1) Earth’s largest
ape went extinct 100,000 years earlier than once thought By Carolyn Gramling
,%20died%20out%20between%20295,000%20and%20215,000%20years%20ago,%20researchers%20say..jpg)
Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest ape known on Earth (shown in this artist’s rendition), died out between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, researchers say.
Giants once roamed the
karst plains of southern China, three-meter tall apes weighing in at 250
kilograms. These very distant primate relatives—Gigantopithcus blacki—went
extinct before humans arrived in the region, with few clues to why, and so far
leaving around 2,000 fossilized teeth and four jawbones as the only signs of
their existence.
Gigantopithecus blacki
couldn’t adapt to the shift from forest to savanna-like habitats The world’s
largest ape vanished from Earth more than 100,000 years earlier than once
thought, pushed to extinction as the environment around it shifted, researchers
report January 10 in Nature.
 |
| An artist impression of a group of G. blacki within a forest in southern China. |
The new extinction date
comes from new analyses of fossils of Gigantopithecus blacki, as well as on the
sediments of about a dozen caves in southern China where the ape once dwelled.
Instead of dying out around 100,000 years ago, the ape was driven to extinction
between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, the team found. The fate of G. blacki,
twice the size of the largest modern apes and resembling a super-sized version
of its close cousin, the orangutan, has long been a mystery (SN: 11/13/19; SN:
6/24/44). For about 2 million years, G. blacki inhabited a mosaic landscape of
forests and grasses in what’s now southern China. It left behind only scattered
remnants: thousands of teeth and four jawbones, unearthed in cave sediments in
the region.
 |
| Digging into the hard cemented cave sediments containing a wealth of fossils and evidence of G. blacki |
To establish a
chronology for the ape’s extinction, paleoanthropologist Yingqi Zhang of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and colleagues assembled an array of
different dating techniques to determine the ape’s habits, diet and
environment. In the teeth, they looked for data on the ape’s diet, measuring
isotopes of carbon and oxygen as well as examining the teeth for tiny evidence
of wear and tear — which can reveal not only diet, but also give hints of
repeated behaviors and stress. The team also analyzed the cave sediments
bearing the fossils, hunting for fossil pollen and conducting luminescence
dating on radioactive elements within the sediments.
 |
| The G. blacki bearing cave of Zhang Wang lies 150 m above the valley floor making for a tough climb every day to conduct excavations |
Six Australian
universities contributed to the project. Macquarie University, Southern Cross
University, Wollongong University and the University of Queensland used
multiple techniques to date samples. Southern Cross also mapped G. blacki teeth
to extract information on the apes' behaviors. ANU and Flinders University
studied the pollen and fossil-bearing sediments in the cave respectively, to
reconstruct the environments in which G. blacki thrived and then disappeared.
 |
| The location of many caves including two G. blacki bearing caves. |
Six different dating
techniques were applied to the cave sediments and fossils, producing 157
radiometric ages. These were combined with eight sources of environmental and
behavioral evidence, and applied to 11 caves containing evidence of G. blacki,
and also to 11 caves of a similar age range where no G. blacki evidence was
found.
The team’s
reconstruction revealed that around 700,000 to 600,000 years ago, southern
China shifted from its forested landscape to a more seasonally-driven
environment. Some apes, including the orangutans, were able to adapt to these
changes. But G. blacki was unable to change rapidly enough, and its numbers
slowly dwindled before going extinct, the team suggests.
The assembled evidence
tells a convincing story that “the demise of Gigantopithecus coincided in
southern China with a decrease of forest cover and expansion of savanna-like
environments,” says Hervé Bocherens, a biogeologist at the University of Tuebingen
in Germany. Still, he says, documenting the extinction of this species from the
fossil record is tricky — and it’s impossible to rule out the possibility that
pockets of G. blacki may have lingered in still-undiscovered caves for longer.
Understanding the fate
of this ape, the researchers say, helps reveal how modern environmental
pressures might push orangutans, now on the brink of extinction as their
habitat shrinks, over the edge (SN: 1/25/06).
2) An ancient,
massive urban complex has been found in the Ecuadorian Amazon By Amanda Heidt
At several sites in Ecuador’s Upano Valley, such as this one, called Kunguints, laser scans revealed the remains of buildings arranged around low squares and distributed along widely dug streets.
Scientists have
uncovered the Amazon’s earliest and largest example of farm-based citylike
settlements high in the foothills of the Ecuadorian Andes.
The thousands of mounds,
plazas, terraces, roads and agricultural fields — revealed for the first time
in their fullest extent by airborne laser scans — necessitate a rethinking of
just how complex ancient civilizations of the Amazon may have been, researchers
report in the Jan. 12 Science.
,%20but%20lidar%20scans%20gave%20them%20an%20unprecedented%20view%20of%20the%20landscape..jpg) |
| Archaeologists had studied human-made mounds in Upano Valley for decades (some shown), but lidar scans gave them an unprecedented view of the landscape. |
Over the last decade or
so, the use of light detection and ranging, or lidar, in archaeology has led to
significant discoveries in tropical climates, where ancient settlements often
lay obscured beneath dense jungle (SN: 12/4/23). In 2018, researchers released
scans of remnants of Mayan settlements in Guatemala, followed by Olmec ruins in
Mexico in 2021 and Casarabe sites in the Bolivian Amazon in 2022, all which
have been revealed to be metropolitan-like settlements filled with complex
infrastructure (SN: 9/27/18; SN: 1/6/23; SN: 5/25/22).
“It’s a gold rush
scenario, especially for the Americas and the Amazon,” says Christopher Fisher,
an archaeologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins who has scanned
sites throughout the Americas but was not involved in the new research. “Scientists
are demonstrating conclusively that there were a lot more people in these
areas, and that they significantly modified the landscape,” he says. “This is a
paradigm shift in our thinking about how extensively people occupied these
areas.”For decades, archaeologists have visited the Upano Valley, a fertile
basin at the foot of a massive volcano in the eastern foothills of the Andes,
to excavate hundreds of human-made mounds left by pre-Hispanic peoples. But,
until 2015, Upano had not yet been systematically imaged like other, similarly
sized Mesoamerican settlements to the north.
Then, the Ecuadorian
government scanned a 600-square-kilometer swathe of the valley. Based on his
own expeditions in the valley over many years, archaeologist Stéphen Rostain of
CNRS in Paris expected to see extensive infrastructure in the scans. But he was
still surprised by the scale of what once existed when he and colleagues
analyzed the lidar data.Beneath the tree canopy was a massive network of
roughly 6,000 mounds — once homes and community spaces — clustered into 15
settlements and connected by an intricate road system. The lidar data also
revealed that the open spaces between settlements were in fact agricultural
fields that had been drained to grow crops such as maize, beans, sweet potatoes
and yucca. Within the settlements, the researchers found tiered gardens that
would have kept some food closer at hand.
 |
| The location of many caves including two G. blacki bearing caves. |
Put together, the
results show that the valley wasn’t simply a series of small villages linked by
roads, but “an entirely human-engineered landscape” built by skilled urban
planners, Rostain says. Dating from several sites suggests the area was
inhabited for roughly 2,000 years beginning around 500 B.C. by at least five
different cultural groups. A next step will be to calculate how many people
might have lived there.
“This landscape scale
we’re able to document via airborne lidar really helps us understand what the
variety of urbanism was in the past,” says Anna Cohen, an anthropological
archaeologist at Utah State University in Logan who was not involved in the
work. In particular, “it shows that you need to look at these green spaces in
addition to the buildings.”Beyond what the work says about the landscape,
Fisher says, it’s also revealing a lot about the people who lived there. After
Europeans’ conquest in predominately the 1500s, many Indigenous populations
were almost wiped out by disease. “We see the Amazon today as a pristine
tropical forest, but in reality, it’s an abandoned garden,” he says. “And this
is the first time we’ve been able to see these people since they were victims
of this incredible mortality event.”
3)New dinosaur
species may be closest known relative of Tyrannosaurus rex :by Nature
Publishing Group
Reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis
A new species of
tyrannosaur from southern North America that may the closest known relative of
Tyrannosaurus rex is described in a study published in Scientific Reports.
Sebastian Dalman and
colleagues identified the new species—which they have named Tyrannosaurus
mcraeensis—by examining a fossilized partial skull, which was previously
discovered in the Hall Lake Formation, New Mexico, U.S.
 |
| Jaw of Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Note the large scar towards the back of the jaw, which the authors speculate may have resulted from a fight with another Tyrannosaurus |
Although these remains
were initially assigned to T. rex and are comparable in size to those of T. rex
(which was up to 12 meters long), the authors propose that they belong to a new
species due to the presence of multiple subtle differences in the shape of, and
joins between, the skull bones of the specimen and T. rex.
 |
| Teeth of Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis |
Based on the locations
of the remains in relation to rocks and other dinosaur remains that have been
previously dated to between 66 and 75 million years ago, the authors suggest
that T. mcraeensis may have lived between 71 and 73 million years ago—between
five and seven million years before T. rex. Analysis of the relationships
between T. mcraeensis and other theropod dinosaur species indicates that T.
mcraeensis may have been a sister species to T. rex, making it the closest
known relative of T. rex.
 |
| Kettle Top Butte in southeastern New Mexico. This fossilized jaw from Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis was uncovered near the base of the butte |
Based on its discovery
in New Mexico and its relationship to T. rex, the authors suggest that the
Tyranosaurus lineage, Tyrannosaurini, may have originated in southern
Laramidia—an island continent that existed between 100 and 66 million years ago
and stretched from modern-day Alaska to Mexico. Additionally, they propose that
Tyrannosaurini may have evolved a giant body size approximately 72 million
years ago, alongside other giant dinosaurs from southern Laramidia such as
ceratopsians, hadrosaurs, and titanosaurs.
The authors speculate
that the evolution of giant tyrannosaurins may have been driven by the giant
body sizes of herbivores that they preyed on in southern Laramidia.
4) Scientists tame
chaotic protein fueling 75% of cancers :by Jules Bernstein, University of
California - Riverside
"MYC is less like
food for cancer cells and more like a steroid that promotes cancer's rapid
growth," Xue said. "That is why MYC is a culprit in 75% of all human
cancer cases."
At the outset of this
project the UCR research team believed that if they could dampen MYC's
hyperactivity, they could open a window in which the cancer could be
controlled.
However, finding a way
to control MYC was challenging because unlike most other proteins, MYC has no
structure. "It's basically a glob of randomness," Xue said.
"Conventional drug discovery pipelines rely on well-defined structures,
and this does not exist for MYC."
A new paper in the
Journal of the American Chemical Society, on which Xue is the senior author,
describes a peptide compound that binds to MYC and suppresses its activity. In
2018, the researchers noticed that changing the rigidity and shape of a peptide
improves its ability to interact with structureless protein targets such as
MYC.
"Peptides can
assume a variety of forms, shapes, and positions," Xue said. "Once
you bend and connect them to form rings, they cannot adopt other possible
forms, so they then have a low level of randomness. This helps with the
binding."
Taming MYC
The UCR team’s
innovative approach involved developing a peptide compound that effectively
binds to and suppresses MYC’s activity. This was based on their 2018
observation that modifying the rigidity and shape of peptides could enhance
their interaction with structureless proteins like MYC.
%20bind%20to%20DNA%20and%20promote%20cancer%20progression.%20UCR%20researchers%20developed%20a%20molecule%20(orange%20pretzel-like%20shape)%20that%20binds%20to%20MYC,%20inhibiting%20its%20cancer-promoting%20function.jpg)
By manipulating peptides
into specific forms and shapes, the researchers were able to significantly
reduce the randomness, facilitating stronger binding to MYC.
In the paper, the team
describes a new peptide that binds directly to MYC with what is called
sub-micro-molar affinity, which is getting closer to the strength of an
antibody. In other words, it is a very strong and specific interaction."We
improved the binding performance of this peptide over previous versions by two
orders of magnitude," Xue said. "This makes it closer to our drug
development goals."Currently, the researchers are using lipid
nanoparticles to deliver the peptide into cells. These are small spheres made
of fatty molecules, and they are not ideal for use as a drug. Going forward,
the researchers are developing chemistry that improves the lead peptide's
ability to get inside cells.Once the peptide is in the cell, it will bind to
MYC, changing MYC's physical properties and preventing it from performing
transcription activities.
Xue's laboratory at UC
Riverside develops molecular tools to better understand biology and uses that
knowledge to perform drug discovery. He has long been interested in the
chemistry of chaotic processes, which attracted him to the challenge of taming
MYC."MYC represents chaos, basically, because it lacks structure. That,
and its direct impact on so many types of cancer make it one of the holy grails
of cancer drug development," Xue said. "We are very excited that it
is now within our grasp."
5) Researchers
sequence the first genome of myxini, the only vertebrate lineage that had no
reference genome :by University of Malaga
Credit University of Malaga
An international
scientific team including more than 40 authors from seven different countries,
led by a researcher at the University of Malaga Juan Pascual Anaya, has managed
to sequence the first genome of the myxini, also known as hagfish, the only
large group of vertebrates for which there has been no reference genome of any
of its species yet.
This finding, published
in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, has allowed for deciphering the
evolutionary history of genome duplications that occurred in the ancestors of
vertebrates, a group that includes humans.
"This study has
important implications in the evolutionary and molecular field, as it helps us
understand the changes in the genome that accompanied the origin of vertebrates
and their most unique structures, such as the complex brain, the jaw and the
limbs," explains the scientist of the Department of Animal Biology of the
UMA Pascual Anaya, who has coordinated the research.
Thus, this study, which
took almost a decade, was carried out by an international consortium that includes
more than 30 institutions from Spain, United Kingdom, Japan, China, Italy,
Norway and the United States, including the University of Tokyo, the Japan
research institute RIKEN, the Chinese Academy of Science, and the Centre for
Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, among others. Genome duplications
For this study, the
sequenced genome was that of the Eptatretus burgeri, which lives in the
Pacific, on the coasts of East Asia. To achieve this, the researchers generated
data up to 400 times the size of its genome, using advanced techniques of
chromosomal proximity (Hi-C) and managing to assemble it at chromosome level.
 |
| THE RESEARCHER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MALAGA JUAN PASCUAL ANAYA, HAS MANAGED TO SEQUENCE THE FIRST GENOME OF THE MYXINI |
"This is important
because it allowed us to compare, for example, the order of genes between this
and the rest of vertebrates, including sharks and humans, and thus solve one of
the most important open debates in genomic evolution: the number of genome
duplications, and when these occurred during the origin of the different
vertebrate lineages," says the UMA scientist, who adds that thanks to this
we now know that the common ancestor of all vertebrates derived from a species
which genome was completely duplicated once.
Later, according to
Pascual Anaya, the lineages that gave rise to modern mandibular and
non-mandibular vertebrates separated, and each of these re-multiplied its
genome independently: while the former, which includes humans, duplicated it,
the latter tripled it. Evolutionary impact
An analysis of the
functionality of genomes, based on extremely rare samples of myxini embryos,
carried out in the laboratory of Professor Shigeru Kuratani of RIKEN; and a
study on the possible impact of genome duplications on each vertebrate,
developed together with the Professor at the University of Bristol and member
of the Royal Society Phil Donoghue, complete this multidisciplinary research
that is key to understanding the evolutionary history of vertebrates.
The study provides
perspectives on the genomic events that likely drove the appearance of
important characteristics of vertebrates, such as brain structure, sensory
organs or neural crest cells, and among them, an increase in regulatory
complexity (a greater number of switches that turn genes on/off).
1) Bilkis Bano:
India Supreme Court cancels release of 2002 riots rapists By Geeta Pandey BBC
News, Delhi
Bilkis Bano has said she wants her attackers to understand the severity of their crime
Eleven men freed early
after being found guilty of gang raping a pregnant Muslim woman must be
returned to prison, India's Supreme Court has said.
Part of a Hindu mob, the
men were serving life terms for the attack on Bilkis Bano, as well as the
murder of 14 of her family members, during anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat state
in 2002.However, they were released in August 2022 by order of Gujarat's government.The
order, and the celebrations as they left prison, caused global outrage.
 |
| Mr Modi was chief minister of Gujarat state when the riots took place, but denies any wrongdoing |
The article contains
details that some readers may find disturbingMs Bano said she had "wept
tears of relief" on hearing that the decision to free her attackers had
been overturned. She thanked the Supreme Court "for giving me, my children
and women everywhere this vindication and hope in the promise of equal justice
for all".She had petitioned the court after men were released.The
two-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice BV Nagarathna, ruled that the
state of Gujarat was "not competent" to pass the remission order in
the case since the men had been tried and convicted in a court in the
neighbouring state of Maharashtra. The bench added that since the government's
remission order had been nullified, the 11 convicts must return to prison
within two weeks.
"Justice
encompasses not just the rights of the convicts but also the rights of the
victims" and the "primary duty" of the court is to uphold
justice and rule of law, Justice Nagarathna said, adding that the "rule of
law must be preserved unmindful of the ripples of the consequences".
India PM Modi's
government okayed rapists' release
Gujarat riots: How one
woman fought to convict her rapists
The landmark judgement
is expected to create ripples, especially in Gujarat where Prime Minister
Narendra Modi was chief minister at the time of the riots and was criticised
for not doing enough to prevent the carnage. He has always denied wrongdoing
and has not apologised for what happened in the riots.
Gujarat's state
government had sought the federal government's approval to release the men
sentenced for attacking Ms Bano and her family. It was granted by the home
ministry, led by Mr Modi's close aide Amit Shah.
State officials said in
court that the 11 men - first convicted by a trial court in 2008 - had spent
more than 14 years in jail and were released after factors such as their age
and good behaviour in prison were taken into consideration. When the men were
freed in 2022 they were given a heroes' welcome as they left the jail in
Godhra, with relatives giving them sweets and touching their feet to show
respect.
Federal prosecutors had
argued they should not be "released prematurely and no leniency may be
shown" to them as their crime was "heinous, grave and
serious".After her attackers were freed, Bilkis Bano said the decision to
release them had "shaken her faith in justice".
"How can justice
for any woman end like this? I trusted the highest courts in our land. I
trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma," she
wrote, appealing to the Gujarat government to "undo this harm".
The attack on Ms Bano
and her family was one of the most horrific crimes during the riots, which
began after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a fire on a passenger train in the town
of Godhra.Blaming Muslims for starting the fire, Hindu mobs attacked Muslim
neighbourhoods. Over three days, more than 1,000 people died, most of them
Muslims.The morning after the train fire, Ms Bano - then 19 and pregnant with
her second child - was visiting her parents in a village called Randhikpur near
Godhra with her three-year-old daughter. When rioters attacked the village and
started setting Muslim homes on fire, she and 16 relatives went on the run, she
told the BBC in 2017. Over the next few days, they sought shelter in mosques or
subsisting on the kindness of Hindu neighbours.
On the morning of 3
March 2002, a group of men attacked them "with swords and sticks".
"One of them
snatched my daughter from my lap and threw her on the ground, bashing her head
into a rock."
Her attackers were her
neighbours, men she had seen almost daily while growing up. They tore off her
clothes and several of them raped her, ignoring her pleas for mercy.
Her cousin, who had
given birth two days earlier, was raped and murdered and her newborn baby was
killed too.
 |
| The riots began after a fire on a passenger train in Godhra town killed 60 Hindu pilgrims |
Bilkis Bano survived
because she lost consciousness and her attackers left, believing she was dead.
Two boys - seven and four - were the only other survivors of the massacre
Her fight for justice
has been long and nightmarish. It has been well documented that some police and
state officials tried to intimidate her, evidence was destroyed and the dead
were buried without post-mortem exams. The doctors who examined her said she
hadn't been raped, and she received death threats.
The first arrests in the
case were made only in 2004 after India's Supreme Court handed over the case to
federal investigators and transferred her case to Mumbai saying that courts in
Gujarat could not deliver justice to her.
Over the years, the
courts have convicted dozens of people for involvement in the riots, but some
high-profile accused won bail or were exonerated by higher courts. This
included Maya Kodnani, an ex-minister in Mr Modi's Gujarat cabinet, whom a
trial court had called "a kingpin of the riots" that took place in
one area.In 2013, a Supreme Court panel ruled there was insufficient evidence
to prosecute Mr Modi, who became prime minister the following year. But critics
have continued to blame him for the riots happening on his watch.
2) Who are 4
Shankaracharyas refusing to attend Ram Mandir event on Jan 22?
Adi Shankaracharya’s 108 feet tall statue
Top four Sanatan Hindu
Dharma spiritual leaders, also known as ‘Shankaracharyas’, will not attend the
consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya. The top four Sanatan Hindu
Dharma spiritual leaders, also known as ‘Shankaracharyas’, have decided to not
attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22,
though two of them have issued a statement supporting the event. Swami
Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth in
Uttarakhand, said the construction of the temple doesn't signify a victory of
Sanatan Dharma. The top four Shankaracharyas, who head four major Hindu mutts,
are based in Uttarakhand, Odisha, Karnataka, and Gujarat.
Shankaracharya Swami Shri Nischalananda Saraswati
The Shankaracharya of
Puri Gowardhanpeeth, Swami Nishchalanand Saraswati, is the 145th Sankaracharya
of the Govardhana Peetha at Jagannath Puri, Odisha. He took the responsibility
of the Peetha as its head on February 9, 1992.
Earlier this week, Swami
Nishchalanand Saraswati Shankaracharya said that he would not attend the Ram
Mandir event because it was against the scriptures, adding that the ceremony
had turned into a political show.
Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand
Shankaracharya
Avimukteshwaranand looks after all the ceremonies and activities in Jyotir Math
in Uttarakhand - which is one of the four cardinal pithams established by saint
Adi Shankara. He reportedly took over the responsibility in 2006.According to
reports, Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand has refused to attend the
consecration ceremony as it does not follow the norms of the Hindu religion.
“We are not anti-Modi but at the same time we also can’t go against our Dharma
Shastra,” he said.
Shankaracharya Bharati Teerth
Shankaracharya Bharati
Teerth of Sringeri Sharda Peeth is the 36th Shankaracharya of the Peeth. While
media reports have suggested that he will not be attending the Ram temple event
on January 22, the Sringeri mutt recently reportedly rejected this claim. It is
not yet clear if the Shankaracharya will attend the consecration ceremony.
Shankaracharya Sadanand Saraswati
Sadanand Saraswati is
the Shankaracharya of Paschimannaya Dwarka Shardapeeth, which is one of the
four cardinal peeth established by the saint Adi Shankara. Located in Gujarat's
Dwarka, it is also known as the Kalika mutt. According to reports,
Shankaracharya Sadanand Saraswati will also not attend the event, however,
there is no official confirmation from the spiritual leader yet.
The Ram temple
consecration ceremony will be held on January 22, while the rituals for the
event will begin on January 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief
guest at the event where thousands of people, including celebrities, saints,
and politicians have been invited.
3) No claim for
justice now as child is dead: Lawyer of Bengaluru CEO's estranged husband
Suchana Seth probably
didn't want her child to meet the father or have an emotional connection and
that might be the trigger, her husband's lawyer said.As PR Venkat Raman, the
estranged husband of AI startup CEO Suchana Seth, recorded his statement before
the police after Suchana was arrested on the charges of killing her
four-year-old son, Raman's lawyer said his client was numb with grief. He told
the police that he did not know what might have led to the killing and only
Suchana could say why she committed the crime. The 39-year-old AI startup CEO,
however, has not admitted to having killed her son and maintained that she
found him dead when she woke up.
"He can die for his
son but will now have to live without him. My client has no claim for justice
for himself or the child, who is no more," the lawyer told reporters, as
reported by PTI. "The trigger for the offence is just a guess. Maybe she
did not want the child to meet his father or have an emotional connect,"
the lawyer said.
Link between
custody battle and murder of the 4-year-old
Suchana Seth was
fighting a bitter custody battle over her son and the investigators are
considering this as a major factor behind the crime. In a crumpled note found
in Suchana's luggage, Suchana wrote something about this custody battle and its
frustration. Later, she tore it into pieces. Suchana checked in at a Goa hotel
on January 6 with her son and left alone on January 7. On her way from Goa to
Bengaluru, police on January 8 found the body of the son stuffed inside her
luggage. The autopsy report said the child was suffocated to death around 36
hours ago.
Venkat Raman's lawyer
said initially the court allowed his client to speak to the child over phone or
over video call. In November, the court allowed him to visit the child at home.
But Suchana did not want him to visit the home and insisted on meeting outside.
"Raman was supposed
to meet his son on January 7 in Bengaluru. He went to the house at 10am and
waited till 11am. He sent a message to Suchana but got no reply," the
lawyer said.
Raman told police that
he was not allowed to meet his son for the past five Sundays and on January 7
too he waited and got no reply while the mother and son were in Goa.
4) Rahul Gandhi's
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to begin from Manipur: Top points
Rahul Gandhi's Bharat
Jodo Nyay Yatra: The Yatra will start at 12pm tomorrow from Khongjom War
Memorial although it was earlier scheduled to start from Imphal.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi
will begin the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra- a two month long endeavour of 6,200
kilometres from Manipur's Thoubal district to Mumbai- undertaken largely by bus
along with 60-70 yatris. The Yatra will start at 12pm tomorrow from the Khongjom
War Memorial although it was earlier scheduled to start from the capital
Imphal. Amid ongoing tensions in the state, the Manipur government did not
provide permission for the event.
What Congress said on
issue over Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra's delay?
Congress's Manipur
president Keisham Meghachandra said, “We had proposed to the state government
on January 2 that Hapta Kangjeibung public ground in Imphal be allowed for
flagging off the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. We had also announced that the Yatra
will start from Imphal, and culminate in Mumbai
"We met Chief
Minister N Biren Singh in this regard on January 10 but were told that the
permission will not be given. Later that night, an order was issued which gave
permission for Hapta Kangjeibung ground but with a limited number of
participants," he explained.
Mallikarjun Kharge to
flag off Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Manipur
Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge will flag off the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the party said.
What is the route of the
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra
The route of the yatra
will remain the same even though the starting point has been changed. The
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will conclude in Mumbai on March 20 covering a total
distance of 6,713 kilometers over a span of 67 days. The route covers 110
districts across 15 states.
5) ED raids Bengal
minister Sujit Bose's premises in Kolkata:
ED Raids Premises Of West Bengal Minister Sujit Bose, TMC's Tapas Roy In Kolkata
This comes amid the
central agency's ongoing investigation into the alleged recruitment scam in
state-run schools in West Bengal.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is carrying
out raids at the premises of West Bengal minister and Trinamool Congress leader
Sujit Bose in the state capital, Kolkata, in connection with the alleged civic
body recruitment scam. The development comes as the central agency conducts
search and seizure in parts of Kolkata and its fringes in connection with its
ongoing probe into the alleged recruitment scam in state-run schools in West
Bengal.
Among other senior TMC
leaders, houses of party spokesperson Tapas Roy and former North Dum Dum
Municipality chairman Subodh Chakraborty are also being searched by the central
agency.On December 28 last year, the probe agency carried out simultaneous
raids at nine different places in the city in its bid to probe the school
recruitment scam case. Offices and residents of different people were raided in
the capital city's Burrabazar area, Kakurgachi and EM Bypass.
The minister of state's
fire and emergency services was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) last year in connection with alleged irregularities in recruitment in the
state's municipalities.
However, Bose claimed
that he did not receive any summons notice from the CBI and assured while
addressing a presser that he'd appear before the probe agency if he received
any notice. He further alleged a political conspiracy to target him. The Bengal
minister was earlier the vice-chairman of South Dum Dum Municipality from 2010
to 2021, when around 250 people were recruited to the civic body allegedly in
an unscrupulous manner.
The CBI and ED had
earlier informed the Calcutta high court about a link between the cases related
to the civic body recruitment scam and the West Bengal school recruitment scam.
1) India stumble
against USA in opener
Ranchi Monika of India in Blue tries to score a goal during the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers match between India and United States
India’s route to the
2024 Paris Olympics, though, encountered a huge stumbling block to begin with,
as the hosts went down 0-1 to lower-ranked USA.The mention of Paris, the City
of Love with a penchant for art, fashion and culture, comes across an unusually
high number of times through the streets of sleepy and nippy Ranchi. On every
billboard that greets and informs you about the FIH Women's Hockey Olympic
Qualifiers that kicked off in the city on Saturday, the words "EN ROUTE TO
PARIS” are imprinted in bold, capital and large fonts.
India’s route to the
2024 Paris Olympics, though, encountered a huge stumbling block to begin with,
as the hosts went down 0-1 to lower-ranked USA on the opening night at the
Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf Hockey Stadium here on Saturday. The
crushing defeat threatens to derail the women’s team’s hopes of just getting to
the Paris Games after a memorable fourth-place finish in Tokyo three years ago.
It also leaves them with no scope for another slip-up in their second match against
world No.9 New Zealand — they beat Italy 3-0 in their opener — on Sunday.
On paper, India (ranked
6th) are nine spots above USA (15th) but they hardly played this encounter,
skill-wise or mentally, like a higher-ranked team. On paper, India had more scoring
opportunities (in every aspect: shots on goal, circle penetrations, penalty
corners) but they hardly looked like scoring one. On the field and on the day,
the Janneke Schopman-coached team just did not turn up. “We looked not ready
today, for the lack of a better word," Schopman said after the loss.
“That, I didn’t expect, to be honest.”
The scrappy start came
from both teams. The Indians tried asking a few questions especially from the
right flank, though it was the Americans with the answer first. USA thought
they’d gone ahead in the 11th minute before a review overturned the goal as the
ball had struck their own player’s foot before going in.
A minute into the second
quarter, USA did indeed go ahead after the Indian defence failed to clear the
ball inside the circle. Tamer Abigail couldn’t lift the ball over goalkeeper
and captain Savita Punia but did calmly manage to trickle it in off the
rebound. Midway through the quarter, India had three back-to-back penalty
corner (PC) opportunities and, true to their glaring lack of effectiveness in
that area, could convert none. The hosts then began to display a lot more
attacking hockey yet not necessarily incisive. With a couple of minutes to go,
Sangita Kumari’s reverse flick went wide while a Navneet Kaur attempt was saved
by USA goalkeeper Kelsey Bing.
At half-time, India held
the upper hand in circle entries (8 to 3) yet not in the game and the stat that
truly matters. The third quarter resembled an extension of the first two: India
had three PCs (the first mistrapped by Sonika and the other two missed by
Navneet) and a few more circle entries with no goals to show against the gritty
opposition.A deafening roar engulfed the stadium third minute into the final
quarter as Udita’s flick off another PC finally went it but, as it turned out
after the video referral, it had brushed Jyoti’s foot along the way. The
silence that soon made way was palpable at the final whistle, both among the
home fans and players.
India will have to do a
lot more talking on Sunday against New Zealand. And not just on paper.
2) Vijayveer wins
Paris Olympics quota spot in rapid fire pistol
Vijayveer Sidhu secures Paris Olympics quota
India have now won all
the four quotas in 25m pistol events, taking their total number of berths to 17
Vijayveer Sidhu was heart-broken when he missed the Paris Olympics quota place
in 25m rapid-fire pistol by one point at the 2022 world championships in Cairo.
So, when the opportunity came to seal a berth at the ongoing Asian Olympic
Qualification tournament in Jakarta, he could feel the nerves.
However, he was able to
focus all his energy and qualify for the six-shooter final in fourth place with
a score of 577/600 on Saturday. That was enough for him to win the coveted
Paris spot as Korea, which had three shooters in the final, and Japanese
shooter Dai Yoshioka had already sealed Olympic spots. Once in the final,
Vijayveer displayed a more fearless approach to win a silver medal with 28 hits
behind gold medallist Nikita Chiryukin of Kazakhstan (32 hits).
India would be proud of
its 25m pistol teams after grabbing all the four available quotas in the men's
and women's sections. In rapid fire, Anish Bhanwala is the other quota place
winner. India won silver in rapid fire at the 2012 London Olympics courtesy
armyman Vijay Kumar. "It’s a historic occasion to win all four quotas in
the 25m pistol events. The 25m rapid fire team was consistently shooting high
scores last year. We are regularly making it to the finals," said Ronak
Pandit, chief coach (25m pistol).
For Vijayveer, 21, it
was a big relief to seal an Olympic quota. In 2021, he came close to winning a
Tokyo Olympics berth during the World Cup in Delhi.
"I have been coming
close to an Olympic quota for a long time. Whenever you miss an opportunity all
you can do is go back to the drawing board and work hard," Vijayveer said
over phone from Jakarta.
“At every Olympic quota
event you are under pressure. But I am more experienced now. I have improved
technically and better equipped to handle the stress of a competition.”
3) Asian Cup:
India, gritty in defence, lose 0-2 to Australia
Australia's Jordan Bos celebrates scoring their second goal with teammate
India held the title
contenders goalless in the first half and showed fight before and after the
Aussies cashed in on two lapses in their opening Group B tie So stout was
India’s resistance for 50 minutes that Australia needed a slice of luck to get
their first goal. Jackson Irvine scored after a clanger from Gurpreet Singh
Sandhu. Shipping such a goal could have deflated India but they kept denying
vastly superior opponents through a combination of disciplined defending and grit.
That continued even after Jordan Bos’ strike from a slick move that showed why
Australia have said they are in Qatar to win the Asian Cup.
Embrace the challenge,
Igor Stimac had said prior to the game. Stimac was a no-frills defender
unafraid to look illustrious opponents in the eye, his attitude symptomatic of
Croatia’s when they took the 1998 World Cup by storm. Going into five years as
India head coach, Stimac has moulded a bunch of bravehearts who try to bridge
the obvious gap in skill with an abundance of spirit. In 2019, India had done
that once in Doha against Asian champions Qatar.
Sandhu had led from the
back in that game. He looked assured at Doha’s Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Friday
as well, bravely leaving his line to collect and bossing his 18-yard box. On
either side of two bloopers, that is. The first situation, in the 21st minute,
Sandhu salvaged by getting back to deny Connor Metcalfe after slipping while
trying to break Australia’s press. The second put Australia ahead.
Martin Boyle, always a
threat on the right, floated a speculative cross which, under no pressure,
Sandhu could have grabbed using both hands. Instead, he flapped at it and the
ball fell kindly for Irvine. Australia could have scored through Boyle after he
had ghosted in or when he had volleyed over and it wouldn’t have felt like such
an anti-climax when they finally did.
It is also a measure of
how good Sandhu has been for India in over a decade that barring a blip against
Bangladesh in 2019, it is difficult to pick a howler in his international
career. Ditto his club career, though an error in the 2023 Super Cup final and
a heavy touch in the season’s ISL opener against Kerala Blasters come to mind.
rather focus on their
team. But for even regular followers of the India team, Deepak Tangri wouldn’t
be a name to reckon with simply because the defensive midfielder had never
played for India. Had Jeakson Singh been fit, Tangri may not have travelled.
But against the world's 25th ranked team which has won the Asian Cup, Tangri
put in a shift as industrious as it was excellent.
With two banks of four,
India defended not allowing Australia to deliver a storm of crosses Stimac had
predicted. Manvir Singh hung back and pulled off a superb sliding tackle and
kept the significantly bigger Harry Souttar away from the 14 corner-kicks
Australia got. That Australia didn’t convert their corner-kicks or any of the
three free-kicks in dangerous positions would be among the positives Stimac
would take into games against Uzbekistan and Syria. “Full credit to India for
their determination and fight,” Reuters quoted Australia coach Graham Arnold as
saying. “They are well-coached.”
4) Malaysia Open
badminton: Satwik-Chirag upstage world champions, reach final
%20and%20Satwiksairaj%20Rankireddy(.jpg)
India's Chirag Shetty (R) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy(
In a sensational show,
the Indians reeled off eight points in the second game after their Korean
rivals went 20-14 up to enter the final in Kuala Lumpur Just before leaving for
Kuala Lumpur to participate in the Malaysia Open, Chirag Shetty was a little
downcast. “Sadly, we won’t be able to collect our awards. Even if a ceremony is
organised later, it is unlikely that we will get the awards from the
president,” lamented the top doubles shuttler.
Shetty was referring to
the National Sports Awards conferred on Tuesday where he and doubles partner
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were due to receive the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna –
the country’s highest sports award – but had to skip the function to
participate in the $1.3 million tournament in Kuala Lumpur.Shetty and
Rankireddy though have made that decision count by reaching the final of the
year’s first tournament, that too in spectacular fashion.
Having clinched the
first game after never relinquishing their lead, India's world No.2 pair were
down 11-18 and then 14-20 in the second to reigning world champions Kang
Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae. The Asian champions staged a sensational comeback
against the South Koreans, winning eight successive points on Shetty's serve to
win 21-18, 22-20 in 47 minutes and enter the final at the Axiata Arena.“I don’t
remember winning a match from 20-14 before. All the points from there were easy
points. We pretty much dominated those eight points, barring the point at 19,
maybe. There was a very 50-50 chance where it could have gone either way. We
played quite well to keep the shuttle low and not give them any opportunities,”
said Shetty.
They were ecstatic,
Shetty falling to the floor pumping his fists. Rankireddy broke into his
typical victory dance while coach Mathias Boe leapt onto his chair courtside
thumping his chest.
It was a significant
victory as world No.3 Kang and Seo have been in sensational form, ending 2023
with the prestigious BWF World Tour Finals title. Southpaw Seo was anointed the
2023 BWF Male Player of the Year last month.Shetty and Rankireddy’s fourth
victory in five meetings over the Koreans leaves them chasing a slice of
history on Sunday. No Indian has won a Malaysia Open title across categories –
the tournament was first played in 1937.
In addition, Malaysia
Open is also one of four Super 1000 tournaments, along with All England and the
Indonesia and China Opens. The Asian Games gold medallists are also the only
Indians to have won a Super 1000 event – the highest tier on the BWF World
Tour. They achieved that by clinching the Indonesia Open last year.
It will a battle of the
titans on Sunday as standing in their way are Chinese world No.1 Liang Wei Keng
and Wang Chang, who reached seven finals in 2023, including the Malaysia Open.
They have a 3-1 record against Shetty and Rankireddy, including a semi-final
victory over them in Kuala Lumpur last year.
5) Australian Open
2024 Day 1: Full schedule, order of play and how to watch Djokovic and
Sabalenka in action in India?
Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus react during an exhibition match against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and compatriot Maria Sakkari ahead of the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park
Other players who will
add to the star-studded line-up for Day 1 in Melbourne are Jannik Sinner,
Andrey Rublev, Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sakkari.Novak Djokovic and Aryna
Sabalenka, the defending men’s and women’s singles champions, will be in action
at Melbourne Park on the opening day as the 2024 Australian Open is all set to
kick off on Sunday. Djokovic will begin his campaign against Croatia’s Dino
Prizmic, who made it to the main draw through the qualifiers, as the Serb hunts
for an unprecedented 11th Australian Open title and a history-scripting 25th
major overall. Sabalenka, No. 2 seed in the women's singles draw, will be
playing against Ella Seidel in her opening match at the Rod Laver Arena.
Other players who will
add to the star-studded line-up for Day 1 in Melbourne are Jannik Sinner,
Andrey Rublev, Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sakkari.
Merry Christmas :
Two strangers meet on a
fateful Christmas Eve. A night of delirious romance turns into a nightmare.
Revealing anything more would be a crime.
Writers :Frédéric
DardSriram RaghavanArijit Biswas
Stars :Katrina KaifVijay
SethupathiTinnu Anand
Killer Soup :
Killer Soup, a new crime
thriller series starring Manoj Bajpayee and Konkona Sensharma, will premiere on
Netflix on January 11, 2024, the makers announced on Thursday.
Directed and co-written
by Abhishek Chaubey, the series is set in South India and follows Swathi
Shetty, an aspiring yet talentless home chef, who conspires to replace her
husband, Prabhakar, with her lover, Umesh. “But when a bumbling local inspector
and amateur villains stir the pot, things don’t go as planned and a recipe for
chaos ensues,” read a note from the makers.
Tiger 3
Tiger 3 OTT Release Date
is now ready for its big debut on the popular streaming service, Amazon Prime
Video. After making a splash in theatres on November 12, 2023, and becoming
super popular worldwide with over Rs 464 crore in earnings, it is now streaming
on Amazon Prime Video since January 7, 2024.
Mission Impossible 7, also known as Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,
has generated significant buzz among fans and movie
enthusiasts alike. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the film is the seventh
installment in the Mission Impossible franchise and features Tom Cruise
reprising his role as the daring secret agent, Ethan Hunt. Here’s what you need
to know about the film’s budget, cast, OTT release date, and more.
Plot:
The plot of Mission
Impossible 7 remains tightly under wraps. However, based on trailers and
interviews, it is expected to follow Ethan Hunt and his team as they confront a
new threat intertwined with their past missions. The film will delve into
Ethan’s personal life and his relationship with Grace, who may harbor ulterior
motives. Audiences can anticipate breathtaking stunts, such as motorcycle
leaps, helicopter maneuvers, and train jumps, performed by Tom Cruise himself.
BOOK OF THIS WEEK:
Courting India:
England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire by Das Nandini Das (Author)
When Thomas Roe arrived
in India in 1616 as James I's first ambassador to the Mughal Empire, the
English barely had a toehold in the subcontinent. Their understanding of South
Asian trade and India was sketchy at best, and, to the Mughals, they were minor
players on a very large stage. Roe was representing a kingdom that was beset by
financial woes and deeply conflicted about its identity as a unified 'Great
Britain' under the Stuart monarchy. Meanwhile, the court he entered in India
was wealthy and cultured, its dominion widely considered to be one of the
greatest and richest empires of the world.
In Nandini Das's
fascinating history of Roe's four years in India, she offers an insider's view
of a Britain in the making, a country whose imperial seeds were just being
sown. It is a story of palace intrigue and scandal, lotteries and wagers that
unfolds as global trade begins to stretch from Russia to Virginia, from West
Africa to the Spice Islands of Indonesia.
A major debut that
explores the art, literature, sights and sounds of Elizabethan London and
Imperial India, Courting India reveals Thomas Roe's time in the Mughal Empire to
be a turning point in history - and offers a rich and radical challenge to our
understanding of Britain and its early empire.
Nandini Das:
Nandini Das is Professor of Early Modern English Literature and Culture at Oxford University. She is a scholar of Renaissance literature, travel, migration, and cross-cultural encounters, and has published widely on these topics, from major sixteenth and seventeenth century authors like Philip Sidney, Shakespeare and Cervantes, to the fleeting presence of three Japanese boys in sixteenth century Portuguese-held Goa, India. Her Cambridge History of Travel Writing (2019), co-edited with Tim Youngs, covers global Anglophone and non-Anglophone travel writing from antiquity to the internet,
while Keywords of Identity, Race, and
Human Mobility in Early Modern England (2021) emerges from her major, long-term
research project on the impact of travel and human mobility, both forced and
voluntary, on fundamental ideas of identity and belonging. She regularly
presents television and radio programmes on topics related to her research.
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