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1) This is the first egg-laying amphibian found to feed its babies ‘milk’By Jake Buehler

In the middle of the night in a humid coastal rainforest, a litter of pink, hairless babies snuggle with their mother. They stir and squeak for milk, their mother obliges, and they are sated. But these are no puppies or cubs. They are snake-shaped amphibians, far closer to frogs than foxes.

These ringed caecilian moms feed their hatchlings a kind of “milk” brewed in the reproductive tract, researchers report in the March 8 Science. The long, cylindrical creatures are the first egg-laying amphibians known to feed hatchlings this way. The discovery suggests the evolution of parental care across animal life is more diverse than researchers thought. For an animal with so few discernable external features, caecilians are a fount of strange biology. Caecilians are elusive, legless, burrowing amphibians that are nearly blind (SN: 6/19/17). Some species, like the ringed caecilian (Siphonops annulatus) in the new study, have poisonous slime, may be venomous and feed their own skin to their young (SN: 7/3/20).

Herpetologist Carlos Jared of the Instituto Butantan in São Paulo and his colleagues have been studying these eccentric animals for years. In previous studies, the team noticed that ringed caecilian hatchlings, which live their first two months out of the egg in their mother’s care, spent much of their time around the end of her body near the shared opening of the reproductive, digestive and urinary systems — an anatomical part called the vent. The female would periodically expel a thick fluid from the vent, which the young would enthusiastically feed on.

“Some [young] even stuck their heads inside this opening,” Jared says.

In the new work, the team collected 16 females and their newly hatched litters from Bahia state in Brazil, bringing them into the lab for observation. There, the researchers recorded the amphibians’ interactions, accumulating over 240 hours of video footage. The team recorded 36 feedings, which often involved the babies wriggling and nibbling at their mother’s vent while making high-pitched noises. Mom would then raise that end of her body and release the fluid. This happened up to six times per day and appeared to be in response to the babies’ pleas.

The squeaking and begging is a particularly fascinating observation, says Mark Wilkinson, an evolutionary biologist at the Natural History Museum in London, because the adults are thought to be sensitive only to lower sound frequencies. The team also examined the internal anatomy of some of the adult female caecilians and analyzed the nutritional and biochemical makeup of the nutritional fluid. It is secreted by glands in the mother’s oviduct that enlarge while raising her hatchlings. It’s also rich in fats, much like mammal milk. This nutritious resource may help explain how the hatchlings grow so fast — bulking up their mass by up to 130 percent, an additional 0.27 grams, in the first week out of the egg — despite not leaving their mother’s side and feeding on her skin only once every few days.Isabella Capellini, an evolutionary biologist at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, wonders if there is conflict between squiggly siblings for milk access and how that competition might play out. She’d also be curious to know more about how milk production affects the mother caecilian.“In mammals, lactation is the most expensive stage of reproduction for the mother,” she says. “It would be useful to study whether milk production is as expensive in caecilians too. How is the mother impacted in the short- and long-term?”It’s not known how these amphibians have evolved their version of “milk.” The substance is relatively rare in animals. Outside of mammals and some caecilians, it’s found only in certain spiders, fishes, cockroaches and birds, as well as two amphibians that give live birth.In these egg-laying caecilians, the oviducts are behaving similarly to those of live-bearing caecilian species, which sometimes feed their babies a milky substance while in the womb, but do not feed them after they’re born.

“That makes it easier to conceive of how [live-bearing] could have evolved from [egg-laying] species that already used their oviducts to produce food,” Wilkinson says. “We really have learned a lot about caecilians in the last few decades, but we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.”

2) See 3-D models of animal anatomy from openVertebrate’s public collection By Erin Garcia de Jesús

More than 13,000 museum specimens were CT scanned as part of a six-year-long project

Frog entrails, lizard scales and mouse tails, oh my.

These creatures are among more than 13,000 museum specimens that had their innards CT scanned as part of a six-year mission to create 3-D digital reconstructions. The effort, called openVertebrate, or oVert, aims to make vertebrate specimens freely available online. Such specimens typically have been kept in storage until put on display for the public or pulled for examination by a specialist, researchers report March 6 in BioScience.

Online replicas not only make museum collections accessible to more folks but also give people a peek inside animals without the need for scalpels or other dissection equipment.

“The best part of that is the weird, wonderful things that you weren’t expecting to see that jump out,” says evolutionary biologist Edward Stanley of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Those things include parasitic infections, last meals and new insights into animal anatomy.

CT scans of pumpkin toadlets’ inner ears, for instance, revealed that the amphibians crash-land their hops due to misshapen ear tubes (SN: 6/15/22). And images that Stanley and colleagues took of spiny mice showed that the animals’ tails are covered in bony armor like an armadillo (SN: 5/24/23).

As part of oVert, Stanley and researchers across 25 institutions took CT scans of fluid-preserved specimens representing more than half of all known vertebrate genera, lighting up the skeletons of chameleons, frogs, bats, lizards, snakes, eagles and more. Some animals were soaked in iodine so that internal organs and muscles were visible. Each specimen was mounted inside a tube. The tube then rotated around a fixed X-ray scanner that captured a complete picture of the animal’s body. But few vertebrates are tube-shaped, so the team had to pack the cylinder with materials that could hold the specimen in place without interfering with the scan.

“It turns out bubble wrap, packing peanuts, plastic Coke bottles, that sort of thing, that’s the magic,” Stanley says.

The technology could help digitize additional organisms tucked away in natural history collections including invertebrates and plants, the researchers say. Some scanners may even work for living vertebrates

3) Study of slowly evolving 'living fossils' reveals key genetic insights by Mike Cummings, Yale University

In 1859, Charles Darwin coined the term "living fossils" to describe organisms that show little species diversity or physical differences from their ancestors in the fossil record. In a new study, Yale researchers provide the first evidence of a biological mechanism that explains how living fossils occur in nature.

The study, published in the journal Evolution, shows that gars—an ancient group of ray-finned fishes that fit the definition of a living fossil—have the slowest rate of molecular evolution among all jawed vertebrates, meaning their genome changes more slowly than those of other animals.By linking this finding to the process of hybridization—when two different species produce viable offspring—of gar species in the wild that last shared common ancestry during the age of the dinosaurs, the researchers demonstrate that slow evolution rate of their genome drives their low species diversity.

"We show that gars' slow rate of molecular evolution has stymied their rate of speciation," said Thomas J. Near, professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the paper's senior author. "Fundamentally, this is the first instance where science is showing that a lineage, through an intrinsic aspect of its biology, fits the criteria of living fossils."The researchers speculate that gars have an unusually strong DNA repair apparatus, allowing them to correct somatic and germline mutations—alterations to DNA that occur before and after conception—more efficiently than most other vertebrates.

If confirmed, these findings could have profound implications for human health, said Near, the Bingham Oceanographic Curator of Ichthyology at the Yale Peabody Museum."Most cancers are somatic mutations that represent failures of an individual's DNA repair mechanisms," he said. "If further study proves that gar DNA repair mechanisms are extremely efficient, and discovers what makes them so, we could start thinking about potential applications to human health."The seven living gar species are nearly identical structurally to the earliest fossil gars from the Jurassic period about 150 million years ago. One of the two living major lineages of gars begin appearing in the fossil record as early as 100 million years ago, during the middle Cretaceous period.In analyzing a dataset of 1,105 exons—the coding region of DNA—from a sample of 471 jawed vertebrate species, the researchers found that gars' DNA consistently evolves up to three orders of magnitude more slowly than any other major group of vertebrates. (They also detected similarly slow rates among sturgeon and paddlefish, two other examples of living fossils, but have stronger data on gars.)

The researchers then demonstrated that the slow rate of molecular evolution is linked to slow rate of speciation in gars by analyzing examples of hybridization between two distinct gar species in the Brazos and Trinity River systems in Texas.As the rates of genetic mutation increase, distinct species must share a younger common ancestry to reproduce, explained Chase D. Brownstein, a graduate student in Yale's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the study's lead author."The slower a species's genome is mutating, the more likely it is that it will be able to interbreed with a separate species that it's been genetically isolated from over a long stretch of time," said Brownstein, who began working with Near on this research project as a Yale undergraduate.The researchers found that the two species, alligator gar and longnose gar, which share a common ancestor from at least 100 million years ago, are still making viable and fertile hybrids. It is the oldest identified parental split among all animals, plants, and fungi that produce viable, fertile hybrids, beating the previous record holder—two fern species—by about 60 million years, according to the study.

The finding, combined with the overlapping morphology, or physical structures, of the hybrids and other gar species, indicates that gars' slow rate of genetic mutation creates a barrier to both speciation and the evolution of new observable characteristics, the researchers said."Our paper shows that living fossils aren't simply strange accidents of history but provide a fundamental demonstration of the evolutionary process in nature," Brownstein said. "It shows that analyzing patterns in living fossils' evolutionary history might have implications for our own story. It not only helps us better understand the planet's biodiversity, but potentially could one day be applied to medical research and improve human health."

Near and Brownstein co-authored the study with Daemin Kim and Oliver Orr, both of Yale's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Daniel J. MacGuigan of the University of Buffalo; Liandong Yang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Bejing; Solomon R. David of the University of Minnesota; and Brian Kreiser of the University of Southern Mississippi.

4) Will these reprogrammed elephant cells ever make a mammoth?By Ewen Callaway

The de-extinction company Colossal is the first to convert elephant cells to an embryonic state, but using them to make mammoths won’t be easy, say researchers.Scientists have finally managed to put elephant skin cells into an embryonic state.The breakthrough — announced today by the de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences in Dallas, Texas — is an early technical success in Colossal’s high-profile effort to engineer elephants with woolly mammoth traits.

Eighteen years ago, researchers showed that mouse skin cells could be reprogrammed to act like embryonic cells1. These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can differentiate into any of an animal’s cell types. They are key to Colossal’s plans to create herds of Asian elephants (Elephus maximus) — the closest living relative of extinct woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) — that have been genetically edited to have shaggy hair, extra fat and other mammoth traits.

“I think we’re certainly in the running for the world-record hardest iPS-cell establishment,” says Colossal co-founder George Church, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and a co-author of a preprint describing the work, which will soon appear on the server bioRxiv.

But the difficulty of establishing elephant iPS cells — in theory, one of the most straightforward steps in Colossal’s scheme — underscores the huge technical hurdles the team faces.

Endangered species

In 2011, Jeanne Loring, a stem-cell biologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and her colleagues created iPS cells from a northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) and a monkey called a drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus), the first such cells from endangered animals2. Embryonic-like stem cells have since been made from a menagerie of threatened species, including snow leopards (Panthera uncia)3, Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii)4 and Japanese ptarmigans (Lagopus muta japonica)5. However, numerous teams have failed in their attempts to establish elephant iPS cells. “The elephant has been challenging,” says Loring.

A team led by Eriona Hysolli, Colossal’s head of biological sciences, initially ran into the same problems trying to reprogram cells from an Asian elephant calf by following the recipe used to make most other iPS cell lines: instructing the cells to overproduce four key reprogramming factors identified by Shinya Yamanaka, a stem-cell scientist at Kyoto University in Japan, in 20061.

When this failed, Hysolli and her colleagues treated elephant cells with a chemical cocktail that others had used to reprogram human and mice cells. In most cases, the treatment caused the elephant cells to die, stop dividing or simply do nothing. But in some experiments, the cells took on a rounded shape similar to that of stem cells. Hysolli’s team added the four ‘Yamanaka’ factors to these cells, then took another step that turned out to be key to success: dialling down the expression of an anti-cancer gene called TP53.

The researchers created four iPS-cell lines from an elephant. The cells looked and behaved like iPS cells from other organisms: they could form cells that make up the three ‘germ layers’ that comprise all a vertebrate’s tissues.

“We’ve been really waiting for these things desperately,” says Church.

Technological leaps

Colossal’s plan to create its first gene-edited Asian elephants involves cloning technology that does not require iPS cells. But Church says the new cell lines will be useful for identifying and studying the genetic changes needed to imbue Asian elephants with mammoth traits. “We’d like to pre-test them before we put them in baby elephants,” Church says. Elephant iPS cells could be edited and then transformed into relevant tissue, such as hair or blood.

But scaling up the process would require numerous other leaps in reproductive biology. One path involves transforming gene-edited iPS cells into sperm and egg cells to make embryos, which has been accomplished in mice6. It might also be possible to convert iPS cells directly into viable ‘synthetic’ embryos.

To avoid the need for herds of Asian elephant surrogates to carry such embryos to term, Church imagines that artificial wombs, derived in part from iPS cells, would be used. “We do not want to interfere with the natural reproduction of endangered species, so we’re trying to scale up in vitro gestation,” he says

Time and effort

Loring, who last year co-organized a conference on iPS cells from endangered animals, says adding elephants to the list is important, but not game-changing. “It will be useful for others who are having challenges reprogramming the species they’re interested in,” she says.

Sebastian Diecke, a stem-cell biologist at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association in Berlin, would like to see more evidence that iPS cell lines grow stably and can be transformed into different kinds of tissues, for instance, by making brain organoids with them. “There are still steps before we can call them proper iPS cells,” he says.

Vincent Lynch, an evolutionary geneticist at the University at Buffalo in New York, has been trying — and failing — to make elephant iPS cells for years. He plans to attempt the method Hysolli and her colleagues developed, as part of his lab’s ongoing efforts to understand why elephants seem to develop cancer only rarely.

The myriad technologies needed to grow an iPS cell into a mammoth-like elephant might not be even close to ready yet. But given enough time and money, it should be possible, Lynch says. “I just don’t know the time frame and whether it’s worth the resources.”

5) Oldest stone tools in Europe hint at ancient humans’ route there By Giorgia Guglielmi

Dating of artefacts found at a site in western Ukraine suggests that archaic humans had entered Europe’s eastern gate by 1.4 million years ago. Stone tools found in western Ukraine date to roughly 1.4 million years ago1, archaeologists say. That means the tools are the oldest known artefacts in Europe made by ancient humans and offer insight into how and when our early relatives first reached the region.

The findings support the theory that these early arrivals — probably of the versatile species Homo erectus — entered Europe from the east and spread west, says study co-lead author Roman Garba, an archaeologist at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. “Until now, there was no strong evidence for an east-to-west migration,” he says. “Now we have it.”

Prehistoric sites documenting the presence of human ancestors in Europe before 800,000 years ago are extremely rare, says Véronique Michel, a geochronologist at the University of Côte d’Azur in Nice, France, who was not involved in the research. “This new study adds another piece to the puzzle [of] the dispersal of early hominins in Europe.”

The findings were published on 6 March in Nature. Set in stone

The tools were discovered in the 1980s at the Korolevo archaeological site near Ukraine’s border with Romania, yet no one had been able to precisely date them.

Carbon dating, the archaeological workhorse, is getting a major reboot

To do so, Garba and his colleagues used a dating method based on cosmogenic nuclides — rare isotopes generated when high-energy cosmic rays collide with chemical elements in minerals on Earth’s surface. Changes in the concentrations of these cosmogenic nuclides can reveal how long ago a mineral was buried. By calculating the ratio of specific cosmogenic nuclides in the sediment layer in which the tools were buried, the team estimated that the implements must be 1.4 million years old. The dating analyses, Michel says, “appear highly reliable”.

Until now, the earliest precisely dated evidence of hominins in Europe comprised fossils2 and stone tools3 found in Spain and France. Both are 1.1 million to 1.2 million years old.

Intrepid travellers

The dates of the Korolevo tools lead the researchers to speculate that the human ancestors who made them were H. erectus, the only archaic humans known to have lived outside Africa about 1.4 million years ago. What’s more, the Korolevo tools resemble those found at archaeological sites in the Caucasus Mountains that have been linked to H. erectus and dated to about 1.8 million years ago, says Mads Knudsen, a geoscientist at Aarhus University in Denmark, who co-led the study. However, Knudsen adds, Korolevo’s most ancient layer of sediment didn’t yield any fossilized human remains, so it is impossible to say for sure that the tools were made by H. erectus.

Geographically, Korolevo lies between older archaeological sites at the intersection of Asia and Europe, and younger sites in southwestern Europe. The findings give a fuller picture of the direction of travel probably taken by the first Europeans, supporting the idea that they spread from east to west — perhaps along the valleys of the Danube River, Garba says.Korolevo is a treasure trove of prehistoric remains, says study co-author Vitaly Usyk, an archaeologist affiliated with the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv, who visited the site last year with Garba for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Korolevo site is relatively safe and hasn’t been damaged during the war, although the area is now overgrown with vegetation, Garba says. “I can imagine doing fieldwork there even now.”

However, Usyk notes, few scientists can participate in field research at Korolevo or anywhere else in the country, because of travel restrictions or because they have fled the conflict. Usyk himself left Ukraine in 2022 and is now working at the Institute of Archaeology in Brno, Czech Republic, with a fellowship that allows him to continue doing his research. “Would I like to go back [to Ukraine]? Yes, of course,” he says. “I would like to organize expeditions to Korolevo to help other scientists reveal how ancient humans came from Africa to Europe.”

 

1) Mission 2024: NDA buries the hatchet, back with old allies

With the BJP securing alliances in a bid to meet its target of winning over 400 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, the TDP-JS combine is well on its way to a formal induction into the NDA

Late night meetings are part and parcel of the election season. On Thursday evening, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership began conversations with two regional parties that went on for long to firm up a possible alliance.Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who heads the Telugu Desam Party, and actor-turned politician Pawan Kalyan, who heads the Jana Sena, met Union home minister Amit Shah for talks on pre-poll tie-ups.The TDP, which walked out of the BJP-led NDA in 2018 over the issue of granting special status to Andhra Pradesh, has been sending feelers to be reincluded in the coalition. Kalyan too has played a role in helping Naidu mend fences with the BJP.

With the BJP securing alliances in a bid to meet its target of winning over 400 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, the TDP-JS combine is well on its way to a formal induction into the NDA. The nitty-gritty of seat sharing for both the Lok Sabha and state elections is nearly over.The new alliance will give the BJP room to gain a foothold in the southern state and help bag more seats in the general elections. The party has been working hard to emerge as an alternative in Andhra Pradesh but has little to show in terms of electoral performance. It has does not have a single legislator in the 175-member assembly, while its vote share in the previous assembly elections was less than 1%.

In July, the party appointed D Purandeswari as the state unit president with an eye on Naidu’s vote bank. Daughter of the late NT Rama Rao, the founder of TDP, Purandeswari is related to Naidu and is from the politically dominant Kamma community.

Social welfare schemes and sops for consumers have been integral to the BJP-led NDA governments’ policies in the last decade. With schemes such as Ujjwala Yojana for subsidised gas connections, PM Kisan Nidhi, PM Awas Yojna, the government created a new vote bank of beneficiaries or ‘labharthis’.While the government takes credit for empowering the poor and the marginalised through schemes, there has been criticism from the opposition that spiraling costs of fuel have made it hard for the common man to pay for the refills of cooking gas cylinders.

To rule out any damage to its electoral foray, the government on Thursday announced a subsidy for cooking gas through a ₹12,000 crore bonanza to 102.7 million poor households by extending ₹300 subsidy on cooking gas refills for one more year up to 31 March 2025.

From 21 May 2022, the government has been providing budgetary support for a targeted subsidy of ₹200 per 14.2kg LPG cylinder for PMUY beneficiaries for up to 12 refills a year.

2) BJD, BJP hold discussions for alliance in Lok Sabha, Odisha polls

According to leaders of both the parties, the two former allies were working out the contours of a seat-sharing pact for the simultaneous polls.

Hectic parleys were underway between the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday for a possible alliance ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls According to leaders of both the parties, the two former allies, who parted ways in 2009, were working out the contours of a seat-sharing pact for the assembly elections and Lok Sabha polls, which is scheduled to be held in Odisha simultaneously this summer. The BJD is considered a “friendly party” to the ruling BJP, having lent support to the Union government for the passage of crucial bills.

But it was being pursued by the BJP to renew its ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as part of the coalition’s efforts to win 400+ seats in the polls.

On Wednesday, BJD chief and Odisha chief minister, Naveen Patnaik held meetings with senior party leaders in Bhubaneshwar. Meetings were also held in the national capital where the BJP discussed the specifics of seat-sharing both for the 147 assembly seats and the 21 Lok Sabha seats.The BJP’s core group on Odisha also met in the Capital to discuss candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, ahead of the central election committee’s meeting.

“The BJP wants to contest more seats than the BJD. In the last election the party won eight of the 21 seats and this time it is keen to contest more than 15 if the two parties announce an alliance. Similarly, it has put forth a number for the assembly as well...” said a party functionary, requesting anonymity.In 2019, the BJD won 112 assembly seats to form the government in the state, while the BJP won 23, which was 13 more than the tally in 2014.

In the Lok Sabha, the BJD won 12 seats, the BJP eight and the Congress one.After two meetings of senior leaders at Naveen Patnaik’s residence chaired by the CM, the BJD issued a cryptic statement.

“Odisha is heading towards next level of development and efforts are on by the CM Naveen Patnaik-led government in this regard. Odisha will complete 100 years of its statehood and BJD and CM has major milestones to be achieved by this time. Therefore, Biju Janata Dal will do everything towards this in the greater interests of people of Odisha and the State. The party supremo will take the decision which will be apt for Odisha,” said party vice-president and senior MLA Debi Prasad Mishra.Senior BJD leader Arun Sahoo added that several issues were discussed. The BJP also played its cards close to its chest.

“There was discussion on alliance but nothing is final now. The top leaders of the party will decide on it. But we have told that we will fight alone. We gave our opinion, but whatever the central leaders of the party decide, we will abide by it. Various issues on how to fight elections were discussed at the crucial meeting,” said BJP MP and former Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram.

3) Lok Sabha polls: Congress unveils 5 guarantees to woo youth in poll promise

A Congress government will guarantee a "bharti bharosa" to the youth, where the Centre will take steps to fill three million vacant government jobs As part of its poll promise for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls,  the Congress will focus on offering solutions to unemployment, including promising to fill the three million government vacancies.

On Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said a Congress government at the Centre will usher in a “rozgar (employment) revolution” with five “guarantees” for the country’s youth. A Congress government will guarantee a “bharti bharosa” to the youth, where the Centre will take steps to fill three million vacant government jobs. “A timeline will be decided from examination to recruitment,” he said.

Second, it will “guarantee a first job” by introducing a “right to apprenticeship law.”This will provide for “apprenticeship training to every diploma or degree holder below 25 years of age in the government or private sector.” All apprentices will receive Rs 100,000, which works out to Rs 8,500 a month for a year.

Other three “guarantees” include taking steps to curb the leakage of examination papers of government recruitment, a law to ensure social security and better working conditions for gig economy workers, and setting up a Rs 5,000 crore corpus to fund startups of youth below 30 years of age.

Addressing a public meeting in Rajasthan’s Banswara, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi elaborated upon his party’s “five Yuva (youth) Nyay guarantees”.

4) SC To Hear SBI’s Plea On Extension Of Deadline To Submit Details Of Electoral Bond On March 11

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court accusing the State Bank of India of failing to provide the Election Commission with information regarding electoral bonds. he Supreme Court will hear a plea from the State Bank of India (SBI) on March 11, regarding an extension of the deadline until June 30 to provide the Election Commission of India with information about electoral bonds. The case will be heard by a five-judge bench chaired by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. On the same day, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) will also have its contempt petition heard by the bench.

Contempt Petition Filed By ADR

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court accusing the State Bank of India of failing to provide the Election Commission with information regarding electoral bonds.ADR attorney Prashant Bhushan informed the apex court that the State Bank of India had submitted an application for an extension, which is anticipated to be listed on Monday, and brought up the case before a bench chaired by CJI DY Chandrachud on Thursday.

Prashat Bhushan on Thursday pleaded the Supreme Court to include ADR’s argument in addition to SBI’s submission. What Was SC’s Order To SBI?

The Supreme Court’s Constitution bench ordered the SBI to provide the Election Commission of India with all the information it has received regarding political parties that have obtained electoral bonds from April 12, 2019, by March 6. This occurred after the Supreme Court declared that the Electoral Bond Program violated Article 19(1)(a) and was unconstitutional, leading to its repeal.

SBI’s Request To Extend Deadline

The State Bank of India (SBI) approached the Supreme Court to request an extension of time until June 30 to provide the information of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India, as SBI missed the deadline to submit the details. In its plea, SBI stated that it requires more time to reveal information about electoral bonds that political parties have cashed in.

ADR’s Claim Over SBI

ADR has now attempted to start contempt proceedings against SBI for failing to follow the court’s order. It claims that SBI has willfully and deliberately disregarded the ruling made by the top court’s Constitution Bench, which willfully undermines the apex court’s authority in addition to negating citizens’ rights to information.

ADR in one of its petitions in the case, claimed that the State Bank of India (SBI) had submitted the application, which is fraudulent and shows willful and deliberate disobedience & defiance of the ruling made by the top court’s Constitution Bench, two days ahead of the deadline for SBI to provide information regarding electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India. It is evident from the contempt plea that there is an effort to weaken the supreme court’s authority.

5) ‘Wilfully disobeyed’ SC directions: Contempt plea against SBI over electoral bonds by newslaurndry team:

The EC earlier said it had no information on whether the SBI had adhered to the court’s deadline. A contempt petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the State Bank of India after it reportedly missed the March 6 deadline to disclose information about electoral bonds purchased and encashed since 2019, LiveLaw reported.

This comes a day after the Election Commission said it had “no information or comments to offer” on whether the SBI had adhered to the deadline.

The SBI had on Monday moved the apex court seeking time till June 30 to disclose details of all electoral bonds purchased or encashed by political parties.

On Thursday, the Association of Democratic Reforms moved the top court saying the SBI had “wilfully and deliberately disobeyed” the verdict passed by the Constitution bench of the court on February 15, according to LiveLaw. “The same not only negates the right to information of the citizens, but also wilfully undermines the authority” of the court, the ADR reportedly said.

Appearing for ADR, advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the plea before CJI DY Chandrachud for urgent listing. He said the petition could be listed along with the SBI’s petition, which is likely to be listed next week and seeks more time to disclose the information.

The Bank Employees Federation of India had earlier said that SBI must stick to the deadline set by the top court.

The Supreme Court verdict in February had tried to assuage concerns surrounding transparency in political funding ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

An investigation by Newslaundry and The News Minute had earlier highlighted a pattern to the money flow driving the BJP’s financial rise. Read all about it here.

The Congress had subsequently demanded a white paper from the BJP over its finances.

6) Narendra Modi in Kashmir Highlights: In Srinagar, PM emphasises on ‘Wed in India’ call

Narendra Modi Kashmir visit Highlights: PM Modi unveiled multiple developmental projects worth Rs. 6,400 crore during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir today.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar today to take part in the ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir’ initiative. During this visit, he inaugurated and dedicated multiple developmental projects worth Rs. 6,400 crore, including the ‘Holistic Agriculture Development Programme’, valued at Rs. 5000 crore, aimed at enhancing the Union Territory's agricultural economy.

Thursday's visit marks PM Narendra Modi's first trip to Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.

Key projects inaugurated in Srinagar today -

• In the realm of tourism, PM Modi inaugurated multiple projects totalling over Rs. 1400 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD schemes. This includes initiating the ‘Integrated Development of Hazratbal Shrine’ project in Srinagar.

• He distributed appointment letters to approximately 1000 new government recruits in Jammu and Kashmir. Additionally, he engaged with beneficiaries of various government schemes, including women achievers, successful farmers, entrepreneurs, and others.

• PM Modi also introduced the nation's first-ever initiative, 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice 2024', to gauge the pulse of the nation on tourism. The initiative aims to involve citizens in identifying preferred tourist attractions and understanding perceptions across five tourism categories.

• A total of 43 projects aimed at developing pilgrimage and tourist sites across the nation are set to be launched, encompassing significant religious destinations such as the Annavaram Temple in Andhra Pradesh and the Navagraha Temples in Tamil Nadu.

• Furthermore, PM Modi also kickstarted the ‘Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign’, seeking to motivate the Indian diaspora to become ambassadors for ‘Incredible India’ and promote tourism to the country.

7) Rahul Gandhi to fight Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad, Amethi seat uncertain

The Congress convened a meeting of the party's central election committee on Thursday to finalise the first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Congress committee hands over draft manifesto for Lok Sabha polls Meanwhile, the Congress manifesto committee, headed by former finance minister P Chidambaram, has prepared a draft manifesto for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The draft was presented to Congress president Kharge which will be presented to CEC for further discussion and finalisation.

For the first time, Congress is set to include the "right to employment" for youths in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections. The draft manifesto is formulated by the committee led by former union minister P Chidambaram and includes committee members- Shashi Tharoor, K Raju, Gurdeep Sappal, and Imran Pratapgarhi.

"Our draft manifesto based on 'NYAY' for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections is ready and was presented to me today by the Congress manifesto committee," Kharge said on Wednesday.

The Lok Sabha elections are anticipated to take place in April-May this year.

1) Wrestling trials to be held by ad hoc Committee

WFI said it will withdraw its circular regarding the trials after the bench said 'we can't have 2 parallel trials'Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) undertook to withdraw its notice conducting selection trials for the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier Wrestling Tournament on March 10 and 11 on Thursday, after Delhi high court’s nudge that there cannot be two parallel trials.

The court after taking note of WFIs undertaking directed that the trials for the championships shall proceed in accordance with WFIs Ad Hoc Committee’s February 9 circular calling wrestlers for selection trials for the exact same event and on the same dates and all the eligible candidates shall be allowed to participate in the same. Let the trial by the ad hoc committee go on. Why parallel trials? At least the country will speak in a single voice. Let the trial proposed by the ad hoc committee go on. Instead of country making spectacle of itself, why don’t you bend for now? For now, don’t have spoke in the wheels. Keep your hands off & don’t be a spoilt sport. We’ll find a comprehensive solution. We can’t have 2 parallel trials. Show some sportsmanship. You withdraw your circular.” a bench of justice Sachin Datta said to senior advocate Dayanan Krishnan who appeared for the WFI.

"After some hearing, Mr. Dayan Krishnan, learned senior counsel who seeks to appear for respondent no.2 (through Mr. Sanjay Kumar Singh) submits, on instructions, that without prejudice to his rights and contentions, the circular dated 26.02.2024, filed as Annexure P-26 to the present petition, may be treated as withdrawn. It is directed accordingly. Consequently, there shall be no parallel selection trials, as apprehended in the present application. The selection trials shall proceed as The selection trials shall proceed as per the circular/ press release dated 09.02.2024. Needless to say, the ad-hoc committee shall ensure that all athletes, which are found eligible, are permitted to participate in the trial." the court said in the order.

The court was dealing with a plea filed by the four wrestlers including Bajrang Punia challenging WFIs February 26 notice, claiming that federation had deliberately issued the notice despite being barred by the union sports ministry from conducting championships and having knowledge of WFI ad hoc committee’s February 9 press release.The plea also filed by Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyawart stated that ministry’s January 7 notice was still in operation with the status quo maintained. To be sure, the ministry in the said notice while restraining WFI from conducting competitions had categorically stated that any championships organised by the former’s suspended executive committee would be treated as unsanctioned and unrecognized.

“It is submitted that unless Respondent No. 2 is specifically restrained from conducting such events or issuing any such circulars it will continue to mislead, manipulate, influence, threaten and create undue and unnecessary adversities for the wrestling sportspersons. Two parallel national championships shall result in utmost confusion and disparity amongst contesting athletes leading to multiple qualification entrants for the International Governing bodies,” the plea read.On Thursday, senior advocate Dayanan Krishnan, had initially submitted that the United World Wrestling (UWW) would neither recognise a team not sent by the elected WFI, nor consider the participation of the wrestlers. He had also assured that the entire trials would be video-graphed and there would be a live telecast. Krishnan had further said that the plea wherein the wrestlers had also sought to declare WFI’s December 21, 2023 elections as illegal was not maintainable since they had not made the successful candidates as parties.

The wrestlers appearing through senior advocate Rahul Mehra submitted that the trials conducted by suspended WFI would be in teeth of the National Sports Code, 2011.

While the union sports ministry appearing through standing counsel Anil Soni suggested that WFI as well as the WFI ad hoc committee should put forth dual suggestions regarding the trials. “Our prime concern is that those medallists should go under the national flag. Our third -party interference is limited,” he said.

2) India vs England Live Score 5th Test Day 2, IND vs ENG: Bashir, Hartley trigger India collapse in final session

Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal seem to have put India back in cruise mode after England made a dream start to the second session of Day 2. The visitors were belted around the park by Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill in the first session. However, Ben Stokes finally bowled for the first time since the Ashes last year and ended up dismissing Rohit on 103 off 162 off the very first ball of his over with a magical delivery. Stokes thus ended a 171-run partnership after which Anderson dismissed Gill on 110 off 150 in the next over and thus got to 699 Test wickets.

Padikkal then counterattacked for India while Sarfaraz played himself in. The latter shifted gears and started playing at his usual pace after the drinks break in the second session.

Rohit and Gill, particularly the latter, bossed the proceedings in the first session of Day 2. Both players cruised past their respective centuries and Gill took India into the lead with his fourth six of the innings. The two batters ended up hitting boundaries at will and not giving even a glimmer of a chance in the first session.

On Day 1, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley had seen England through the first 45 odd minutes quite miraculously, despite Jasprit Bumrah turning the ball around corners. They also managed to keep the scorecard ticking and eventually, India got their reward only when Kuldeep Yadav came in.

With Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah bowling a string of tidy overs full of some of the most unplayable deliveries, England were off to something, but all that changed when Kuldeep was given the ball to. Seven years removed from his Test debut at this very venue, it was as if time had stood still. Admired highly by the late great Shane Warne, Kuldeep produced a spell much like the spin wizard in a 45-minute breathtaking display of bowling.

England, who looked rather set on 137/2, did not know what hit them, and crumbled to 218 all out – losing 7 wickets for 81 runs in yet another batting collapse. Kuldeep began the carnage by first foxing Duckett by a google as Shubman Gill took a catch – that reminded India of a certain Travis Head – to give India the first breakthrough. Ollie Pope's post-196 struggles continued and he was out stumped, so far down the track was he that it was almost as if he wanted to have an early lunch.

Crawley, having smashed a fourth half-century of the series, played some glorious shots but like the previous three occasions, could not convert it into a century. Kuldeep, channeling her inner Warne, produced his version of the 'ball of the century' that turned nine degrees and then some to castle the England opener.

And the collapse had begun. Jonny Bairstow, playing his 100th Test, played a cameo of sorts but one fancy drive too many and the edge was taken by Dhruv Jurel. In between the Kuldeep show, Ravindra Jadeja snuck in with the wicket of Joe Root, and when Kuldeep picked up his fifth, having Stokes pinned on the backfoot, he had his fifer – richly deserved – and gave the England captain one of the worst batting returns of his career. With five down, Ravichandran Ashwin, the milestone man, was handed the ball for his second spell and he wrapped up the tail by picking up four quick wickets.

If there was ever a semblance of hope, it was erased by the Indian openers and Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal raced away to another blistering start. The pair put on 104 runs at the same pace they have throughout the series. While Rohit batted cautiously, Yashasvi 'Jaz-balled' his way to another cracking fifty and became just the second man since the legendary Sunil Gavaskar to go past 700 runs in a series. Madness.

Usually, Day 3 of a Test match is called the moving day, but in this case, it could well he today. There are no demons on this pitch but that’s how good and formidable this Indian bowling line-up has been. So for England to replicate it, one of Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir need to step up. They both have a five-wicket-haul in this series and as Ashwin and Kuldeep showed, spinners are in this game from Day 1. And of course, there is James Anderson, who is eyeing his 100th wicket and some form back after his lackluster outing in Ranchi. With Dharamsala being the ideal backdrop for quicks, if not now, then when.

Here are some pointers from the 5th Test between India and England:

- India were 376/3 at Tea, leading by 158 runs

- Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal ensured India don't lost their advantage in the second session

- Rohit Sharma scored his 12th Test century, his fourth as India's captain in the longest format

- Shubman Gill reached his 4th Test century with a four

- Ben Stokes bowled for the first time in nine months and dismissed Rohit with his very first delivery

- Rohit fell on 103 while Gill fell in the next over to Anderson on 110

- India finished 264/1 at Lunch, leading England by 46 runs

- India resumed their innings on 135/1, behind England by 83 runs

3) Satwik-Chirag pair cruises into French Open quarterfinals

Star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of French Open Super 750 badminton tournament with a hard-fought win against Malaysia's Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi here on Tuesday.

Satwik and Chirag, ranked world no. 1, had claimed the title in 2022. The Asian Games champions made a fine start to the tournament by outwitting the world no. 12 Malaysian combination 21-13 24-22 in 47 minutes for their fifth win in last eight meetings. Satwik and Chirag, who finished second best in their last three tournaments, will face another Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee in the next round. World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen came from behind to eke out a 15-21 21-15 21-3 win over Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama in his opening round fixture.

The unseeded Indian will take on third seed Li Shen Feng in the pre-quarterfinal.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also progressed to the second round after claiming a 16-21 21-19 21-17 win over Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto in an all-Indian opening match in women's doubles.

The two pairs are fighting to qualify for the Paris Olympics. While Tanisha-Ashwini are ranked 11th, Treesa-Gayatri are placed at 14th spot in the Olympic Games qualification ranking. Treesa and Gayatri are in red-hot form, having played a vital role in the Indian women's side epic win at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam, Malaysia last month.

However, it was curtains for Priyanshu Rajawat who suffered a 8-21 15-21 defeat at the hands of reigning Olympic champion top seed Victor Axelsen.

4) All games drawn in final round, Praggnanandhaa finishes joint second

R Praggnanandhaa tried hard but had to settle for a draw with David Navara of Czech Republic in the final round of Prague Masters chess tournament that concluded here on Thursday.R Praggnanandhaa tried hard but had to settle for a draw with David Navara of Czech Republic in the final round of Prague Masters chess tournament that concluded here on Thursday.

Praggnanandhaa can take heart from the fact that he goes in to the candidates as the top rated Indian slated to be held in about four weeks from now in Toronto. It took a mammoth effort from FIDE and various channels to resolve the visa issue for the candidates but as of now everything seems to be in order for one of the biggest events of the year. With five draws happening between 10 players in the final round nothing actually changed. Abdusattarov had won the event with a round to spare clocking 6/8 and he inched up to 6.5 points for probably his career best performance.

Praggnanandhaa to his credit ended on a plus score clocking five points alongside Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran and surprise packet Ngyen Thai Dai Van of Czech Republic with all three of them tallying five points out of a possible nine.

Gukesh, Richard Rapport of Romania and David Navara, the local star ended on 4.5 points sharing the fifth spot followed by Bartel and Keymer having 3.5 points each. Vidit Gujrathi had to be content with a last place finish on three points. With the three candidates here in fray from India, Praggnanandhaa seems to be best on form ahead of Gukesh and Gujrathi. But now that the dates for the challenger of the next world championship match is fixed it remains to be seen who has the best nerves.

Results final round (Indians unless stated): Parham Paghsoodloo (Iri, 5) drew with D Gukesh (4.5); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 3.5) drew with Vidit Gujrathi (3); Richard Rapport (Rou, 4.5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattarov (Uzb, 6); R Praggnanandhaa (5) drew with David Navara (Cze, 4.5); Mateusz Bartel (Pol, 3.5) drew with Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze, 5).

5) Indian boxer Nishant makes a winning start at 2024 Olympics Qualifier

The 23-year-old Indian became even more dominant in the second round with the help of his long reach and delivered some effective right hooks to win it 5-0. World Championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev started his campaign at the 1st Olympic Boxing Qualifier with an exciting 3-1 win against British pugilist Lewis Richardson but the seasoned Shiva Thapa lost here on Wednesday.

Competing in the men's 71kg category, Nishant didn't take much time to settle in against the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Richardson and went into the attacking mode from the word go, winning the first round 4-1. The 23-year-old Indian became even more dominant in the second round with the help of his long reach and delivered some effective right hooks to win it 5-0. He produced a controlled performance in the third round as well and avoided multiple attacks from his opponent while trying to protect his lead and ultimately won the bout with a split decision.

Six-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), however, went down to reigning world champion Uzbekistan's Ruslan Abdullaev.

Ruslan, living up to his reputation with his pinpointed punches, penetrated Shiva's defense multiple times which forced the Indian pugilist to go on the defensive from the start.

The defensive approach didn't last long as Abdullaev continued his attacking display before the referee stopped the contest in the first round. Meanwhile, national champion Lakshya Chahar (80kg) also made an exit from the competition after losing against former Asian Championships silver medallist Iran's Gheshlaghi Meysam.

After going down 2-3 in the first round, Lakshya fought back well in the second and was looking good in the final round as well. However, the Iranian knocked him out with just 20 seconds remaining on the clock.

Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jaismine (60kg) also bowed out of the competition with a 0-5 loss against Japan's Ayaka Taguchi.

Later Wednesday night, youth world champion Ankushita Boro (66kg) will face Sonvico Emilie of France while national champion Sanjeet (92kg) will square off against Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan.The first World Olympic Qualifier is hosting over 590 boxers and will offer a total of 49 quotas, including 28 for men and 21 for women, at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Between 45 to 51 boxers will qualify for the second World Qualification Tournament, to be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3.

India have already secured four quotas for Paris 2024 with Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) confirming their berths with impressive performances at the Asian Games.

 

 SHOWTIME – DISNEY+ HOTSTAR

Disney+ Hotstar will be rolling out a compelling new drama set in the backdrop of Bollywood. The upcoming series delves into the depths of the world of entertainment showcasing the power struggle within the glamorous industry. Created by Sumit Roy, the series features Emraan Hashmi, Shriya Saran, Naseeruddin Shah, Rajeev Khandelwal, and Mahima Makwana in prominent roles.

LAL SALAAM – NETFLIX

After doing good business at the box office, the Tamil sports drama Lal Salaam is scheduled to arrive on Netflix this Friday ie. March 8, 2024. Helmed by Aishwarya Rajinikanth, the film revolves around a man who dreams of becoming a professional cricketer but encounters several obstacles in his personal life. According to a Times of India report, Rajinikanth charged a whopping Rs 40 crore for an extended cameo in the film.

BOGLA MAMA – HOICHOI

Adding to the list of new OTT releases arriving later this week apart from Damsel, Showtime, and more is Dhrubo Banerjee’s Bogla Mama. The Bengali film tells the story of a middle-aged man whose love for theatre lands him in trouble when a local gangster commissions him to stage a play.

TERA KYA HOGA LOVELY – THEATRES

Randeep Hooda, Ileana D’Cruz, and Karan Kundrra come together for Balwinder Singh Janjua’s movie, Tera Kya Hoga Lovely, which follows a young woman whose family struggles to find a suitable groom due to her dark complexion. However, when a police officer enters their home to solve a case, he instantly develops feelings for her. What ensues next is a series of comic events that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.

SHAITAAN – THEATRES

Horror genre lovers are in for a treat as Shaitaan starring Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan, and Jyotika arrives in cinemas later this week. The plot of the Vikas Bahl directorial delves into the lives of a couple whose lives are rattled by the arrival of a mysterious man who manages to hypnotise their daughter.

 DAMSEL – NETFLIX

Millie Bobby Brown plays a young princess named Elodie whose marriage to a young charming prince takes a dark turn when she learns the truth about the royal family, who sacrifice her to a fire-breathing dragon to pay off their debt. Will she be able to survive and make it out of the cave alive?

BOOK OF THIS WEEK:

Shadows and Secrets by Harini Srinivasan (Author)

Circa 403-404 CE. The Gupta Empire has reached its zenith under its greatest ruler yet, Maharaja Chandragupta II Vikramaditya. But with glory comes mischief. Mahakavi Kalidasa, the great poet-dramatist and one of the Navaratnas of the kingdom, heads the state intelligence network to weed out threats, internal and external.

On the eve of the annual Buddhist procession, a spate of shocking murders casts a dark shadow on the glorious city of Pataliputra, with corpses of unidentified foreigners and the city's social and administrative elite turning up one by one.

Who is behind these killings and why?

To crack the mystery, the Mahakavi enlists the help of Shaunaka, one of his unofficial spies. As the keenly observant but idealistic guptachara pursues his secret mission, the young man gets a taste of real-world affairs-deception, religious fanaticism and a 100-year-old secret.

Faced with more questions than answers, there is one thought on everyone's mind-what is going on in Pataliputra?

Harini Srinivasan

Having undertaken different roles (Civil Servant, Project Manager, Communications Professional and Editor) across countries (India, Germany and The Netherlands) for over 18 years, Harini Srinivasan has edited several prestigious books including Selected Speeches of the President, Indian Dance – Through a Critic’s Eye, Abode under the Dome and Legends of Indian Silver Screen. She has authored a children’s book “The Wizard Tales – Adventures of Bun-Bun” which is now into second print. She is passionate about History, Literature and the Performing Arts and writes a blog on classic Hindi films and books (at www.bagsbooksandmore.wordpress.com). She is currently with the Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion (CDFI), a non-profit organisation.