Maha stays land acquisition for Nanar refinery after talks with Sena, CM

The Sena, rooted firmly in the Konkan region, has been opposing the project.

The Maharashtra government has stayed the land acquisition process for the controversial Nanar refinery project after consulting the Shiv Sena, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the Legislative Assembly Wednesday.

The Sena, a ruling ally of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government, has been opposing the project on the grounds that it is against the interest of the farmers and would destroy ecology in Ratnagiri district in the coastal Konkan region.

"The government has not issued any new notice for land acquisition. After talks with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, the entire process has been stayed," he said.

The issue came up after Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patiltold the House thatjournalist Alok Deshpande of English daily The Hindu was manhandled by police at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai Tuesday night while covering a protest against the upcoming project.

To this, Fadnavis said he would seek information about the incident and take appropriate action.

Meanwhile, fourpersons, including two women seated in the visitors gallery of the House,were detained by the Vidhan Bhavan security for raising slogans demanding scrapping of the refinery project.

Three Indian oil majors had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on April 11 this year with Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to develop a refinery and petrochemicals complex in the coastal district.

The Sena, rooted firmly in the Konkan region, has been opposing the project.

In April this year, senior Shiv Sena leader and Industries Minister Subhash Desai had announced in Ratnagiri that a government notification for acquiring land for the project in Nanar stood cancelled.

Desai's statement was negated by the chief minister who said that the order had not been cancelled.

Article Source BS

Smart laws absolutely necessary to run India's smart city projects: Experts

The legal experts gathered at a conference in Kolkata on sustainable urban development.

A forum of researchers, architects, urban planners and lawyers on Tuesday emphasised on the importance of bringing necessary changes in India's legislative framework to aid sustainable urbanisation and develop smart cities in the country.

The legal experts, gathered at a conference here on sustainable urban development, organised by the Heidelberg University of Germany, and Observer Research Foundation, Delhi, said changes in the law are "absolutely necessary" to make the Union government's Smart Cities Mission effective and successful.

"The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Act in the country has many loopholes in questions of accountability factors which need to be fixed. The act lacks democratic character of our Constitution. Also, it lacks the mechanism for grievance redress system," Uday Shankar of IIT-Kharagpur said during his address on the first day of the two-day conference.

The professor, who did a comparative study of the Special Purpose Vehicle Act and the Jharkhand's Municipal City Act of 2011, felt the municipal act should be better framed to deal with issues of urbanisation than the SPV Act of Smart Cities Mission.

Lawyers Subhadip Biswas and Ranajit Roy said there is a need for a new set of laws to take care of the post-construction period. They said laws should be framed in accordance with Article 13 of the Indian Constitution.

"Respective laws concerning issues regarding smart cities needed to be amended in accordance with the Article 13 to make implementation of smart city policies in accordance with the Smart Cities Mission," the lawyers said.

The two day conference was co-organised by IIT Kharagpur, Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), Delhi, University of Calcutta and IGCC with support from Friedrich Naumann Stiftung.

Talking about the issues of mobility in smart cities, ORF Kolkata Director Ashok Dhar said the government should stop thinking about holistic mobility development and focus on local-level comprehensive mobility planning.

He also said lack of clarity among the policy-makers and the ministers would affect investment in the country, especially in the automobile and petroleum sectors and felt "excessive dependence on Electric Vehicles will only replace our dependence from oil to lithium, which also needs to be imported and whose prices are escalating rapidly."

Article Source BS

YouTube to make new exclusive shows, movies free for users from 2020

YouTube's paid option will still remove ads from originals as well as all other videos, and it comes with music streaming privileges.

YouTube plans to make all future original programming available to users for free with advertising, as the video streaming unit of Alphabet Inc's Google seeks a bigger audience for shows and movies that had mostly been restricted to paid subscribers.

The shift in strategy means that starting in 2020, a YouTube Premium subscription will no longer be the only way to watch most original programs, with all users having some access.

YouTube's paid option will still remove ads from originals as well as all other videos, and it comes with music streaming privileges.

YouTube said earlier on Tuesday that the new strategy will kick in next year, but later noted that though it will apply to content planned in 2019, the actual programming will debut the year after.

YouTube has not disclosed the total number of subscribers for the paid offering, launched three years ago, which is available in 29 countries.

It said its move to make programming free was aimed at satisfying growing international user interest in original programming and advertiser demand to associate with special content. The move also gives the company more flexibility in marketing its programs.

Some future programming or behind-the-scenes content may remain exclusive to subscribers, if only for a brief time, a person familiar with the thinking said.

YouTube Premium costs about $12 a month in the United States.

The dozens of previously released shows and movies in YouTube Premium, such as the first season of popular action comedy "Cobra Kai," will remain behind the paywall, the company said.

Article Source BS

Relief as fuel prices continue to fall; Petrol below Rs 80-mark in Mumbai

Petrol prices declined to Rs 79.12 (decrease by 50 paise) per litre in Mumbai.

The prices of key transport fuels -- petrol and diesel -- continued to dive significantly on Wednesday thanks to lower global crude oil prices.

Petrol price decreased by 50 -paise across major cities while diesel too continued the downward trend.

According to the Indian Oil Corp data, petrol was priced at Rs 73.57 (a fall of 50 paise) per litre in the national capital on Wednesday.

Petrol prices declined to Rs 79.12 (a fall of 50 paise) per litre in Mumbai, Rs 75.57 (a fall of 50 paise) in Kolkata and Rs 76.35 (a fall of 50 paise) in Chennai on Wednesday.

The price of diesel too continued to follow the downward trend.

The price of diesel in Mumbai was down at Rs 71.71 (a fall of 40 paise) per litre. Similarly, prices of diesel in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai declined to Rs 68.49 (a fall of 50 paise) per litre, Rs 70.34 (a fall of 50 paise) and Rs 72.34 (a fall of 12 paise) a litre respectively.

As per the daily dynamic pricing regime, domestic fuel prices depend on international fuel prices on a 15-day average, besides the value of the rupee.

Brent crude prices on Monday closed at $59.2 per barrel, a 13-month low

Prices vary from region to region due to local taxes, as the products are excluded from the GST regime. Delhi has the lowest tax rate among the four metros.

The United States recently softened its stand on Iran's sanctions and gave its nod to eight countries to continue importing oil from Iran temporarily. The list of countries includes India, China, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and Taiwan.

Earlier last month, the Centre announced a cut in excise duty by Rs 1.50 a litre.

Additionally, the state-owned oil marketing companies had been mandated to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel by Re 1 a litre.

Article Source BS

Haze engulfs Delhi and nearby areas as air quality deteriorates further

In NCR, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida recorded 'very poor' air quality.

In no deviation from the usual these days, Delhiites woke up under a pall of thick haze on Wednesday with the air quality remaining in the 'very poor' category in the national capital on the second consecutive day after it showed signs of improvement.

The overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded at 360, which falls in the 'very poor' category, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR).

The level of PM2.5 -- particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres -- was recorded at 198 and the PM10 level was recorded at 340, SAFAR said.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

The CPCB said Ashok Vihar, Mundaka, Narela and Wazirpur recorded 'severe' air quality, while 22 areas of Delhi recorded 'very poor' air quality.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida recorded 'very poor' air quality, the CPCB data said.

According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, a haze has engulfed the national capital and the wind speed and ventilation index are "extremely unfavourable" for dispersion of pollutants.

Ventilation index determines how fast pollutants can get dispersed.

The ventilation index of around 6,000 sqm/second gets rid of pollutants, but it came down to 1,500 sqm/second on Tuesday in the city.

"The air quality is very poor and as expected, gradual increasing trend is noticed," SAFAR said.

"It is likely to remain very poor with a gradually increasing trend till Wednesday without any major episode and then likely to decline but continue to remain in very poor," it said.

"The surface wind speed further declined as compared to yesterday. All other meteorological factors are unfavourable and likely to remain so at least until tomorrow. 

The contribution from stubble biomass has almost seized," the SAFAR said.

Meanwhile, in order to combat air pollution, the Delhi government on Tuesday released the draft of Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2018 for public comments.

"About 30 per cent of particulate pollution in winter is caused by vehicles. A rapid adoption of zero-emission electric vehicles is therefore of great importance to Delhi. 
Recognising the need for a new approach to kick-start electric vehicle adoption, we have drafted a comprehensive Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy with an aim to make Delhi a leader in the adoption of electric vehicles. We believe that going electric and breathing better are two sides of the same coin," Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said in a statement.

Business Standard

Gender wage gap highest in India, women are paid 34% less than men: ILO

Gender-based disparity worst in India when it comes to daily wagers.

Women are paid the most unequally in India, compared to men, when it comes to hourly wages for labour. On average, women are paid 34 per cent less than men, a recent report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found. This gap in wages, known as the gender wage gap, is the highest among 73 countries studied in the report.

The trend holds true globally as well, but with lower levels of inequality among the sexes, where on average, hourly wages of women are 16 per cent less than those of men. Inequality is higher in monthly wages, with a gap of 22 per cent.

Overall, real wages grew just 1.8 per cent globally (136 countries) in 2017.

These findings are presented in the flagship publication of the ILO, the Global Wage Report 2018-19, which was released on November 26.

“In most countries, women and men differ significantly in respect of working time – specifically, that part-time work is more prevalent among women than among men,” the report said.

With empirical evidence that gender wage gap is visible even with women with higher levels of education, the report advocated that “emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring equal pay for women and men”.

This gender wage gap has remained unchanged at 20 per cent from 2016 to 2017. Women are paid higher hourly wages than men in Bangladesh.

But in 2017, the gender gap was accompanied by a near-stagnation in wages. Real wage growth has been the lowest since 2008, the year of the financial crisis.

In real terms (adjusted for price inflation), global wage growth declined to 1.8 per cent in 2017, from 2.4 per cent in 2016. The findings are based on the data from 136 countries.

In advanced economies (G20), real wage growth declined from 0.9 per cent in 2016 to 0.4 per cent in 2017, meaning near stagnation. By contrast, in emerging economies and developing G20 countries, real wage growth dipped marginally from 4.9 per cent in 2016 and 4.3 per cent in 2017.

This global stagnation in real wages comes in line with the global growth forecast, which was revised lower by the International Monetary Fund earlier.

The slowdown in wages at the level of hourly labour wages is in stark contrast with organised sector salaries.

Business Standard had reported earlier that salaries in the organised sector are rising faster than new job creation in the last few years.

The earlier reports had noted that gender pay gap increases with the average wage of enterprises: the higher the average wage, the wider the gender pay gap. The gap among chief executive officers was found to be about 40 per cent — twice as high as the overall gender pay gap, which is about 20 per cent.

Business Standard

Meet Zora, the robot companion, caregiver for elderly patients in France

The experience at Jouarre provides a window into a future when we will rely more on robots to help care for loved ones as they age.

This is Zora.

It may not look like much — more cute toy than futuristic marvel — but this robot is at the center of an experiment in France to change care for elderly patients.

When Zora arrived at this nursing facility an hour outside Paris, a strange thing began happening: Many patients developed an emotional attachment, treating it like a baby, holding and cooing, giving it kisses on the head.

Zora, which can cost up to $18,000, offered companionship in a place where life can be lonely. Families can visit only so much, and staff members are stretched.

Patients at the hospital, called Jouarre, have dementia and other conditions that require round-the-clock care.

The nurse at Jouarre who oversees Zora controls the robot from a laptop. He often stands out of view so patients don’t know it’s him at the controls.

The robot can have a conversation because the nurse types words into a laptop for the robot to speak. Some patients refer to Zora as “she,” others “he.”

Zora often leads exercises and plays games.

Not everyone is enamored.

Robotics still has a long way to go before there’s a realistic chance of having a humanoid nurse.

Zora doesn’t dispense medicine, take blood pressure or change bedsheets. At Jouarre, Zora was viewed by some as a superfluous tool that just “keeps the patients busy,” according to a nurse, Sophie Riffault.

Another nurse, Nathalie Racine, said she wouldn’t let a robot feed patients even if it could. Humans shouldn’t delegate such intimate moments to machines. “Nothing will ever replace the human touch, the human warmth our patients need,” she said.

The experience at Jouarre provides a window into a future when we will rely more on robots to help care for loved ones as they age.

Zora Bots, the Belgium-based provider of the robot at Jouarre, says it has sold over 1,000 of the robots to health care facilities around the world, including in the United States, Asia and Middle East. It is part of a growing emphasis on robotics focused on care. A robot dog made by Sony has been marketed as a companion for older adults.

“We need to help with loneliness,” said Tommy Deblieck, the co-chief executive of ZoraBots.

Giving robots more responsibility to care for people in the twilight of their lives may seem like a dystopian prospect, but many see it as an inevitability.

In nearly every country, the population of older adults is rising. The number of people over 60 will more than double to 2.1 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations.

Business Standard

KTM Duke 125cc with ABS launched in India at Rs 118,000: All details here

While baby duke is the most affordable offering from KTM's stable, it is also the most powerful as well as the most expensive 125cc in the Indian market.

The Austrian bike-maker KTM has finally unveiled the 125cc Duke in India at a price of Rs 118,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi), making it the most expensive offering in the the 125cc segment. Already popluar in the international market, the KTM 125 will be available at all the 450 KTM showrooms across India.

However, unlike the international edition which takes design cues from Duke 390, the Indian version of KTM Duke 125 shares its styling with the KTM Duke 200. The only visual difference between the 125cc and 200c Duke is the redesigned graphics while majority of the design stays the same.

The street-naked bike is powered by a 124.7cc single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, DOHC engine that produces a max power of 14.5hp at 9,250rpm and 12Nm of torque at 8,000rpm. The powertrain is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox but misses out on a slipper clutch. The new motorcycle also comes equipped with a single-channel ABS unit similar to the 200 Duke, making it the first 125cc motorcycle in India to feature ABS (a safety feature mandatory for all two-wheelers above 125cc capacity from April 1,2019).

The bike also borrows a trellis frame, 43mm USD fork and an adjustable monoshock from the 200cc Duke. All these features are available as standard and is a segment-first feature in the Indian market. The seat stands at a height of 818mm and the bike has a kerb weight of 148kg.

Interestingly the bike is more powerful than the Bajaj Pulsar 150. Bajaj Auto, which owns 49 per cent stake in KTM, is placing the product as an introductory bike to the world of racing. Speaking on the occasion Amit Nandi, President, Probiking at Bajaj Auto Ltd. said "KTMs are always about high performance, edgy design and a thrilling ride. The 125 Duke will be the new stepping stone into the KTM brand for riders starting out in the world of racing".

Altough there isn’t any direct rival to the new KTM motorcycle, the KTM 125 Duke competes with the likes of Yamaha R15 V3.0 (Rs 127,000), the Bajaj Pulsar NS200 (Rs 112,000) and TVS Apache RTR 200 4V ABS (Rs 111,000) in terms of pricing. (All prices mentioned are ex-showroom, Delhi).

Business Standard

Google AI plays safe, blocks gender-based pronouns like 'him' and 'her'

Google's technology will not suggest gender-based pronouns because the risk is too high that its 'Smart Compose' technology might predict someone's sex or gender identity incorrectly.

Alphabet Inc's Google in May introduced a slick feature for Gmail that automatically completes sentences for users as they type. Tap out "I love" and Gmail might propose "you" or "it." But users are out of luck if the object of their affection is "him" or "her."

Google's technology will not suggest gender-based pronouns because the risk is too high that its "Smart Compose" technology might predict someone's sex or gender identity incorrectly and offend users, product leaders revealed to Reuters in interviews.

Gmail product manager Paul Lambert said a company research scientist discovered the problem in January when he typed "I am meeting an investor next week," and Smart Compose suggested a possible follow-up question: "Do you want to meet him?" instead of "her."

Consumers have become accustomed to embarrassing gaffes from autocorrect on smartphones. But Google refused to take chances at a time when gender issues are reshaping politics and society, and critics are scrutinizing potential biases in artificial intelligence like never before.

"Not all 'screw ups' are equal," Lambert said. Gender is "a big, big thing" to get wrong.

Getting Smart Compose right could be good for business.

Demonstrating that Google understands the nuances of AI better than competitors is part of the company's strategy to build affinity for its brand and attract customers to its AI-powered cloud computing tools, advertising services and hardware.

Gmail has 1.5 billion users, and Lambert said Smart Compose assists on 11 per cent of messages worldwide sent from Gmail.com, where the feature first launched.

Smart Compose is an example of what AI developers call natural language generation (NLG), in which computers learn to write sentences by studying patterns and relationships between words in literature, emails and web pages.

A system shown billions of human sentences becomes adept at completing common phrases but is limited by generalities. Men have long dominated fields such as finance and science, for example, so the technology would conclude from the data that an investor or engineer is "he" or "him." The issue trips up nearly every major tech company.

Lambert said the Smart Compose team of about 15 engineers and designers tried several workarounds, but none proved bias-free or worthwhile. They decided the best solution was the strictest one: Limit coverage. The gendered pronoun ban affects fewer than 1 per cent of cases where Smart Compose would propose something, Lambert said.

"The only reliable technique we have is to be conservative," said Prabhakar Raghavan, who oversaw engineering of Gmail and other services until a recent promotion.... Read More

Business Standard

Come January, Toyota cars across the board will cost you up to 4% more

There has been an impact in the cost of manufacturing of vehicle primarily due to rupee depreciation.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Tuesday said it will increase prices of its vehicles across models by up to 4 per cent from January 1, 2019, to offset increasing manufacturing costs due to rupee depreciation.

The company considered the price hike after periodically reviewing the continuous pressure of increasing manufacturing costs, which is also a general industry phenomenon, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said in a statement.

There has been an impact in the cost of manufacturing of vehicle primarily due to rupee depreciation," the company said.

Toyota has been absorbing the additional costs all this while, protecting the customers from price increase, it added.

"However, due to the continued pressure of high costs, we have to pass on a part of it to customers. Toyota is considering a price increase of up to 4 per cent across models with effect from January 1, 2019," it said.

The company currently sells a range of vehicles starting from hatchback Liva to luxury SUV Land Cruiser, which are priced between Rs 525,000 and Rs 14.1 million.

Business Standard

After chilli attack, cleric held with live bullets at Kejriwal's residence

A live cartridge of .32 bore was recovered from his purse by security staff deputed at Kejriwal's residence.

A 39-year-old man, who was going to meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his residence here, was arrested after a bullet was found in his purse during frisking, police said Tuesday.

Mohammad Imran, a caretaker of a mosque in Karol Bagh and resident of Seelampur locality, was arrested when he was going to attend a Janta Darbar (public meeting) at the chief minister's residence on Monday, they said.

He is a maujjim at the Masjid Bawli Wali.

Last week, a man threw chilli powder at Kejriwal inside the Delhi Secretariat.

Imran had come to meet the chief minister at the Janta Darbar around 11:15 am, a senior police officer said.

He had come with 12 imams and maulvis to discuss the issue of increasing salary of staff working at the Delhi Waqf Board, he said.

During the search, a live cartridge of .32 bore was recovered from his purse by security staff deputed at Kejriwal's residence, the officer said.

Imran was handed over to the local police and accordingly, a case was registered at the Civil Lines police station under relevant sections of the Arms Act, he said.

During interrogation, Imran said he was a maujjin at Masjid Bawli Wali in Karol Bagh and two to three months ago, he found a cartridge in the mosque's donation box. He said he had planed to throw it in the Yamuna river but did not do so and kept it in his purse, the officer said.

Business Standard

How Indians are turning to WhatsApp to talk about food, culinary traditions

The application, blamed for all kinds of mayhem on the subcontinent, has proved a boon for farmers, home cooks and chefs who once lacked a way to share.

Anil Bandawane, a farmer living outside Pune, India, was fed up with the poor advice he was getting from the government’s national hotline for agricultural queries. Life as a farmer in India can be isolating, and he felt cut off from his peers.

So he started a WhatsApp group called Baliraja (which roughly means “farmer king” in the Marathi language). The group, which allows his fellow farmers across the country to exchange expertise and support on the popular messaging platform, gained so much traction that Mr. Bandawane has created more than a dozen different subgroups for various districts.

To the south, in the state of Kerala, Bharathy Gopalakrishnan, a stay-at-home mother, wanted to make a little money from some leftover red-velvet cupcakes. That idea turned into PB Kitchen, a WhatsApp group she founded to allow the women in her apartment complex to buy and sell one another’s homemade dishes, from sambars and vadas to burgers and cakes.

Around the same time, Krishna Prasad, the director of an organic-agriculture advocacy group, and Abhishek Naik, a scientist, were looking for a way to share healthy recipes and information about organic food. So they created a group a WhatsApp group, Anna Arogya (“food for good health” in Kannada).

It has been three years since India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, started Digital India, an initiative to increase internet connectivity across the country, especially in rural areas. WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, has become the medium of choice: It is free, requires only an internet connection, and often comes installed on new phones. As a result, India now has more users of the application — over 200 million, or one in six Indians — than any other country, a WhatsApp spokeswoman said.

That saturation has often led to misuse: Various groups have deployed WhatsApp to spread false news, incite mob violence and manipulate votes during elections in India and other nations.

But among Indians who produce, cook or care about food, the service has been a godsend. In a country where culinary traditions are often spoken but not written, WhatsApp has provided an open, democratic forum where Indians can share and codify their knowledge and skills, in new ways, and even profit from them.

“One of the problems with documenting Indian food is that the people who prepare it” — mainly homemakers, farmers and young cooks — “tend to be less empowered and less formally educated,” said Vikram Doctor, 51, a journalist in Mumbai. “They just don’t document. They are not comfortable using a computer or blogging, or people just don’t ask them.”

WhatsApp’s interface is simple and unfussy, with easy-to-navigate tabs for messages and calls. Aysha Tanya, 29, a founder of the food and culture publication The Goya Journal, said she uses WhatsApp to get recipes from her mother, because it’s the only digital platform that people her mother’s age feel confident using.

Business Standard

Nasa's InSight mission lands on Mars to explore its deep interior: See pics

'Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history,' NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in his statement.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) InSight mission has finally touched down on the red planet on Monday (local time; around 1 p.m. of November 27 IST) after seven months of traveling through space.

CNN reported that a few minutes after landing, the InSight lander sent an official "beep" to NASA signaling its clear landing, including a photo of the Martian surface where it landed. The Mission Control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory celebrated the touchdown of the lander through a great applause after the landing was confirmed.

"Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in his statement.

"InSight will study the interior of Mars and will teach us valuable science as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars. This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners, and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The best of NASA is yet to come, and it is coming soon," CNN quoted Bridenstine as saying.

InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is the first outer space robotic explorer and will study the crust, mantle, and core of the fourth planet in our solar system.

The lander, launched on May 5, 2018, from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and took a six-month cruise from Earth to Mars ever since, is NASA's first spacecraft to land on Mars since Curiosity.

"We've studied Mars from orbit and from the surface since 1965, learning about its weather, atmosphere, geology and surface chemistry," said Lori Glaze, acting director of the Planetary Science Division in NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

"Now we finally will explore inside Mars and deepen our understanding of our terrestrial neighbor as NASA prepares to send human explorers deeper into the solar system," Glaze further added.

CNN quoted NASA saying that InSight slowed from 12,300 mph to 5 mph before it gently landed on the surface of Mars.

It has a parachute and retro rockets to slow its descent through the atmosphere, and three legs suspended from the lander absorbed the shock of touching down on the surface. But the scientists at the same time also prepared the spacecraft to land during a dust storm if need be.

About 20 minutes before landing, InSight separated from the cruise stage that helped bring it all the way to Mars and turned to position itself for entering the atmosphere.

Business Standard