Subhaditya News ChanneI presents Science,Movie,PoiticaI,Sports News This Week(64)

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Science News This Week: 

Science-News

1) International Research Collaboration Reveals the Mechanism of the Sodium-Potassium Pump:




Researchers from Aarhus University have collaborated with a Japanese group of researchers to establish the structure of a crucial enzyme – the so-called sodium-potassium pump – which forms part of every cell in the human body. The result, which was recently published in Nature, may pave the way for a better understanding of neurological diseases.

It’s not visible to the naked eye and you can’t feel it, but up to 40 per cent of your body’s energy goes into supplying the microscopic sodium-potassium pump with the energy it needs. The pump is constantly doing its job in every cell of all animals and humans. It works much like a small battery which, among other things, maintains the sodium balance which is crucial to keep muscles and nerves working.

The sodium-potassium pump transports sodium out and potassium into the cell in a fixed cycle. During this process the structure of the pump changes. It is well-established that the pump has a sodium and a potassium form. But the structural differences between the two forms have remained a mystery, and researchers have been unable to explain how the pump distinguishes sodium from potassium. Structure solves the mystery

In 2007 and 2009, researchers from Aarhus University participated in research leading to the description of the structure of the potassium-bound form of the protein. Now, thanks to international collaboration between Professor Chikashi Toyoshima’s group at the University of Tokyo and Aarhus University, the structure of the sodium-bound form of the protein has also been described. For the first time ever, the sodium ions can be studied at a resolution so high – 0.28 nanometres – that researchers can actually see the sodium ions and observe where they bind in the structure of the pump.

“The new protein structure shows how the smaller sodium ions are bound and subsequently transported out of the cell, whereas the access of the slightly larger potassium ions is blocked. We now understand how the pump distinguishes between sodium and potassium at the molecular level. This is a great leap forward for research into ion pumps and may help us understand and treat serious neurological conditions associated with mutations of the sodium-potassium pump, including a form of Parkinsonism and alternating hemiplegia of childhood in which sodium binding is defective,” explains Bente Vilsen, a professor at Aarhus University who spearheaded the project’s activities in Aarhus with Associate Professor Flemming Cornelius.By precisely locating the sodium ions for the first time ever, and by demonstrating how the pump binds sodium, the new results – along with a recently published Science report on the structure of the sodium-potassium pump – demonstrate that Aarhus University is still at the forefront of this field of research.

Impressed Nobel Prize winner

The vital pump was discovered in 1957 by Professor Jens Christian Skou of Aarhus University, who received the Nobel Prize for his discovery in 1997. The new result is the culmination of five or six decades of research aimed at the mechanism behind this vital motor of the cells.“Years ago, when the first electron microscopic images were taken in which the enzyme was but a millimetre-sized dot at 250,000 magnifications, I thought, how on earth will we ever be able to establish the structure of the enzyme. The pump transports potassium into and sodium out of the cells, so it must be capable of distinguishing between the two ions. But until now, it has been a mystery how this was possible,” says retired Professor Jens Christian Skou, who – even at 94 years of age – keeps up to date with new developments in the field of research which he initiated more than 50 years ago.“Now, the researchers have described the structure that allows the enzyme to identify sodium and this may pave the way for a more detailed understanding of how the pump works. It is an impressive achievement and something I haven’t even dared dream of,” concludes Jens Christian Skou.

2) Innate Virus-Killing Power Discovered in Mammals:



Scientists have a promising new approach to combating deadly human viruses thanks to an educated hunch by University of California, Riverside microbiology professor Shou-Wei Ding, and his 20 years of research on plants, fruit flies, nematodes and mice to show the truth in his theory. Researchers led by Ding, who heads a lab in UC Riverside's Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, have discovered that, like plants and invertebrate animals, mammals use the RNA interference (RNAi) process to destroy viruses within their own cells.

Their findings will be published in the Oct. 11 issue of the journal Science.Until now, scientists were unable to prove that mammals use RNAi for killing viruses, but ironically, it was Ding's earlier research into plants, nematodes and fruit flies that helped him find the key: viruses have been outwitting that innate protection in our cells by using proteins to suppress our virus-killing mechanism.Remove the suppressor protein from the virus, Ding's research discovered, and the subject's body will quickly eliminate the virus using the RNAi process, which sends out small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to kill the disease.In their research on young mice, for instance, all the subjects died when they were infected with the Nodamura virus, but when Ding's researchers removed the suppressor protein called B2 from the virus, the infected mice began producing huge armies of the virus-attacking siRNAs and lived, unaffected by the otherwise lethal infection.

"Many have tried to do this, that is, find the viral siRNAs in mammals, but they could not find the key," said Ding. "The key was our prior knowledge of the B2 protein in the Nodamura virus, a virus few people know about. Other scientists asked me, 'What is the Nodamura virus?' They have been studying the more well-known human viruses, but Nodamura virus infection of mice proves to be the best model."How did Ding know where to look? The China native was partly acting on a hunch that started when he was a graduate student at the Australia National University in the late 1980s. There, during a lecture, he learned that the genomes of viruses infecting plants and animals are actually very similar, even though plants and animals are very different.That, and further discussions with his mentor Adrian Gibbs, an expert on molecular evolution of viruses and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences, "made me think there must be a common anti-viral mechanism in plants and animals to keep their viruses similar," he said.Ding produced the first evidence for that hypothesis while working with Bob Symons in the Waite Institute in South Australia, studying cucumber mosaic virus, a devastating, aphid-carried disease that infects more than 1,000 plant species, including many important crops.
Using computational analytical skills learned from Gibbs, Ding discovered a small gene in the virus other scientists had overlooked. He named the gene 2b and showed that it plays an essential role in helping the virus spread within the host plant. Based on his results, and published studies on the B2 protein of Flock house virus, an insect pathogen, Ding proposed in a 1995 paper that 2b and B2 proteins act by suppressing the host's antiviral defense.

Fueled by that idea, Ding moved to Singapore in 1996 to set up his own laboratory in the Institute of Molecular Agrobiology. There, in collaboration with a British group led by RNAi-expert David Baulcombe, Ding's group discovered that the 2b protein did indeed suppress the RNAi virus-fighting properties in plants. Further, the group found that the 2b proteins of the related viruses all have the suppressor activity even though they share limited sequence similarities.
Ding joined the faculty at UCR in December of 2000 to test the other half of his hypothesis: does the B2 protein of Flock house virus suppress RNAi in its animal host?Although RNAi was known as a major antiviral mechanism in plants by that time, few believed it was also true in the animal kingdom, which was known to fight viral infections by many other well-defined mechanisms. Over the next five years, Ding used Flock house virus to discover that fruit flies and C. elegans nematodes have the same RNAi virus-killing properties as plants, but the B2 in the virus stop their RNAi defenses from working. Remove the B2, and the hosts produce massive amounts of siRNAs and rapidly destroy the virus.
The findings, which were featured in a Science cover story in 2002, showed that RNAi is a common antiviral defense in plants, insects and nematodes, and explained why viruses have to keep a protein to suppress that defense. It also took Ding deeper into his fundamental premise -- "If RNAi remains as an effective antiviral defense in plants, insects and nematodes after their independent evolution for hundred millions of years, why would it stop working with mammals?"
To answer this question, Ding decided to use a cousin of the Flock house virus -- Nodamura virus -- that is lethal to young mice. In collaboration with Ding, the lab of Olivier Voinnet at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich also reported in an accompanying paper the detection of viral siRNAs in cultured mouse embryonic stem cells infected by the Encephalomyocarditis virus. These findings have opened the door to new ways to combat dangerous human viruses.

Ding's next goal is to raise $5 million so he can spend about five years studying new vaccines for human pathogens such as dengue fever. He is carefully optimistic about the findings to come."Maybe this is what we have been missing in knowing how humans combat viral infections," he said. "There are many different antiviral mechanisms in our bodies, but maybe RNAi functions as the most important antiviral defense mechanism. Maybe this is the one that really matters."

3) Crystal-crystal contact makes quasicrystal:



Crystals have atoms that are arranged in a predictable, repetitive pattern. Materials called quasicrystals have atoms packed in ordered, but unexpected patterns. Now scientists have made a quasicrystal at the interface of two normal crystalline materials.

In new work, appearing October 10 in Nature, scientists layered a compound called perovskite barium titanate onto a crystal layer of platinum and watched as a thin-filmed, 12-atom, dodecagon-structured quasicrystal grew at the edge of the two materials.

This kind of transformation could allow more conventional crystalline materials to move into the quasicrystal realm, the scientists argue. Quasicrystals have unusual electronic properties and won the scientist who first discovered the materials in nature the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

4) The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013:



James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman, Thomas C. Südhof:
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

jointly to

James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman 
and Thomas C. Südhof

for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, 
a major transport system in our cells

Summary:

The 2013 Nobel Prize honours three scientists who have solved the mystery of how the cell organizes its transport system. Each cell is a factory that produces and exports molecules. For instance, insulin is manufactured and released into the blood and chemical signals called neurotransmitters are sent from one nerve cell to another. These molecules are transported around the cell in small packages called vesicles. The three Nobel Laureates have discovered the molecular principles that govern how this cargo is delivered to the right place at the right time in the cell.

Randy Schekman discovered a set of genes that were required for vesicle traffic. James Rothman  unravelled protein machinery that allows vesicles to fuse with their targets to permit transfer of cargo. Thomas Südhof revealed how signals instruct vesicles to release their cargo with precision.Through their discoveries, Rothman, Schekman and Südhof have revealed the exquisitely precise control system for the transport and delivery of cellular cargo. Disturbances in this system have deleterious effects and contribute to conditions such as neurological diseases, diabetes, and immunological disorders.

5) The Nobel Prize in Physics 2013  : François Englert, Peter W. Higgs



The Nobel Prize in Physics 2013 was awarded jointly to François Englert and Peter W. Higgs "for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider"

In particle physics, Bosons comprise one of two classes of elementary particles, the other being fermions. The name boson was coined by Paul Dirac to commemorate the contribution of Satyendra Nath Bose in developing, with Einstein, Bose–Einstein statistics—which theorizes the characteristics of elementary particles. Examples of bosons include fundamental particles (i.e., Higgs boson, the four force-carrying gauge bosons of the Standard Model, and the still-theoretical graviton of quantum gravity); composite particles

Englert was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, together with Peter Higgs for the discovery of the Higgs mechanism.The Nobel committee said the following about the award,

“for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider”.

6) The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 : Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt, Arieh Warshe:



The Nobel prize in chemistry was on Wednesday awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences jointly to Martin Karplus ( Harvard University), Michael Levitt (Stanford School of Medicine) and Arieh Warshel (University of Southern California) "for the development of multi-scale models for complex chemical systems".

Nobel Prize In Chemistry 2013 'For Taking Chemistry To Cyberspace':

Chemical experiments ideally take place in labs.But the ability to carry them out in real time through computers has won an Israeli, Austrian and British scientist the Nobel prize for chemistry 2013.

The fact that scientists these days can use computers to carry out experiments has yielded a much deeper understanding of how chemical processes play out. Computer models mirroring real life have become crucial for most advances made in chemistry today. Chemists earlier used to create models of molecules using plastic balls and sticks. Today, the modelling is carried out in computers. The strength of the methods that Karplus, Levitt and Warshel have developed is that they are universal. They can be used to study all kinds of chemistry; from the molecules of life to industrial chemical processes. Scientists can optimize solar cells, catalysts in motor vehicles or even drugs, to take but a few examples.

Experts say the work of Karplus, Levitt and Warshel is ground-breaking because they managed to make Newton's classical physics work side-by-side with the fundamentally different quantum physics. Previously, chemists had to choose to use either or.

RSAS said "This year's Nobel Laureates in chemistry took the best from both worlds and devised methods that use both classical and quantum physics. For instance, in simu-lations of how a drug couples to its target protein in the body, the computer performs quantum theoretical calculations on those atoms in the target protein that interact with the drug. The rest of the large protein is simulated using less demanding classical physics. Today the computer is just as important a tool for chemists as the test tube. Simulations are so realistic that they predict the outcome of traditional experiments".

In one of his publications, Levitt recently wrote about one of his dreams: to simulate a living organism on a molecular level. The Nobel laureates in chemistry 2013 have made it possible to map the mysterious ways of chemistry by using computers. Detailed knowledge of chemical processes makes it possible to optimize catalysts, drugs and solar cells.

Movie Release This Week:

M 0vie   News

1) Tad the Lost Explorer:





Tad is a bored construction worker dreaming of a life of adventure until one day he is mistaken for a famous archeologist and his dreams comes true. Whisked to Peru holding a sacred key, Tad helps Professor Lavrof and his beautiful daughter Sara as they race against evil treasure hunters in search of the Lost City of Paititi. It’s the adventure of a lifetime in this hilarious, action-packed film the whole family will love!

2) The Monkey's Paw:



A horror film geared towards younger audiences, "Monkey's Paw" is the story of a father who innocently brings home a mysterious artifact rumored to grant wishes, only to see its magical powers go awry and cause misadventures with every wish his family makes.

3) Haunt:



An introverted teen sparks with his new neighbor, and together the couple begins to explore the haunted house that is family has unknowingly just purchased.

4) Captain Phillips:



The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

5) Machete Kills:



In Machete Kills, Danny Trejo returns as ex-Federale agent Machete, who is recruited by the President of the United States for a mission which would be impossible for any mortal man – he must take down a madman revolutionary and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war and anarchy across the planet.

PoIiticaI News This Week:

PoIiticaI News 

1) THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR 2013 Organizationfor the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW):  





 The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for  2013 is to be awarded to the     Organizationfor the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons. 

During World War One, chemical weapons were used to a considerable degree. The Geneva Convention of 1925 prohibited the use, but not the production or storage, of chemical weapons. During World War Two, chemical means were employed in Hitler’s mass exterminations. Chemical weapons have subsequently been put to use on numerous occasions by both states and terrorists. In 1992-93 a convention was drawn up prohibiting also the production and storage of such weapons. It came into force in 1997. Since then the OPCW has, through inspections, destruction and by other means, sought the implementation of the convention. 189 states have acceded to the convention to date

2) Cyclone Phailin: Odisha braces for 1999 supercyclone revisit:



Defence Minister A K Antony has asked armed forces to be ready to move in to Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in view of cyclone Phailin.The severe cyclonic storm over east central Bay of Bengal further intensified on Friday and is all set to make a landfall close to Gopalpur in Odisha at a wind speed of at least 205 kmph on Saturday.

"The very severe cyclonic storm, PHAILIN over east central Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph and lay centred about 520km south-southeast of Paradip, 530km from Gopalpur and 530km east-southeast of Kalingapatnam," the IMD said in its latest bulletin."It would move northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coast between Kalingapatnam and Paradip, close to Gopalpur (Odisha) by the evening of October 12," the IMD said.Satellite images showed the storm in the Bay of Bengal to be about half the size of India.

Orissa Special Relief Commissioner PK Mohapatra said Phailin would be 'no less than 1999 supercyclone'Tropical Storm Risk, a London-based storm tracking service, has categorised Phailin as a Category 4 storm, one notch below the most powerful Category 5 storms.The Indian Meterological Department has forecast a risk to life and extensive damage to property when it makes landfall in 36 hoursIMD, which till Thursday night expected that the wind speed would remain limited within 185 kmph during landfall on Saturday, said in its latest bulletin that Phailin would hit with increased intensity with a maximum sustained speed of 205-215 kmph.

Similarly, though IMD forecast a storm surge of 1.5 meter to 2 meter in Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts in the coast on Thursday, it said on Friday that the storm surge height will be around 2 meter to 2.5 meter above astronomical tide. This would inundate low lying areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur in Odisha.
Squally winds speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph have already started along Odisha coast this morning under the influence of Phailin. "It would increase in intensity with gale wind speed reaching 205-215 kmph along and off coastal districts of south Odisha at the time of landfall," the IMD said.Meanwhile, a worried state government held several meetings and took stock of the situation in the changed circumstances. The state government has already asked the district authorities to start evacuation of people living in low lying areas close to the sea. "We have ordered that nobody should be allowed to stay in thatched and weak houses," Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Mohapatra said.The personnel of Odisha State Disaster Rapid Action Force and fire men have already been deployed.

3) Pak troops violate ceasefire yet again along LoC in Pooch:



Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing in the Mendhar sector of the Line of Control in the Poonch district of Jammu region on Friday morning.

A defence spokesman said that Pakistan troops used 82mm mortars, automatic and small arms fire to target Indian posts in the Barasingha and Hamirpur areas of LoC in Mendhar sector.

“The firing started at 8.30am and is still continuing. We retaliated strongly with machine calibre weapons. Intermittent firing still going on,” he added.

Pakistan troops had also violated the ceasefire on Thursday in the same sector of the LoC. He said there was damage or casuality on Indian side.

The bilateral ceasefire along the LoC and international border had come into force in November 2003.

4) Telangana crisis: More political turmoil expected in AP:




Andhra Pradesh, which has lately been a hotbed of activity following the decision on Telangana will continue to see more drama in the days to come. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy appears to have made his peace with the decision to bifurcate the state, but is weighing his options heavily in order to launch a new party. Vicky Nanjappa reports.

He appears to be adamant and has decided to get out of the Congress once the Telangana Bill reaches the assembly for an opinion. While the Bill will be defeated in the assembly as the Seema-Andhra members of Legislative Assembly outnumber the ones from Telangana, the problem ahead would be a political crisis.

Reddy, who has been opposing the formation of Telangana since day one, has been accused of adding fuel to the fire which led to such a heavy agitation. Apart from playing the wait and watch game, he has been in touch with various leaders from the Seema-Andhra region and the employees unions of the region.

They have decided to float a new party after the bill is defeated as they feel that staying on in the Congress has no meaning if the state is bifurcated as no one from the Seema-Andhra region would vote in their favour.They have even decided to call the new outfit as the Seema-Andhra party and it is likely to be launched in December.

The Congress high command however senses this and may slow down the formation process. It would not want the party to split further ahead of the elections and realises that by slowing down the process it could avoid an embarrassment in the state.The Congress has been already facing the brunt after TSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy quit the party. He, in fact, has become the strongest contender in the Seema-Andhra region.If the CM walks out too, then it would only mean that the problems for the party increase in the region. The people of Seema-Andhra would go with any party or person who stands firm against the bifurcation of the state.Reddy and his men feel that they should wait till the bill is defeated in the assembly and then go ahead with the new party. They would have a ready made agenda then and this they feel would better their prospects during the elections.

The Group of Ministers who would meet on Friday to discuss the Telangana situation are most likely to drag the process leading up to the formation of the state. They find the need to keep all three regions happy and would try and delay the formation. The Congress is however firm on the bifurcation and it is only the timing that they need to decide on. 

5) Musharraf arrested over Lal Masjid operation:



Beleaguered former President Pervez Musharraf was on Thursday arrested for ordering a crackdown on the radical Lal Masjid, less than 24 hours after his lawyers claimed he could walk out of house arrest after being granted bail in the Akbar Bugti murder case."He (Musharraf) has been arrested," said Aasia Ishaque, spokesperson for Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League party. She confirmed that the 70-year-old former military was arrested in the Lal Masjid case."The SSP of Islamabad and the chief of Aabpara Police Station went to his house and arrested him," she told PTI.On September 2, police filed a case against Musharraf over the killing of cleric Abdul Rashid and his mother during the 2007 military operation against extremists holed up in the Lal Masjid.

The operation, ordered by Musharraf, ended with a bloody eight-day siege that killed nearly 100 people, including Pakistani troops.The case was filed on the directions of Justice Noorul Huque Qureshi of the Islamabad high court, who was annoyed over the non-compliance of an earlier order.The court issued the order in response to a petition filed by Haroon Rashid, the son of Abdul Rashid, against Musharraf for his alleged involvement in the killing of the hardline cleric and his mother.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court granted Musharraf bail in the case related to the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a 2006 military operation.Musharraf's lawyers said this was the last case in which he was still under arrest and he had been granted bail in other cases, including those related to the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto and the imposition of emergency in 2007.The former military strongman is currently being held at his farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad, guarded by nearly 300 security personnel, including soldiers and snipers.Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup and ruled as President until he resigned when he was threatened with impeachment in 2008. He then went into self-imposed exile and returned to Pakistan in March in a bid to resurrect his political career.

6) Durga Pujo turns Kolkata into City of Blinding Lights:



The four most-awaited days in the Bengali calendar are here. 

Ma Durga makes her entry into pandals and homes across Bengal, and into all our hearts, today.

Let's take a look at some of her most mesmerising avataars and the stunning pandals she is reigning over. The idol of Ma Durga was formally unveiled by priests today, on the morning of Shashti, the sixth day of the Pujo. The pushpanjali, the practice of offering flowers to Ma Durga while chanting mantras, starts on Saptami, the seventh day.  Pujo organisers across Kolkata have gone to great lengths to create the most breathtaking pandals for the deity.




The creativity of the organisers is evident from this pandal, where Ma Durga is bathed in neon lights, crowned by a giant trishul and towering over a Asura who looks suspiciously like Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series. Some Durga Pujos in Kolkata have become legendary for their breathtaking idols and outlandish pandals, like this one in Golf Green, which happens to be one of the city's most visited pandals. Thousands of people wait for hours in serpentine queues to catch a glimpse of their beloved deity and admire the ingenuity of the pandal designers and organisers.

For these four days, Kolkata, much like its fellow metropolis Mumbai, becomes the city that doesn't sleep. 

Sports News This Week:

Sports News

1) Sachin Tendulkar's retirement an emotional time for India: Yuvraj Singh:




He should have been on cloud nine after smashing a match-winning unbeaten 77 against Australia in the one-off T20 International in his comeback match, but Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh said he had mixed feelings as it came on the day Sachin Tendulkar retires from Test cricket.

An emotional Yuvraj, who guided India to a six-wicket win over Australia here, dedicated his unbeaten innings to Tendulkar who yesterday announced that he would quit Test cricket after playing his 200th match against the West Indies next month.

"Well I don't know if I am happy or sad. Happy that I hit the ball and sad day that Sachin is retiring. But really happy the way I hit the ball and how I continued to play well since the India A and West Indies A series," Yuvraj said at the post-match press conference."Definitely, I would like to dedicate it to Sachin and hopefully, maybe tell him on the phone as well. That is the least I can do, dedicate this knock to him. I will also like to dedicate this knock to my mother who prayed a lot for my comeback. Everyday she has been praying for me," he said.The 31-year-old batsman, who last played an international match in January, was recalled to the national team after a string of fine performances for India A against West Indies A and a solid display for India Blue in the NKP Salve Challenger Series."Yuvi is back my friend," he told the media.Yuvraj said it was an emotional moment for the country when an iconic cricketer like Tendulkar retires and added that he did not want to see him leave the game.

"I don't think I am going to let him go away. I am going to catch hold of his feet and not (let him) leave the dressing room. It has been amazing to play with him for so many years. One of the greatest players to have played the game. I don't know what to say," he said, adding that the team did not discuss Tendulkar's retirement in the dressing room.

2) Roger Federer dumped out of Shanghai Open by Gael Monfils:



Fifth seed Roger Federer was dumped out of the Shanghai Open, losing to Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 in the third round on Thursday, while top seed Novak Djokovic progressed.

After dropping the first set, the 17-time grand slam title winner Federer was on the brink of going out in straight sets at 3-5 down in the second, and later 3-5 down in the tie-break before winning four straight points.

Monfils then broke the Swiss former world number one in the fourth game of the decider.

It was Monfils's second victory over Federer in eight meetings, and leaves the Swiss battling to reach the end-of-season ATP World Tour Finals for the 12th consecutive year."I knew that I choked on this forehand at 5-4 (in the tie-break)," Monfils told the tour website (www.atpworldtour.com).

"Then I changed my ideas because I was maybe nervous, too. Even (though) I was tired, I tried to play more aggressively sometimes, going more for my shots and it worked.

"It's a good win for me. I feel a bit sorry for him because I know he's running for London. But it's tennis. He's going to have more opportunity (in) those weeks coming up."Monfils will play top seed and defending champion Djokovic in the quarter-finals after the Serb defeated Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3 6-3, while sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, German Florian Mayer and Nicolas Almagro of Spain have also advanced.Del Potro went through after German Tommy Haas withdrew due to injury, while Tsonga beat Japan's Kei Nishikori 7-6(5) 6-0.Mayer beat 2011 runner-up David Ferrer 6-4 6-3 while Almagro beat Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych in three sets.

3) High Court to BAI: Let Jwala Gutta play in upcoming tournaments:



The Delhi High Court today asked Badminton Association of India (BAI) to allow ace Indian shuttler Jwala Gutta to participate in upcoming tournaments till the disciplinary authority takes a final decision on the issue of her alleged indiscipline.

Justice V K Jain allowed Gutta's plea and said, "I am of the view that you (BAI) must allow her to play in the tournament".

However, the court said a detailed order will be passed on her plea later in the day.

The court also observed that till the final view is taken by the committee, she should be allowed to take part in the tournament.

The two upcoming badminton tournaments in which Gutta was to participate are Denmark Open scheduled from October 15 to 20 and French Open from October 22 to 27.

The BAI, however, had on Wednesday withdrew the selection of Gutta and her doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa from Denmark Open.

The BAI's disciplinary committee has recommended a life ban on Gutta for trying to stop some players of her franchise Krrish Delhi Smashers from playing a match against Banga Beats in the Indian Badminton League in August this year.

Gutta approached the high court challenging the decision of BAI to recommend a life ban on her for alleged indiscipline in the IBL.Appearing for Gutta, advocate Gopal Jain argued that the manner in which the association is behaving towards her is completely arbitrary and misuse of power."You have to treat a sports woman with dignity," he said.Countering his arguments, senior advocate Shanti Bhushan submitted that for past few years her performance is below the rank and there is nothing wrong in the decision taken by BAI's committing."If she admits that she has committed a mistake or tenders apology, she will be allowed to play," Bhushan said.

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2013 was awarded to Alice Munro "master of the contemporary short story"..



Alice Ann Munro (born 10 July 1931) is a Canadian author. The recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature and the 2009 Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime body of work, she is also a three-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction. The focus of Munro’s fiction is her native southwestern Ontario. Her "accessible, moving stories" explore human complexities in a seemingly effortless style. Munro's writing has established her as "one of our greatest contemporary writers of fiction," or, as Cynthia Ozick put it, "our Chekhov.

Alice Ann Munro

Writing style
Many of Munro's stories are set in Huron County, Ontario. Her strong regional focus is one of the features of her fiction. Another is the omniscient narrator who serves to make sense of the world. Many compare Munro's small-town settings to writers of the U.S. rural South. Her female characters, though, are more complex. Much of Munro's work exemplifies the literary genre known as Southern Ontario Gothic.

Munro's work is often compared with the great short story writers. In Munro stories, as in Chekhov's, plot is secondary and "little happens." As with Chekhov, Garan Holcombe notes: "All is based on the epiphanic moment, the sudden enlightenment, the concise, subtle, revelatory detail." Munro's work deals with "love and work, and the failings of both. She shares Chekhov’s obsession with time and our much-lamented inability to delay or prevent its relentless movement forward."

A frequent theme of her work—particularly evident in her early stories—has been the dilemmas of a girl coming of age and coming to terms with her family and the small town she grew up in. In recent work such as Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (2001) and Runaway (2004) she has shifted her focus to the travails of middle age, of women alone and of the elderly. It is a mark of her style for characters to experience a revelation that sheds light on, and gives meaning to, an event.

Munro's prose reveals the ambiguities of life: "ironic and serious at the same time," "mottoes of godliness and honor and flaming bigotry," "special, useless knowledge," "tones of shrill and happy outrage," "the bad taste, the heartlessness, the joy of it." Her style places the fantastic next to the ordinary with each undercutting the other in ways that simply, and effortlessly, evoke life. As Robert Thacker notes: "