Word: probing
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...Chinese intellectual life has also improved, although over time this remains one of the real dark spots of Chinese communist rule. For six decades intellectuals have been persecuted, harassed and forced to conform and create within various boundaries set by the state. They continually probe the boundaries - until the state pushes back. Despite continuing controls, public and private discourse in China has never been so free. The blogosphere and Internet are alive with unbridled discussion - unless and until it crosses the state censor's invisible hand. (Read "Avoiding Censors, Chinese Authors Go Online...
...1960s, the Bangalore-based organization's very existence was questioned by critics - both inside and outside India - who said a poor country should worry about feeding hungry millions before firing rockets into space. Last month, there were allegations of incompetence after India's first-ever lunar probe, Chandrayaan-I, was lost when its communications system shut down. So this week's announcement that the same probe, fitted with a NASA research instrument, had found water on the surface of the moon (and managed to send the data back to earth before losing contact) was a welcome reason to cheer...
Chandrayaan-I was launched last October; the ISRO lost contact with it in late August. At the time, critics questioned the program's worth and the need for future missions. But ISRO scientists say they simply underestimated the radiation levels the probe and its communication system would face, problems they will now fix. The water discovery was vindication that they had got a lot right and the hiccup, said chairman Nair last week, was all part of a normal learning curve. The ISRO, Nair told reporters, is "100% satisfied with the mission's objectives." (See the top 50 space moments...
...botched the case when it showed a picture of Najibullah Zazi, the Denver shuttle-bus driver at the heart of the investigation, to Ahmed Afzali, a Queens Imam and sometime police informant. Afzali, the reports say, first called Zazi's father Mohammed, then Najibullah himself, alerting them to the probe. The FBI, which had been monitoring the calls, was then forced to move immediately to arrest the Zazis - much sooner than it had planned. (Read "2-Min. Bio: Terrorism Suspect Najibullah Zazi...
...officers from the NYPD's intelligence unit consulted Afzali. "It looks like they did this on their own initiative - they really trusted this Imam," says the law-enforcement official. "But if they'd consulted with the bureau first, they'd have been told not to talk to anybody." (Read "Probe Prompts 'Preventive' Terrorism Raid...