http://www.instablogs.com/ Russian economy Russian economy is on a shaky foot after the industrial output for the month of November slumped by 8.7% compared to a year earlier. Ruble a hard rock currency ever since the rise of oil prices Ruble has lost 15% of its value and so are Russia's fast shrinking foreign reserves. This coupled with credit crunch, fall in the stock market, plummeting industrial production and mounting lay offs, the Russian economy is facing a daunting task. Although a rise in oil prices may buy Kremlin some time but the public discontent has already begun to simmer. The economic crisis may be scarcely discussed in Russia, People do know that not everything is under control. Indian Space commerce Indian space commerce got a huge boost when the state-of-the-art communications satellite — W2M— built by ISRO on a commercial basis in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe was launched at 4.05 a.m. IST from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana. W2M separated from Ariane-5, 32 minutes after its lift-off, and reached its intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. Building W2M signalled ISRO'S foray into the satellite-manufacturing market. Weighing 3,463 kg at lift-off, it is the heaviest satellite built by the ISRO and is capable of operating for over 15 years. The spacecraft was built for Eutelsat Communications, which is a global satellite communications provider based in Paris. Winters in Jordan With the beginning of winters Jordanians are getting their heating preparations ready. This also means that environmental police needs to look carefully for illegal logging of wood as this constitutes the major environmental violation that has been dealt with by the environmental police. Increase in fuel prices as well as personal heating preferences have been the contributing factors to the graph of this underground business. The environmental police have worked through their patrols and horse back rangers to check adherence to environmental regulations. The department has also recently activated a free hotline in order to respond to complaints from the public. All of this to save environmental resources which could be considered endangered during this winter. No to ...