones and floods. who fight for the environment fear that beach roads in coastal areas, including those on stilts Fishermen worried and coastal areas will end up being sacrificed (legs) going over water. Worryingly, it also al- Among the people who are most worried are to make a few people rich.

INDIA SPORTS Why the Karnataka polls are important IPL Update: Early leaders emerge Just over one- The state of Kar- third of the way nataka heads for into the tourna- elections to select ment, the Indian a new state gov- Premier League ernment on May 12, (IPL) T20 cricket and right now it event is throwing looks like a photo up some leaders. finish with no clear Kings XI Punjab winner. The two have won the last main competitors, four games in a the Congress and row and are at the Bharatiya Janata top of the table Party (BJP) both with 10 points. look like they will Chennai Super end up with a simi- Kings (CSK), back lar number of in the tourna- seats. But here is ment after two CSK had to move home from Chennai to Pune due to years, is at second protests over the Cauvery issue in Chennai. Captain why the polls are Dhoni has moved on too.… in terms of haircuts! important. position with 8 2019 will see general elections across the country. That means all of points (though India will go out to vote to choose a new central government in Delhi. they have played one match less than Kings XI Punjab). The BJP has been ruling India from Delhi since 2014 and it is very im- Delhi Daredevils are where they usually end up-at the bottom of the portant for them to do well in all the state elections between now table. Keeping them company rather surprisingly, are the Mumbai In- and then. As it is the same set of voters who will vote in the state and dians who have won the IPL thrice in 2013, 2015 and 2017. However there general elections, a good showing could set the stage for victory in are many more matches to be played yet and things may yet change. 2019. The state of Karnataka is now being run by the Congress. All data correct upto April 24-the information above does not include matches played after that date Owlie’s Fun Page CHILD FRIENDLY NEWS 26 April 2018 8 www.childfriendlynews.com Gold Rush FIND THE HIDDEN PICTURES Here are images of sportspersons who won gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Can you identify them? Can you find the objects given below the picture?

1 2

34

4. (Shooting) Rai Jitu 4.

Answers: Answers: 1. (Boxing); 2. Neeraj Chopra (Javelin); 3. Heena Sidhu (Shooting Sidhu Heena 3. (Javelin); Chopra Neeraj 2. (Boxing); Kom Mary 1. UNSCRAMBLE THE WORDS Re-arrange the alphabets to find the word 1. MLADE Hint: All clues are linked to the theme

of sports 2. ELETHAT 4. Arena Arena 4.

.Training 3. 3. NINGAITR .Athlete 2. .Medal 1.

Answers 4. AAENR SUDOKU TIME Try your hand at this 5 Sudoku. Remember that numbers 1 to 6 can Top Reads for Kids and Young Adults appear only once in 13 4 each of the six rectan- 1. The 1000 year old Boy by Ross Welford gles. They can also 2. Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

43appear only once in 3. The Sky at our Feet by Nadia Hashimi each rowh and column of 4. The Matilda Effect by Ellie Irving the overall square. 5. The War That Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

24 6. Fish Boy by Chloe Daykin 34 1 526

7. We are okay by Nina LaCour

26 5 4

426 31 8. Auggie & Me by RJ Palacio

1 4 536

2 9. All Four Stars by Tara Dairman

3 125 4

1 6 10. Escape from Mr.Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

( ) D il S d k L d ll i h d

65 4 2

13

312 5

46 To know more about these books and to buy them, check out

Answer www.toptenbooksoftheweek.com

while regular columns on everyday technology concepts keep children up-to-date with the world Subscribe to Child Friendly News around them. A subscription costs Rs. 750 for the year. Child Friendly News or CFN is an age appropriate newspaper for children in the age group 7-13. The For more details and to subscribe, visit www.childfriendlynews.com newspaper comes out every fortnight. Every issue is written using language that young readers can Child Friendly News is published from E-24 (Front), Vasant Marg, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi 110057. understand on their own interspersed with pictures and imagery. Quick explanations of difficult Published, printed, edited and owned by Anita Mani. Printed by Printworks, W-11, Okhla Industrial words and terms and boxed elements that explain concepts accompany every article — this is to Area Ph II, New Delhi 110020 help build vocabulary as well as context understanding. Special reports take up one topic in depth RNI registration number: DELENG/2013/50870