SUBHADITYA NEWS THIS WEEK (SCIENCE, POLITICAL, SPORTS ,MOVIE & BOOK NEWS THIS WEEK)

 

1) Webb Space Telescope detects universe's most distant complex organic molecules

Astronomers using the Webb telescope discovered evidence of complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away.

Researchers have detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth—the most distant galaxy in which these molecules are now known to exist. Thanks to the capabilities of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and careful analyses from the research team, a new study lends critical insight into the complex chemical interactions that occur in the first galaxies in the early universe.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign astronomy and physics professor Joaquin Vieira and graduate student Kedar Phadke collaborated with researchers at Texas A&M University and an international team of scientists to differentiate between infrared signals generated by some of the more massive and larger dust grains in the galaxy and those of the newly observed hydrocarbon molecules.

The study findings are published in the journal Nature.

"This project started when I was in graduate school studying hard-to-detect, very distant galaxies obscured by dust," Vieira said. "Dust grains absorb and re-emit about half of the stellar radiation produced in the universe, making infrared light from distant objects extremely faint or undetectable through ground-based telescopes."

In the new study, the JWST received a boost from what the researchers call "nature's magnifying glass"—a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. "This magnification happens when two galaxies are almost perfectly aligned from the Earth's point of view, and light from the background galaxy is warped and magnified by the foreground galaxy into a ring-like shape, known as an Einstein ring," Vieira said. The team focused the JWST on SPT0418-47—an object discovered using the National Science Foundation's South Pole Telescope and previously identified as a dust-obscured galaxy magnified by a factor of about 30 to 35 by gravitational lensing. SPT0418-47 is 12 billion light-years from Earth, corresponding to a time when the universe was less than 1.5 billion years old, or about 10% of its current age, the researchers said.

The galaxy observed by Webb shows an Einstein ring caused by a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing.

"Before having access to the combined power of gravitational lensing and the JWST, we could neither see nor spatially resolve the actual background galaxy through all of the dust," Vieira said.

Spectroscopic data from the JWST suggest that the obscured interstellar gas in SPT0418-47 is enriched in heavy elements, indicating that generations of stars have already lived and died. The specific compound the researchers detected is a type of molecule called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, or PAH. On Earth, these molecules can be found in the exhaust produced by combustion engines or forest fires. Being comprised of carbon chains, these organic molecules are considered the basic building blocks for the earliest forms of life, the researchers said."What this research is telling us right now—and we are still learning—is that we can see all of the regions where these smaller dust grains are located—regions that we could never see before the JWST," Phadke said. "The new spectroscopic data lets us observe the galaxy's atomic and molecular composition, providing very important insights into the formation of galaxies, their lifecycle and how they evolve."

"We didn't expect this," Vieira said. "Detecting these complex organic molecules at such a vast distance is game-changing regarding future observations. This work is just the first step, and we're just now learning how to use it and learn its capabilities. We are very excited to see how this plays out."

"It's extremely cool that galaxies I discovered while writing my thesis would one day be observed by the JWST," Vieira said. "I am grateful to the U.S. taxpayers, the NSF and NASA for funding and supporting both the SPT and the JWST. Without these instruments, this discovery could have never been made."

2) World's oldest-known burial site found in S.Africa: scientists:

The researchers were led by renowned palaeoanthropologist Lee Berger.

Paleontologists in South Africa said Monday they have found the oldest known burial site in the world, containing remains of a small-brained distant relative of humans previously thought incapable of complex behavior. Led by renowned paleoanthropologist Lee Berger, researchers said they discovered several specimens of Homo naledi—a tree-climbing, Stone Age hominid—buried about 30 meters (100 feet) underground in a cave system within the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO world heritage site near Johannesburg.

"These are the most ancient interments yet recorded in the hominin record, earlier than evidence of Homo sapiens interments by at least 100,000 years," the scientists wrote in a series of yet to be peer reviewed and preprint papers to be published in eLife.

The findings challenge the current understanding of human evolution, as it is normally held that the development of bigger brains allowed for the performing of complex, "meaning-making" activities such as burying the dead.

the oldest burials previously unearthed, found in the Middle East and Africa, contained the remains of Homo sapiens—and were around 100,000 years old.

Those found in South Africa by Berger, whose previous announcements have been controversial, and his fellow researchers, date back to at least 200,000 BC.

Critically, they also belong to Homo naledi, a primitive species at the crossroads between apes and modern humans, which had brains about the size of oranges and stood about 1.5 meters (five feet) tall.

With curved fingers and toes, tool-wielding hands and feet made for walking, the species discovered by Berger had already upended the notion that our evolutionary path was a straight line.

The Homo naledi facial reconstruction, performed with the coherent anatomical deformation technique

Homo naledi is named after the "Rising Star" cave system where the first bones were found in 2013.The oval-shaped interments at the center of the new studies were also found there during excavations started in 2018.

The holes, which researchers say evidence suggests were deliberately dug and then filled in to cover the bodies, contain at least five individuals.

"These discoveries show that mortuary practices were not limited to H. sapiens or other hominins with large brain sizes," the researchers said.

The burial site is not the only sign that Homo naledi was capable of complex emotional and cognitive behavior, they added. Engravings forming geometrical shapes, including a "rough hashtag figure", were also found on the apparently purposely smoothed surfaces of a cave pillar nearby.

A reproduction of a Homo naledi skull.

"That would mean not only are humans not unique in the development of symbolic practices, but may not have even invented such behaviors," Berger told AFP in an interview.Such statements are likely to ruffle some feathers in the world of paleontology, where the 57-year-old has previously faced accusations of lacking scientific rigor and rushing to conclusions.Many balked when in 2015 Berger, whose earlier discoveries won support from National Geographic, first aired the idea that Homo naledi was capable of more than the size of its head suggested."That was too much for scientists to take at that time. We think it's all tied up with this big brain," he said. "We're about to tell the world that's not true."

The findings challenge the current understanding of human evolution.

While requiring further analysis, the discoveries "alter our understandings of human evolution", the researchers wrote."Burial, meaning-making, even 'art' could have a much more complicated, dynamic, non-human history than we previously thought," said Agustin Fuentes, a professor of anthropology at Princeton University, who co-authored the studies.Carol Ward, an anthropologist at the University of Missouri not involved in the research, said that "these findings, if confirmed, would be of considerable potential importance".

"I look forward to learning how the disposition of remains precludes other possible explanations than intentional burial, and to seeing the results once they have been vetted by peer review," she told AFP.Ward also pointed out that the paper acknowledged that it could not rule out that markings on the walls could have been made by later hominins.

3) New superconducting diode could improve performance of quantum computers and artificial intelligence:

A University of Minnesota Twin Cities-led team has developed a more energy-efficient, tunable superconducting diode

A University of Minnesota Twin Cities-led team has developed a new superconducting diode, a key component in electronic devices, that could help scale up quantum computers for industry use and improve the performance of artificial intelligence systems. Compared to other superconducting diodes, the researchers' device is more energy efficient; can process multiple electrical signals at a time; and contains a series of gates to control the flow of energy, a feature that has never before been integrated into a superconducting diode.

The paper is published in Nature Communications.A diode allows current to flow one way but not the other in an electrical circuit. It's essentially half of a transistor, the main element in computer chips. Diodes are typically made with semiconductors, but researchers are interested in making them with superconductors, which have the ability to transfer energy without losing any power along the way."We want to make computers more powerful, but there are some hard limits we are going to hit soon with our current materials and fabrication methods," said Vlad Pribiag, senior author of the paper and an associate professor in the University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy. "We need new ways to develop computers, and one of the biggest challenges for increasing computing power right now is that they dissipate so much energy. So, we're thinking of ways that superconducting technologies might help with that."

The University of Minnesota researchers created the device using three Josephson junctions, which are made by sandwiching pieces of non-superconducting material between superconductors. In this case, the researchers connected the superconductors with layers of semiconductors. The device's unique design allows the researchers to use voltage to control the behavior of the device.Their device also has the ability to process multiple signal inputs, whereas typical diodes can only handle one input and one output. This feature could have applications in neuromorphic computing, a method of engineering electrical circuits to mimic the way neurons function in the brain to enhance the performance of artificial intelligence systems.

"The device we've made has close to the highest energy efficiency that has ever been shown, and for the first time, we've shown that you can add gates and apply electric fields to tune this effect," explained Mohit Gupta, first author of the paper and a Ph.D. student in the University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy. "Other researchers have made superconducting devices before, but the materials they've used have been very difficult to fabricate. Our design uses materials that are more industry-friendly and deliver new functionalities."

The method the researchers used can, in principle, be used with any type of superconductor, making it more versatile and easier to use than other techniques in the field. Because of these qualities, their device is more compatible for industry applications and could help scale up the development of quantum computers for wider use."Right now, all the quantum computing machines out there are very basic relative to the needs of real-world applications," Pribiag said. "Scaling up is necessary in order to have a computer that's powerful enough to tackle useful, complex problems. A lot of people are researching algorithms and usage cases for computers or AI machines that could potentially outperform classical computers. Here, we're developing the hardware that could enable quantum computers to implement these algorithms. This shows the power of universities seeding these ideas that eventually make their way to industry and are integrated into practical machines."In addition to Pribiag and Gupta, the research team included University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy graduate student Gino Graziano and University of California, Santa Barbara researchers Mihir Pendharkar, Jason Dong, Connor Dempsey, and Chris Palmstrøm.

4) Remains of an extinct world of organisms discovered:

Image decrip:Artist’s imagination of an assemblage of primordial eukaryotic organisms of the ‘Protosterol Biota’ inhabiting a bacterial mat on the ocean floor. Based on molecular fossils, organisms of the Protosterol Biota lived in the oceans about 1.6 to 1.0 billion years ago and are our earliest known ancestors

Newly discovered biomarker signatures point to a whole range of previously unknown organisms that dominated complex life on Earth about a billion years ago. They differed from complex eukaryotic life as we know it, such as animals, plants and algae in their cell structure and likely metabolism, which was adapted to a world that had far less oxygen in the atmosphere than today.

An international team of researchers, including GFZ geochemist Christian Hallmann, now reports on this breakthrough for the field of evolutionary geobiology in the journal Nature.The previously unknown "protosteroids" were shown to be surprisingly abundant throughout Earth's Middle Ages. The primordial molecules were produced at an earlier stage of eukaryotic complexity—extending the current record of fossil steroids beyond 800 and up to 1,600 million years ago. Eukaryotes is the term for a kingdom of life including all animals, plants and algae and set apart from bacteria by having a complex cell structure that includes a nucleus, as well as a more complex molecular machinery.

"The highlight of this finding is not just the extension of the current molecular record of eukaryotes," Hallmann says, "Given that the last common ancestor of all modern eukaryotes, including us humans, was likely capable of producing 'regular' modern sterols, chances are high that the eukaryotes responsible for these rare signatures belonged to the stem of the phylogenetic tree."

Artist’s imagination of two primordial eukaryotic organisms of the ‘Protosterol Biota’ on the ocean floor.

Unprecedented glimpse of a lost world

This "stem" represents the common ancestral lineage that was a precursor to all still living branches of eukaryotes. Its representatives are long extinct, yet details of their nature may shed more light on the conditions surrounding the evolution of complex life.Although more research is needed to evaluate what percentage of protosteroids may have had a rare bacterial source, the discovery of these new molecules not only reconciles the geological record of traditional fossils with that of fossil lipid molecules, but yields a rare and unprecedented glimpse of a lost world of ancient life.

The competitive demise of stem group eukaryotes, marked by the first appearance of modern fossil steroids some 800 Million years ago, may reflect one of the most incisive events in the evolution of increasingly complex life.

"Almost all eukaryotes biosynthesize steroids, such as cholesterol that is produced by humans and most other animals" adds Benjamin Nettersheim from the University of Bremen, first author of the study.

"Due to potentially adverse health effects of elevated cholesterol levels in humans, cholesterol doesn't have the best reputation from a medical perspective. However, these lipid molecules are integral parts of eukaryotic cell membranes where they aid in a variety of physiological functions. By searching for fossilized steroids in ancient rocks, we can trace the evolution of increasingly complex life." What the Nobel laureate thought impossible

Nobel laureate Konrad Bloch had already speculated about such a biomarker in an essay almost 30 years ago. Bloch suggested that short-lived intermediates in the modern biosynthesis of steroids may not always have been intermediates.

He believed that lipid biosynthesis evolved in parallel with changing environmental conditions throughout Earth history. In contrast to Bloch, who did not believe that these ancient intermediates could ever be found, Nettersheim started searching for protosteroids in ancient rocks that were deposited at a time when those intermediates could actually have been the final product.But how to find such molecules in ancient rocks? "We employed a combination of techniques to first convert various modern steroids to their fossilized equivalent; otherwise we wouldn't have even known what to look for," says Jochen Brocks, professor at the Australian National University who shares the first-authorship of the new study with Nettersheim.Scientists had overlooked these molecules for decades because they do not conform to typical molecular search images. "Once we knew our target, we discovered that dozens of other rocks, taken from billion-year-old waterways across the world, were oozing with similar fossil molecules."

The oldest samples with the biomarker are from the Barney Creek Formation in Australia and are 1.64 billion years old. The rock record of the next 800 Million years only yields fossil molecules of primordial eukaryotes before molecular signatures of modern eukaryotes first appear in the Tonian period.

According to Nettersheim, "the Tonian Transformation emerges as one of the most profound ecological turning points in our planet's history." Hallmann adds that "both primordial stem groups and modern eukaryotic representatives such as red algae may have lived side by side for many hundreds of millions of years."

During this time, however, the Earth's atmosphere became increasingly enriched with oxygen—a metabolic product of cyanobacteria and of the first eukaryotic algae that would have been toxic to many other organisms. Later, global "Snowball Earth" glaciations occurred and the protosterol communities largely died out. The last common ancestor of all living eukaryotes may have lived 1.2 to 1.8 billion years ago. Its descendants were likely better able to survive heat and cold as well as UV radiation and displaced their primordial relatives.

Since all stem group eukaryotes are long extinct, we will never know for certain how most of our early relatives looked like, but artistic efforts have created tentative visualizations (see pictures attached), while the primordial steroids may eventually shed more light on their biochemistry and lifestyle.

"Earth was a microbial world for much of its history and left few traces," Nettersheim concludes. Research at ANU, MARUM and GFZ continues to pursue tracing the roots of our existence—the discovery of protosterols now brings us one step closer to understanding how our earliest ancestors lived and evolved.

5)Synthetic species created without biochemistry operate according to Darwinian evolutionary principles:

Graphical abstract Credit Cell Reports Physical Science (2023).

Imagine the possibility of life forms on other planets that don't resemble any on Earth. What might they look like, and why would they be so different?

Juan Pérez-Mercader says it may be possible and the answer may be that they developed from a different type of chemistry. For more than 10 years, the senior research fellow in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences and the Origins of Life Initiative at Harvard has studied how to produce synthetic living systems—without relying on biochemistry, or the chemistry that has enabled life on Earth.

"We have been trying to build a non-biochemical system, which unaided is capable of executing the essential properties common to all natural living systems," Pérez-Mercader explained.The Pérez-Mercader lab's latest study, published last month in Cell Reports Physical Science, even finds such a system engaged in what Charles Darwin called "the struggle for life." The paper features Pérez-Mercader with co-authors Sai Krishna Katla and Chenyu Lin describing how they created two synthetic models (or "species") and observed the ensuing competition between them.

Long before this study, the lab figured out how to create non-biochemical but carbon-chemistry-based systems called protocells. These are made up of self-assembling polymer vesicles that emerge from a homogenous blend of smaller synthetic chemicals with no relation to living organisms. "These systems act like biochemical cells," Pérez-Mercader noted. "They are born, metabolize what they need, grow, move, reproduce, and perhaps even evolve."

I believe we should be very open about other forms of life elsewhere in the universe, and that they may not resemble life as we recognize it now, says physicist Juan PérezMercader

Now the researchers wanted to see whether these systems would operate according to the evolutionary principle of competitive exclusion. As we know from Darwin's work, this involves the struggle for survival—with the species with the greatest competitive advantage edging out the other when vying for resources.

That's why Pérez-Mercader and his team created two new species of protocells for this particular study—one with the advantage of light sensitivity, the other without. When the researchers watched how these systems behaved as they shared food in an illuminated environment, they saw that the light-sensitive "species" endured while the other did not. "It's the struggle for existence where the best-suited structure survived in its environment," Pérez-Mercader said.

With these results, Pérez-Mercader is willing to go as far as to suggest that biochemicals are not essential to the struggle for life. "This shows that non-biochemical carbon chemistry can lead to the extinction of the less 'fit' protocell species," he said.His team's findings beg the question: Could there be chemistries beyond Earth capable of implementing the fundamental properties of life?"It's possible there are materials, which once on a planetary surface somewhere with appropriate conditions, could react chemically, self-organize, and perhaps do the things that this experiment shows," Pérez-Mercader said.

Under the right circumstances, these materials may evolve from very simple chemistry into more complicated structures, he said. "I believe we should be very open about other forms of life elsewhere in the universe, and that they may not resemble life as we recognize it now."

6) Lingering effects of Neanderthal DNA found in modern humans:

lingering-effects-of-Neanderthal genes

Recent scientific discoveries have shown that Neanderthal genes comprise some 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day humans whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, but the question remained open on how much those genes are still actively influencing human traits—until now. 

A multi-institution research team including Cornell has developed a new suite of computational genetic tools to address the genetic effects of interbreeding between humans of non-African ancestry and Neanderthals that took place some 50,000 years ago. (The study applies only to descendants of those who migrated from Africa before Neanderthals died out, and in particular, those of European ancestry.)

In a study published in eLife, the researchers reported that some Neanderthal genes are responsible for certain traits in modern humans, including several with a significant influence on the immune system. Overall, however, the study shows that modern human genes are winning out over successive generations.

"Interestingly, we found that several of the identified genes involved in modern human immune, metabolic and developmental systems might have influenced human evolution after the ancestors' migration out of Africa," said study co-lead author April (Xinzhu) Wei, an assistant professor of computational biology in the College of Arts and Sciences. "We have made our custom software available for free download and use by anyone interested in further research."

Using a vast dataset from the UK Biobank consisting of genetic and trait information of nearly 300,000 Brits of non-African ancestry, the researchers analyzed more than 235,000 genetic variants likely to have originated from Neanderthals. They found that 4,303 of those differences in DNA are playing a substantial role in modern humans and influencing 47 distinct genetic traits, such as how fast someone can burn calories or a person's natural immune resistance to certain diseases.

Unlike previous studies that could not fully exclude genes from modern human variants, the new study leveraged more precise statistical methods to focus on the variants attributable to Neanderthal genes.While the study used a dataset of almost exclusively white individuals living in the United Kingdom, the new computational methods developed by the team could offer a path forward in gleaning evolutionary insights from other large databases to delve deeper into archaic humans' genetic influences on modern humans."For scientists studying human evolution interested in understanding how interbreeding with archaic humans tens of thousands of years ago still shapes the biology of many present-day humans, this study can fill in some of those blanks," said senior investigator Sriram Sankararaman, an associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. "More broadly, our findings can also provide new insights for evolutionary biologists looking at how the echoes of these types of events may have both beneficial and detrimental consequences."

Image Description: enchmarking approaches for estimating the heritability components of Neanderthal introgression. We group simulations by relationships between minor allele frequency (MAF) and local linkage disequilibrium at an SNP on effect size (MAF-LD coupling): BASELINE, COMMON, RARE, HIGH, LOW. In each group, we perform 12 simulations with varying polygenicity and heritability (see ‘Methods’). Additionally, we combine results from all simulations together as ALL. Credit: eLife (2023)

7) World warming at record 0.2 C per decade, scientists warn:

Average annual greenhouse gas emissions topped 54 billion tons over the last decade -- 1,700 tones every second

Record-high greenhouse gas emissions and diminishing air pollution have caused an unparalleled acceleration in global warming, 50 top scientists warned Thursday in a sweeping climate science update.

From 2013 to 2022, "human-induced warming has been increasing at an unprecedented rate of over 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade," they reported in a peer-reviewed study aimed at policymakers.Average annual emissions over the same period hit an all-time high of 54 billion tons of CO2 or its equivalent in other gases—about 1,700 tons every second.World leaders will be confronted with the new data at the critical COP28 climate summit later this year in Dubai, where a "Global Stocktake" at the UN talks will assess progress toward the 2015 Paris Agreement's temperature goals.

The findings would appear to close the door on capping global warming under the Paris treaty's more ambitious 1.5C target, long identified as a guard rail for a relatively climate-safe world, albeit one still roiled by severe impacts."Even though we are not yet at 1.5C warming, the carbon budget"—the amount of greenhouse gases humanity can emit without exceeding that limit—"will likely be exhausted in only a few years," said lead author Piers Forster, a physics professor at the University of Leeds.That budget has shrunk by half since the UN's climate science advisory body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), gathered data for its most recent benchmark report in 2021, according to the Forster and colleagues, many of whom were core IPCC contributors.

Extreme events will increase sharply even in a 1.5C world.

Unintended consequences

To have even a coin-toss chance of staying under the 1.5C threshold, emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other drivers of warming generated mostly by burning fossil fuels must not exceed 250 billion tons (Gt), they reported.Bettering the odds to two-thirds or four-fifths would reduce that carbon allowance to only 150 Gt and 100 Gt, respectively—a two- or three-year lifeline at the current rate of emissions.Keeping the Paris temperature targets in play would require slashing CO2 pollution at least 40 percent by 2030, and eliminating it entirely by mid-century, the IPCC has calculated.Ironically, one of the big climate success stories of the last decade has inadvertently hastened the pace of global warming, the new data reveal.A gradual drop in the use of coal—significantly more carbon intensive than oil or gas—to produce power has slowed the increase in carbon emissions.But it has also reduced the air pollution that shields Earth from the full force of the Sun's rays.Particle pollution from all sources dampens warming by about half-a-degree Celsius, which means—at least in the short term—more of that heat will reach the planet's surface as the air becomes cleaner.

Published in the peer-reviewed journal Earth System Science Data, the new study is the first in a series of periodic assessments that will help fill the gaps between IPCC reports, released on average every six years since 1988.

Deadly heat

The pace and scale of climate action is not sufficient to limit the escalation of climate related risks

"An annual update of key indicators of global change is critical in helping the international community and countries to keep the urgency of addressing the climate change crisis at the top of the agenda," said co-author and scientist Maisa Rojas Corradi, who is also the environment minister of Chile.

Co-author Valerie Masson-Delmotte, a co-chair of the 2021 IPCC report, said the new data should be a "wake-up call" ahead of the COP28 summit, even if there is evidence that the increase in greenhouse gases has slowed."The pace and scale of climate action is not sufficient to limit the escalation of climate related risks," she said.Researchers also reported a startling rise in temperature increases over land areas—excluding oceans—since 2000."Land average annual maximum temperatures have warmed by more than half a degree Celsius in the last ten years (1.72C above preindustrial conditions) compared to the first decade of the millennium (1.22C)," the study reported.Longer and more intense heat waves will pose a life-and-death threat in the coming decades across large swathes of South and Southeast Asia, along with areas straddling the equator in Africa and Latin America, recent research has shown.

1) Wrestlers protest: How a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah last Saturday set the stage for talks with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur:

India's top wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik are protesting against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment allegations

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur announced the Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik-led delegation agreed to suspend their protests till June 15, by which the Delhi Police is expected to file a chargesheet; request for a joint statement turned down by wrestlers.

A month-and-a-half after India’s top wrestlers restarted their protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexually harassing women athletes, there was finally a thaw.

After Wednesday’s six-hour-long negotiations with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, following the midnight meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday, the Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik-led delegation agreed to suspend their protests till June 15, by when the Delhi Police is expected complete its investigation and file a chargesheet.

Wrestler Sangeeta Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik at Jantar Mantar.

Thakur, after the meeting, told the media that the government has accepted the wrestlers’ demand of withdrawal of police cases against them wrestler after the May 28 protest at Jantar Mantar, promised police protection to the complainants and also assured them that Singh, or his associates, wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the WFI elections at the end of this month.

“Government has discussed all the points with the wrestlers and their supporters. We have agreed that June 15 will be the deadline for filing the charge sheet after the investigation,” he said.Meanwhile, Bajrang, said that in case there was no action against Singh, they would relaunch their protest. “We will put forth all the points in front of the other wrestlers, khap leaders, and our supporters. If no action is taken by June 15, we will continue our protest,” Bajrang was quoted as saying by ANI.The reason for the headway has been the hectic parleys over the last five days. While the police investigation into the allegations of sexual harassment continued, with the next court hearing scheduled for June 27, the breakthrough came days after a delegation of wrestlers met Shah at his official residence last Saturday. Although the meeting remained inconclusive, sources said it set the stage for the talks with Thakur.Wednesday’s meeting between the wrestlers and the government was the third in less than two weeks. But this time, there was one big difference – the government publicly invited the wrestlers for talks. “The government is willing to have a discussion with the wrestlers on their issues,” Thakur tweeted at 12.47am on Wednesday. “I have once again invited the wrestlers for the same.”The invite is seen as a response to one of the key demands made by the wrestlers after their meeting with Shah, which was a hushed affair. Following those negotiations, the wrestlers demanded that all future talks should take place publicly for the sake of transparency.

Meanwhile, Bajrang, said that in case there was no action against Singh, they would relaunch their protest. “We will put forth all the points in front of the other wrestlers, khap leaders, and our supporters. If no action is taken by June 15, we will continue our protest,” Bajrang was quoted as saying by ANI.

The reason for the headway has been the hectic parleys over the last five days. While the police investigation into the allegations of sexual harassment continued, with the next court hearing scheduled for June 27, the breakthrough came days after a delegation of wrestlers met Shah at his official residence last Saturday. Although the meeting remained inconclusive, sources said it set the stage for the talks with Thakur.

Wednesday’s meeting between the wrestlers and the government was the third in less than two weeks. But this time, there was one big difference – the government publicly invited the wrestlers for talks. “The government is willing to have a discussion with the wrestlers on their issues,” Thakur tweeted at 12.47am on Wednesday. “I have once again invited the wrestlers for the same.”

The invite is seen as a response to one of the key demands made by the wrestlers after their meeting with Shah, which was a hushed affair. Following those negotiations, the wrestlers demanded that all future talks should take place publicly for the sake of transparency.

2) Wrestlers-Govt logjam breaks: protest on pause, police chargesheet by June 15

Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur in New Delhi on Wednesday

SIGNALLING the first breakthrough in the protracted standoff between the wrestlers and the Government over allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation by federation president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the wrestlers agreed Wednesday to pause their protest until June 15.

This is the date by which, according to the Sports Minister Anurag Thakur who held talks with the wrestlers, a chargesheet in the case will be filed by Delhi Police.This was the main takeaway from the six-hour-long meeting between Thakur and a delegation of wrestlers led by Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik. The government also agreed that Singh, or his close associates, would have no role in the new WFI body that is expected to be formed by the end of this month after an election that will be held by June 30. Besides, the wrestlers will be consulted in the appointment of office-bearers of the new WFI.

3) Quick fix for green signal to Coromandel likely cause of Odisha train accident:

A train runs past derailed coaches in Balasore

AS THE Railway Board recommended handing over the probe into the Odisha train accident to the CBI, at least six officers The Indian Express spoke with said the Coromandel Express took the loop line instead of the main line and collided with a goods train most likely because of “tampering of the location box” near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw overseeing the restoration work at the accident spot in Odisha’s Balasore

The sequence of events leading to the crash and derailment of the train, officers said, was probably triggered by a malfunctioning level-crossing gate — its boom barrier was not working — before the station. In one version, the barrier remained raised, and in another, it did lower but the signal continued to be red. In both cases, it was a problem, they said.

For the officials manning the Bahanaga Bazar station, Friday was just another day at work. Their job was to just let the Coromandel Express “through”, which takes a few seconds. So, to get around the problem of the boom barrier, some Railway officials or the signalling technician on the ground “looped” the ‘location box’.

4)Mumbai News: Massive Fire Engulfs Multi-Floor Building In SoBo's Zaveri Bazar; Several Trapped Persons Rescued Safely:

The intense heat and flames caused a part of the ceiling on the first and second floors, as well as a portion of the staircase, to collapse. No injuries have been reported thus far. A Level III fire broke out in a multi-floor building located near the iconic Mumbadevi Temple in Zaveri Bazar, Kalbadevi, in the early hours of June 9. The incident was reported by the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) at 1.38 am. Prompt action was taken by the fire department, resulting in the safe evacuation of approximately 50-60 trapped individuals.

The fire has severely affected the ground, first, second, third, fourth, and fifth floors of the building. Over 12 fire tenders were involved in the firefighting operations.Officials said that the fire was extinguished by 7.55 am. However, it is yet to be ascertained as to what caused the blaze.

Injuries Reported One person sustained injuries said the officials. Parag Chakankar (40) had suffered minor burn in right hand and it was treated and discharged by medical team on site. Details of the Incident

Upon arrival at the building located in Kalbadevi's China Bazaar, the MFB declared the blaze a Level III fire around 3.25 am highlighting the severity of the situation. The fire was initially contained within the lower floors of the building but quickly spread to the upper six floors. The intense heat and flames caused a part of the ceiling on the first and second floors, as well as a portion of the staircase, to collapse. No injuries have been reported thus far.

Rescue Efforts and Precautionary Measures

The Mumbai Fire Brigade swiftly initiated rescue operations, utilizing the adjacent building's staircase to safely evacuate approximately 50-60 trapped individuals. Firefighters exhibited exemplary courage and professionalism while carrying out the rescue mission.

5) Manipur's Kuki Women Protest Outside Amit Shah's Home Amid Violence

With placards and appeals to stop the ethnic violence in Manipur, women from the state's Kuki tribe protested outside Union Home Minister Amit Shah's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, a day after members of the Meitei community held a vigil in Imphal.

"Despite his assurance that peace will be restored, attacks on our community have continued in Manipur. Lives are at stake here. Only the Home Minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi can help us," one protester told NDTV.

The demonstration came after last night's vigil by members of the Meitei community, who organised a human chain in Manipur. They also raised slogans, demanding action against Kuki insurgent groups.

Separately, a gun battle between security forces and insurgents in Manipur killed one security personnel and wounded two others early on Tuesday, the army said, days after many insurgents were killed there in an operation.

The northeastern state bordering Myanmar has been tense in the past few weeks, with rioting and ethnic clashes killing at least 80 people and displacing 35,000 since early May. More than 30 insurgents were killed last month after security forces launched a massive crackdown.

"Intermittent firing between security forces & a group of insurgents took place throughout the night of 05/06 June," the Indian Army said on Twitter. "Security forces effectively retaliated to the fire."It said a soldier from the Border Security Force died and two personnel from Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force with a focus on India's northeast, were wounded.

"Search operations (are) in progress," the army said.The ethnic violence began when tribal groups clashed with the majority Meitei community over economic benefits and quotas given to the tribes. Tribal communities are worried about a possible extension of their benefits to the Meiteis.Amit Shah visited the state for four days last week as part of the confidence-building measures and met representatives of all communities and leaders.The Home Minister has said peace and prosperity of Manipur are the government's top-priority and instructed security forces to strictly deal with any activities that disturb the peace.

6) Bengal Panchayat Election Date Announced, To Be Held In Single Phase:

West Bengal Panchayat Election: 

Candidates can start filing their nominations from June 9. Votes will be counted on July 11 .The West Bengal panchayat election will be held in a single phase on July 8. Candidates can start filing their nominations from June 9. Nominations will be accepted till June 15. Votes will be counted on July 11.

"The panchayat polls will be held on July 8. The last date for filing nominations is June 15. The last date of withdrawal of nominations is June 20," Rajiva Sinha, State Election Commissioner, said on Thursday.The three-tier panchayati raj system consists of gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and zila parishad.

The panchayat election will be a litmus test for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool government ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. The polls come at a time when the ruling party is facing various charges of corruption and a number of its leaders have been arrested by CBI and ED. The previous election in 2018 was marred by widespread violence and bloodbath. The violent incidents are believed to have swayed a large number of voters away from the Trinamool in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, in which BJP won 18 out of the 42 seats and secured 40.25 per cent of the votes (just three per cent less than TMC).Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek has already embarked on a two-month, 3,500 km journey across West Bengal, starting from Coochbehar in north Bengal to Kakdwip down south, to reach out to the public ahead of the rural polls. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also addressed several rallies.

The campaign has been divided into two parts -- 'Jana Sanjog Yatra' (mass outreach campaign) and 'Gram Banglar Motamot' (opinion of rural Bengal).

The party has been conducting ballot exercises during their outreach programme to determine the preferred candidate for the upcoming polls.

Meanwhile, the BJP too has intensified preparations for the panchayat polls. Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah came to West Bengal and held a meeting with the top leadership of the state BJP.In the meeting, Shah advised the leaders to strengthen the organisational base and booth-committees of the party in the state and focus on reaching out to as many people as possible.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also likely to hold a rally in one of the tribal dominated districts of West Bengal this month, IANS reported.

1) Day 2 Highlights: Australia in control after India's top-order crumbles 

Day 2 Highlights: 

Australia ease into a supreme position after posting 469 and reducing India to 151/5 by stumps on the second of the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023

 Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill got India off to a positive start but it all unravelled quickly thereafter as India lost their first five wickets in the second half of Day 2. They ended the day on 151/5, trailing Australia by 318 runs and still 118 runs away from avoiding a follow-on. All five of Australia's bowlers took a wicket each. India were largely buoyed by a 71-run stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja for the fifth wicket. Jadeja fell to Lyon for a score of 48 off 51 while Rahane remained unbeaten at stumps on 29 off 71 with KS Bharat at the other end. Earlier, centuries from Travis Head and Steve Smith got Australia to a score of 469. India made a good fightback on Day 2 after managing to take just three wickets on the first day, with Mohammed Siraj's four-wicket haul leading the way for them. Alex Carey's quickfire 48 helped Australia cross the 450-run mark after which India ensured that the opposition's tail didn't wag too much. 

At the tea break, India found themselves at a precarious 37 for two, with their openers already back in the pavilio

The struggle for the Indian batsmen was evident in their inability to leave the ball effectively, a crucial skill in English conditions.

In a high-stakes battle at The Oval, the World Test Championship final witnessed India’s famed top-order crumble against an imposing pace attack, allowing Australia to establish a commanding position on Thursday. Despite a valiant partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane, the day concluded with India languishing at 151 for five in response to Australia’s mammoth first-innings total of 469, trailing by a daunting 318 runs.

The failure of India’s top-order batsmen can be attributed to a combination of poor shot selection and the relentless pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Scott Boland. Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara, both victims of misjudging the line and length on a pitch with variable bounce, paid a heavy price for their errors. The Australian pacers skillfully exploited the conditions, extracting more from the surface than their Indian counterparts.

The struggle for the Indian batsmen was evident in their inability to leave the ball effectively, a crucial skill in English conditions. Gill, who had shown promise, paid the price for his lapse in concentration, leaving a delivery from Boland that rattled his stumps. Pujara, having arrived in England ahead of his teammates, shockingly offered no shot to a sharply-cutting delivery from Cameron Green.

India’s troubles deepened with the dismissals of skipper Rohit Sharma and the talismanic Virat Kohli, both falling victim to exceptional deliveries from Cummins and Starc, respectively. Rahane and Jadeja, however, displayed resilience, attempting to weather the storm unleashed by the Australian pacers. Rahane, lucky to survive an lbw decision off a no ball, fought gallantly while Jadeja showcased his intent with an aggressive innings, including seven boundaries and a magnificent six off Boland.

At the tea break, India found themselves at a precarious 37 for two, with their openers already back in the pavilion. The post-lunch session saw Australia’s Alex Carey playing a crucial role, propelling his team past the 450-run mark with a quick-fire 48 off 69 balls. However, a rash attempted reverse sweep off Jadeja resulted in his downfall, leaving Australia at 469 all out.

Although India managed to claim four wickets in the morning session, Australia maintained their dominance, reaching 422 for seven at lunch thanks to a splendid century by Steve Smith and a heroic knock of 163 by Travis Head. Smith’s mastery was on full display as he effortlessly dispatched loose deliveries, bringing up his seventh hundred in England and his third at The Oval.

2) Women's Junior Asia Cup 2023: India thump Chinese Taipei 11-0 to reach semi-finals

The win also cemented India’s position atop Pool A. India finished the group stage of the tournament unbeaten, having won three games and drawn one

The Indian junior women’s hockey team confirmed their spot in the semi-finals of the Asia Cup by mauling Chinese Taipei 11-0 in its last pool match here on Thursday.The win also cemented India’s position atop Pool A. India finished the group stage of the tournament unbeaten, having won three games and drawn one.

the scorers for India were Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke (1’), Deepika (3’), Annu (10’, 52’), Rutuja Dadaso Pisal (12’), Neelam (19’), Manju Chorsiya (33’), Sunelita Toppo (43’, 57’), Deepika Soreng (46’) and Mumtaz Khan (55’).

3) French Open player disqualified for hitting ball girl wins mixed doubles title:

Miyu Kato celebrates with her partner Tim Puetz

Miyu Kato completed a rollercoaster week as she triumphed alongside Tim Puetz in the mixed doubles final.

Miyu Kato has won the French Open mixed doubles title - just days after she was disqualified from the women’s doubles event for hitting a ball girl in the head.

Kato triumphed alongside Tim Puetz, defeating Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus on a champions tiebreak 4-6 6-4 (10-6).

4) Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and the path to a generational French Open clash:

After a series of near-misses, Djokovic and Alcaraz finally meet again at Roland Garros as tennis gets a second chapter of its next great rivalry

When the French Open reaches its semi-final stage at Roland Garros, 391 days will have passed since Carlos Alcaraz faced Novak Djokovic for the first time and gave tennis the shot in the arm it has longed for ever since. As moments of sporting symbolism go, Alcaraz defeating Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on consecutive days on the Madrid clay, aged 18, was as clear as they come, and foreshadowed what happened next: the Spaniard winning his first grand slam at the US Open and finishing the year as the youngest world No 1 in history.

But as everything happened so quickly and Alcaraz’s star rose at an astonishing rate, something else has taken longer to materialise: the rematch.

Over the past year, Djokovic and Alcaraz have circled each other, but with their orbits barely touching. Grand slam titles and the world No 1 ranking have passed between them, but without a second meeting. Alcaraz’s US Open title came as Djokovic was unable to travel to New York, then Djokovic triumphed at the Australian Open while Alcaraz missed out due to injury. Both absences left a void that has been filled by debate: with both players reaching great highs without needing to face each other. The French Open semi-finals will now stage their long-awaited second act, and the first in best-of-fives sets. After being drawn in the same half of the tournament at Roland Garros, Djokovic and Alcaraz have advanced through their first five matches while showing why they are the only two real contenders for Nadal’s crown. With the great Spaniard absent from the French Open for the first time since 2005, Djokovic’s main rival has gone from being a 37-year-old to a 20-year-old.

5) French Open: Muchova stuns reigning Australian Open champ Sabalenka to reach maiden career Grand Slam final: 

World no. 42 Karolina Muchova sealed a thrilling 7(7)-6(5) 6(5)-7(7) 7-5 victory against Aryna Sabalenka in the women's singles semi-finals of the ongoing French Open, at the Philippe-Chatrier Court in Paris. In what turned out to be a roller coaster first set, Muchova edged to a 7(7)-6(5) win in the first set.

Then world no. 2 Sabalenka had other plans and staged a comeback, but then Muchova held her nerves and took a 5-4 lead, with the world no. 2 serving to stay in the match. Sabakalenka soon made it 5-5 with some aces and showed her champion mentality. With the set at 6-6, it went into a tie-breaker, which Sabalenka eked out a 6(5)-7(7) win in the second set.

The third and final set turned out to be a topsy-turvy one initially, but Sabalenka used her experience to take a 2-5 lead and Muchova had to serve. A stinging return from Sabalenka gave her a 40-30 lead and the match point, but Muchova drew level once again to make it 40-40. Keeping her calm, Muchova made it 3-5. Serving for the match, Sabalenka conceded early. Then it was all Muchova as she staged a comeback to make it 4-5. Then Muchova took a 6-5 lead to serve for the match. Sabalenka failed to get a single point as Muchova went onto win 7-5.

After winning the match, Muchova said, "It's unbelievable. I just kept fighting. But I don't want to sound cocky, I just keep working on my game."

She will take on the winner of the other semi-final between defending champion Iga Swiatek or Brazil's Haddad Maia. Meanwhile, the match saw Sabalenka's run of 12 successive match wins at the Slams come to an end as she paid for her 53 unforced errors. Meanwhile, Muchova saved nine of 13 break points.

6) Priyanshu, Arjun-Kapila duo exit Singapore Masters :

India's Priyanshu Rajawat

The unseeded Rajawat, who had stunned world No. 15 Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in the opening round, lost to Naraoka 17-21 16-21 in straight games. Upcoming Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat's dream run in the Singapore Masters Super 750 tournament ended with a pre-quarterfinal loss to third seed Kodai Naraoka, in Singapore on Thursday.

The unseeded Rajawat, who had stunned world No. 15 Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in the opening round, lost to Naraoka 17-21 16-21 in straight games.Having ousted HS Prannoy in the first round, the world No. 4 Naraoka of Japan maintained his lead as the world No. 37 Indian played a catching-up game throughout to go down in a 47-minute battle.In the men's doubles, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost to England's Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 15-21, 19-21 in a 41-minute affair.

Former India number one Kidambi Srikanth is now the lone Indian in the fray. He will take on Chinese Taipei's Chia Hao Lee in the round of 16.

The 2021 world championships silver medallist, Srikanth beat Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-15 21-19 in the opening round. Chia Hao Lee on the other hand beat Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in his opening match after being promoted to the main draw from the reserve.Earlier, double Olympic medalist Sindhu, who was the defending champion of the event, had lost to world number 1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the opening round.Former World Championship bronze medallist Lakshya Sen and London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal too have exited in the first round itself.

World No 11 doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and Commonwealth women's doubles bronze medallists, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also have crashed out in their respective opening round matches.

7)Novak Djokovic reaches French Open final after beating injury-stricken Carlos Alcaraz:

Novak Djokovic reached the French Open final after defeating an injury-stricken Carlos Alcaraz 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 on Friday.

The victory puts Djokovic, a two-time champion at Roland-Garros, on the verge of winning a men’s record 23rd grand slam title.

The match was evenly poised at 1-1 in the third set when Alcaraz appeared to experience cramp and began to struggle with his movement.

His condition improved in the fourth set after receiving treatment, but by now Djokovic clearly had the upper hand as he raced to victory, setting up a final against last year’s runner-up Casper Ruud after the Dane comfortably beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4 6-0.

“First and foremost, I have to say tough luck for Carlos,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “At this level, the last thing you want is cramps and physical problems in the late stages of a grand slam. I hope he can recover and come back very soon.”

1) Tucker:

After a long gap, Siddharth’s film “Tucker” is hitting the screens. Divyansha Kaushik, known for her role in “Majili,” is the leading lady. The movie is directed by Karthik G. Krish. The promotional films and songs released so far have left a good impression. Siddharth’s voice-over in the trailer has raised expectations among the audience. The movie revolves around hope, which rules the world and determines our lives. It explores the different paths people take to earn money. To find out more, catch the film in theaters on June 9. It is released simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil languages.

2) Blood daddy

Get ready for the ultimate adrenaline rush with the biggest action entertainer of the year on OTT, Jio Studios’ #BloodyDaddy starring #ShahidKapoor releasing on 9th June! Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Himanshu Kishan Mehra, Ali Abbas Zafar, Sunir Kheterpal & Gaurav Bose

Jio Studios PresentsIn Association With AAZ Films, Offside Entertainment & The Vermillion WorldAn AAZ Films & Offside Entertainment Production

Shahid Kapoor, Diana Penty, Sanjay Kapoor, Ronit Bose Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal, Vivan Bhathena, Zeishan Quadri, Ankur Bhatia, Mukesh Bhhatt, Sartaaj Kakkar

3) Flamin H0t

Music Marcelo Zarvos

Cinematography Federico Cantini

Producer Fox Searchlight, Franklin Entertainment. Distributor: Hulu

Genre Drama. Comedy | Biography. Based on a true story

Synopsis

The story of Richard Montañez, the janitor who invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

Book This week

Comics Itibritto by Dr.Kaushik Majumdar

This beautiful books all about the history of comics world . It touches from DC & Marvel Stories to modern day  pulp fiction and graphic Novels. It also have details description  about Indian Comics era from Indrajal Comics, Amar Chitra Katha to Chacha Chowdhury.

Kaushik Majumdar :

Scientist cum writer  who discover new species of bacteria Bacillus sp. KM5. He is egricultural scientist working at Chuchura at West Bengal Kolkata India .His first publised work on his discovery "Discovering Friendly Bacteria: A Quest (2012)