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1) Chip inside the brain, Elon Musk says first Neuralink-connected human is doing well: Story in 5 points:

Elon Musk has revealed on X that his neurotechnology startup, Neuralink, has successfully implanted a brain chip in its first human patient, with initial results described as "promising." He says that the tech enables control of your phone or computer just by thinking. Here is the full story in 5 points.

In Short:

Elon Musk has reported promising results in first human implant.

Neuralink aims to enable device control through thought.

Musk says initial users may include those with limb disabilities.

Elon Musk has revealed on X that his neurotechnology startup, Neuralink, has successfully implanted a brain chip in its first human patient, with initial results described as "promising." He says that the tech enables control of your phone or computer just by thinking. Here is the full story in 5 points. -Elon Musk, who is the co-founder of Neuralink, announced the installation of a brain implant in the first human recipient. This marks a significant milestone for the company, which Musk founded in 2016 with the mission of establishing direct communication pathways between the human brain and computers.

-Neuralink's goal is to improve human capabilities significantly, address neurological disorders such as ALS and Parkinson's. The company wants to establish a potential symbiotic relationship between humans and artificial intelligence. The technology aims to enable direct control of devices, like phones or computers, simply by just thinking.-Elon Musk reported that the initial recipient of the Neuralink implant is recovering well. Musk expressed optimism by stating that the early results demonstrate promising neuron spike detection. This positive outcome is a crucial step forward in validating the safety and result of Neuralink's neurotechnology.

-Musk asserted that initial users of Neuralink's technology would likely be individuals who have lost the use of their limbs. He illustrated the potential impact by imagining a scenario where someone like Stephen Hawking could communicate at a speed surpassing that of a professional typist or auctioneer.

-Neuralink's technology relies on an implant known as the "Link," a device approximately the size of five stacked coins that requires invasive surgery for placement within the human brain. While Neuralink has faced delays, the company received regulatory approval in the United States for testing its brain implants on humans. In contrast, other players in the field, such as Synchron, have developed implant versions that do not require skull penetration.

2) Under very rare conditions, Alzheimer’s disease may be transmitted By Laura Sanders

A PET scan of the brain of a man who received contaminated growth hormones as a child and later developed Alzheimer’s disease shows higher-than-usual levels of the sticky protein A-beta (purple and orange areas) associated with the disease.

Under extremely rare circumstances, it appears that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted between people. Five people who received contaminated injections of a growth hormone as children went on to develop Alzheimer’s unusually early, researchers report January 29 in Nature Medicine. 

The findings represent “the first time iatrogenic Alzheimer’s disease has been described,” neurologist John Collinge said January 25 in a news briefing, referring to a disease caused by a medical procedure.

That sounds alarming, but researchers are quick to emphasize that Alzheimer’s disease is not contagious in everyday life, including caretaking and most medical settings. “We are not suggesting for a moment that you can catch Alzheimer’s disease,” said Collinge, of the University College London’s Institute of Prion Diseases. “This is not transmissible in the sense of a viral or bacterial infection.”

The reassurance is echoed by Carlo Condello, a neurobiologist at the University of California, San Francisco who wasn’t involved in the study. “In no way do we believe sporadic Alzheimer’s disease is a communicable disease,” he says. “Only under incredibly artificial, now out-of-date, medical practices is this appearing. It’s no longer an issue.”

The exact role that amyloid-beta plays in Alzheimer’s is not fully understood

Most cases of Alzheimer’s disease arise spontaneously in older people (in the United States, for instance, about 1 in 9 people aged 65 and older have the disease). That’s part of what makes these newly described cases of Alzheimer’s so unusual. Symptoms started early for these five people with Alzheimer’s — between ages 38 and 55 — and in three for whom genetic data were available, researchers ruled out the presence of mutations known to cause early-onset forms of the disease.  The people in the study had all received growth hormone injections as children or teenagers. Used to treat various growth disorders, these hormones were extracted from the pituitary glands of cadavers and combined into batches, a source that is no longer used. Some of these mixtures were later found to be contaminated with prions, infectious, misshapen proteins, that caused a disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Globally, more than 200 people were affected. This type of growth hormone treatment stopped in 1985; doctors now use synthetic versions.It turns out that those batches held another problem. In an earlier study, Collinge and his colleagues had found higher-than-expected levels of amyloid-beta in the brains of four people who had died with CJD. Accumulation of the sticky protein is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s and, in these cases, a worrisome signal that perhaps some of these proteins had been transferred, along with prions, from donors (SN: 9/9/15). A-beta from some of the hormone batches could spread in the brains of mice, suggesting that the protein behaves in some ways like an infectious prion, the researchers reported in 2018 (SN: 12/13/18)

Now, the researchers report on eight more people who had received contaminated growth hormone and were referred to their clinical team. None of these people had CJD, but three had already received Alzheimer’s diagnoses. Further exams showed that two more people had the disease and two had signs of cognitive trouble. One person didn’t have symptoms.

Human brain, in two halves healthy and Alzheimer's disease Healthy neuron and neuron with amyloid plaques

The most likely cause of these Alzheimer’s cases seems to be the unusual introduction of A-beta early in life, the researchers conclude. “Taken as a whole, the only real explanation is the shared exposure” to contaminated growth hormone, neurologist Gargi Banerjee, also at UCL, said in the Jan. 25 briefing. 

That interpretation “is plausible,” says Condello. “What’s in those extracts could have done what they claim it did.”

Still, scientists can’t be certain that contaminated growth hormone caused these people’s Alzheimer’s disease. It’s possible, for instance, that the underlying childhood conditions that necessitated the growth hormone treatments, or other medical procedures such as radiation, contributed to early Alzheimer’s or cognitive problems. Several of the people suffered from seizures, which could perhaps influence cognitive problems or brain pathology. “The definitive answer may never come,” Condello says.

Beyond these rare circumstances, the results may hold clues about how Alzheimer’s disease can take hold in the brain, and whether A-beta, like a prion, incites other versions of A-beta to misfold. Untangling the details of how various forms of A-beta spread “lies ahead,” Collinge said. “A great deal more research needs to be done.”

3) First-ever sighting of a live newborn great white may help solve longstanding mystery in shark science :by University of California - Riverside

Newborn great white, filmed off the California coast near Santa Barbara. Credit Carlos Gauna,The Malibu Artist

Great whites, the largest predatory sharks in the world with the most fatal attacks on humans, are tough to imagine as newborn babies. That is partially because no one has seen one in the wild, it seems, until now. Wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna and UC Riverside biology doctoral student Phillip Sternes were scanning the waters for sharks on July 9, 2023, near Santa Barbara on California's central coast. That day, something exciting appeared on the viewfinder of Gauna's drone camera. It was a shark pup unlike any they'd ever seen.

Great whites, referred to only as white sharks by scientists, are gray on top and white on the bottom. But this roughly 5-foot-long shark was pure white.

"We enlarged the images, put them in slow motion, and realized the white layer was being shed from the body as it was swimming," Sternes said. "I believe it was a newborn white shark shedding its embryonic layer."

First-ever sighting of a live newborn great white

These observations are documented in a new paper in the Environmental Biology of Fishes journal. The paper also details the significance of having seen a live newborn white shark.

Gauna is known online as The Malibu Artist. He has spent thousands of hours filming sharks around the world, and his videos of them swimming close to beachgoers have millions of views. What he and Sternes observed could help solve the longstanding mystery of great white birthing habits. Though the paper authors acknowledge it is possible the white film the shark shed could have been a skin condition, the duo do not believe this to be the case. "If that is what we saw, then that too is monumental because no such condition has ever been reported for these sharks," Gauna said.

For many reasons, the duo believes what they saw was in fact a newborn great white.

First, great white females give birth to live pups. While in utero, the embryonic sharks might feed on unfertilized eggs for protein. The mothers offer additional nourishment to the growing shark pups with a 'milk' secreted in the uterus."I believe what we saw was the baby shedding the intrauterine milk," Sternes said.A second reason is the presence of large, likely pregnant great whites in this location. Gauna had observed them here in previous years, and in the weeks leading up to the observation.

Side view of the newborn great white shark.

"I filmed three very large sharks that appeared pregnant at this specific location in the days prior. On this day, one of them dove down, and not long afterwards, this fully white shark appears," Gauna said. "It's not a stretch to deduce where the baby came from."Thirdly, the shark's size and shape are also indicative of a newborn. What the two observed was thin, short, and rounded. "In my opinion, this one was likely hours, maybe one day old at most," Sternes said.Finally, this location off the coast of central California has long been proposed as a birthing location for great whites. "There are a lot of hypothetical areas, but despite intense interest in these sharks, no one's seen a birth or a newborn pup in the wild," Sternes said. "This may well be the first evidence we have of a pup in the wild, making this a definitive birthing location."

great-white

Many scholars believe great whites are born farther out at sea. That this pup was filmed so close to shore—roughly 1,000 feet from the beach—is significant because its age means it was likely born in shallow waters.Great whites are listed as an international endangered species. "Further research is needed to confirm these waters are indeed a great white breeding ground. But if it does, we would want lawmakers to step in and protect these waters to help white sharks keep thriving," Sternes said."Where white sharks give birth is one of the holy grails of shark science. No one has ever been able to pinpoint where they are born, nor has anyone seen a newborn baby shark alive," Gauna said. "There have been dead white sharks found inside deceased pregnant mothers. But nothing like this."

4) Inner ear of 6-million-year-old ape fossil reveals clues about the evolution of human movement : by New York University

Reconstruction of the locomotor behavior and paleoenvironment of Lufengpithecus Credit Xiaocong Guo; image courtesy of Xijun Ni Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Humans and our closest relatives, living apes, display a remarkable diversity of types of locomotion—from walking upright on two legs to climbing in trees and walking using all four limbs. While scientists have long been intrigued by the question of how humans' bipedal stance and movement evolved from a quadrupedal ancestor, neither past studies nor fossil records have permitted the reconstruction of a clear and definitive history of the early evolutionary stages that led to human bipedalism.

However, a new study, which centers on recently discovered evidence from skulls of a 6-million-year-old fossil ape, Lufengpithecus, offers important clues about the origins of bipedal locomotion courtesy of a novel method: analyzing its bony inner ear region using three-dimensional CT-scanning.

"The semicircular canals, located in the skull between our brains and the external ear, are critical to providing our sense of balance and position when we move, and they provide a fundamental component of our locomotion that most people are probably unaware of," explains Yinan Zhang, a doctoral student at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IVPP) and the lead author of the paper, which appears in the journal The Innovation.

"The size and shape of the semicircular canals correlate with how mammals, including apes and humans, move around their environment. Using modern imaging technologies, we were able to visualize the internal structure of fossil skulls and study the anatomical details of the semicircular canals to reveal how extinct mammals moved.""Our study points to a three-step evolution of human bipedalism," adds Terry Harrison, a New York University anthropologist and one of the paper's co-authors.

"First, the earliest apes moved in the trees in a style that was most similar to aspects of the way that gibbons in Asia do today. Second, the last common ancestor of apes and humans was similar in its locomotor repertoire to Lufengpithecus, using a combination of climbing and clambering, forelimb suspension, arboreal bipedalism, and terrestrial quadrupedalism. It is from this broad ancestral locomotor repertoire that human bipedalism evolved."Most studies of the evolution of ape locomotion had focused on comparisons of the bones of the limbs, shoulders, pelvis, and spine and the way they are associated with the different types of locomotor behaviors seen in living apes and humans. However, the diversity of locomotor behaviors in living apes and the incompleteness of the fossil record have hampered the development of a clear picture of human bipedalism's origins.The skulls of Lufengpithecus—originally discovered in China's Yunnan Province in the early 1980s—have given scientists the opportunity to address, in new ways, unanswered questions about the evolution of locomotion. However, the heavy compression and distortion of the skulls obscured the bony ear region and led previous researchers to believe that the delicate semicircular canals were not preserved.To better explore this region, Zhang, Ni and Harrison, along with other researchers at IVPP and the Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (YICRA), used three dimensional scanning technologies to illuminate these portions of the skulls to create a virtual reconstruction of the inner ear's bony canals. They then compared these scans to those collected from other living and fossil apes and humans from Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Three different views of the reconstructed inner ear of Lufengpithecus  Credit Yinan Zhang Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

"Our analyses show that early apes shared a locomotor repertoire that was ancestral to human bipedalism," explains IVPP Professor Xijun Ni, who led the project. "It appears that the inner ear provides a unique record of the evolutionary history of ape locomotion that offers an invaluable alternative to the study of the postcranial skeleton."

"Most fossil apes and their inferred ancestors are intermediate in locomotor mode between gibbons and African apes," adds Ni. "Later, the human lineage diverged from the great apes with the acquisition of bipedalism, as seen in Australopithecus, an early human relative from Africa."By studying the rate of evolutionary change in the bony labyrinth, the international team proposed that climate change may have been an important environmental catalyst in promoting the locomotor diversification of apes and humans."Cooler global temperatures, associated with the build up of glacial ice sheets in the northern hemisphere approximately 3.2 million years ago, correspond with an uptick in the rate of change of the bony labyrinth and this may signal a rapid increase in the pace of ape and human locomotor evolution," explains Harrison.

5) Neanderthals and humans lived side by side in Northern Europe 45,000 years ago, genetic analysis finds :by University of California - Berkeley

Excavating the LRJ layers 8 meters deep at Ranis was a logistical challenge and required elaborate scaffolding to support the trench. Credit Marcel Weiss, License CC-BY-ND 4.0

A genetic analysis of bone fragments unearthed at an archaeological site in central Germany shows conclusively that modern humans—Homo sapiens—had already reached Northern Europe 45,000 years ago, overlapping with Neanderthals for several thousand years before the latter went extinct. The findings establish that the site near Ranis, Germany, which is known for its finely flaked, leaf-shaped stone tool blades, is among the oldest confirmed sites of modern human Stone Age culture in north central and northwestern Europe.The evidence that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis lived side by side is consistent with genomic evidence that the two species occasionally interbred. It also feeds the suspicion that the invasion of Europe and Asia by modern humans some 50,000 years ago helped drive Neanderthals, which had occupied the area for more than 500,000 years, to extinction.

The genetic analysis, along with an archaeological and isotopic analysis and radiocarbon dating of the Ranis site, are detailed in a trio of papers appearing in the journals Nature and Nature Ecology and Evolution.The stone blades at Ranis, referred to as leaf points, are similar to stone tools found at several sites in Moravia, Poland, Germany and the United Kingdom. These tools that are thought to have been produced by the same culture, referred to as the Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician (LRJ) culture or technocomplex. Because of previous dating, the Ranis site was known to be 40,000 years old or older, but without recognizable bones to indicate who made the tools, it was unclear whether they were the product of Neanderthals or Homo sapiens.

The new findings demonstrate that "Homo sapiens made this technology, and that Homo sapiens were this far north at this time period, which is 45,000 years ago," said Elena Zavala, one of four first authors of the Nature paper and a Miller Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. "So these are among the earliest Homo sapiens in Europe."Zavala was a Ph.D. student at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in Leipzig in 2018 when she first began working on the project, which was a major effort spearheaded by Jean-Jacque Hublin, former director of the institute and a professor at the Collège de France in Paris."The Ranis cave site provides evidence for the first dispersal of Homo sapiens across the higher latitudes of Europe. It turns out that stone artifacts that were thought to be produced by Neanderthals were, in fact, part of the early Homo sapiens toolkit," Hublin said.

"This fundamentally changes our previous knowledge about the period: Homo sapiens reached northwestern Europe long before Neanderthal disappearance in southwestern Europe." Bones from maternal relatives?Zavala conducted the genetic analysis of hominid bone fragments from the new and deeper excavations at Ranis between 2016 and 2022 and from earlier excavations in the 1930s. Because the DNA in ancient bones is highly fragmented, she employed special techniques to isolate and sequence the DNA, all of it mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that is inherited solely from the mother.

"We confirmed that the skeletal fragments belonged to Homo sapiens. Interestingly, several fragments shared the same mitochondrial DNA sequences—even fragments from different excavations," she said."This indicates that the fragments belonged to the same individual or their maternal relatives, linking these new finds with the ones from decades ago."The bone fragments were initially identified as human through analysis of bone proteins—a field called paleoproteomics—by another first author, Dorothea Mylopotamitaki, a doctoral student at the Collège de France and formerly of MPI-EVA.By comparing the Ranis mitochondrial DNA sequences with mtDNA sequences obtained from human remains at other paleolithic sites in Europe, Zavala was able to construct a family tree of early Homo sapiens across Europe. All but one of the 13 Ranis fragments were quite similar to one another and, surprisingly, resembled mtDNA from the 43,000-year-old skull of a woman discovered in a cave at Zlatý kůň in the Czech Republic. The lone standout grouped with an individual from Italy."That raises some questions: Was this a single population? What could be the relationship here?" Zavala said. "But with mitochondrial DNA, that's only one side of the history. It's only the maternal side. We would need to have nuclear DNA to be able to start looking into this."A transitional site between Middle and Upper Paleolithic

Zavala specializes in the analysis of DNA found in long-buried bones, on bone tools and in sediment. Her search through sediment from various levels of the Ranis excavation turned up DNA from a broad array of mammals, but none from hominids

Human bone fragment from the new excavations at Ranis Credit Tim Schüler TLDA,

The analysis, combined with morphological, isotopic and proteomic analysis of bone fragments, paints a picture of the environment at that time and of the diet of both humans and animals that occupied the cave over the millennia.The presence of reindeer, cave bear, wooly rhinoceros and horse bones, for example, indicated cold climatic conditions typical of steppe tundra and similar to conditions in Siberia and northern Scandinavia today, and a human diet based on large terrestrial animals. The researchers concluded that the cave was used primarily by hibernating cave bears and denning hyenas, with only periodic human presence."This lower-density archaeological signature matches other Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician sites and is best explained by expedient visits of short duration by small, mobile groups of pioneer H. sapiens," according to one of the papers published in Nature Ecology and Evolution."This shows that even these earlier groups of Homo sapiens dispersing across Eurasia already had some capacity to adapt to such harsh climatic conditions," said Sarah Pederzani, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of La Laguna in Spain, who led the paleoclimate study of the site.

Stone tools from the LRJ at Ranis. 1) partial bifacial blade point characteristic of the LRJ; 2) at Ranis the LRJ also contains finely made bifacial leaf points. Credit Josephine Schubert, Museum Burg Ranis

"Until recently, it was thought that resilience to cold-climate conditions did not appear until several thousand years later, so this is a fascinating and surprising result."The Ranis site, called Ilsenhöhle and located at the base of a castle, was initially excavated mainly between 1932 and 1938. The leaf points found there were eventually assigned to the final years of the Middle Paleolithic period—between about 300,000 and 30,000 years ago—or the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, which began around 50,000 years ago.Because of the importance of the Ranis site for understanding the LRJ technocomplex and the transition from the Neanderthal-associated late Middle Paleolithic to the modern human Upper Paleolithic in central Europe, Hublin and his team decided to re-excavate the site using modern tools of archaeology.

Analysis of over 1000 animal bones from Ranis showed that early Homo sapiens processed the carcasses of deer but also of carnivores, including wolf. Credit Geoff M. Smith

The new excavations extended to bedrock, about 8 meters below the surface, and involved removing a rock—likely fallen from the cave ceiling—that had halted the previous excavation. Here, Hublin's team uncovered chips from flint tools and a quartzite flake consistent with the LRJ technocomplex.Subsequent proteomic analysis of thousands of recovered bone chips confirmed that four were from hominids. Of bone chips uncovered during the 1930s excavations, nine were from hominids.Zavala's DNA analysis confirmed that all 13 bone fragments came from Homo sapiens.A revised settlement history of Northern Europe

The team also carried out radiocarbon dating of human and animal bones from different layers of the site to reconstruct the site's chronology, focusing on bones with traces of human modifications on their surfaces, which links their dates to human presence in the cave.

Proteomic extraction from archaeological bone fragments is performed in a sterilized environment to avoid modern contamination Credit Dorothea Mylopotamitaki

"We found very good agreement between the radiocarbon dates from the Homo sapiens bones from both excavation collections and with modified animal bones from the LRJ layers of the new excavation, making a very strong link between the human remains and LRJ. The evidence suggests that Homo sapiens were sporadically occupying the site from as early as 47,500 years ago," said another first author, Helen Fewlass, a former Max Planck researcher who is now a European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Postdoctoral Fellow at the Francis Crick Institute in London.

"The results from the Ilsenhöhle in Ranis fundamentally changed our ideas about the chronology and settlement history of Europe north of the Alps," added Tim Schüler of the Thuringian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and Archaeology in Weimar, Germany.

6) New genus of 'alien-faced' multi-legged forest dwellers discovered :by University of the Sunshine Coast

Credit European Journal of Taxonomy (2024)

University of the Sunshine Coast researchers have uncovered a new genus and five new species of millipedes in remote African jungles—and say the many-legged creatures could hold important clues to whether woody vines are choking or protecting the world's forests.UniSC Professor Andy Marshall said they found the millipedes—with heads that look somewhat like Star Wars characters—among forest litter and loose soil while researching tree and vine growth in the Tanzania's remote Udzungwa Mountains.

The new genus and species were officially described recently in the European Journal of Taxonomy in a paper titled "A mountain of millipedes XI. The trachystreptoform spirostreptids of the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Spirostreptidae)," with six international collaborators including lead author Professor Henrik Enghoff of the University of Copenhagen.

"The millipedes will help us to determine two very different theories on the role of vines on forest recovery—whether the vines are like bandages protecting a wound or 'parasitoids' choking the forest," Marshall said.

"We record millipedes of all sizes during our fieldwork to measure forest recovery because they are great indicators of forest health, but we didn't realize the significance of these species until the myriapodologists had assessed our specimens," Marshall added. "It's remarkable that so many of these new species did not appear in earlier collecting of millipedes from the same area, but we were still hoping for something new."Marshall and Ph.D. student Alain Ngute from UniSC's Forests Research Institute found the new millipedes while conducting the research in Tanzania as part of Forest Restoration and Climate Change Experiment.Recent findings, part of a global research collaboration, suggest that warmer temperatures are a key driver in woody vines taking over the forests already disturbed by logging and other impacts.Known for their multitude of legs, the largest African millipedes can grow up to 35 centimeters.

Box of sample millipedes collected by UniSC FoRCE project researchers in Tanzania. Photo credit A.R. Marshall

Marshall, from UniSC's Forest Research Institute, explained that while the millipedes they found were only a few centimeters long, they still had about 200 legs each.It is not the first time Marshall has had the thrill of discovering new species during his research; his previous finds include a new chameleon and new species of tree that could already be on its way toward extinction. He said unearthing the new genus and species of millipedes highlighted the huge amount of discovery remaining in tropical forests.Professor Enghoff and the team named one of the new species Lophostreptus magombera after the Magombera Nature Reserve, a biologically unique forest that Marshall has been working to conserve since the turn of the millennium.The millipede specimens are now in Denmark's Natural History Museum at the University of Copenhagen.The new genus is Udzungwastreptus. The five new species are Lophostreptus magombera; Attemsostreptus cataractae; Attemsostreptus leptoptilos; Attemsostreptus julostriatus and Udzungwastreptus marianae.

 

 

 1) Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM for 9th time; Samrat Chaudhury, Vijay Kumar Sinha to be deputy CMs

Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) Chief Nitish Kumar took oath as the chief minister of Bihar for the 9th time on Sunday

JD(U) snaps ties with grand alliance in Bihar; two Deputy CMs from BJP and six Ministers sworn in; Mr. Kumar says he was acting for ‘the interest of Bihar’; RJD says ‘the game is not over yet’ Nitish Kumar took oath as the chief minister of BJP-JD(U) government in Bihar on Sunday after breaking up with RJD. Nitish Kumar took oath as the chief minister of Bihar for a record ninth time, hours after he tendered his resignation as the chief minister of the RJD-JD(U) government. Jitan Ram Manjhi, Chirag Paswan, Samrat Chaudhary and JP Nadda were present as Kumar took the oath amid chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jai Shree Ram.The last time Nitish Kumar took oath as chief minister was in 2022 when he severed his ties with the NDA and joined the RJD, Congress and the Left alliance in Bihar.

Between 2022 and 2024, Nitish Kumar took the lead in forging the alliance of the opposition parties to unitedly fight the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In June 2023, he hosted the first meeting of the opposition parties before it even adopted the INDIA name.

1. Along with Nitish Kumar, BJP's Samrat Choudhury, Vijay Sinha took oath on Sunday. HAM will also be a part of the new government. Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) president Dr Santosh Kumar Suman took oath on Sunday. Nitish Kumar said Samrat Chaudhury, Vijay Kumar Sinha will be deputy CMs.

2. Overnight, the RJD ministers are out of the cabinet as Nitish Kumar will now get a new cabinet in the changed political equation in Bihar

3. Tejashwi Yadav said 2024 marks the end of the JD(U) and the game in Bihar is far from being over.

4. Political strategist Prashant Kishor said Nitish's tryst with the BJP will be short-lived and Bihar will again see changes within six months after the Lok Sabha election. But whoever Nitish Kumar goes with, he will not win more than 20 seats in the state election in 2025.

5. Akhilesh Yadav said Nitish Kumar made a new record of betrayal and the BJP is at its weakest now.

6. Nitish Kumar became the CM for the first time in 2000. At that time, he was against RJD and his campaign was based on opposing Lalu. In 2013, Nitish broke away from the NDA and came with RJD in 2015 election.

7. In 2017, Nitish Kumar severed his ties with the RJD and went back to the NDA. In 2022, Nitish Kumar again deserted the NDA and came back to RJD.

8. As Nitish Kumar tendered his resignation on Sunday morning, he explained that things in the INDIA bloc have not been working out.

9. The Congress said it was aware of what was brewing in Bihar but did not comment on it before in the interest of the INDIA bloc. Countering JD(U)'s allegation that the Congress insulted Nitish Kumar time and again, the Congress said if Nitish Kumar wanted to stay, he would have; but he wanted to join the NDA. Earlier, the Congress said Mallikarjun Kharge tried to reach out to Nitish Kumar but was unsuccessful.

10. Kharge said Nitish's switch was pre-planned and Nitish Kumar kept the Congress, and the RJD leadership in the dark.

 Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says he will remain in NDA ‘forever’ now

Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) Chief Nitish Kumar took oath as the chief minister of Bihar for the 9th time on Sunday

Earlier this week, Nitish Kumar dumped the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and formed a new coalition government with the BJP, whom he had left in 2022.Days after he dumped the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) and the INDIA bloc to form a new government with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday asserted that he will now stay in the fold of the National Democratic Alliance “forever”. Addressing reporters in Patna, Kumar also criticised the INDIA bloc, saying that they said he had urged the Congress and other members of the Opposition's alliance to not name the political group 'Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or INDIA'."I was urging them to choose another name for the alliance. But they had already finalized it. I was trying so hard. They did not do even one thing. Till today they haven't decided which party will contest how many seats," Kumar said.

He added: "Then I left them and came back to who I was with initially. Now I will stay here forever. I will keep working for the people of Bihar." The Janata Jal (United) chief also also that his new government will seek a trust vote in the Bihar Assembly on February 10.

Earlier this week, Kumar announced the end of the 17-month-old coalition government run by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), Congress and Left parties on Sunday. Hours later, he joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and took oath as chief minister for the third time in four years, and ninth since 2005.

Two Deputy Chief Ministers from the BJP, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and six other ministers, including Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Santosh Kumar Suman, Shrawan Kumar, and others, also took the oath with Kumar. It was not for the first time that Kumar switched sides. In 2005, he formed his first government in alliance with the BJP. He snapped ties in 2013, fought the 2014 Lok Sabha polls alone and the 2015 assembly polls in alliance with the RJD. He again returned to NDA in 2017.

In 2019, the JD(U) contested the national polls and 2020 Bihar elections as part of the BJP-led grouping. In 2022, Kumar quit the NDA to form the government again with the RJD, Congress, and Left parties. Earlier, Congress General Secretary (Communication) Jairam Ramesh criticised Kumar for switching sides.

"I thought Narendra Modi was a master of U-turns... but Nitish Kumar has left even the master of U-turns behind," he said.

2) Champai Soren sworn in as Jharkhand CM; Hemant in 5-day custody

JMM leader Champai Soren takes oath as Jharkhand chief minister in Ranchi on Friday.

Champai Soren is sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Jharkhand, following the arrest of his predecessor Hemant Soren on money laundering charges.

Champai Soren became the seventh person to take oath as Jharkhand’s chief minister on Friday, resolving for now the instability roiling the state after the dramatic arrest of his predecessor Hemant Soren over money laundering allegations two days ago.

Champai Soren became the seventh person to take oath as Jharkhand’s chief minister on Friday, resolving for now the instability roiling the state after the dramatic arrest of his predecessor Hemant Soren over money laundering allegations two days ago.Champai Soren, the 67-year-old minister who was elected leader of Jharkhand’s ruling coalition hours before Hemant Soren’s arrest, was sworn in alongside two other members — Alamgir Alam from the Congress and Satyanand Bhokta from the Rashtriya Janata Dal — even as the alliance shifted 35 legislators to Hyderabad, the capital of Congress-ruled Telangana.“We will take forward welfare schemes launched by Hemant Soren. I am committed to the development of Jharkhand, We will continue the fight for jal, jungle, jameen (water, forest, land),” he said, referring to a slogan made famous by tribal icon Komaram Bheem.

Champai Soren’s swearing-in caps a dramatic 48 hours in Ranchi that began with the arrest of Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate at 10pm on Wednesday, minutes after his resignation. In a letter addressed to his party’s legislators before his arrest, Hemant Soren confirmed transport minister Champai Soren as the new legislature party leader.

3) Chandigarh mayoral polls: SC to consider AAP councillor’s plea for urgent hearing

Aam Aadmi Party councillors consoling their mayoral candidate, Kuldeep Dhalor, after the BJP swept the elections on Tuesday.

Punjab and Haryana high court had denied interim relief to AAP and issued notices to Chandigarh administration, MC, presiding officer Anil Masih and newly elected mayor Manoj Sonkar, asking them to file their replies within three weeks. The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider an AAP councillor’s request seeking urgent hearing of his plea challenging a Punjab and Haryana high court order that refused to grant interim relief to the party seeking fresh mayoral elections in Chandigarh.

The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for councillor Kuldeep Dhalor, the INDIA bloc candidate for the mayor’s post. Singhvi submitted that the returning officer was caught on video smudging the ballots.“We will list it... we will look at it,” the bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.

The BJP swept the Chandigarh mayoral polls, retaining all three posts, a setback to the Congress-AAP alliance that alleged tampering with ballot papers by the presiding officer.

On Wednesday, a division bench of Justices Sudhir Singh and Harsh Bunger of the high court denied interim relief to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which alleged that ballot papers had been tampered with and sought fresh elections under the supervision of a retired judge of the court. The high court issued notices to the Chandigarh administration, the municipal corporation, presiding officer Anil Masih and newly elected mayor Manoj Sonkar, among others, asking them to file their replies within three weeks.

AAP councillor Kuldeep Dhalor filed the appeal in the top court against the denial of interim relief and listing of the plea after three weeks.

The matter was adjourned till February 26 in the high court.

According to the plea filed in the high court, the AAP candidate has sought directions for holding fresh polls in a free and fair manner under the supervision of a retired judge to ensure no malpractice.

The plea says it was filed as the election was not held in a free and fair manner and there was a gross violation while counting of votes, with tampering of the ballot papers and then declaring them invalid, in favour of the BJP and against the alliance of AAP and Congress. The petitioner sought an investigation by an independent agency into the “entire fraud” committed during the election process.

The petitioner has also sought directions to the respondents to seal, preserve and present before the high court the entire process of the election, including the record of the ballot papers and proceedings of the election process and videography done on Tuesday.The petitioner has sought directions to restrain the newly elected mayor from discharging his functions as the entire process of election was “vitiated by fraud”.The Congress and the AAP had predicted an easy victory for their alliance in the 35-member Chandigarh municipal corporation, projecting it as an early test for the INDIA opposition bloc ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

4) Interim Budget 2024 | 6 key takeaways from Nirmala Sitharaman's speech

People at a TV showroom during presentation of the Interim Budget 2024 in the Parliament by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Mumbai on Thursday

Budget 2024: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman made no changes in the taxation structure in which can be seen as a relief to taxpayers.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled her last Budget or Interim Budget on Thursday before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections this year, announcing a double-digit boost to infrastructure spending and flagging the government's "golden moments" ahead.Nirmala Sitharaman also proposed a scheme that will allow people to buy or build their own homes, free electricity as part of a new rooftop solar programme and increased medical coverage for some government workers. Nirmala Sitharaman also announced plans to increase milk and dairy production in the country. India is the largest milk producer in the world but there is low productivity, Sitharaman said. The finance minister also said a strategy will be developed for Atma Nirbharta for oilseeds production. Efforts of the value addition in the agriculture sector and increase farmers' income will be stepped up, the minister said.

The finance minister made no changes in the taxation structure in which can be seen as a relief to taxpayers.

"In keeping with convention, I do not propose to make any changes relating to taxation and propose to retain the same tax rates for direct and indirect taxes including import duties. However, certain tax benefits to startups and investments made by sovereign wealth or pension funds as also tax exemption on certain income of some IFSC units are expiring on March 31 2024; to provide continuity, I propose to extend the date to March 31 2025," she said.

Budget 2024: Six key takeaways

1. Nirmala Sitharaman stuck to fiscal prudence with a lower-than-expected fiscal deficit of 5.8 per cent (of GDP) in FY24 and an estimated 5.1 per cent next year - lower than estimated.

2. There are no sops or big rural transfers, but she announced building 2 crore more houses for the rural poor in the next five years under the continuing PM Awas Yojana (Grameen).Sitharaman said the government is close to achieving the target of 3 crore affordable houses.

3. The country's capital spending for 2024-25 has been raised 11 per cent to ₹11.11 lakh crore, or 3.4 per cent of GDP.

4. No changes to direct or indirect tax rates. No change in tax structure.

5. The government will set up ₹1 lakh crore corpus with 50 50-year interest-free loan - long-term financing or refinance with long tenor and low or nil interest rates: to scale up R&D in sunrise sectors.

6. Average real income of people increased by 50%.

Income Tax

"...I do not propose any changes in tax rates in direct and indirect taxes including import duties," Sitharaman said, during her Budget speech.

While no changes were seen in the tax regime in this budget, the FM announced that over the last 10 years, tax collections have more than doubled. She also pointed out that the average processing time of tax returns was reduced to 10 days this year."The Finance Minister reports a significant milestone, citing a doubling of tax collections over the past decade. Notably, the current budget maintains the status quo in both direct and indirect taxation, including import duties. Companies may find this predictability beneficial in navigating their financial planning, fostering a more secure and sustainable business environment," said Siddhesh Mehta, Research Analyst, Samco Securities.

Infrastructure Development

Building on the massive tripling of the capital expenditure outlay in the past 4 years resulting in a huge multiplier impact on economic growth and employment creation, the outlay for the next year is being increased by 11.1 percent to 11.11 lakh crore, announced the FM. This is 3.4 percent of the GDP.

Railways

FM Sitharaman announced that 40,000 normal rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat to enhance the safety, convenience, and comfort of passengers. Key rail infrastructure projects including Metro Rail and Namo Bharat will be expanded to more cities. Also, 3 major railway corridors were also announced - the port connectivity corridor, the energy, mineral, and cement corridor, and the high traffic density corridor.

The resultant decongestion of the high-traffic corridors will also help in improving the operations of passenger trains, resulting in safety and higher travel speed for passengers.Together with dedicated freight corridors, these three economic corridor programs will accelerate our GDP growth and reduce logistic costs, said Sitharaman.

"After the success of Vande Bharat trains, the FM announced around 40,000 more rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat coaches. This will further create job opportunities while reducing travel time as well as increasing tourism across the country," said Sanjay Moorjani, Research Analyst at SAMCO Securities.Meanwhile, CRISIL noted that the development of commodity-specific economic rail corridors can de-congest existing lines, mostly in the eastern part of the country. This is supportive of faster freight movement and turnaround times and should help reduce the logistics cost for India from 12 percent of GDP, improving competitiveness, especially manufacturing, against peers.

Meanwhile, CRISIL noted that the development of commodity-specific economic rail corridors can de-congest existing lines, mostly in the eastern part of the country. This is supportive of faster freight movement and turnaround times and should help reduce the logistics cost for India from 12 percent of GDP, improving competitiveness, especially manufacturing, against peers.

'Lakhpati Didi' Scheme

FM announced that eighty-three lakh SHGs (self-help groups) with nine crore women are transforming the rural socio-economic landscape with empowerment and self-reliance. Their success has assisted nearly one crore women to become ‘Lakhpati Didi’ already. Buoyed by the success, it has been decided to enhance the target for ‘Lakhpati Didi’ from 2 crore to 3 crore.

"The Lakhpati Didi Scheme, aiming to empower two crore women in villages, has achieved notable success by reaching 83 lakh self-help groups and benefiting 9 crore women. With a financial injection of ₹1 lakh per household for one crore beneficiaries, this initiative is poised to significantly uplift the economic status of rural women. This empowerment not only stimulates the rural economy but also enhances credit demand for micro-financiers, particularly from women and self-help groups, potentially reducing stress on asset quality issues," said Veer Trivedi, Research Analyst, SAMCO Securities.

Electricity

Through roof-top solarisation, 10 million households will be enabled to obtain up to 300 units of free electricity every month. This scheme follows the resolve of the Prime Minister on the historic day of the consecration of Shri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, said FM Nirmala Sitharaman. This will help save up to ₹15,000-18,000 annually for households from free solar electricity and selling the surplus to the distribution companies, noted Sitharaman.

Green Energy

Towards meeting the commitment to ‘net zero’ by 2070, the following measures were announced.

a. Viability gap funding will be provided for harnessing offshore wind energy potential for the initial capacity of one giga-watt.

b. Coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT will be set up by 2030. This will also help in reducing imports of natural gas, methanol, and ammonia. c. Phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic purposes will be mandated.

d. Financial assistance will be provided for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery to support collection

Electric vehicles

The government will expand and strengthen the EV ecosystem by supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure, the finance minister said. Greater adoption of e-buses for public transport networks will be encouraged through payment security mechanisms, she added.

“In addressing the key barrier to EV and hybrid vehicle adoption - the shortage of public charging stations, evident from the 6,586 stations recorded by March 2023 - the Indian government's 2024-25 Union Budget presents a forward-thinking strategy. It aims to incentivise and substantially expand the electric vehicle ecosystem, with a focused investment in boosting the number of charging stations. This initiative is a cornerstone in transforming India's EV landscape, overcoming range anxiety, and promoting electric vehicles as a viable, sustainable transport solution for the future," said Kartik Narayan, CEO at Staffing, TeamLease Services.

Tourism

FM announced that states will be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centers' branding and marketing at a global scale. A rating system based on the quality of facilities and services will be established. Long-term interest-free loans will be provided to states for financing these developments. Projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure, and amenities will be taken up on our islands, including Lakshadweep. This will help in generating employment as well, says FM Sitharaman.

Promoting investments

The FDI inflow during 2014-23 was $596 billion marking a golden era. That is twice the inflow during 2005-14. For encouraging sustained foreign investment, the government is negotiating bilateral investment treaties with foreign partners, in the spirit of ‘first develop India’, said FM in her speech.

Technology

New-age technologies and data are changing the lives of people and businesses. They are also enabling new economic opportunities and facilitating the provision of high-quality services at affordable prices for all, including those at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’, said FM Sitharaman.

She announced a corpus of rupees one lakh crore will be established with a fifty-year interest-free loan. The corpus will provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil interest rates. This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation significantly in sunrise domains.

"We need to have programs that combine the powers of our youth and technology," she said.A new scheme will be launched for strengthening deep-tech technologies for defence purposes and expediting ‘atmanirbharta’, added the FM.“The 50-year interest-free loan for a corpus of Rs. 1 lakh crore can be seen as an indispensable boon for the IT industry and sunrise sectors. We can expect the funding to bolster research and innovations, thereby improving India’s position as a global technology leader in the coming decade," said Manick Wadhwa, Director at SKI Capital.

Ayushman Bharat

Ayushman Bharat cover will be extended to all Anganwadi and Asha workers, Finance Minister Sitharaman announced. She also added that all maternal and child healthcare schemes will be brought under one comprehensive scheme.

PM Awas Yojana

Despite the challenges due to COVID, implementation of PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) continued and the centre is close to achieving the target of three crore houses. Two crore more houses will be taken up in the next five years to meet the requirement arising from the increase in the number of families, said Sitharaman

“Launched on June 25, 2015, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Mission seeks to ensure housing for all. The government aimed to construct 3 crore pucca houses by March 2024, the finance minister stated in the speech that they are closer to achieving this goal. An additional plan to build 2 crores more houses over the next five years signals sustained commitment. This intensified focus on PMAY is expected to trigger increased investments and heightened activity in the construction sector, with multiplier effects on Housing Finance, Cement, Steel, and Paints industries, reflecting a significant positive impact across various sectors," said Veer Trivedi, Research Analyst, SAMCO Securities.

MSME

Policy priority is to provide training for MSMEs to compete globally and facilitating their growth will be important. To meet the investment needs, the government will prepare the financial sector, said FM Sitharaman.

“The Skill India Mission's initiative to train 1.4 crore young individuals, along with the upskilling and re-skilling of 54 lakh youth, coupled with the establishment of 3,000 new Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), is a vital step towards bolstering the PLI and Make in India programs. This comprehensive approach is essential in enhancing the manufacturing sector's contribution to the GDP from 17 percent to 25 percent by 2047, thereby creating numerous job opportunities," said Kartik Narayan, CEO, Staffing at TeamLease Services.

Agriculture and food processing

FM announced that the efforts for value addition in the agricultural sector and boosting farmers’ income will be stepped up. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana has benefitted 38 lakh farmers and generated 10 lakh employment. Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Yojana has assisted 2.4 lakh SHGs and sixty thousand individuals with credit linkages. Other schemes are complementing the efforts for reducing postharvest losses and improving productivity and incomes.

To ensure faster growth of the sector, the government will further promote private and public investment in post-harvest activities including aggregation, modern storage, efficient supply chains, primary and secondary processing, and marketing and branding, she added.

5) CPM rides INDIA divide in Bengal, joins Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra

Rahul Gandhi with Md Salim, Sujan Chakraborty and other CPM leaders in Jangipur, Murshidabad,on Thursday.

A day after Mamata accused the Marxists of using their influence on the Congress to spoil her “good understanding” with it, the CPM mocked her, underscoring its oft-repeated prediction that she would abandon the anti-BJP bloc before the general election The Bengal CPM, visibly upbeat after arch-adversary Mamata Banerjee’s repeated public assertions of a virtual withdrawal from the INDIA grouping, on Thursday joined Rahul Gandhi in his Murshidabad leg of the Nyay Yatra.

A day after Mamata accused the Marxists of using their influence on the Congress to spoil her “good understanding” with it, the CPM mocked her, underscoring its oft-repeated prediction that she would abandon the anti-BJP bloc before the general election. Through vast stretches of the Murshidabad route of the Yatra, CPM flags were brandished alongside those of the Congress and the national flag, while Trinamul jeered at the Marxists for their alleged desperation.

The Congress high command, taking a line at odds with its Bengal unit, yet again issued a statement of optimism — of being able to retain Mamata in the INDIA coalition and sealing a seat deal in Bengal. The CPM state committee, led by state secretary Md Salim and central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, met Rahul and his Yatra entourage

at Piyarapur in Murshidabad, vowing to stand by nyay (justice) in the fight against the division of the nation through onyay (injustice).“We are not here to discuss the alliance but to offer our wholehearted support to this endeavour. Alliance talks will take place in party offices,” a beaming Salim said.

He made no attempt to conceal his pleasure at the Bengal chief minister’s recent declarations about going it alone in the state in the general election, and her unwillingness to participate in the Yatra despite repeated requests from the Congress high command.“Mamata has been firing her gun at the Congress, off our shoulders…. Everybody got on the (INDIA) train, but we cannot guarantee who will get off where,” Salim said.“Mamata Banerjee has now, unsurprisingly, said, ‘Stop the train, I will disembark’. We are saying, ‘You are welcome to’.”On Wednesday at Berhampore in Murshidabad, Mamata had said: “We had a good understanding with the Congress… if somebody played foul, it was the CPM. The CPM is today the biggest agent of the BJP.” Over the past few days, Mamata has repeatedly accused the CPM of getting in the way of her alliance talks with the Congress, often underscoring how the CPM was encouraging a negative approach towards her within the INDIA grouping.

The Trinamul chief’s displeasure at the delay in sealing seat shares has been exacerbated by the state Congress’s attacks on her and its attempts to drive a hard bargain, besides the relentless, militant opposition to her from the CPM.This has, however, coincided with an increasingly placatory approach from a Congress high command cornered by the serious setbacks handed by the AAP and the body blow dealt by the JDU’s departure.Throughout the Nyay Yatra, and not only in the Bengal leg, Rahul has spoken well of Mamata or at least avoided publicly criticising her despite the attacks from the Bengal chief minister. But his party’s state unit has been belligerently returning the fire.Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh, who has over the past few days been consistently mollycoddling Mamata, refused to budge from his — effectively, the high command’s — optimism about eventually pulling off a seat-sharing arrangement with her in Bengal.This despite her assertion on Wednesday that she was now willing to offer none of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress.“In an alliance, dynamics of give and take exist. We remain hopeful of arriving at a consensus on a joint seat-sharing formula in the state, one that is satisfactory to all parties involved,” Ramesh, part of Rahul’s entourage, said at Jangipur.“Mamataji has, on several occasions, expressed her commitment to INDIA, and we welcome this.”Asked about Mamata’s refusal to offer even a single seat to the Congress in Bengal on account of its alignment with the CPM, which she says would strengthen the BJP’s chances in the state, Ramesh said he had heard about this.“It reflects her opinion, not the consensus of the bloc. Trinamul and the Congress have the common goal of defeating the BJP…. The shared objective — of paramount importance to all INDIA constituents — is to oust the BJP,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi in Jangipur, Murshidabad, on Thursday.

“In Bengal, we have to ensure that the BJP is defeated in the 18 seats it won in 2019,” he added.In response to the CPM’s refusal to ally with Mamata in Bengal, Ramesh said that representatives of the Marxists and all other major Left parties had been part of every major INDIA exercise, alongside Trinamul and the Congress.Sources in not just Trinamul but also the Congress high command believe that the biggest hurdle to a settlement in Bengal is the militant resistance from state Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury, backed by party general secretary and working committee member Deepa Das Munshi.While Mamata on Thursday reiterated her go-it-alone stand in Nadia, Trinamul state general secretary Kunal Ghosh — widely seen as a mouthpiece of her nephew and heir apparent Abhishek Banerjee — ridiculed the CPM.

“The CPM, which is fussing over pictures with Rahul Gandhi today, had called his grandmother (Indira Gandhi) a witch; cartoons of Rahul’s father (Rajiv Gandhi) had been used as graffiti, calling him a thief. They had also joined hands with the BJP to oust him (Rajiv, in 1989),” Ghosh said in a Bengali post on X.“Now if you (the CPM) fight alone, your deposits will be forfeited in all 42 seats; that is why the CPM is roaming around greedily, like a madman.”

 

 

 

1) India vs England 2nd Test, Day 1 highlights: Yashasvi Jaiswal 179*, In

dia 336/6 at stumps

India vs England highlights 2nd Test, Day 1Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot on the first day of the second test match between India and England in Visakhapatnam

2nd Test, Day 1: Yashasvi Jaiswal remained unbeaten on 179 as India went to stumps at 336/6.

India vs England highlights 2nd Test, Day 1: Yashasvi Jaiswal batted through the entire day to put India in a strong position in Visakhapatnam. He remained unbeaten on 179 as India reached 336/6 at stumps on Day 1 of the second Test at the ACA-VDCA stadium. Jaiswal was far more  Yashasvi Jaiswal batted through the entire day to put India in a strong position in Visakhapatnam. He remained unbeaten on 179 as India reached 336/6 at stumps on Day 1 of the second Test at the ACA-VDCA stadium. Jaiswal was far more measured in the early part of his innings than in the first Test, biding his time and waiting for the bad balls with opening partner and captain Rohit Sharma at the other end. Rohit had won the toss and chosen to bat first. He ended up becoming spinner Shoaib Bashir's maiden Test wicket after which Shubman Gill joined Jaiswal and continued on the watchful approach. Eventually, though, the former switched gears and was looking primed for a for a big score when he was undone by the genius of James Anderson. England were then pegged back by a 90-run stand between Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer, with the pair seeing India through to Lunch and then keeping them steady for much of the first half of the second session. Iyer couldn't convert his start though, falling for 27 off 59 to Tom Hartley. This brought debutant Rajat Patidar to the crease. He was dismissed in the final session by Rehan Ahmed for 32.

India vs England highlights 2nd Test, Day 1: Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot on the first day of the second test match between India and England, in Visakhapatnam

India vs England highlights 2nd Test, Day 1: Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot on the first day of the second test match between India and England, in Visakhapatnam(AP)

Rohit earlier confirmed at the toss that Patidar will be making his debut as a replacement for the injured KL Rahul. Additionally, India have also decided to play Kuldeep Yadav as opposed to going for the all-round option of Washington Sundar in place of Ravindra Jadeja while pacer Mohammed Siraj has been rested and Mukesh Kumar takes his place. Patidar was handed his maiden Test cap minutes before the toss, thus ending speculation about whether it would be him or Sarfaraz Khan who will get to play.After the first Test ended in four days, the action moves to Visakhapatnam – Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA stadium being the venue – where the second game of the five-match series starts today. India were dealt a shock in Hyderabad by England and then were handed a couple more blows in the days since that first Test ended. However, coming back from 1-0 down in a home series is not something they haven't done before, even in the recent past in which they have been so dominant at home. India had lost the first of the four-Test series the last time they hosted England and then went on to win it 3-1.

However, India have a couple of complications to deal with in the form of the in-form KL Rahul being ruled out along with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. The latter's absence could particularly sting the host with Jadeja being crucial to the team's cause in Test cricket with ball, bat and in the field in recent years. Kuldeep Yadav could get a chance to feature in the squad. He has missed 56 of India's 64 Tests since making his debut in 2017. He has been patient to wait for his opportunity which are hard to come by. But the second Test could give him a window that he has been eagerly waiting for. Another frontrunner to replace Jadeja could be Washington Sundar. While Kuldeep may have more experience, Sundar is arguably a better fit as Jadeja's replacement because of the fact that he is a genuine all-rounder. And of course, there is no Virat Kohli either.And now the biggest conundrum of them all. The battle between two youngsters for a place in the XI. Jadeja's injury not could, but will make the way for Sundar, but just who will replace Rahul is a throw of the dice no one can predict. In an ideal world, Sarfaraz Khan's ability to play spin better than most youngsters in India makes him an obvious chance, but don't forget Rajat Patidar found a place in this squad before him, making him the likely choice. Both spoke about their dreams of representing India, and one's would pretty much set to come true today. As for the third youngster, Dhruv Jurel, he too is expected to warm the bench after KS Bharat's participation was confirmed following his appearance in the press conference on the eve of the match. He spoke about how India are keeping chill and that despite the defeat in Hyderabad, the atmosphere is relaxed.

After clinching a 28-run in the first Test, England have named three frontline spinners - Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed  and Shoaib Bashir, who lack a bit of experience. Jack Leach who holds the highest experience is on the sidelines due to a knee injury. In his absence, Joe Root would look to inspire the team and pick up wickets if the young spin trio fail to rise to the occasion. Veteran pacer James Anderson is also back in the squad in place of Mark Wood. This is his sixth Test tour of India and he would have played at least one game in all of them. Legend indeed.

2) Jannik Sinner beats Daniil Medvedev in five-set thriller to claim maiden Grand Slam at Australian Open 2024

Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup trophy after defeating Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the men's singles final match on day 15 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 28

Jannik Sinner made an emphatic comeback from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in Australian Open final.

Italy's Jannik Sinner scripted a sensational come-from-behind win, reminiscent of Rafael Nadal's 2022 feat in Melbourne, against Daniil Medvedev to claim his maiden Grand Slam trophy at the 2024 Australian Open on Sunday. The 22-year-old rallied from two-sets-to-love down to register a 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win in front of a packed Rod Laver Arena to claim a three-hour, 44-minute triumph, his fourth consecutive tour-level win against his rival. With the win, the 22-year-old became the youngest player to win the Australian Open men's singles title since a 20-year-old Novak Djokovic claimed his maiden Slam in Melbourne in 2008. Sinner also became the first Italian man to win a major since Adriano Panatta in 1976, the third Italian man in history, and first at Melbourne Park.

"Thanks [to] my team," Sinner said during the trophy ceremony. "Everyone who is in the box and watching from home, who works with me. We are trying to get better everyday and even during the tournament, trying to get stronger and understand the situation a little bit better. It is not easy as I am still a little bit young but I want to thank everyone."It was sheer agony for Medvedev, who came back from two sets down twice over the last fortnight to reach his third Australian Open final, but failed to prevent an inspired comeback from Sinner. The world No. 3 has now gone 1-5 in major finals as he lost the chance to become the sixth active player on the tour to win multiple Slams and go past reigning Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz (No. 2) in the ATP rankings.

Medvedev's strategy was clear right from the start of the match, having incurred three straight losses against Sinner last year, as he flew out of the blocks, breaking the Italian early. He stood closer to the baseline than his usual deep-return position, which he had explained to Jim Courier in one of his post-match on-court interactions, taking the time away from Sinner, who also struggled against the falt ball-striking from Medvedev.

Sinner was broken just twice en route to the final, which included a match against Novak Djokovic, where he did not face a single break point. But he was broken thrice in the opening two sets as Medvedev won over 80 per cent points behind his first delivery while blasting 23 winners in all. Despite Medvedev standing on the brink of a win, Sinner resumed with more authority, pushing the Russian deeper with the weight behind his forehand, while finding more first-serves in. Sinner missed an easy forehand pass at the net following a 31-shot rally in the 10th game of the third set but bounced back quickly to break Medvedev and win the set, beginning his comeback in the clash. The Italian saved a breakpoint at 3-3 in a tense fourth set with a big ace and pounced on Medvedev's serve again late on to level the match at two sets apiece, before a vital break for a 4-2 lead in the decider put him on course for victory.

3) Sports Ministry gets ₹45 crore boost in Union Budget

Khelo India, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

In the previous budget, the Sports Ministry had got a revised allocation of ₹3,396.96 crore The Sports Ministry was on Thursday allocated ₹3,442.32 crore, a hike of ₹45.36 crore as compared to last year, in the interim Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In the previous budget, the Sports Ministry had got a revised allocation of ₹3,396.96 crore The Olympic Games in Paris, to be held from July 26 to August 11, will be the country's main focus during the 2024-25 financial year.

The ministry's flagship programme, Khelo India, was allotted ₹900 crore, an increase of ₹20 crore from the previous budget.The Sports Authority of India (SAI), which organises national camps, provides infrastructure and equipment to athletes, appoints coaches among others, saw ₹26.83 crore increase in its budgetary allocation from the previous year's revised expenditure of ₹795.77 crore.The National Sports Federations (NSFs) will receive ₹15 crore more this time, as compared to the 2023-24 revised budget of ₹325 crore.The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) too got a raise with the government allocating ₹22.30 crore in the interim budget as compared to ₹21.73 crore in 2023-24. The National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL), which conducts the testing of dope samples, will receive ₹22 crore, ₹2.5 crore more than the previous budget.

The budget for National Centre of Sports Science and Research has been reduced to ₹8 crore from ₹10 crore previously, while the National Sports University will get an increased allocation of ₹91.90 crore from ₹83.21 crore of 2023-24 budget.

The budget for giving incentives to sportspersons saw a significant reduction from ₹84 crore to ₹39 crore.

The allocation for National Sports Development Fund was also reduced to ₹18 from ₹46 crore. The Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare for Sportspersons scheme got ₹2 crore.The allocation for 'Enhancement of Sports Facility in Jammu and Kashmir' was also brought down to ₹8 crore from previous budget allocation of ₹20 crore.In the previous budget, the allocation for Commonwealth Games was ₹15 crore, which was brought down to ₹0.01 crore this time.

4) Kidambi Srikanth moves to second round of Thailand Masters

The former world number toiled hard for 45 minutes to get the better of Wang 22-20 21-19 and enter the second round.

Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth opened his campaign at the Thailand Masters badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei in Bangkok on Wednesday. Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth opened his campaign at the Thailand Masters badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei in Bangkok on Wednesday. The former world number toiled hard for 45 minutes to get the better of Wang 22-20 21-19 and enter the second round.

He will take on compatriot Mithun Manjunath who defeated Hong Kong's Jason Gunawan 21-17 21-8 in his first round men's singles match.

S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian also started his campaign with a 21-14 21-17 straight game win over Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia.Sameer Verma made a first round exit, going down to Hong Kong's Angus Ng Ka Long 14-21 18-21 while Kiran George retired after trailing 17-21 in his round of 32 match against China's Lei Lan Xi.Malvika Bansod and Ashmita Chaliha cruised to the second round of the women's singles event.While Ashmita defeated Wong Ling Ching 21-10 21-16, Malivika got the better of Peru's Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar 22-20 21-8.Malvika will next face Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan, who knocked out India's Imad Farooqui Samiya 21-14 21-18.

5) Saravanan qualifies for second successive Olympics

Indian sailor Vishnu Saravanan with team manager Col Utpal More (left) and foreign coach Milan Vujasinovic (right) after qualifying for Paris Olympics

The 24-year-old from Vellore finished 26th out of 152 sailors at the ILCA 7 World Championships to make the Paris cut. Asian Games bronze medallist Vishnu Saravanan has become the first Indian sailor to qualify for successive Olympics by making the cut for Paris Games. The 24-year-old from Vellore finished 26th out of 152 sailors at the ILCA 7 World Championships held in Adelaide on Wednesday. The only other Indian in the fray, Mohit Saini, finished 136th. So far, Sarvanan is the only Indian sailor to qualify for this year's Olympics. A Subedar from the Mumbai-based Army Yachting Node, Saravanan had finished 20th overall among 35 competitors at the Tokyo Games. In Adelaide, Saravanan was the best placed Asian, finishing ahead of Hangzhou Asian Games gold medallist from Singapore Lo Jun Han Ryan (42nd). Asian Championships gold and silver medallists — Hong Kong's Nicholas Halliday and Thailand's Arthit Mikhail Romanyk — finished 31st and 62nd respectively.

Saravanan, an under-21 World Championships bronze medallist, concluded the competition with an overall score of 174. Following the standard rule, his least score of 49 among ten races was subtracted, resulting in a his net score of 125. Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Matthew Wearn of Australia won the competition with a net score of 24. Like most sports, the Olympic quota in sailing belongs to the NOC but since Saravanan is by far country's best sailor in the ILCA 7 class, his ticket to Paris is all but secure. Besides Saravanan, Varun Thakkar, KC Ganapathy, and Nethra Kumanan had qualified for Tokyo Olympics but with Last Chance Regatta being the only Olympic qualifier left, chances of Saravanan having company in Paris look unlikely. Last Chance Regatta will be held in Hyeres, France in April.

Kumanan, 26, competed in the ILCA6 Women’s World Championships 2024 in Mar del Plata, Argentina (Jan 5-10) but her 41st-place finish was not enough to earn her a Paris quota. KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar, the 2021 Asian champions, finished eighth in men's skiff (49er class) at the Asian Championships in December to miss the cut.Paris 2024 will feature ten sailing events with a total athlete quota of 330, 20 less than Tokyo. Both events and athlete quota are equally split between men and women and an NOC may enter only one boat per event.

6) Vinesh, Anshu headline wrestling nationals in Jaipur:

The biggest name to feature in the three-day event Vinesh Phogat.(Vinesh Phogat

With the event, Indian wrestling's focus will finally shift back to the mat Six months before the Paris Olympics, Indian wrestling's preparedness appears to be way off the mark. For the sport that fetched India two Olympic medals in Tokyo, the situation, in 2024, is grim. Only one wrestler, Antim Panghal, has bagged an Olympic quota so far, and currently, there are not many who can be counted on to win a Paris berth.

Domestic wrestling activities came to a standstill last year following protests by top wrestlers against the then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. No national camp was organised and no domestic competition held in absence of an elected federation. Circumstances continued to remains adverse even after the election. As things stand, the WFI stands suspened by the Sports Ministry and IOA's ad hoc panel has the responsibility to look into administrative affairs of wrestling. In this backdrop, the Senior National Championships, organised by the ad-hoc committee in Jaipur starting Friday, assumes greater significance. In a way, it is going to be the starting point for preparations towards Paris Olympics. Besides giving a peek into the form and fitness of wrestlers coming back from injuries, national campers will also be picked from these championships.

A week ago, the suspended WFI organised a National Championship in Pune, prompting the Ministry to declare it an "unsanctioned" event. Domestic powerhouses like Railways, Services, Punjab therefore skipped the event, while Haryana too was not present in full force.Several wrestlers chose to compete in both the tournaments, unsure of who would call the shots in an Olympic year.

On the eve of Jaipur Nationals, ad-hoc committee chairman Bhupinder Singh Bajwa made it clear that only they have the mandate to organise domestic competitions and send teams for international events."Only Ad-hoc committee has been entrusted with the responsibility of submitting entries to participate in international sports events, " he said.

Indeed, nothing can be more positive for Indian wrestling than the focus finally shifting to the mat. The biggest name to feature in the three-day event is two-time world Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat.Vinesh, one of the faces of the wrestling protest, will be returning to action after almost 15 months. She has not competed since the 2022 world championships in Belgrade where she won a bronze and thelLast year was full of emotional and physical turmoil for the gritty wrestler. While most of the first half of the year went in the unprecedented protest, her comeback in the Asian Games did not take off due to a knee injury. She has spent the last five months in rehab even while continuing to raise her voice against Brij Bhushan.

On the other hand, Antim Panghal has bagged an Olympic in her preferred weight class (53kg), The quota belongs to the country but Vinesh will have to return stronger to upstage her if selection trials are held.The first step would be to asses herself in this competition. That is why Vinesh has chosen to feature in 55kg as she will not have to cut much weight.

"Vinesh is coming back after a long period and she will be better off competing in a higher weight class to avoid risk of injuries, said Railways women's team coach Kripa Shankar Bishnoi. "She has recovered from the knee injury and this event will help gauge her fitness levels. She is a world class wrestler and she has it in her to make another comeback."Tokyo Olympian Anshu Malik is returning from injury too. The 2021 world championships medallist, by her usual standards, wasn't great last year. She lost to Sarita Mor in the trials for the Asian Games, and spent rest of the year tending to a ligament injury. "When there is no domestic tournament, it is difficult to assess performances. The coaches are also not aware of fitness levels of players. This tournament will help us take a stock of the preparation, " said a national level coach.

With two Paris Olympic qualifiers still remaining, the focus will be on fresh faces in the Olympic weight division.Some of the big names have given it a miss as they are either training abroad or preparing for the Asian Championships in April. In addition to Tokyo Olympics medallists Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya, Aman Sehrawat, Deepak Punia and Antim Panghal will also not compete in Jaipur.

 

 

 Pindam:

This horror film which was touted as 'The Scariest Film Ever,' is going to finally make its digital streaming debut. Telugu's first OTT platform Aha Video secured the rights to this movie and it announced the official streaming date. Accordingly, Pindam will start streaming from February 2 on Aha Video. Pindam Cast The movie stars Srikanth Sriram, Kushee Ravi, Easwari Rao, Srinivas Avasarala, Ravi Varma, Manik Reddy, Baby Chaitra, Baby Leisha, Vijayalakshmi, and Srilatha among others playing important characters. Pindam Crew Pindam was written and directed by Saikiran Daida. Yeshwanth Daggumati produced the movie under his Kalaahi Media banner. Krishna Saurabh Surampalli composed the film's entire music and background score. Sathish Manoharan cranked the camera and Sirish Prasad worked as the film's Editor.

Mr & Mrs. Smith

Official Synopsis: Two strangers land jobs with a spy agency that offers them a life of espionage, wealth, and travel. The catch: new identities in an arranged marriage.

Starring Donald Grover and Maya Erskine, the series will be available on Prime Video from 2 February ‘24.

Orion and the Dark

Official Synopsis: Follows Orion, a young boy who is afraid of heights, and pets, and rendered nearly catatonic by the worst of all perils: the dark. The Dark takes Orion on a nighttime trip to prove to the youngster that the only thing to fear is fear itself.

It will be streaming on Netflix from 2 February ‘24.

After Everything

After breaking up with his true love, best-selling author Hardin Scott travels to Portugal in an attempt to make amends for his past behavior.

Feature Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Josephine Langford the final installment of the After series will be available on Netflix on 1 February ‘24. 

BOOK OF THIS WEEK:

 

Artificial Intelligence: An Illustrated History: by Clifford A. Pickover (Author)

From medieval robots and Boolean algebra to facial recognition, artificial neural networks, and adversarial patches, this fascinating history takes readers on a vast tour through the world of artificial intelligence. Award-winning author Clifford A. Pickover (The Math Book, The Physics Book, Death & the Afterlife) explores the historic and current applications of AI in such diverse fields as computing, medicine, popular culture, mythology, and philosophy, and considers the enduring threat to humanity should AI grow out of control. Across 100 illustrated entries, Pickover provides an entertaining and informative look into when artificial intelligence began, how it developed, where it’s going, and what it means for the future of human-machine interaction.

Clifford A. Pickover:

Clifford A. Pickover received his Ph.D. from Yale University and is the author of over 30 books on such topics as computers and creativity, art, mathematics, black holes, religion, human behavior and intelligence, time travel, alien life, and science fiction.

Pickover is a prolific inventor with dozens of patents, is the associate editor for several journals, the author of colorful puzzle calendars, and puzzle contributor to magazines geared to children and adults.

WIRED magazine writes, "Bucky Fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both." According to The Los Angeles Times, "Pickover has published nearly a book a year in which he stretches the limits of computers, art and thought."

The Christian Science Monitor writes, "Pickover inspires a new generation of da Vincis to build unknown flying machines and create new Mona Lisas." Pickover's computer graphics have been featured on the cover of many popular magazines and on TV shows. His web site, Pickover.Com, has received millions of visits. His Blog RealityCarnival.Com is one of his most popular sites.