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Social media giant Meta has offered to pay up to $5,000 (£4,040) to popular creators in the United States who join Facebook and Instagram.

It says those joining from “third-party social apps” will get cash based on “an evaluation of your social presence”.

Though it does not mention TikTok by name, the timing would suggest Meta is attempting to capitalise on the uncertainty surrounding its rival, as questions swirl about whether President Trump can find a way of preserving it for US users.

TikTok says it has 170 million users in the US – with many of them relying on it for their livelihoods – meaning lots of people would be seeking an alternative place to post if the platform disappeared.

Meta says on its website that those accepted into the so-called “Breakthrough bonus programme” will be paid the money during their first 90 days on the app, so long as they post regularly.

Users must post at least 20 reels on Facebook and 10 reels on Instagram – Meta’s version of vertical TikTok videos – during each 30-day period.

It also dictates that these must be original videos, rather than those previously shared on other platforms.

But not everyone can join – the cash will only be available to those people who are completely new to either Facebook or Instagram.

And the firm will seemingly decide who to accept on a case-by-case basis, as people must apply to be accepted onto the programme.

It is also offering other perks, such as a free subscription to its blue check verification system.

This is not the first move by Meta to go after ByteDance’s users.

On Sunday, the firm announced Edits, an app strikingly similar to ByteDance’s CapCut – a video editing app which went offline when the ByteDance ban took effect that same day.

And two days earlier, Meta posted a video in which two creators discussed Facebook’s “new affiliate link experience for your shoppable content” – in other words Meta’s attempt to build its own version of the highly successful TikTok Shop.

In the new system, Meta users will be able to add prominent affiliate links directly on their videos – rather than in the comments – exactly how it works on TikTok.

But that’s not all the changes Meta has made – and perhaps the most visually significant is a direct change to how Instagram looks.

Rather than posts and videos being square on user profiles, they are now rectangular – again, clearly taking inspiration from TikTok.

This has led to some backlash from creators frustrated that their profiles now look different, and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said he was aware of the criticisms.

“One of the mistakes I made was not giving people enough of a heads up,” he said in a post on Threads – a platform which was itself launched by Meta in attempt to capitalise on the turbulence at Twitter, now X.

The model of the Gaganyaan crew module, a spacecraft that will carry a crew of three astronauts into orbit and back to Earth displayed at HAL stall. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO has dispatched the Crew Module for the first uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan (G1) after successfully completing the integration of the liquid propulsion system, the space agency said on Wednesday (January 22, 2025).

Gaganyaan will be ISRO’s first attempt to acquire human spaceflight capabilities. Before sending the crew, the ISRO is planning to send uncrewed mission to the space under its Gaganyaan project.

“On 21 January 2025, the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of ISRO dispatched the Crew Module for the first uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan (G1), after successfully completing the integration of the liquid propulsion system,” ISRO said in a statement.

LPSC, Bengaluru has dispatched the module to Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, officials said.

According to the space agency, the Crew Module Propulsion System (CMPS) is a bi-propellant based Reaction Control System (RCS) and is meant for precise three axis control namely Pitch, Yaw and Roll, of crew module.

The control will be initiated following separation of service module during the descent and re-entry phase until the deployment of parachute-based deceleration system.

“This system employs 12 100N thrusters, pressurisation system with high pressure gas bottles and the propellant feed system along with the associated fluid control components,” ISRO said.

A 100 N thrusters are rocket motors, which are used in spacecraft for propulsion, ISRO officials said.

The Crew Module Uprighting System (CMUS) designed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) was also integrated to the module at LPSC, the agency said.

It further said that the Crew Module will also undergo further integration operations including avionics package assembly, electrical harnessing and checks at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) before getting dispatched to U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru for the final phase of integration of the Orbital Module.

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The story so far: On January 2, Madhya Pradesh government authorities moved 358 tonnes of hazardous waste from the defunct Union Carbide facility in Bhopal to the Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district. On December 3 last year, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had set a four-week deadline for authorities to dispose of this waste, nearly 40 years after the gas disaster that killed more than 4,000 people and injured or debilitated thousands more.

What is the waste’s status?

The disaster on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, was the result of poisonous gases leaking from the plant, which Union Carbide had set up to manufacture fertilisers. The waste at the facility is composed of the ingredients required to make these fertilisers.

After years of lying in Bhopal and multiple petitions from civil society groups, the Madhya Pradesh government was to incinerate the waste at a treatment, storage, and disposal facility (TSDF) in Pithampur more than 200 km away. Officials arranged for the waste to be packaged and labelled according to the Hazardous Waste Management Rules and transported in secure long-haul containers.

But protests in the industrial town by a local population fearful of harmful emissions from the incineration have paused the State’s plans.

On January 6, 2025, the Madhya Pradesh High Court gave the State government six weeks to safely dispose of the waste. The order came after State authorities had also sought time to spread awareness about the manner of disposal and measures to minimise its effects on health and the environment.

The Central government has allocated ₹126 crore to the State to incinerate the waste and deposit the residue in the TSDF landfill.

Why Pithampur?

In 2007, the Madhya Pradesh government had attempted to dispose of some of the waste at an incinerator-equipped TSDF in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, but the facility declined.

Five years later, the Supreme Court selected the Pithampur facility as being the most suitable final destination for the waste. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), this is the sole TSDF in the State and also includes a landfill and an incinerator.

The CPCB followed up with an affidavit to the apex court in 2013 attesting to the Pithampur TSDF’s ability to ‘handle’ the waste from the Union Carbide plant.

The year after — a decade ago now — Madhya Pradesh organised a ‘trial run’ during which it incinerated 10,157 kg of the waste at the TSDF, then operated by the Ramky Group. The CPCB monitored the process with help from experts from private laboratories in Chennai and Hyderabad. Notably, the State had secretly advanced the incineration date by a few days to sidestep local resistance.

According to Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department director Swatantra Kumar Singh, the emissions from the trial were under stipulated limits. The State’s public relations office also reported no adverse effects on the environment or on public health. The implication was that the rest of the waste could be incinerated and disposed of in the same way.

Is the waste harmful?

The ‘trial’ waste consisted of 4.8 tonnes of excavated waste, 1.6 tonnes of semi-processed residue, 1.3 tonnes of naphthol waste, 1.3 tonnes of carbaryl residue, and 0.8 tonnes of reactor residue. The State said it had rationed the mass of each waste type according to their relative abundance at the plant. Naphthol is 1-naphthol, a precursor compound in the manufacture of carbaryl, the insecticide the plant was built to make.

According to a December 2024 press release from the State’s public relations office, the Regional Director (Central) of CPCB Bhopal had collected and tested five water samples from around the Pithampur TSDF. The report (numbered WW24.25-188.189) indicated the water colour, chloride, sulphate, and fluoride concentrations, hardness, and the amount of total dissolved solids “exceeded permissible limits” specified in the IS 10500 standard in two open wells near the landfill.

However, the release said “scientists involved in the analysis” said the higher values “generally reflect groundwater quality and don’t appear to be linked to the TSDF operations”.

The release also responded to an unspecified media report that it said had claimed people in villages around the TSDF had elevated levels of skin diseases. Experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhopal and the Indian Council of Medical Research reportedly surveyed 12 villages and found the prevalence of skin and respiratory ailments here to be lower than the national average.

Credible media reports in 2015 had said around four-times as much ash and residue as the waste combusted (by mass) had been generated and which the CPCB had said it would dispose of in the landfill, including protections to prevent leachates from escaping into the soil.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said composite liners at landfills with hazardous waste will degrade and have to be reinstalled at periodic intervals.

What next?

The Madhya Pradesh government has temporarily put off incinerating the waste. Authorities have said the local protests, including two attempts at self-immolation, mean they would first like to improve public confidence in the safety of the disposal process.

On January 4, as protesters pelted stones at the TSDF, rumours swirled that a truck carrying waste had disappeared. The police subsequently arrested three people.

“We are preparing 50-odd master trainers, including science teachers, professors, and officials,” Dhar collector Priyank Mishra was quoted as saying. “They will be informed about the exact status of the waste before they reach out to people to dispel misinformation.”

There will also be another trial run: a batch of 90 kg will be incinerated at 1,200º C, Mr. Singh said. According to the EPA, most organic compounds (like 1-naphthol) are destroyed when subjected to 590-650º C. Operating hazardous waste incinerators at 980-1,200º C could thus strip the waste of organics.

If the resulting emissions don’t breach legal thresholds, the rest will be incinerated in batches of 270 kg each over three months. If the emissions exceed, Mr. Singh had told The Hindu the batch size would be reduced and the duration extended to nine months.

The next hearing in the High Court is set for February 18.

With inputs from Mehul Malpani.

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Vikas engine successfully underwent the first throttling demonstration hot test. The test demonstrated a targeted 67% thrust level throttling for a duration of 43 s. Throttlable liquid engines in launch vehicles facilitate booster stage recovery. Photo: X/@isro

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully carried out a demonstration of restarting its Vikas liquid engine at a test facility at Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri, the space agency said on Saturday (January 18, 2025).

The space agency said the Vikas engine is the workhorse that powers the liquid stages of its launch vehicles.

This test on January 17 marks a milestone in the development of technologies for recovery of stages, leading to reusability in future launch vehicles, according to an ISRO statement.

A series of tests are being carried out to validate the restarting of the engine under different conditions.

“In this test, the engine was fired for 60 seconds after which it was shut-off for a period of 120 seconds followed by restart and firing for seven seconds duration. All engine parameters during the test were normal and as expected,” the ISRO said.

Previously, a shorter duration restart was carried out successfully in December 2024 with a shut-off time of 42 seconds and firing duration of seven seconds each.

Further tests are planned in coming days to optimise the performance of the engine under restart conditions, the statement read.

Also, ISRO Chairperson V Narayanan flagged off the core liquid stage (L110) of ISRO’s LVM3 launch vehicle on Friday to the launch complex at Sriharikota.

The stage was designed and developed by Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) during the development of the LVM3 launch vehicle and is powered by twin Vikas engines with a propellant loading of 110 tonnes, the ISRO said.

“This stage is the tenth L110 liquid stage integrated at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri and is earmarked for the LVM3 mission under a commercial agreement between NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and AST SpaceMobile & Science, LLC to launch their BlueBird Block 2 satellite,” the agency said in a statement.