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[00:00:08] Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host Deepa Soman and these are the major news stories of Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025. Several people were killed and many injured in a stampede at the Mahakum Mela Sangam area of Prayagraj today morning. The incident happened while crores of pilgrims were on the way to take a holly dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. No official figures of death or injury were announced till we recorded this podcast.
[00:00:38] While various Akharas had decided against having the SNAN ritual early today, it resumed in the afternoon. ISRO marked its 100th mission on Wednesday with the successful launch of the GSLV F-15 rocket carrying the navigation satellite NVS-02 from Sriharikota. The mission is also the first under ISRO chairman V. Narayanan, who recently took charge and marks the agency's maiden launch of the year.
[00:01:04] At exactly 6.23am, following a 27-hour, 30-minute countdown, the 50.9-metre-tall rocket brought to life, ascending from the second launch pad.
[00:01:15] According to ISRO, the satellite's key applications include terrestrial, aerial and maritime navigation, precision agriculture, fleet management, location-based services in mobile devices, satellite orbit determination, IoT-based applications, emergency services and timing solutions. US officials are reviewing the national security risk of a major AI breakthrough by Chinese form DeepSeq.
[00:01:43] The US Navy has already banned its members from using DeepSeq's apps, citing security and ethical concerns. Meanwhile, OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has pledged to work with the US government to protect its technology from rivals. As per reports, DeepSeq's affordable AI model has also shaken US tech stocks as investors question the massive spending on AI infrastructure.
[00:02:09] US President Donald Trump is offering buyouts to nearly all federal workers who don't want to return to the office. This is aiming to shrink the government to cut costs and reduce bureaucracy. In an email sent on Tuesday, employees were told to decide by February 6th if they wanted to join a deferred resignation program. Those who leave by the deadline would get about eight months of salary as severance.
[00:02:33] The administration expects around 10% of workers, which is about 200,000 out of 2 million to take the offer as per reports. The Haryana government has decided to sue AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for his allegation that the state's ruling BJP was mixing poison into Yamuna water. Kejriwal alleged earlier through a post on X that BJP is trying to keep the people of Delhi thirsty as it indulges in dirty politics.
[00:03:03] Haryana Chief Minister Nayib Singh Saini slammed Kejriwal, saying it was the latter's habit to level baseless allegations and blame others. That brings us to the end of this episode. Thanks for listening to Daily News Dows, hosted by me, Deepa Suman and produced by Kannan V. Follow on Manorama.com for detailed updates on the latest news and be sure to come back tomorrow.