A model of the BeiDou Satellite Navigation System is displayed at the 12th China International Aviation and Space Exhibition in Zhuhai city, Guangdong province. (Photo: AP) Citing Yang Jun, deputy director of the China Satellite Navigation Office at a conference, Xinhua News Agency said that the country’s satellite navigation industry is worth more than 400 billion yuan in 2020, growing at a steady rate 20% year. China officially commissioned the Beidou 3 (BDS) system last July at a commemorative event attended by President Xi Jinping. As Beijing continues to invest in becoming a space power, Beidou is expected to be able to rival the GPS of the US and the Galileo of Europe. Launched in 1994, China’s Beidou project arose from the military’s need for its own satellite navigation system, replacing the US Department of Defense’s GPS. In particular, in 1996, a serious incident occurred when the Chinese military lost track of two missiles in the Taiwan Strait, possibly due to sudden GPS interruption. Since then, Beijing has invested heavily in Beidou to ensure an independent and stable satellite navigation system to guide missiles and bombs. The first BeiDou satellites were launched in 2000 and are now in their third generation, and are also commercially available. China actively promotes the use of BDS in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in the Belt and Road Initiative countries. Beidou-related products are exported to more than 120 countries and regions, serving about 100 million users globally, according to Xinhua. BeiDou features are integrated in many popular smartphones. As a two-way communication system, Bac Dau allows compatible devices to send data to satellites, exchange text messages between two users, and track location in case of emergencies. Domestically, more than 7 million personal vehicles, 36,300 delivery and postal vehicles, 1,400 state-owned ships and 350 aircraft are using BDS. However, BDS also has its shortcomings. Last month, a truck driver in Hubei committed suicide after he was fined 2,000 yuan (US$305) because the vehicle’s BDS system was found to be disconnected during a routine inspection. Other drivers also filed complaints on the Hubei government website for similar disconnection problems. Du Lam (According to SCMP)

This is one of the deadliest accidents in Chinese sports history. The incident caused public outrage because of the poor management of the Baiyin city government. Rescuers had to walk up the mountainside to search for victims. Photo: Xinhua News Agency. Terrible moment The athletes departed on the morning of May 22 from the Yellow River Stone Forest Park, Baiyin City. This is an annual event organized by the authorities of Canh Thai district and Bach Ngan city to develop rural areas and promote healthy lifestyles. Nearly 10,000 people registered for this year’s event. Participants are divided into three categories: beginner, 21 km cross country and 100 km cross country. The bad weather occurred around 1 p.m., when the runners climbed 2,000 meters in the 20-31 km stage of the race, according to Xinhua News Agency. Participating athletes wear only shorts and t-shirts. Therefore, these people have little ability to protect the body from the low temperature of the surrounding environment. When witnessing some athletes having trouble, the organizers canceled the event and deployed rescue. At that time, some people had hypothermia. Some others passed out from being too cold. A total of 21 people were killed and 151 were rescued. In an interview with SCMP , one survivor said there was no forecast of severe weather. The cold also exacerbates the challenges of the mountainous terrain. The athletes departed on the morning of May 22. Photo: Weibo/Xinhua News Agency. This person said he still tries to run when the weather turns bad. On the way, he witnessed people fall one by one, even experienced athletes. Before the contest started, the organizers asked each person to contribute 1,600 yuan (US$248) to register. That’s when he decided to join. “Now, every time I recall that thought, I just want to slap myself,” he wrote in a social media post. He said that in one part of the competition, the contestants had to run uphill for a distance of 8 km. The road surface is covered with rocks and mud while the sky is cloudy, strong winds, heavy rain and limited visibility. “From this point on, there is only one way up, no one down. Motorcycles can’t get on that road, so there’s no food or water,” he wrote. “I was completely drenched and could barely stand. I tried to find a hiding spot and tried to warm myself up with a flimsy thermal blanket, but was immediately blown away by the wind. I saw other people’s blankets torn to pieces by the wind.” Another athlete said he couldn’t feel his fingers. “I put my fingers in my mouth to warm it up but I still can’t feel anything. Even my tongue feels frozen,” he said. “That’s when I decided to give up and run downhill because I realized it was hypothermia. It was wise and fortunate that I made that decision.” He also saw many other contestants pass out on the way down. However, he did not have the strength to help others. It is difficult to track other athletes because the GPS signal is very poor. In addition to hypothermia, some athletes also cut their hands and fall. Late regret According to the Xinhua News Agency , rescue efforts were hampered by high altitude and bad weather. Among the dead were Luong Tinh and Hoang Quan Quan. These are two of China’s top long-distance runners. Luong Tinh won China’s Ultra Gobi in 2018 and finished second in the Hong Kong 100 super-trail race in 2019. Meanwhile, Hoang Quan Quan is the Olympic marathon champion. Paralympic Paralympics 2019 in Dubai. Yellowstone Forest Park, where the tragedy happened. Photo: Handout. Zhang Xuchen, the chairman of Baiyin City, bowed his head to apologize to the victims’ families. “This is an unexpected incident due to the sudden change in the weather in the area. As an event organizer, we are extremely sorry and regretful. We apologize and offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the injured athletes,” he said. The Gansu provincial government has set up a task force to monitor the investigation. In a comment, state broadcaster CCTV insisted extreme sports should be carefully organized to avoid such a rare and devastating tragedy. Marathons and ultra-long distance running have become popular in China in recent years, attracting participation from the country’s growing middle class. Races are held in remote areas with huge prize money to attract participants. The governments of regions in western China such as Yunnan, Gansu and Sichuan have set aside funds to organize running competitions to attract and develop tourism.

A stream of Chinese people wearing raincoats stood on both sides of the road while a convoy carried the body of Yuan Longping from the hospital to the funeral home in Trường Sa, Hunan province on May 22. Photo: Xinhua Special Citizens The passing of Mr. Yuan Longping – a special citizen of China in the early afternoon yesterday (May 22, 2021) attracted the attention of the world’s media because he was the father of various breeds. hybrid rice with high yield, contributing to feed nearly 1/5 of the world’s population and making a great contribution to global food security. Mr. Yuan Longping was awarded the highest honor of the Republic of China. He was also the one who lit the torch to open the 2008 Beijing Olympic event. Photo: Chinadaily Sheet The Straits Times of Singapore writes: Today how to feed more than 1.4 billion mouths in the world’s second-largest economy remains a major task for Chinese policymakers. Especially in light of consumer demand for more foods and global tensions impacting grain trade. At the end of last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping still called on the country to maintain the “sense of a crisis in food security”, and asked local governments to launch related campaigns and campaigns. Restaurants increase penalties for food waste. By 2020, the hybrid rice developed by Mr. Vien Long Binh’s team continues to break records, reaching 1,500 kg/mu (about 22.5 tons/ha) in two growing seasons, marking a new world record. According to the sheet Washington Post, Worldwide, one-fifth of the total rice yield today comes from varieties created by the father of hybrid rice Vien Long Binh. In June 2020, Mr. Vien’s research team embarked on a trial planting of hybrid rice in a field 2,800 meters above sea level in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, northwest China. The last time agronomist Vien Long Binh appeared in the field was in March of this year when he went to check the field of hybrid rice in Hainan Island and he was repeatedly hospitalized until his death yesterday. . Honoring the people who are attached to rice all their lives Associated Xinhua News Agency Beijing may fly its flag at half-mast to honor Mr. Yuan’s great contributions to Chinese agriculture. Previously, on September 29, 2019, just before the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Yuan was awarded the “Order of the Republic”, the highest honor in the country. country for its outstanding contribution to the food security, agriculture of China, as well as the world. Young Chinese people holding flowers wait in line to reserve the place where Mr. Vien Long Binh’s funeral will be held. Photo: Xinhua Mr. Yuan Longping was born in 1930 in Beijing, graduated from Southwest Agricultural College in 1953. Not long after a severe nationwide famine in the 1960s, the young scientist was determined to research how to increase the production of rice, a staple food for more than 60% of the Chinese people. And then he began a special lifelong relationship with rice. Mr. Vien Long Binh has achieved many achievements in research and production of the world’s first high-yielding hybrid rice varieties since 1973, which can achieve yields above 500 kg/mu (about 0.067 ha), compared to with the previous only 300 kg/mu. Over the next four decades, Mr. Vien led his students to continue researching and developing hybrid rice varieties with increasing yields. In 1996, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China officially established the breeding program of super hybrid rice. And just four years later, the first phase of the target reached 10.5 tons/ha. This record was broken three more times when it increased to 12 tons in 2004, 13.5 tons in 2011 and 15 tons/ha in 2014. Not only stopping at mainland China, Mr. Vien’s hybrid rice during this period was widely grown in more than 40 countries, including the US, Brazil, India, Vietnam, the Philippines and Madagascar. According to the Xinhua News Agency , the total area of ​​hybrid rice has reached 8 million hectares abroad thanks to the contributions of Mr. Vien and his associates who have worked with dozens of countries around the world to solve the problems of food security as well as the situation of poor people. Malnutrition.

Mr. Vien Long Binh – who is known as the father of hybrid rice in China. The father of hybrid rice Vien Long Binh died in Trường Sa city, capital of Hunan province, China due to old age and serious illness, Xinhua news agency reported. Mr. Vien was born in 1930. He led Chinese agricultural scientists to increase rice yield from 300 kg/acre to over 1,000 kg/acre. Each Chinese acre is equivalent to 666.6m2. This achievement of Mr. Vien and his associates is considered as the key to helping China solve the food security problem for more than a billion people in this country. Hybrid rice later appeared in dozens of countries in Africa, America and Asia, yielding higher yields than traditional rice. China has named four celestial bodies in outer space after Mr. Yuan Longping was once awarded the “Order of the Republic of the Nation”, the highest honor that China bestows on an individual. During his lifetime, Mr. Vien was famous for requiring that all doctors he trained or worked at the unit had to go to the fields. He himself, at the age of 88, still spends at least 5 hours a day in the fields. “Computers are very important, books are very important, but books can’t grow wet rice, can’t grow wheat. We now have a number of PhDs who are heavy on theory, but ignore practice, understand it. A lot of knowledge from books, but without practice, nothing can be done,” said Mr. Vien. Mr. Vien predicts that taking advantage of biotechnology to breed agricultural crops is the development orientation and inevitable trend in the future. Regarding food from genetically modified technology, Mr. Vien said it is necessary to have a cautious attitude, not to deny it completely.

Mount Everest. Photo: Reuters Camping sites on the slopes of Mount Everest on the Nepal side have been affected by a series of COVID-19 cases since late April. The Nepal government, not wanting to cut off revenue from tourism, has yet to cancel the spring climbing season, which usually runs from April to early June, before the rainy season. According to the Xinhua News Agency , a group of Tibetan climbing guides will climb Everest and set up a “boundary” to prevent any contact between climbers from both sides. It is not clear how the divider will be set up on Mount Everest – which is only the size of a dining table, and has an extremely harsh climate. And it’s not clear whether the Tibetan guides will just put up a fence, or have to stay in the area of ​​Mount Everest to keep the divider. This is known as the “death zone”, where many people died due to lack of oxygen. According to the Reuters , the 8,848m high peak is just a small snow mound, with just enough space for about 5-6 climbers and guides. China has not allowed any foreign climbers to climb Everest from the Tibetan side since the COVID-19 outbreak last year. China on Sunday recorded 12 new COVID-19 cases, all imported cases. Meanwhile, Nepal reported 9,023 new cases on Friday – a record increase in the country.

Chinese people watch the rocket that sent the Tianwen-1 probe into space. Photo: AP The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on May 15 that the Tianwen-1 (Tianwen-1) probe had successfully landed on the surface of the “Red Planet”. “China has left its footprints on Mars for the first time, an important step for our field of space exploration,” Xinhua news agency said. The New York Times reported that since 1976, the US has successfully landed on Mars nine times. The Soviet Union in 1971 became the first country to send a lander to the surface of the Red Planet, but the mission was unsuccessful because the probe then stopped transmitting. Recently, China has continuously recorded new space science achievements. On the morning of April 29, China launched the first module to build its own Space Station (CSS). It seems that to catch up with the US and Russia, China’s ambitions do not stop at Mars and the space station. Moon Dream In January 2019, China was the first country to land a probe on the dark side of the Moon. The dark side can be understood as the night side of the Moon while the other side is observable from Earth due to receiving sunlight and is the day side. This is China’s second successful landing on the lunar surface, the first being in 2013. China is the third country in the world to successfully explore the Moon, after the US and Russia. In December 2020, China sent another probe to the Moon, which is Chang’e-5. On December 16, 2020, the Chang’e-5 spacecraft landed in Inner Mongolia carrying samples from the lunar surface. This is the first time scientists have collected samples from the lunar surface, after the Soviet Luna-24 mission in 1976. Moon samples brought back by Chang’e-5 are on display at the National Museum of China in Beijing. Photo: Getty Images China plans to launch three more spacecraft to the Moon by 2027. Beijing’s goal is to establish a base on the Moon that can be accessed by astronauts within the next decade. In March, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said it would cooperate with China in building a research station on the Moon. However, the two countries have yet to announce the details of this coordination plan. Serious competition The fragmentation of China’s Long March 5B missile falling into the Indian Ocean in May has drawn much criticism from international public opinion. In April, this Long March 5B rocket sent the core module into space to build China’s first space station. In the near future, China plans to carry out 11 more launches to complete the space station by the end of 2022. The International Space Station (ISS) jointly developed by Russia, the US and many countries will “retire” in 2024. It is still unclear what will happen next. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) advocates keeping the ISS operational for a few more years. Russia meanwhile announced it would withdraw from 2025. In the event that the ISS is completely shut down, China will be the only country that owns the space station. Accordingly, the Chinese space station named Thien Cung is expected to be able to host three astronauts operating at the same time. China has selected a team of 18 astronauts, including only one woman. The first three astronauts are expected to spend three months in space. Mars and more Model of China’s first space station. Photo: AP China announced that it plans to make one more Mars landing by 2028 and bring samples from the planet back to Earth for study. NASA and the European Space Agency are also embarking on this work in the hope that the US Perseverance probe, which landed on Mars in February, can bring soil and rock from Mars to Earth by 2031. This is said to be more likely to lead to a race between the parties. China also plans to take 10 years to collect samples from the comet. In addition, the country also intends to set up spacecraft to orbit around Venus and Jupiter. By 2024, China plans to launch a space telescope like the US Hubble, which has been in orbit since 1990. On China Space Day (April 24), President Xi Jinping wrote a letter to senior space scientists, encouraging them to “intensify and expand space exploration and rapidly quickly turn China into a space power.