Max Verstappen Becomes Youngest Formula 1
Winner
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen from Netherlands became the youngest
winner in F1 history as he won the Spanish F1 title at Barcelona on 15 May
2016. He was able to win the Spanish Grand Prix by maintaining lead position
after Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Roseberg crashed into each
other in the 1st lap of race.
India Successfully Test-Fires Advanced
Interceptor Missile
Indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor
missile, Ashwin was successfully test fired on 15 May 2016. It was launched
from the complex of Abdul Kalam Island (formerly known as Wheeler Island) off
Odisha coast. The test was the twelfth test of interceptor missiles fired from
a warship in the Bay of Bengal. Of the 11 tests held earlier, 9 were
successful. The advanced version of low altitude supersonic ballistic
interceptor missile was fired at a ballistic missile, a modified version of
Prithvi weapon system. It was test fired to validate various parameters of the
interceptor in flight mode. Ashwin is capable of destroying any incoming hostile
ballistic missile. Indigenously developed by DRDO, the ADD interceptor missile
is a 7.5-meter long single-stage solid rocket propelled guided missile equipped
with a navigation system, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical
activator. It weighs around 1.2 tonnes and has a diameter of less than 0.5
meter.
China Launches Yaogan-30 Remote Sensing
Satellite
China has successfully launched Yaogan-30 remote-sensing satellite
into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) using the Long March-2D rocket. The rocket was
launched on 15 May from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in Gobi desert
in northwest China’s Gansu Province. It was the 227th flight of the Long March
rocket series and was also the second orbital launch from the Jiuquan Satellite
launch Center in 2016. The Yaogan-30 satellite was built by the China Academy
of Space Technology (CAST). It is part of second generation of the Yaogan
series inaugurated in 2008. The first Yaogan satellite was launched in 2006.
International Day of Families Observed On 15
May
International Day of Families was observed on 15 May 2016 with
theme ‘Families, healthy lives and sustainable future’. The day provides an
opportunity to promote awareness of issues related to families and to increase
knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.
It highlights different areas of interest and importance of families. The
Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 and reflects the
importance the international community attaches to families. On this day,
a series of awareness-raising events like and conferences, radio and television
programmes, newspaper articles and cultural programmes related to theme
is held in different part of the world.
