Manash (Subhaditya Edusoft): SUBHADITYA NEWS THIS WEEK (SCIENCE, POLITICAL ,SPORTS, MOVIES AND BOOK NEWS)

An ancient coastal area rich in boron could catalyze the polymerization of amino acids

Researchers uncover how primordial proteins formed on prebiotic Earth

How did catalytic organic polymers emerge on prebiotic Earth? Answering this essential question will unlock key understandings in the origin of life.

A team of scientists at Tohoku University have recently found a potential environment for the reaction that produced catalytic organic polymers. To do so, they dried amino acid solutions containing boric acid and found that boric acid catalyzes polypeptide synthesis under neutral and acidic conditions. The longest peptides formed in the experiments were 39 monomer-long glycine polypeptides under a neutral condition.

Details of their research were published in the journal Communications Chemistry on May 11, 2023.

Previous studies have suggested that highly alkaline evaporative environments served as the place for ancient protein synthesis, yielding up to 20 monomer-long glycine peptides. Neutral conditions were thought to be the worst-case in regards to peptide synthesis.

Boron-containing minerals have been discovered abundantly in some of the oldest sedimentary-origin rocks found on Earth, dating back 3.8 billion years. These findings suggest that coastal areas of ancient small continents and islands rich in boric acid spontaneously assembled amino acids, forming polypeptides and proto-proteins.

"The formation of polypeptides in neutral environments have important meanings in the chemical evolution of the origin of life," says lead author Yoshihiro Furukawa, an associate professor at Tohoku University.

While RNAs are rather stable under neutral conditions, they are extremely unstable under alkaline conditions. Boron has been known to help many steps in abiotic ribonucleotide synthesis.

"Boron-rich neutral evaporative environments serve as an ideal place for the formations and interactions between the two essential polymers on prebiotic Earth," Furukawa says.

This research group is now investigating which amino acids are incorporated in the proto-peptides in this environment.

cell-nanobot-breakthrough

Structure of the antitumor compound spliceostatin A (purple and orange) bound to a spliceosome complex (light blue and pink).

Cell 'nanobot' breakthrough shines light on cause of aggressive cancers

Scientists have uncovered the inner workings of one of the most important and intricate "nanobots" operating within our cells by using cutting-edge microscopy for visualizing molecules almost at an atomic level.

Their new study published in Nature has unveiled the critical step that switches on the spliceosome—a piece of cellular machinery that enables cells to build complex proteins.

By uncovering in detail how the spliceosome is activated, scientists believe the discovery could pave the way to more effective designs for cancer drugs that target it.

State of the art microscopy

An international team of scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Germany employed state-of-the-art biochemical and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) methods to study the spliceosome in intricate detail and answer long standing questions about how it works.

The spliceosome operates like a nanobot, processing RNA—genetic instructions copied from DNA—in a key step to allow the building of complex proteins.

Powered by molecular motors called helicases, the spliceosome chops and changes RNA code to increase the complexity of the genetic instructions so that many different proteins can be made from a limited number of genes. This process is called splicing.

Splicing explains why humans, who only have about 20,000 genes, can produce hundreds of thousands of different proteins. It may also be a key reason for why humans can be so different from fruit flies, despite having a similar number of genes.

Hallmark of cancer

Mutations in the spliceosome are a hallmark of cancer—they contribute to the production of abnormal proteins that fuel tumor growth or deactivate proteins that protect against cancer.

Scientists studied the spliceosome using cryo-EM—a cutting edge microscopy technique that involves rapidly freezing spliceosomes and bombarding them with electrons to obtain a 3D reconstruction of their molecular structure at almost atomic-level resolution.

They also employed advanced biochemical engineering methods to capture the spliceosome in the midst of activation—a feat never achieved before. This allowed them to dissect the precise molecular mechanisms occurring within the spliceosome, much like an engineer taking apart an engine but on a sub-microscopic scale.

Of particular interest was a core spliceosome subunit called SF3B1, which is essential for spliceosome activation. SF3B1 is the most mutated spliceosome gene in cancer, in particular in leukemia, uveal melanoma, and pancreatic and prostate cancer.

The researchers discovered that two molecular motors reshape SF3B1, and in doing so they kickstart splicing.

First, they showed that a molecular motor called PRP2 interacts with SF3B1 and works in a completely new way than was previously thought for splicing helicases. Instead of staying on the outside of the spliceosome, PRP2 "walks" along the RNA strand being processed, all the way to the spliceosome's core, rearranging the spliceosome structure as it travels and helping to switch the spliceosome into an active state. The researchers believe that other helicases may also work in this new and unexpected way.

Second, they found that another motor, named Aquarius, also acts on SF3B1 and is essential to activate the spliceosome.

The findings represent a fundamental advance in our understanding of the spliceosome and how it is activated by helicases.

Professor Vlad Pena, Professor of Structural Biology and Gene Expression at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, who supervised the research team said, "The spliceosome is an intricate nanobot that uses molecular motors to process genetic information. This information is passed on and forms instructions for building proteins.

"We used a new engineering technique to reveal that kickstarting the spliceosome requires the help of two distinct motors, PRP2 and Aquarius. This is a breakthrough finding in our understanding of how the spliceosome and its molecular motors operate.

"Splicing is often dysregulated in cancer, and we hope our work will inspire new research which will contribute to the design of new cancer drugs that can target the splicing process."

Discovery could pave the way to better cancer drugs

Professor Kristian Helin, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said, "These exciting findings represent a fundamental advance in our understanding of one of the most important and complex pieces of molecular machinery in our cells. The spliceosome not only enables complex life to exist but, when things go wrong, it can create proteins which help to fuel or sustain cancer.

"By illuminating the step-by-step process that activates the spliceosome, this research could pave the way to better cancer drugs to control the way it operates within cancer cells."

1 by 1Snowflake yeast clusters go from 100 cells per cluster left tube to nearly half a million cells per cluster right tube

Macroscopic snowflake yeast with elongated cells fracture into modules, retaining the same underlying branched growth form of their microscopic ancestor

A journey to the origins of multicellular life: Long-term experimental evolution in the lab Catherine Barzler, Georgia Institute of Technology

The world would look very different without multicellular organisms—take away the plants, animals, fungi, and seaweed, and Earth starts to look like a wetter, greener version of Mars. But precisely how multicellular organisms evolved from single-celled ancestors remains poorly understood. The transition happened hundreds of millions of years ago, and early multicellular species are largely lost to extinction.

To investigate how multicellular life evolves from scratch, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology decided to take evolution into their own hands. Led by William Ratcliff, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences and director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences, a team of researchers has initiated the first long-term evolution experiment aimed at evolving new kinds of multicellular organisms from single-celled ancestors in the lab.

Over 3,000 generations of laboratory evolution, the researchers watched as their model organism, "snowflake yeast," began to adapt as multicellular individuals. In research published in Nature, the team shows how snowflake yeast evolved to be physically stronger and more than 20,000 times larger than their ancestor.

This type of biophysical evolution is a pre-requisite for the kind of large multicellular life that can be seen with the naked eye. Their study is the first major report on the ongoing Multicellularity Long-Term Evolution Experiment (MuLTEE), which the team hopes to run for decades.

"Conceptually, what we want to understand is how simple groups of cells evolve into organisms, with specialization, coordinated growth, emergent multicellular behaviors, and life cycles—the stuff that differentiates a pile of pond scum from an organism that is capable of sustained evolution," Ratcliff said. "Understanding that process is a major goal of our field."

The multicellularity long-term evolution experiment

Ozan Bozdag, a research scientist and former postdoctoral researcher in Ratcliff's group and first author on the paper, initiated the MuLTEE in 2018, starting with single-celled snowflake yeast. Bozdag grew the yeast in shaking incubators and each day selected for both faster growth and larger group size.

The team selected on organism size because all multicellular lineages started out small and simple, and many evolved to be larger and more robust over time. The ability to grow large, tough bodies is thought to play a role in increasing complexity, as it requires new biophysical innovations. However, this hypothesis had never been directly tested in the lab.

Over about 3,000 generations of evolution, their yeast evolved to form groups that were more than 20,000 times larger than their ancestor. They went from being invisible to the naked eye to the size of fruit flies, containing over half a million cells. The individual snowflake yeast evolved novel material properties: while they started off weaker than gelatin, they evolved to be as strong and tough as wood.

New biophysical adaptations

In investigating how the snowflake yeast adapted to become larger, the researchers observed that the yeast cells themselves became elongated, reducing the density of cells packed into the group. This cell elongation slowed down the accumulation of cell-to-cell stress that would normally cause the clusters to fracture, allowing the groups to get larger. But this fact alone should have only resulted in small increases in size and multicellular toughness.

To uncover the precise biophysical mechanisms that allowed growth to macroscopic size, the researchers needed to look inside the yeast clusters to see how the cells interacted physically. Normal light microscopes were unable to penetrate the large, densely packed groups, so the researchers used a scanning electron microscope to image thousands of ultrathin slices of the yeast, which gave them their internal structure.

"We discovered that there was a totally new physical mechanism that allowed the groups to grow to this very, very large size," Bozdag said. "The branches of the yeast had become entangled—the cluster cells evolved vine-like behavior, wrapping around each other and strengthening the entire structure."

By simply selecting on organismal size, the researchers figured out how to leverage the biomechanical mechanism of entanglement, which ended up making the yeast about 10,000 times tougher as a material.

"Entanglement has previously been studied in totally different systems, mostly in polymers," said Peter Yunker, associate professor in the School of Physics and a co-author on the paper. "But here we're seeing entanglement through an entirely different mechanism—the growth of cells rather than just through their movement."

Observing the entanglement was a turning point in the researchers' understanding of how simple multicellular groups evolve. As a brand-new multicellular organism, snowflake yeast lacks the sophisticated developmental mechanisms that characterize modern multicellular organisms. But after just 3,000 generations of laboratory evolution, the yeast figured out how to drive and co-opt cellular entanglement as a developmental mechanism.

Preliminary investigations of other multicellular fungi show that they also form highly entangled multicellular bodies, suggesting that entanglement is a widespread and important multicellular trait in this branch of multicellular life.

"I'm really excited to have a model system where we can evolve early multicellular life over thousands of generations, harnessing the awesome power of modern science," Ratcliff said. "In principle, we can understand everything that is happening, from the evolutionary cell biology to the biophysical traits which are directly under selection."

For a long time, humans have worked with biology to evolve new things—from the corn we eat to domesticated dogs, chickens, and show pigeons. According to Ratcliff, what their team is doing is not so different.

"By putting our finger on the scale of a single-celled organism's evolution, we can figure out how they evolved into progressively more complex and integrated multicellular organisms, and can study that process along the way," he said. "We hope that this is just the first chapter in a long story of multicellular discovery as we continue to evolve snowflake yeast in the MuLTEE."

An artist’s impression of the pliosaur.

Giants of the Jurassic seas were twice the size of a killer whale, says study

More than 20 years ago, the BBC's "Walking with Dinosaurs" TV documentary series showed a 25-meter-long Liopleurodon. This sparked heated debates over the size of this pliosaur as it was thought to have been wildly overestimated and more likely to have only reached an adult size of just over six meters long.

The speculation was set to continue, but now a chance discovery in an Oxfordshire museum has led to University of Portsmouth paleontologists publishing a paper on a similar species potentially reaching a whopping 14.4 meters—twice the size of a killer whale. The research is published in the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association.

Professor David Martill from the University of Portsmouth's School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences, said, "I was a consultant for the BBC's pilot program 'Cruel Sea' and I hold my hands up—I got the size of Liopleurodon horrendously wrong. I based my calculations on some fragmentary material which suggested a Liopleurodon could grow to a length of 25 meters, but the evidence was scant and it caused a lot of controversy at the time.

"The size estimate on the BBC back in 1999 was overdone, but now we have some evidence that is much more reliable after a serendipitous discovery of four enormous vertebrate."

Professor Martill's co-author, Megan Jacobs, was photographing an ichthyosaur skeleton at Abingdon County Hall Museum, while Dave looked through drawers of fossils. He found a large vertebra and was thrilled to discover the curator had three more of them in storage.

The vertebrae are clearly identifiable as being closely related to a Pliosaurus species or similar animal. Pliosaurs were like plesiosaurs, but with a bigger elongated head, similar to a crocodile, and a shorter neck. They had four flippers, which acted as powerful paddles to propel them through water and a relatively short tail.

After conducting topographic scans, Professor Martill and colleagues calculated this Late Jurassic marine reptile could have grown to between 9.8 and 14.4 meters long.

He said, "We know these pliosaurs were very fearsome animals swimming in the seas that covered Oxfordshire 145–152 million years ago. They had a massive skull with huge protruding teeth like daggers—as big, if not bigger than a T. rex, and certainly more powerful.

"They were at the top of the marine food chain and probably preyed on ichthyosaurs, long-necked plesiosaurs and maybe even smaller marine crocodiles, simply by biting them in half and taking chunks off them. We know they were massacring smaller marine reptiles because you can see bite marks in ichthyosaur bones in examples on display in The Etches Collection in Dorset."

The vertebrae were originally discovered during temporary excavations at Warren Farm in the River Thames Valley in Oxfordshire and come from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation. This deposit is Late Jurassic in age, around 152 million years old.

Professor Martill added, "It's wonderful to prove there was indeed a truly gigantic pliosaur species in the Late Jurassic seas. Although not yet on a par with the claims made for Liopleurodon in the iconic BBC TV series Walking With Dinosaurs, it wouldn't surprise me if one day we find some clear evidence that this monstrous species was even bigger."

Senolytics are an emerging class of investigational drug compounds that selectively kill aging-associated senescent cells (left, with red stain) without affecting other cells (right). Using artificial intelligence, researchers from Integrated Biosciences have, for the first time, identified three senolytics with comparable efficacy and superior drug-like properties relative to leading investigational ( picture description)

Artificial intelligence identifies anti-aging drug candidates targeting 'zombie' cells

A new publication in the May issue of Nature Aging by researchers from Integrated Biosciences, a biotechnology company combining synthetic biology and machine learning to target aging, demonstrates the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to discover novel senolytic compounds, a class of small molecules under intense study for their ability to suppress age-related processes such as fibrosis, inflammation and cancer.

The paper, "Discovering small-molecule senolytics with deep neural networks," authored in collaboration with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, describes the AI-guided screening of more than 800,000 compounds to reveal three drug candidates with comparable efficacy and superior medicinal chemistry properties than those of senolytics currently under investigation.

"This research result is a significant milestone for both longevity research and the application of artificial intelligence to drug discovery," said Felix Wong, Ph.D., co-founder of Integrated Biosciences and first author of the publication. "These data demonstrate that we can explore chemical space in silico and emerge with multiple candidate anti-aging compounds that are more likely to succeed in the clinic, compared to even the most promising examples of their kind being studied today."

Senolytics are compounds that selectively induce apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in senescent cells that are no longer dividing. A hallmark of aging, senescent cells have been implicated in a broad spectrum of age-related diseases and conditions including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Despite promising clinical results, most senolytic compounds identified to date have been hampered by poor bioavailability and adverse side effects. Integrated Biosciences was founded in 2022 to overcome these obstacles, target other neglected hallmarks of aging, and advance anti-aging drug development more generally using artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and other next-generation tools.

"One of the most promising routes to treat age-related diseases is to identify therapeutic interventions that selectively remove these cells from the body similarly to how antibiotics kill bacteria without harming host cells. The compounds we discovered display high selectivity, as well as the favorable medicinal chemistry properties needed to yield a successful drug," said Satotaka Omori, Ph.D., Head of Aging Biology at Integrated Biosciences and joint first author of the publication. "We believe that the compounds discovered using our platform will have improved prospects in clinical trials and will eventually help restore health to aging individuals."

Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde (left) and Shivsena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) party Chief Uddhav Thackeray (right)

Congress says SC verdicts on Maha row and Delhi services as 'path-breaking', 'slap' on BJP which lost legally, morally :

Synopsis

The apex court today ruled that Eknath Shinde will continue as the chief minister of Maharashtra as it said that it cannot restore the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray as he resigned without facing the floor test in June last year. In a crucial verdict, the court also said that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over administration of services, except for public order, police and land, hand ..

The Congress on Thursday described the Supreme Court's verdicts on the Maharashtra political row and Delhi government's powers as "seminal" and "path-breaking", and said it is a slap on the BJP which has lost legally, morally, politically and ethically. "The unholy, undemocratic and ugly nature of the BJP's underbelly and back-belly has been exposed," senior Congress leader and spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told a press conference here.

His comments come on a day the apex court ruled that Eknath Shinde will continue as the chief minister of Maharashtra as it said that it cannot restore the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray as he resigned without facing the floor test in June last year.

In a crucial verdict, the court also said that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over administration of services, except for public order, police and land, handing a huge victory to the ruling AAP dispensation in its festering feud with the Centre.

Singhvi said the Maharashtra verdict was a victory of the state and the Constitution, while that in Delhi was a big win for democracy as the state government was accountable to the people of the city.

He called upon the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to decide expeditiously on pending petitions relating to the disqualification of MLAs from the state, while asserting that if they are not decided within a reasonable time, they will challenge it in the Supreme Court again.

"We have today two historical, colossal judgments by the Supreme Court. They are judgements which have exposed the unholy, undemocratic and ugly nature, the underbelly and the backbelly of the BJP. Today the BJP has lost on many fronts - legally, morally, ethically and politically. The verdict is a slap on the party's antics," he said while describing the two judgements as "path-breaking and seminal".

"In particular, for the people of Delhi, Delhi will not be run by a nominated Lieutenant Governor (L-G) or an LG-controlled bureaucracy, but Delhi will be run by a representative democracy," he noted.

On why relief was not given by restoration of status quo ante in Maharashtra, the Congress leader said that is a wrong way to approach that judgement as all relevant legal findings on Maharashtra case were in favour of the petitioners and it has clearly castigated the actions of the then Maharashtra Governor and the Speaker of the assembly.

Maharashtra Case - Governor's Decision For Floor Test Wrong, But Uddhav Govt Can't Be Restored As He Resigned : Supreme Court

In the matter pertaining to the Shiv Sena rift, the Supreme Court Constitution bench held that it cannot order the restoration of the Uddhav Thackeray government as he resigned without facing floor test. Since Thackeray voluntarily resigned, the Court held that the Governor was right in inviting Ekanth Shinde form the government with the support of BJP. "Had Mr. Thackeray refrained from resigning from the post of the Chief Minister, this court could have considered the grant of the remedy of reinstating the government headed by him", the Court held while observing that it cannot qquash a resignation which was voluntarily tendered.

Vinai Kumar Saxena being greeted by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal during the formers oath taking ceremony as 22nd Lt Governor of Delhi at Raj Niwas in New Delhi, Thursday, May 26, 2022

Supreme Court rules in favour of Delhi Govt in tussle with Centre: Here’s what the case was about

The matter, comprising various issues, has wound its way up from the Delhi High Court, which ruled on it in 2017. There are many twists and turns in the story, and judgments by multiple Benches. The SC verdict will be crucial, with far-reaching impact

The Supreme Court today (May 11) ruled unanimously in favour of Delhi government on the issue of who controls the bureaucracy in the national capital. The 5-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, held that the legislature has control over bureaucrats in administration of services, except in areas outside the legislative powers of the National Capital Territory (NCT). There are three areas outside the control of Delhi government: public order, police and land.

The CJI said an ideal conclusion would be that the Delhi government ought to have control over services, subject to exclusion of subjects which are out of its legislative domain. If services are excluded from its legislative and executive domain, the ministers and the executive, who are charged with formulating policies in the territory of NCTD would be excluded from controlling the civil service officers who implement such executive decisions, he said. The legislative and executive power of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) over entry 41 shall not extend over to services related to public order, police and land. However, legislative and executive power over services such as IAS or joint cadre services, which are relevant for the for the implementation for the policies and the vision of NCTD in terms of day to day administration of the region shall lie with the NCTD.”

The question of the regulation of services was a major part of the overall dispute between the elected government in Delhi and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) nominated by the Centre. The legal battle has been protracted, and the verdict of the Supreme Court will have far-reaching implications. Almost five years ago, another Constitution Bench of the court had ruled in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government in a similar tussle.

The CJI-led Bench in the present matter also comprises Justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and P S Narasimha. The verdict is unanimous, and has been written by the CJI. Here’s the background of the case.

First, how did the matter come before the CJI-led Bench?

On May 6, 2022, a three-judge Bench headed by then CJI N V Ramana, acting on a plea by the Centre, had referred this case to a larger Bench. The three-judge Bench had decided that the question of control over administrative services required “further examination”.

The Centre had sought the reference to a larger Bench on April 27, 2022, arguing that it needed the power to make transfers and posting of officers in Delhi on account of it being the national capital and the “face of nation”. The court had agreed that the limited question relating to the scope of the legislative and executive powers of the Centre and NCT of Delhi, with respect to the term “services”, would need an authoritative pronouncement by a Constitution Bench in terms of Article 145(3) of the Constitution. Article 145(3) deals with the setting up of a Constitution Bench comprising at least five judges “for the purpose of deciding any case involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation” of the Constitution.

The three-judge Bench had noted that the primary contention in the case related to the interpretation of Article 239 AA(3)(a) of the Constitution, which deals with special provisions for the NCT of Delhi. In its order of May 6, 2022, the court said: “The Constitution Bench of this Court, while interpreting Article 239AA(3)(a) of the Constitution [in 2018], did not find any occasion to specifically interpret the impact of the wordings of the same with respect to Entry 41 in the State List (State public services; State Public Service Commission).”

Finally, what is Article 239AA(3)(a) of the Constitution?

Article 239AA was inserted in the Constitution by the 69th Amendment Act, 1991. It conferred Special Status upon Delhi following the recommendations of the S Balakrishnan Committee that was set up in 1987 to look into Delhi’s demands for statehood.

According to this provision, the NCT of Delhi will have an Administrator and a Legislative Assembly. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Legislative Assembly, “shall have the power to make laws for the whole or any part of the NCT with respect to any of the matters in the State List or Concurrent List in so far as any such matter is applicable to Union territories” except on the subjects of police, public order, and land.

Imran Khan arrest live updates: Imran Khan gets 2-week bail in Al-Qadir Trust case

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan appeared at court for a bail hearing on Friday, after the Supreme Court ruled unlawful his arrest this week that triggered deadly clashes across the country.

"Your arrest was invalid, so the whole process needs to be backtracked," Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial told Khan at a hearing in the capital Islamabad on Thursday.

Imran Khan Alleges Murder Plot, No Washroom Where He Was Kept After Arrest

Imran Khan's meals were laced with insulin to induce a slow heart attack, his lawyers claimed. Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's lawyers have alleged a plot to kill him in the prison after his arrest in a corruption case triggered massive protests across the country. He was tortured and his meals were laced with insulin to give him a heart attack, his lawyers claimed.

The cricketer-turned-politician, who heads the opposition Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, alleged he was given an injection to induce a slow heart attack and not allowed to use the washroom. He also complained of chest pains, his lawyers said after meeting him for over an hour.

Mr Khan's Tuesday arrest has been termed "illegal" by the Pakistan Supreme Court, which has ordered his immediate release. Today he will appear before the Islamabad High Court to seek a pre-arrest bail and even address his supporters outside the court. He is in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

"This is an attempt to kill him. He said he was not being allowed to sleep. He was kept in a dirty room without a toilet or bed. He was not given anything to eat since he was brought to police lines at 3 am,"his lawyers told the media, according to news agency ANI.

Mr Khan, a former cricketing star who remains popular in Pakistan, urged people to keep fighting to restore the rule of law, they said.

The murder plot charges come over a month after Pakistan minister Rana Sanaullah had said "either Imran Khan or us will get murdered." Mr Khan also survived a gun attack at a rally last November.

The Supreme Court yesterday criticised Mr Khan's arrest from the court where he had come to appear in a case, stating that a person cannot be arrested from the court premises without the permission of the registrar.

Mr Khan's arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case follows months of political crisis in Pakistan and hours after Pakistan's powerful military rebuked him for alleging a murder plot by a senior officer.

His supporters responded with protests and set the house of a corps commander on fire in Lahore. They also laid siege to the army's general headquarters in Rawalpindi.

Karnataka Election Results 2023 Live Updates: Congress leads in 135 seats, BJP ahead in 63, JDS in 22

Karnataka Election Results: After four hours of counting votes, the Congress was headed for a clear majority in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly. The BJP’s hopes of bucking anti-incumbency and returning for a second stint in power were dashed, as were the Deve Gowda-led JD(S)’s aspirations of playing kingmaker in the pivotal southern state. Caught up in the throes of celebration, Congress workers burst crackers, distributed sweets and danced to the beat of drums. Meanwhile, wary of poaching bids by rival parties, the Karnataka Congress has called a legislature party meeting tomorrow.

Karnataka Election Results 2023 Live: The Congress is headed for a clear majority in Karnataka and appears on course to wrest power from the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as votes were counted on May 13 for an election widely seen as a litmus test for both parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress breached the halfway mark early in the day and after six hours of counting, was ahead in 135 seats. The saffron party, hoping to break the 34-year-old anti-incumbency jinx in the state, was leading in 63 seats. Meanwhile, the JD(S), which is likely to be the kingmaker if the two national parties fail to secure a clear majority, was ahead in 22 seats.

Speaking to mediapersons, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the outcome of the Karnataka assembly polls was the people’s verdict against poor administration.

“This is the victory of ‘janata janardhan’. This result shows how the previous government was inefficient,” said Kharge.

Asked about the legislature party meeting in Bengaluru tomorrow, Kharge said that the newly elected Congress legislators have been instructed to arrive in Bengaluru by evening, and that the party will follow the appropriate procedures for forming a government.

"We have sent a message to everyone (newly elected persons) to come by this evening. They all will come here by this evening and once they come, they will be instructed on the due course. After that, the high command will send observers (and) after that the due processes (for government formation) will follow,” he said.

With the Congress striding forward with leads in 134 seats, Siddaramaiah dubbed the Karnataka election results as a "stepping stone" for the party in the run-up to the high-stakes 2024 general elections. The former CM also made a push for opposition unity ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

"Result of this election is a stepping stone to the Lok Sabha election. I hope all non-BJP parties come together and see that BJP is defeated and I also hope Rahul Gandhi may become PM of the country," Siddaramaiah said.

In his first public reaction after the Congress coasted to a majority in the Karnataka polls, senior leader Siddaramaiah said the people of the state had delivered a mandate “against PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and JP Nadda.” He said the Congress’s performance was in line with his prediction of the party bagging “130 seats”. This leaves no room for the BJP to stage a repeat of ‘Operation Lotus’, said Siddaramaiah.

"We will cross 130 seats also, it is a big victory of Congress party. People of Karnataka wanted a change because they were fed up with the BJP government," said Siddaramaiah.

I welcome the mandate of the people of the state. In a democratic system mandate is final. I accept defeat and victory with equanimity. However, this defeat is not final, my struggle will not stop, I will always be with the people. JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar shed tears of joy on Saturday as party appeared headed for a simple majority in the assembly polls. He credited the Congress's strong showing in the polls to the party's rank-and-file workers.

Congress wins BIG, Rahul Gandhi congratulates voters, party workers and leaders.

The Indian National Congress (INC) or the Congress party is set to attain a majority in the ongoing Karnataka assembly election results 2023, wresting power from the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) only southern state.

The Congress is currently leading on more than 130 seats and has won two seats. The incumbent BJP is leading in 62 seats. The Janata Dal (Secular) or JDS is ahead in 21 seats while independents are ahead in other 6 seats. Outgoing CM Bommai has already conceded defeat and said that his party will do a detailed analysis of results.

The high-stakes assembly elections were held on May 10, with the key contest between the incumbent BJP and the challenger Indian National Congress (INC) party, with Janata Dal (Secular) vying to play the role of the king-maker. The 40-day-long campaign for the Karnataka polls saw political heavyweights from the three parties slugging it out at the hustings, with the BJP hoping to defend the only southern state under its control.

The ruling BJP's campaign was led by its Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who addressed 21 rallies in the state, including a late blitz of road shows in the state capital, Bengaluru. The Congress campaign was led by Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, and state unit chief DK Shivakumar. JD(S) largely depended on the connections of its patriarch, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.

Most exit polls have predicted that the Congress has an advantage and the party may wrest BJP's only southern state. However, given the range of seats and error margin factored into these polls, a close contest could be in the offing. The number of seats the JDS can win may also decide the permutation and combination of any post-poll alliance

Adani-Hindenburg Case: What Happened at Supreme Court

Adani-Hindenburg case hearing in Supreme Court: Hearing the Adani-Hindenburg case, the Supreme Court on Friday looked into SEBI's plea for extension of probe. SEBI insisted for 6 months extension as it is very complex issue but the Supreme Court observed that 3-month extension for SEBI may be considered.

The Supreme Court on Friday said it will use the weekend to pore over the report submitted by an expert committee led by former of apex court judge, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, on Hindenburg Foundation’s allegations of manipulation of share prices and fraud against the Adani group before taking a call on a request by Securities and Exchange Board to grant it a “minimum” of six months to complete its investigation.

“We have received Justice Sapre’s report in the Registry. We did not have the time to read it. We will read it during the weekend and list your [SEBI] application for Monday,” a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud addressed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and advocate Pratap Venugopal, representing the market regulator.

But the Bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, clearly indicated its disagreement with SEBI’s request for a six-month extension of time to complete its probe.

“There should be some alacrity on your part… We are thinking of giving you another three months. We cannot agree with you when you say a ‘minimum’ of six months... put a team together,” Chief Justice Chandrachud told Mr. Mehta. The Solicitor General said SEBI was “compressing” the time required to six months. He hinted that the investigation may extend overseas. “We will need a minimum of six months to reach any conclusion, considering the inquiry may go out,” Mr. Mehta submitted.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for the petitioners, said the SEBI had been investigating since 2017, for the past six years. However, Mr. Mehta countered that Mr. Bhushan was referring to an unconnected issue.

Mr. Bhushan said the market regulator ought to at least come clean and disclose to the Supreme Court “what they have done so far”.

But the court said such a disclosure may not be proper at this stage. “But we agree with you that they cannot go on indefinitely,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

India's Deepak Bhoria (red) during his 51kg quarter-final match against Diushebaev Nurzhigit of Kyrgyzstan, at the IBA Mens World Boxing Championships in Tashkent

Indian boxers sign off with bronze for India's best-ever show at World Championship

Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Mohammad Hussamudin (57kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg) signed off with bronze medals at the World Boxing Championships, wrapping up India's best-ever show at the marquee event here on Friday.

It was heartbreak for Hussamudin as the Nizamabad boxer was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury about an hour before his semifinal bout.

But Deepak and Nishant gave a good account of themselves, stretching their more experienced and revered opponents in their respective semifinal bouts.

Deepak's phenomenal campaign came to an end as he went down fighting to two-time World Championships bronze medallist France's Bilal Bennama 3-4 in a close contest which went into bout review.

Nishant's semifinal also went to bout review with the judges ruling in favour of the 2022 Asian champion and 2018 Asian Games silver medallist Aslanbek Shymbergenov of Kazakhstan.

The fact that all three medals come in Olympic categories bode well for India heading into the Asian Games, which is the first qualifying event for the Paris Olympics.

It was the first men's World Championships under new High Performance Director Bernard Dunne, foreign coach Dmitry Dmitruk and CA Kuttapa, who returned as head coach.

It was also the first time the men's team was selected based on the new selection policy, under which boxers are evaluated over a period of time.

In the first bout of the evening session, Deepak, who was named in the squad ahead of 2019 Worlds silver medallist Amit Panghal, began cautiously as did his opponent. Both boxers tried to get the measure of their opponents.

Deepak was able to land a few punches but Bennama used his left jabs to great effect and took the round 3-2.

Bennama was the aggressor in the second round as he moved around the ring to dodge Deepak's punches but the Indian found a way to breach the frenchman's defences and land some eye-catching right crosses. The final three minutes were fought intensely with both boxers throwing punches but the frenchman was successful in blocking Deepak's blows to take the win.

Like Deepak, there was very little separating Nishant and Shymbergenov. The 22-year-old southpaw, who had missed a medal by a whisker in the last edition, did well to throw several left and right crosses, jabs and hooks but the inaccuracy of those punches helped the Kazakh edge past him.

Earlier, the 29-year-old Hussamudin sustained a knee injury in his quarterfinal bout against J Diaz Ibanez of Bulgaria. With the Olympics next year and qualifiers approaching, Hussamudin decided against risking aggravation."Hussamuddin gives a walkover due to injury and settles for bronze. He had a knee injury in the last bout after which he had pain and swelling," Boxing Federation of India (BFI) said in a statement.

"After careful and detailed assessment by medical team, Team Management have decided that he won't take part in the semi final bout which is to take place today as he doesn't want the injury to aggravate rather recover for future competitions."

Hussamudin, who was competing in his debut World Championships, was scheduled to face Cuba's Saidel Horta in the last four clash.

India's previous best show came in 2019 edition when Amit Panghal clinched an unprecedented silver and Manish Kaushik grabbed a bronze medal.

India's previous medal winners at the men's World Championships include Vijender Singh (bronze, 2009), Vikas Krishan (bronze, 2011), Shiva Thapa (bronze, 2015), Gaurav Bidhuri (bronze, 2017), Panghal (silver, 2019), Kaushik (bronze, 2019) and Akash Kumar (bronze, 2021).

Wrestlers wear black bands during their ongoing protest against WFI chief Brij Bhushan at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi

Protesting wrestlers wear black bands as mark of protest, call it a 'Black Day

The protesting wrestlers and their supporters on Thursday wore black bands, observing it as a 'Black Day' as their agitation against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh entered 18th day.

Top Indian grapplers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Satyawart Kaidyan and Jitender Kinha all tied black bands on their foreheads while a few supporters sported them on their arms as a mark of protest.The wrestlers have been demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who they have accused of sexual exploitation of several women grapplers including a minor.

The Delhi Police has filed two FIRs, including one under section 10 of the POCSO Act against the BJP MP, who has denied all the charges."We are observing a black day today in protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. We are confident of our victory as the entire nation is with us in our fight," Bajrang said. "Day by day our protest is gaining momentum and we will continue to fight till we get justice."

A large delegation of Bharat Kishan Union Ekta (Azad), mostly comprising women from Punjab arrived at the Jantar Mantar here on Thursday to show their solidarity towards the protesting wrestlers.

Besides members of Mazdood Adhikar Sangathan, Sonipat and a small delegation of youth students from Bhagat Singh Youth Union, Maharashtra also came in support of the wrestlers on Thursday.

IB71 Story IB71 is a patriotic action thriller written and directed by Sankalp Reddy. Aditya Shastri had written a movie script, while the director wrote the screenplay with support from Storyhouse Films LLP. The movie's major character, "Dev," was performed by Vidyut Jammwal, with Niharica Raizada, Dalip Tahil, Mir Sarwar, and many others in supporting roles. The cinematography was handled by Gnana Shekar V. S, and Sandeep Francis edited the movie. The background music was composed by Prashanth R. Vihari, and Vikram Montrose put together the film's soundtrack. Vidyut Jammwal's first film as a producer with his production company, Action Hero Films, alongside T-Series and Reliance Entertainment, together with the producers Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, and Abbas Sayyed, marks his debut in the industry. This movie will be released in theatres broadly by Gulshan Kumar, T-Series Films, and Reliance Big Entertainment. Plot IB 71, a patriotic spy thriller, is an untold story based on true events where IB agent Dev Jammwal (Vidyut Jammwal) is on a top-secret mission to save the nation. It was a witness to an incredible true story that made us win the 1971 Indo-Pak war. National award winner Sankalp is a story about 3 nations, 30 agents, 10 days, and 1 top-secret mission.

Chatrapathi story: Shiva is separated from his mother and stepbrother as they flee a communal attack in Pakistan. When he reaches India with his neighbours, they are forced to work as bonded labourers for a local goon. Twelve years pass by, as he relentlessly searches for his mother while taking on the oppressors. But soon, his evil stepbrother comes into the picture to wreak havoc. Will Shiva reunite with his mother?

Love Again

What if a random text message led to the love of your life? In this romantic comedy, dealing with the loss of her fiancé, Mira Ray sends a series of romantic texts to his old cell phone number… not realizing the number was reassigned to Rob Burns’ new work phone. A journalist, Rob is captivated by the honesty in the beautifully confessional texts. When he’s assigned to write a profile of megastar Celine Dion (playing herself in her first film role), he enlists her help in figuring out how to meet Mira in person… and win her heart. Starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan and Celine Dion and featuring multiple new songs from Dion, Love Again, written for the screen and directed by Jim Strouse.

The People of the Indus :
Once in a while a book – in this case, surprisingly, a graphic novel – comes along that upends what one thinks can be done through a medium for a subject. The People of the Indus by Nikhil Gulati – with the expert assistance of Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer – is one of the moments. None too soon either, given the misinformation and general lack of truly accessible, fun medium with which to reach wider audiences with the facts and mysteries of the ancient Indus. This civilization, probably the largest of early human attempts to organize the production, habitation and system of successful governance in world history, has suffered much from a lack of pleasurable guides and repositories of knowledge. The People of the Indus, published by Penguin India and many years in the making, is a most welcome corrective. It is a moment of triumph for all involved and its readers to come.
The 165 page book is broken into five chapters that flow neatly into each other: 1. Mohenjo-daro (page 3), 2. Why the Harappans Never Built Pyramids (35), 3. Journey of a Bead (69), 4. Writing Your Way to Civilization (96) and 5. The End of the Beginning (131). While the book is absorbing and engaging from the very first panels, it really hits its strides in chapter 3 where enough information has been imparted to launch into a sophisticated exposition of manufacturing and trade relationships with ancient Mesopotamia. Chapter 4 underlines the role of script in maintaining control and the relationships that make production and exchange possible across vast expanses across what must have been rather different cities and cultures. Information, inscribed on clay just as we inscribe it on silicon today, was power. One really learns a lot about how writing evolved, here and elsewhere, and the book's focus on a scribe, the human glue who held it all together, is excellent.
There is so much to commend here: the fine mise-en-scene or construction of panels that make each page come alive and carry the eye and story forward; the clever interweaving of exposition with imagined scenes from Mohenjo-daro and elsewhere with early Indus dwellers, young and old, going about their ordinary business; the movie-like cutting between large and small frames. I particularly like how the birth of agricultural, sedentary civilization is punctuated by a large panel of an ominous, if not angry figurine – things had indeed “advanced,” but was it all for the better? What shadows were opened by the birth of the city?
Elaborate and helpful discussion of the evidence around the ancient Saraswati River, the Indo-Aryan invasion, the decline of the Indus civilization and its continuation in many forms make up the bulk of the fifth chapter, where the authors taken on the most recent discoveries as well as still open blank spaces with care and insight. In short, the book is truly up-to-date with all that we know today and do not know.
Despite being a kid’s or young adult book – that is, presented in the illustrated format these audiences prefer – The People of the Indus is equally informative and engaging for the adult reader because it carries with it clear and sophisticated explanations of facts and hypotheses about the Indus people. There are no bland simplifications here. Having the world’s leading Indus archaeologist to help you out and check all the drawings and suppositions is a great help of course, and it is this rigorous adherence to what is known as opposed to what is hoped or presumed based on prejudices or misconceptions makes this an exceptional publication, as enriching for the sophisticated adult as the kid. Speaking to both is an exceptional skill, and Gulati’s willingness to engage with scholarship and make it relevant and accessible is the secret sauce that will give this volume a long shelf life. Such a product has been sorely lacking relative to the wide-spread interest in the Indus civilization across the world. (Translations into Hindi, Urdu and other languages should, I hope, be in the offing.)
I do wish there had been a deeper engagement with pottery and its manufacture, the move from handmade to wheel-thrown pottery that accompanied the transition to the height of the Indus civilization, and perhaps an in-depth look at the “granary,” another one of those simplistic misconceptions that has haunted Indus studies. A bit more on Indus designs and motifs that still play their part in modern India and Pakistan would also have been nice, but you can’t have it all, and the flow of chapters as it stands now is very effective.
May The People of the Indus inspire others to take on the subcontinent’s rich and complex history with engaging, enjoyable and intelligent narratives. There is no reason why comics – whoops, graphic novels! – should not be any less rigorous than academic papers and they are so much more accessible. Nikhil Gulati and Mark Kenoyer have shown us how exceptionally well this can be done. The Indus people deserve nothing less than this splendid volume.

Dr. Kenoyer was born and raised in India. He attended Woodstock School in northern India were he developed a keen interest in the ancient history, archaeology and cultures of South Asia. He did his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D (1983) from the University of California at Berkeley. He was a student of the late George F. Dales with whom he co-authored Excavations at Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan: The Pottery.

He is currently co-director of the project. His most well-known book is Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley (Oxford, 1998). He was also Curator of the Great Cities, Small Treasures: The Ancient World of the Indus Valley exhibit in the US in 1999. His most recent book, co-authored with Kimberly Heuston for children, is The Ancient South Asian World (Oxford 2005).

Goa-based author-illustrator Nikhil Gulati takes us back to 2,500BCE with his book, The People of the Indus, that focuses on the backward piecing of history

The first volume of the graphic adaptation of Yuval Noah Harari's global phenomenon and smash SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLER. Featuring 256 pages of gorgeous full-colour illustrations and wrapped in a beautiful package.

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one-homo sapiens.

In this first volume of the adaptation of his ground-breaking book, renowned historian Yuval Harari tells the story of humankind's creation and evolution, exploring the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human". From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens challenges us to reconsider accepted beliefs, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and view specific events within the context of larger ideas.

Featuring easy-to-understand text covering the first part of the original edition, this adaptation of the mind-expanding book furthers the ongoing conversation as it introduces Harari's ideas to a wider new readership.

Yuval Noah Harari historian and professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of the popular science bestsellers Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2014), Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2016), and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018). His writings examine free will, consciousness, intelligence, happiness, and suffering.

Harari writes about a "cognitive revolution" that supposedly occurred roughly 70,000 years ago when Homo sapiens supplanted the rival Neanderthals and other species of the genus Homo, developed language skills and structured societies, and ascended as apex predators, aided by the agricultural revolution and accelerated by the scientific revolution, which have allowed humans to approach near mastery over their environment. His books also examine the possible consequences of a futuristic biotechnological world in which intelligent biological organisms are surpassed by their own creations; he has said, "Homo sapiens as we know them will disappear in a century or so".