1) A monkey
survived two years with a miniature pig’s kidney:By Meghan Rosen
Researchers genetically
modified pigs to make their organs more usable for human transplantation one
day Little pigs with big genome edits could be the future of organ donation.
A monkey that received a
kidney from a genetically engineered miniature pig lived for more than two
years after the transplant, scientists report October 11 in Nature. The team
took a molecular red pen to donor pigs’ genomes, editing the animals’ organs to
be more of a match for humans. Such an editing strategy could one day make it
more likely for people’s bodies to accept organs from different species.
The work, funded by
biotechnology company eGenesis, is the latest in a string of efforts seeking to
use other species to address global organ shortages. The new study is
“promising work and a step in the right direction,” says Parsia Vagefi, a
transplant surgeon at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who was not
involved with the research.
In the United States,
the demand for new organs to replace damaged or diseased ones far outpaces
supply. As of October 11, nearly 104,000 Americans sit on the national
transplant waiting list. Some 89,000 of these people are seeking kidneys.
“There just simply aren’t enough kidneys to go around,” said eGenesis president
and CEO Mike Curtis in a news conference on October 10. Most people waiting
will never get the offer, he says. “They will die on dialysis.”
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That’s where
cross-species transplantation — giving people organs from other animals — comes
in, Curtis said. It’s “the only near-term viable solution to solving this huge
shortfall in organ availability.”
But the path forward is
studded with scientific stumbling blocks. Pig organs aren’t a molecular match
for human bodies, for one. Porcine cells display suspicious-looking sugars that
spell “stranger” to our immune systems. This can prompt rejection of a
transplanted organ.
If the body sees those
sugars, “It’s like, ‘whoa, you’re not supposed to be here,’ and the immune
system attacks,” says Jayme Locke, a transplant surgeon at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham. Scientists tweak donor animals’ genomes to “make the pig
kidney as human as possible so that our body recognizes it and doesn’t
immediately attack it,” she says.
Locke and others have
already made progress in this field. In 2021, a team at NYU Langone Health
tested how well a kidney from a genetically modified pig functioned by
attaching it to a brain-dead woman (SN: 10/22/21). In 2022, Locke’s group upped
the ante, publishing the first peer-reviewed study on a gene-edited pig kidney
transplanted into a brain-dead person.
That year, doctors also
transplanted modified pig hearts into two brain-dead people — and even a living
man (SN: 7/12/22). The man, 57-year-old David Bennett from Maryland, survived
for two months with the transplanted organ (SN: 1/31/22). This September,
another patient, Lawrence Faucette, became the second living person to receive
a genetically modified pig heart.
In August, Locke’s team reported
that pig kidneys transplanted into a brain-dead man can function normally,
producing urine over the course of a seven-day study. Her team worked with a
different kind of genetically modified pig than the ones Curtis and his
colleagues created — one with 10 genomic edits rather than up to 69.
The edits, which strip
away some pig aspects and add in human ones, fall into three main categories
designed to make the animals’ organs safer for human use. They lop off
stranger-danger sugars from pigs’ cells, insert human genes to help prevent
organ rejection and knock out potentially harmful retroviruses embedded in the
pigs’ genomes. “This is probably the most genetically modified pig that I’ve
seen described in the literature,” Locke says.
Curtis’ team mixed and
matched edits in different pigs and transplanted their kidneys into monkeys.
Because these are pig kidneys genetically tailored for humans, scientists have
to dose the monkeys with powerful immunosuppressive drugs, so the animals don’t
reject the new organs. But these types of animal studies are important, Locke
says, because they can demonstrate long-term organ function, which is difficult
to show in people with brain death.
Eight out of 15 monkeys
that received pig kidneys lacking the sugars and carrying the human genes
survived 176 days or longer, Curtis’ team showed. One monkey lasted much
longer, living 758 days after the kidney transplant. Monkeys with pig kidneys
missing the human genes didn’t fare nearly as well, surviving a median of 24
days.
“It’s encouraging when
you see a pig kidney being able to function for two years,” Vagefi says. “But I
think it’s even more encouraging when you see it done consistently.” Like any
good study, he says, the work opens a chasm of questions. He wonders, for example,
how many more genetic edits pig organs may need to succeed long-term in monkeys
regularly.
Even then, there might
not be a single kind of pig donor that’s right for every person, Locke points
out. She thinks it’s important to have options. Doctors may “need more than one
type of genetically edited pig in order to serve all the people in need.”
2) What a look at
more than 3,000 kinds of cells in the human brain tells us: By Laura Sanders
Analyzing single cells
leads to new insights about how brains grow and operate A new look at the human
brain is beginning to reveal the inner lives of its cellular residents.
The human brain holds a
dizzying collection of diverse cells, and no two brains are the same,
cellularly speaking. Those are the prevailing conclusions of an onslaught of 21
papers published online October 12 in Science, Science Advances and Science
Translational Medicine.
The results just start
to scratch the surface of understanding the mysteries of the brain. Still, they
provide the most intimate look yet at the cells that build the brain, and offer
clues about how the brain enables thoughts, actions and memories. The
collection of data may also guide researchers in their hunt for the causes of
brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and depression. The
new brain map is a result of a coordinated international research effort called
the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Initiative Cell Census Network, or
BICCN, which ramped up in 2017. Many of the studies in the collection are based
on a powerful technology called single-cell genomics. The method reveals which
genes are active inside of a single cell, information that provides clues about
the cell’s identity and job.
As part of the BICCN,
researchers examined all sorts of brains. One project detailed the cells in
small pieces of live brain tissue taken from 75 people undergoing surgery for
tumors or epilepsy, an approach that’s been used on smaller scales before (SN:
8/7/19). Another looked at samples taken from the brains of 17 deceased
children. Still another looked at brain tissue from seven people, seven
chimpanzees, four gorillas, three rhesus macaques and three marmosets.
The resolution provided
by single-cell genomics revealed details about human brain cells in a way that
previous methods couldn’t. “It’s remarkable how well it works,” says Ed Lein, a
neuroscientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle and one of
the lead researchers in the BICCN group. Collectively, the new studies describe
over 3,000 cell types that reside in the human brain.
The main takeaway, Lein
says, is that “the brain is really complex, from a cellular perspective.”
Amid that complexity,
several key insights have already emerged, including hints about how human
brains develop, how they vary among people, and how they differ from the brains
of close primate relatives.
Growing brains
Some of the studies
focused on very young brains. A study of the first two trimesters of brain
growth, for instance, turned up previously unknown details about the identities
of nerve cells in the thalamus, a kind of waystation for information coming
into the brain. Many of those cells, called GABAergic neurons, are born
elsewhere in the developing brain and migrate into the thalamus.
Other results show that
the early years matter, a lot. Seth Ament, a neuroscientist at the University
of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, and his colleagues looked at brain
cells in the cerebellum, a brain region at the back bottom of the brain. In
children who died with inflammation in their brains, certain kinds of nerve
cells there — Purkinje and Golgi neurons — had altered levels of active genes.
The pattern, which held across eight brains, suggest that inflammation early in
life could alter nerve cell development in certain spots.
“I’m amazed we saw
something so consistent across the samples,” Ament says.
Unique brains
Some of the studies
focused on variability between brain regions and between people.
One study looked at
cells from about 100 spots taken from four adult brains. The researchers found,
among many other things, that cells called astrocytes used their genes
differently depending on where they reside. The finding hints that these cells,
which are known to help nerve cells form connections and keep brain tissue
healthy, may be specialized for their region.
Another study examined
eight regions of the neocortex, the wrinkly outer area responsible for
sophisticated thinking. Cells in those
regions are somewhat standardized, sorting consistently into 24 categories, the
scientists found. But the regions do have differences in the proportions of the
cells. What that means for how these
regions work is anybody’s guess.
Similarities also exist
between people. Researchers found highly consistent patterns of cells when they
compared brain cells from 75 people. But there was plenty of wiggle room, too.
Microglia, immune cells in the brain that also sculpt nerve cell connections,
were especially unique in the genes they use from person to person, for
instance.
Primate brains
Some of the research
compares human brains with primate relatives, including chimpanzees, gorillas,
rhesus macaques and marmosets. By looking at cells in other primates’ brains,
Lein says, “we finally get to ask the question about what makes humans unique.”
Overall, cells in the
middle temporal gyrus, a part of the brain’s cortex, didn’t differ a lot
between the primate brains. “It’s really remarkable that this complex cellular
makeup is so conserved,” Lein says. “But you also have these changes.”
Compared with other
primates, human brain cells use certain genes differently — in particular,
genes related to how the cells form connections and communicate, researchers
found. The analysis also turned up a few hundred genes that appear to behave in
human-specific ways in brain cells. The researchers don’t yet know what those
genes might be doing.
Imaging neuroanatomist
Matthew Glasser cautions that it can be hard to tell exactly which brain areas
are comparable among primates. Still, the results are “the first step in something
really cool,” says Glasser, of Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis, who was not involved in these studies.
Even better brain
maps are coming
Overall, the progress
represented by these and related results “is truly mind-blowing,” says cortical
cartographer David Van Essen, who didn’t work on the new studies. “The
community will certainly benefit from what’s coming out in this collection of
papers.”
But, more importantly,
it’s just a glimpse of what’s to come. “It’s not an end point in my view,” says
Van Essen, also at Washington University. “It’s more a midpoint.”
Ament agrees. “These
papers, as important as I think they are, are not the end,” he says. “It’s more
the starting of it, and now we have a lot more work to do.”
The new brain maps will
probably be revised, refined and added to, Lein says. Scientists are already
working on the next iterations, which seek to combine zoomed-out views of brain
networks and brain behavior with the ultrafine details provided by single-cell
technology.
“Now that we have these
techniques,” Glasser says, “we’re trying to combine them with brain imaging and
systems neuroscience to actually try and figure out the puzzle.”
3) Beyond the
periodic table: Superheavy elements and ultradense asteroids :by Clare Sansom,
Springer
Some asteroids have
measured densities higher than those of any elements known to exist on Earth.
This suggests that they are at least partly composed of unknown types of
"ultradense" matter that cannot be studied by conventional physics.
Jan Rafelski and his
team at the Department of Physics, The University of Arizona, Tucson, U.S.,
suggest that this could consist of superheavy elements with atomic number (Z)
higher than the limit of the current periodic table.
They modeled the
properties of such elements using the Thomas-Fermi model of atomic structure,
concentrating particularly on a proposed "island of nuclear
stability" at and around Z=164 and extending their method further to
include more exotic types of ultra-dense material. This work has now been
published in The European Physical Journal Plus.
Superheavy elements are
defined as those with a very high number of protons (high atomic number),
generally considered to be those with Z>104. They can be divided into two
groups. Those with atomic numbers between 105 and 118 have been made
experimentally but are radioactive and unstable with very short half-lives and,
therefore, are only of academic and research interest.
Elements with Z>118
have not yet been observed, but properties have been predicted for some of
them. In particular, an "island of nuclear stability" is predicted at
about Z=164. And as, in general, the density of elements tends to rise with
their atomic mass, these superheavy elements can be expected to be extremely
dense.
The densest stable
element is the rare platinoid metal osmium (Z=76); its density of 22.59 g/cm3
is about twice that of lead. Objects—typically, astronomical bodies—with
densities higher than that are considered "compact ultradense
objects" or CUDOs.
The most extreme example
known is the asteroid named 33 Polyhymnia, which is located in the main belt
between Mars and Jupiter; its density has been calculated as about 75 g/cm3.
Rafelski proposes that Polyhymnia and similar objects may be composed of
elements above Z=118, possibly with other types of ultradense matter.
Rafelski and his two
student co-workers, Evan LaForge and Will Price set out to calculate the
microscopic atomic structure and properties of ultraheavy elements using the
relativistic Thomas-Fermi model of the atom.
"We chose this
model, despite its relative imprecision, because it allows the systematic
exploration of atomic behavior as a function of atomic number beyond the known
periodic table," Rafelski explains. "A further consideration is that
it also enabled us to explore many atoms in the short time available to Evan
[LaForge], our brilliant undergraduate student."
The researchers'
calculations confirmed the prediction that atoms with around 164 protons in
their nuclei were likely to be stable, and, furthermore, suggested that a
stable element with Z=164 would have a density between 36.0 and 68.4 g/cm3: a
range that approaches the expected value for asteroid Polyhymnia.
As their model used the
charge distribution in the atomic nucleus as one of its inputs, it could be
extended to simulate still more exotic substances including alpha matter: a
condensate composed entirely of isolated helium nuclei (alpha particles).
The idea that some
asteroids may be composed of materials unknown on Earth is further motivating
potential "space miners" who are planning to exploit the precious
metals, including gold, that are expected to lie close to the surface of
others.
"All super-heavy elements—those
that are highly unstable as well as those that are simply unobserved—have been
lumped together as 'unobtainium,'" concludes Rafelski. "The idea that
some of these might be stable enough to be obtained from within our solar
system is an exciting one."
4) NASA’s first
look at a sample from asteroid Bennu reveals life’s building blocks: By James
R. Riordon
NASA scientists are just
beginning to reveal details about roughly 250 grams of dust and rocks brought
back to Earth from the asteroid Bennu. The samples are the result of the first
U.S. mission to return a sample from an asteroid, and the largest cache of
material ever collected beyond the orbit of the moon.
This mission is the
beginning of “a new era of exploration, and this is the era of sample science,”
said Makenzie Lystrup, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md., during a live streaming event on October 11. “This is when
sample science really begins.” The mission began seven years ago when the
OSIRIS-REx spacecraft left Earth to rendezvous with Bennu, a near-Earth
asteroid that may hold clues to the formation of the solar system and the
origin of life on Earth. OSIRIS-REx lightly touched down on Bennu in 2020,
scooped up a coffee cup–sized sample and sealed it away for the long trip back
home (SN: 10/21/20) .
OSIRIS-REx jettisoned
its sample return capsule back to Earth on September 24 (SN: 9/22/23). The
spacecraft continued on its way, under the new name OSIRIS-APEX, as it headed
out on its next mission — going into orbit around the near-Earth asteroid
Apophis.
The capsule containing
the Bennu samples parachuted down to a desert landing site in Utah, where it
was picked up and helicoptered to NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center in
Houston. NASA scientists carefully opened the capsule in a dedicated clean room
designed to ensure that the pristine asteroid material wouldn’t be contaminated
by any terrestrial material.
The material in the
capsule was collected by blowing dust and rocks into a container with blasts of
nitrogen gas. The sample consists primarily of asteroid material from as deep
as 50 centimeters below the surface (SN: 12/12/19). Additional dust and grit
that adhered to the spacecraft landing pads when OSIRIS-REx touched down on
Bennu will offer a look at the composition of the surface of the asteroid.
The mission returned
some bonus material as well, in the form of loose debris that was inadvertently
kicked up into the capsule in the area around the collection container, prior
to the capsule sealing up for the trip home. The science team has delayed
opening the main sample canister, instead taking time to collect and analyze
the bonus sample.
Much of that material is
made up of water-bearing clay minerals. “The reason that Earth is the habitable
world that we have, with oceans and lakes and rivers and rain,” said planetary
scientist Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona in Tucson, who leads the
OSIRIS-REx mission, “is because these clay minerals, like the ones we’re seeing
from Bennu, landed on Earth 4 billion years ago to 4.5 billion years ago,
making our world habitable.”
Other grains contain
elements common on Earth, including carbon and iron, Lauretta said, as well as
platelike sulfur structures that may have been crucial for jump-starting life.
A quarter of the Bennu
sample will go to scientists on the OSIRIS-REx mission for analysis. The rest
will be divvied up among scientists around the globe, with a portion set aside
for future study.
“This stuff is an
astrobiologist’s dream,” said Daniel Glavin, a senior scientist for sample
return at Goddard. “I just can’t wait to get at it. And this material will be
around for generations and generations.”
5) Neanderthals
hunted cave lions with spears and made use of their pelts :By Michael Marshall
Fossilised remains of
extinct big cats called cave lions display evidence of butchery, showing that
Neanderthals had the skills to take on top predators
Neanderthals sometimes
hunted now-extinct big cats called cave lions, which were larger than modern
lions. The finding is some of the earliest evidence of ancient humans killing
top predators, as opposed to plant-eaters like mammoths.
The evidence is twofold:
a cave lion (Panthera spelaea) specimen revealing evidence of hunting and the
remains of a cave lion pelt with its claws still attached.
Gabriele Russo at the
University of Tübingen in Germany and his colleagues re-examined a
48,000-year-old cave lion skeleton found at Siegsdorf in Germany in the 1980s.
Researchers already knew
there were cut marks on the bones, suggesting the lion had been butchered after
death. Russo has now found a puncture mark on one of its ribs, which seems to
have been made by a wooden spear thrust into the animal’s chest. The injury had
previously been misidentified as a wound from another carnivore.
Modern humans (Homo
sapiens) hadn’t yet established themselves in Europe 48,000 years ago. Instead,
the continent was home to Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). It seems they
were the hunters.
Russo’s team also
uncovered a new cave lion specimen in the Einhornhöhle cave in Germany. In a
layer of sediment dated to about 190,000 years ago, they found bones from the
tips of the lion’s toes. In the new research, University of Tübingen’s Dr.
Gabriele Russo and colleagues analyzed an almost complete skeleton of a
medium-sized cave lion from Siegsdorf, Germany, which were originally excavated
in 1985 and date to 48,000 years ago.
The presence of cutmarks
across bones including two ribs, some vertebrae, and the left femur previously
suggested that ancient humans butchered the big cat after it had died.However,
the study authors found a partial puncture wound on the inside of the lion’s
third rib, which appears to match the impact mark of a wooden-tipped spear.
The puncture is angled,
suggesting the spear entered the left side of the lion’s abdomen and penetrated
vital organs before impacting the third rib on the right side.
The characteristics of
the puncture wound resemble those found on deer vertebrae which are known to
have been made by Neanderthal spears.The researchers suggest that the Siegsdorf
specimen represents the earliest evidence of Neanderthals purposely hunting
cave lions.“The new evidence is the earliest instance of cave lion hunting with
wooden spears,” they said.
“The continued use of wooden
spears whilst Neanderthals were also likely using stone-tipped weaponry is
evidenced at sites such as Neumark-Nord and Lehringen, and therefore their use
at Siegsdorf is unsurprising.”The cutmarks on several bone elements of the
Siegsdorf specimen suggest that the lion was processed at the kill site.”
“After the acquisition
of meat and viscera, the carcass was abandoned.”“The Siegsdorf Neanderthals
likely killed a lion in poor condition and exploited the meat for
consumption.”The scientists also analyzed phalange and sesamoid bones from the
toes and lower limbs of three cave lion specimens from Einhornhöhle,
Germany.These bones also show cutmarks consistent with those generated when an
animal is skinned.The presence of the anthropogenically modified bones implies
that they were left within the lion pelt, which was then abandoned at the site.
The location of these
cutmarks suggests a careful approach was taken during the skinning process to
ensure the claws remained preserved within the fur.
“This may constitute the
earliest evidence of Neanderthals using a lion pelt, potentially for cultural
purposes,” the authors said.
“Together, these
findings provide new insights into the interactions between Neanderthals and
cave lions in the Pleistocene.”
6) The Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in
Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023:
Claudia Goldin
Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, USA
“for having advanced our
understanding of women’s labour market outcomes”
Claudia Goldin,
born 1946 in New York, NY, USA. PhD 1972 from University of Chicago, IL, USA.
Professor at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
She uncovered key
drivers of gender differences in the labour market
This year’s Laureate in the
Economic Sciences, Claudia Goldin, provided the first comprehensive account of
women’s earnings and labour market participation through the centuries. Her
research reveals the causes of change, as well as the main sources of the
remaining gender gap.
Women are vastly
underrepresented in the global labour market and, when they work, they earn
less than men. Claudia Goldin has trawled the archives and collected over 200
years of data from the US, allowing her to demonstrate how and why gender
differences in earnings and employment rates have changed over time.
Goldin showed that female participation in the labour market did not have an upward trend over this entire period, but instead forms a U-shaped curve.
The participation of
married women decreased with the transition from an agrarian to an industrial
society in the early nineteenth century, but then started to increase with the
growth of the service sector in the early twentieth century. Goldin explained
this pattern as the result of structural change and evolving social norms
regarding women’s responsibilities for home and family.
During the twentieth
century, women’s education levels continuously increased, and in most
high-income countries they are now substantially higher than for men. Goldin
demonstrated that access to the contraceptive pill played an important role in
accelerating this revolutionary change by offering new opportunities for career
planning.
Despite modernisation,
economic growth and rising proportions of employed women in the twentieth
century, for a long period of time the earnings gap between women and men
hardly closed. According to Goldin, part of the explanation is that educational
decisions, which impact a lifetime of career opportunities, are made at a
relatively young age. If the expectations of young women are formed by the
experiences of previous generations – for instance, their mothers, who did not
go back to work until the children had grown up – then development will be
slow.
Historically, much of
the gender gap in earnings could be explained by differences in education and
occupational choices. However, Goldin has shown that the bulk of this earnings
difference is now between men and women in the same occupation, and that it
largely arises with the birth of the first child.
“Understanding women’s
role in the labour is important for society. Thanks to Claudia Goldin’s
groundbreaking research we now know much more about the underlying factors and
which barriers may need to be addressed in the future,” says Jakob Svensson, Chair
of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.
1) Adani, ‘Modi’s
Rockefeller’? Over-Pricing of Coal Imports Led to Higher Profits, Customers
Overcharged for Fuel: FT
A detailed FT
investigation points to Adani’s use of “offshore intermediaries” to import $5
billion worth of coal at prices that were at times more than double the market
price. One of these firms is owned by a Taiwanese businessman who was named by
FT as a hidden shareholder in Adani firms. The London-based reputed financial
daily, Financial Times, in a detailed investigation, titled, The mystery of the
Adani coal imports that quietly doubled in value, has found that Adani, “the
country’s largest private coal importer, has been inflating fuel costs” leading
to “millions of Indian consumers and businesses overpaying for electricity.”
The FT report speaks of
how Gautam Adani is described as ‘Modi’s Rockefeller’, referring to his sharply
rising fortunes in the past ten years, when his 10 listed companies have
“thrived” and he has emerged as “India’s biggest private thermal power company
and biggest private port operator.”
A US short-seller
Hindenburg Research’s report in January this year raised serious questions
about several aspects of how Adani functioned which led to serious questions
arising globally about the group and also about regulatory mechanisms in India.
Stock market watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) came under
fire even when the Supreme Court expert committee pointed to certain changes in
rules that may have made it easier for Adani to escape scrutiny. Adani has
denied the charges, both those levelled by Hindenburg and then of coal import
over-pricing by the Financial Times and said it has been vindicated by the
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI’s) decision this year to withdraw an
appeal to the Supreme Court in a case against one of the 40 importers named in
2016. It said, “the issue of overvaluation in the import of coal was
conclusively settled by India’s highest court of law.”
FT cites the “unresolved
nature of the DRI investigation and the apparent continuation of the alleged
practices” raising “fresh questions about the relationship between Adani and
the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Watchdog SEBI’s role too
has come in the limelight after it emerged that it knew about allegations
against Adani Group since 2014, that a letter which was part of the
OCCRP-FT-The Guardian’s investigation showed.
The most recent scandal
to hit Adani were allegations that the chairman of SEBI at that time was “now
an independent director of Adani-owned NDTV.”
Financial Times has
raised three key points in its investigation, after looking at 30 shipments of
coal from Indonesia to India by an Adani company over 32 months between 2019
and 2021.
The Adani Group has
rejected charges of wrongdoing. Adani has termed the investigation as being
based on an “old, baseless allegation”, and is “a clever recycling and
selective misrepresentation of publicly available facts and information.”
Inflated prices of
imported coal
The inflation in
imported coal that FT alleges Adani has been doing may have sometimes, per the
report, allowed it to make 52% profit margins in an industry where profit
margins are otherwise considered low.
In all cases that FT
examined, it says “prices in import records were far higher than those in
corresponding export declarations.”
During the journeys,
from where they were imported back to a port in India, usually owned by Adani,
“the value of the combined shipments unaccountably increased by over $70
million.”
Among the specific
instances the London-based financial daily has found, it says that in January
2019, coal meant for Adani, departed “the Indonesian port of Kaliorang in East
Kalimantan carrying 74,820 tonnes of thermal coal destined for the fires of an
Indian power station. During the voyage, something extraordinary occurred: the
value of its cargo doubled.”While “in export records the price was $1.9mn, plus
$42,000 for shipping and insurance. On arrival at India’s largest commercial
port, Mundra in Gujarat run by Adani, the declared import value was $4.3mn.” FT
says “annual profits at Adani Enterprises quadrupled over the past five years,
to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $1.2bn in
the most recent financial year.”
Little-known
middlemen companies used to import paid higher
FT says that Adani Enterprises, the group’s
oldest and most valuable company, generates the lion’s share of its sales and
profits from its coal trading division called Integrated Resources Management
(IRM).
This division, “boasts
of its expertise in logistics and commodity trading” based in four global
offices and 19 Indian locations.In its most recent financial year, which ended
in March, IRM reported trading 88 million tonnes of coal, says the news report.
Its results for the final quarter of that year, the first set of accounts
published after Hindenburg’s report, covered a three-month period when the
market price of coal had halved.”Yet, notes FT, “IRM thrived, delivering a 24%
rise in earnings before tax and interest to Rs 8.3 billion ($101 million), on a
6% rise in sales to Rs 186 billion ($2.3 billion)”But IRM did not make
extraordinary profits. Three “middlemen” companies it used to buy coal from,
that supplied the Adani group with coal, appear to have made more substantial
amounts”. FT identifies them as Hi Lingos in Taipei, Taurus Commodities General
Trading in Dubai, and Pan Asia Tradelink in Singapore.
For 42 million tonnes of
coal supplied by its own operations in that time, the Adani group declared an
average price of $130 per tonne. But for the 31 million tonnes of coal supplied
by its three middlemen, the average price declared per tonne was $155, per
tonne. This was at a “20% premium worth almost $800 million.”FT identifies Hi
Lingos as being owned by Chang Chung-Ling, a Taiwanese businessman previously
“identified by the FT as a potentially controversial owner of Adani stock.”The
second middleman company Taurus, it says, is run from Dubai and whose ownership
it was unable to conclusively establish.The third company, Pan Asia Coal
Trading, which “primarily supplied Adani Power and did not have other Indian
customers for coal in the records reviewed by the FT.”
Senior industry traders
FT spoke to, “questioned the use of little-known trading houses, as large
buyers of coal generally prefer to partner with big trading houses that have
strong credit ratings and a reliable record for commodity deals involving the
exchange of hundreds of millions of dollars.”FT does not rule out the
possibility of higher quality coal in some cases leading to a marginally higher
price, yet, it notes that Adani also appears to have supplied itself with
“unusually expensive coal. For the 508 shipments with a calorific value where
Adani companies were listed as both supplier and importer, most — 87% — were
priced higher than the closest Argus benchmark, at a median premium of
24%.”Argus is an independent provider of market intelligence to the global
energy and commodity markets, and is treated as a provider of price benchmarks
globally.Public pays higher prices for power?
The other important
implication of the allegedly overpriced coal, that the FT investigation draws
attention to, is the charge that these high costs translated directly into
higher prices paid by consumers, especially in Gujarat where the opposition
Congress party has already flagged the issue.
In August this year,
opposition politicians in Gujarat accused the state government of making almost
$500 million in excess payments to Adani Power over five years under a power
purchase agreement linked to the price of coal.The opposition claimed a letter
from the state power utility GUVNL showed it had paid the sums to Adani for
coal procured at premium prices, and that “Adani had not provided paperwork.”
“GUVNL paid Rs 13,802
crore ($2 billion) as energy charges to the company. But if coal rates as per
Argus index is taken into consideration, then only Rs 9,902 crore ($1.5
billion) should have been paid,” the opposition leader is quoted as saying.
The government then,
notes FT, said that the payments were interim and “subject to adjustment,”
while Adani called the allegations “baseless” and said the contract had been
quoted out of context.A spokesperson for the Adani group told FT that “coal
procurement on long-term supply basis in India is done through an open,
transparent, global bidding process thereby eliminating any possibility of
price manipulation.”
Gautam Adani and
business practices of his companies have been under scrutiny ever since
Hindenburg’s report became public. You can read the Hindenburg report here and
Adani’s response here.
2) 5-state
elections in numbers: Check imp dates, demographics, EC announcements:
Mizoram is the smallest
among the states going to polls. It has 40 assembly constituencies (General-1,
SC-nil, ST-39) in total. The Election Commission of India has announced the
complete schedule for the assembly elections in five states -- Mizoram,
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana. The upcoming round of
assembly polls will begin on November 7 and end on November 30. Counting of
votes will take place on December 3. Here's all you need to know about the
elections.
Mizoram is the smallest
among the states going to polls. It has 40 assembly constituencies (General-1,
SC-nil, ST-39) in total. The size of the electorate is 8.52 lakh, including
4.39 lakh women. The number of first-time voters is 50,611. The number of
voters aged 80 and above is 8490, including 578 centenarians (those aged 100
and above). The gender ratio is 1063.
Chhattisgarh has 90
assembly constituencies (General-51, SC-10, ST-29). The size of the electorate
is 2.03 crore, including 1.02 crore women. Around 7.23 lakh people will be
eligible to vote for the first time. The number of voters aged 80 and above is
1.86 lakh, including 2462 centenarians. The gender ratio is 1012.
Madhya Pradesh is the
biggest state going to polls in this round of the assembly elections in terms
of the number of assembly seats. The state has 230 states, including 25
reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 47 reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. The
state has a whopping 2.72 crore female voters, including 22.36 lakh first-time
voters. 6.53 lakh eligible voters are aged above 6.53 lakh, including 5124
centenarians.
Over 5.25 crore voters,
including 2.52 crore women, in Rajasthan will be eligible to choose their
representatives in 200 constituencies (SC-24, ST-35). Those aged 80 and above
are 11.78 lakh, including 17,241 centenarians.
Telangana is the
youngest state among the five. It has 119 seats (SC-19, ST-12). The size of the
electorate is 3.17 crore, including 1.58 crore women. The total number of
people eligible to vote in these 5 states is 16.14 crore.
The Election Commission,
in its presentation, highlighted the participation of youths in the poll
process. It said there would be 60 lakh people eligible to vote for the first
time. 15.39 lakh people are eligible to participate in elections due to
amendment on qualifying dates. 2900 polling stations across the five states
will be managed by youths. The Election Commission said they have improved the
electoral roll gender ratio in all states compared to the 2018 elections. In
total, 23.6 lakh women electors have been added in these states.
In total, 1.77 lakh
polling booths will be installed. The Election Commission will ensure
webcasting on 1.01 lakh polling stations.
Mizoram will have 1276
polling stations, Chhattisgarh 24,109 stations, Madhya Pradesh 64,523 stations,
Rajasthan 51,756 and Telangana 35,356 stations. Women will be in command at
8192 stations.
A total of 940 border
check posts will be set up to check the flow of illicit cash, liquor and other
forms of inducements. 15 check posts will be set up in Mizoram, 105 in
Chhattisgarh, 315 in Madhya Pradesh, 357 in Rajasthan and 148 in Telangana.
The Election Commission
said in order to conduct inducement-free elections, it will ensure a strict
vigil over suspicious online cash transfers through wallets. It will carry out
joint operations by central and state enforcement directorates. It will ensure
that cargo movement through non-scheduled chartered flights is thoroughly
checked.
Election schedule
Mizoram
Date of Issue of Gazette
Notification -- 13th October, 2023 (Friday)
Last Date of Making
Nominations -- 20th October, 2023 (Friday)
Date for Scrutiny of
nominations 21st October, 2023 (Saturday)
Last Date for Withdrawal
of Candidatures 23rd October, 2023 (Monday)
Date of Poll 7th
November, 2023 (Tuesday)
Date of Counting 3rd
December, 2023 (Sunday)
Date before which
election shall be completed by 5th December, 2023 (Tuesday)
Chhattisgarh
Phase 1 (1-20 Acs)
Date of Issue of Gazette - 13th October, 2023.
Last date of making
nominations -- 20th October, 2023.
Date for scrutiny of
nominations -- 21st October, 2023.
Last date for withdrawal
of candidatures -- 23rs October 2023.
Date of poll -- 7th
November
Date of counting -- 3rd
December
Date before which
election shall be completed -- 5th December
Phase 2 (20-70 Acs)
Date of Issue of Gazette - 21st October, 2023.
Last date of making
nominations -- 30 th October, 2023.
Date for scrutiny of
nominations -- 31st October, 2023.
Last date for withdrawal
of candidatures -- 2nd November
Date of poll -- 17th
November
Date of counting -- 3rd
December
Date before which
election shall be completed -- 5th December
Poll Events Madhya
Pradesh ( All 230 ACs)
Date of Issue of Gazette
Notification - 21st October, 2023 (Saturday)
Last Date of Making
Nominations - 30th October, 2023 (Monday)
Date for Scrutiny of
nominations - 31st October, 2023 (Tuesday)
Last Date for Withdrawal
of Candidatures - 2nd November, 2023 (Thursday)
Date of Poll - 17th
November, 2023 (Friday)
Date of Counting - 3rd
December, 2023 (Sunday)
Date before which
election shall be competed -- 5th December, 2023 (Tuesday)
Poll Events
Rajasthan ( All 200 ACs)
Date of Issue of Gazette
Notification-30th October, 2023 (Monday)
Last Date of Making
Nominations-6th November, 2023 (Monday)
Date for Scrutiny of
nominations-7th November, 2023 (Tuesday)
Last Date for Withdrawal
of Candidatures-9th November, 2023 (Thursday)
Date of Poll-23rd
November, 2023 (Thursday)
Date of Counting- 3rd
December, 2023 (Sunday)
Date before which
election shall be completed- 5th December, 2023 (Tuesday)
Poll Events
Telangana ( All 119 ACs)
Date of Issue of Gazette
Notification-3rd November, 2023 (Friday)
Last Date of Making
Nominations-10th November, 2023 (Friday)
Date for Scrutiny of
nominations-13th November, 2023 (Monday)
Last Date for Withdrawal
of Candidatures- 15th November, 2023 (Wednesday)
Date of Poll-30th
November, 2023 (Thursday)
Date of Counting-3rd
December, 2023 (Sunday)
Date before which
election shall be completed-5th December, 2023 (Tuesday)
3) Pan-India caste
census in Congress’s Lok Sabha election pitch:
The CWC expressed
concern over the Israel-Palestine conflict and re-iterated its long-standing
support for the rights of the Palestinian people to land The Congress will
conduct a nationwide caste census if voted to power and implement 33% quota for
women in national and state legislatures at the earliest, the party’s highest
decision-making body announced on Monday, with senior leader Rahul Gandhi
saying a caste-based headcount was a progressive and powerful step to
emancipate poor people.
At a meeting in New
Delhi, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) also promised removal of the 50%
reservation cap through a legislation to ensure reservation to OBCs, Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes in line with their share of population.
Addressing a press
conference after the meeting, the former Congress president attacked Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the latter was incapable of conducting a
caste census.
“The CWC has unanimously
supported the idea of a caste census in the country. It is a progressive,
historic and powerful step for the emancipation of the poor people in our
country,” Gandhi said. Rahul Gandhi called the CWC decision “historic”, and
said a caste census is the X-ray of India.Admitting that it was a mistake on
the part of the Congress not to conduct a caste census when it was in power, he
said, “We will accomplish what we could not achieve earlier. There is a need
for this X-ray if we have to bring a new paradigm for development, where
everyone gets justice.” The press conference came hours after the Election
Commission of India (ECI) announced assembly elections to five states —
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram — in what is
widely seen as a virtual semifinal for the 2024 general elections.
The CWC expressed concern
over the Israel-Palestine conflict and re-iterated its long-standing support
for the rights of the Palestinian people to land, while calling for immediate
cessation of fire and de-escalation of the situation.
The CWC also planned to
implement the 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative
assemblies at the earliest. The CWC also reiterated its previous demand of
immediate removal of the chief minister of Manipur and imposition of
President’s Rule in the state, “as the first step in resolving the crisis”. The
Congress Working Committee (CWC) after a four-hour meeting has taken a historic
decision and unanimously decided to support the idea of a caste census in the
country. I think it is a very progressive and powerful step for the
emancipation of the poor people in the country,” Gandhi said.
During the press
conference, Gandhi expressed confidence that most constituents of the Indian
National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will support a caste census.
“There might be a few who have a slightly different position and that is fine.
We are quite flexible and not fascist,” Gandhi added.
Flanked by the chief
ministers of Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh, Gandhi
announced that states ruled by the Congress will carry forward caste census.
“We have unanimously decided that for India’s future a caste census is
quintessential and we (CWC) have decided to do it and we promise that it will
be done... if we make a commitment we ensure. But we will not stop at that, we
will also conduct an economic survey in the country. What we have not done
before, we will ensure it this time and to ensure justice to all, caste census
becomes a necessity,” Gandhi said.
“Our chief ministers
also believe that it is a very important step and are also considering to take
action on this,” he said. He also accused the PM of working to distract the
other backward classes (OBC) community and noted that only one of the 10
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief ministers is OBC while three of the four
Congress CMs come from the community. “PM Modi is incapable of doing the caste
census... We have to ask him what has he done for OBCs? Modi never spoke a word
on this...,” Gandhi alleged. “PM’s only work is to distract the OBC community
and diverted their attention.” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who
chaired the meeting at the party headquarters in Delhi, asked party workers to
work in coordination, discipline and unity and put in all might to win the
elections in five poll-bound states. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Monday
said she was “100%” in support of the caste census.
“I am 100% with the
caste census, we must get it done. This is our highest priority,” a person
familiar with the development quoted Gandhi as saying in her only intervention
during the meeting, news agency PTI reported.
Mizoram, the smallest of
the poll-bound states with 40 seats, will vote on November 7. Elections in
Chhattisgarh, which has a 90-member assembly, will be held in two phases on
November 7 and 17. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana will go to the polls
on November 17, 23 and 30 respectively. The Congress is looking to retain power
in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and snatch power in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana
and Mizoram. “As we approach the upcoming assembly elections and general
elections [in 2024], it is important that the party works with meticulous
coordination and complete discipline and unity,” Kharge said at the meeting.
“Today, our nation faces inflation, unemployment, and government’s failure to implement
the Old Pension Scheme. The ruling party’s divisive tactics and misuse of
autonomous bodies pose a threat to democratic stability.”
Throwing his weight
behind the nationwide caste census demand, the Congress chief said that for a
proper share in welfare schemes, it is important to have socio-economic data on
the condition of weaker sections of society and ensure social justice to them.
Kharge also said that
his party would implement women’s reservation if voted to power in the 2024 Lok
Sabha polls. He also asked party workers to counter the “false propaganda” of
the ruling BJP, saying that “attacks and falsehood would increase as elections
approach”. Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Syed Zafar
Islam said, “Rahul Gandhi and his team are misleading the nation and everyone
knows that in the last 9.5 years, our government under Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has done many things for the OBCs”.
“We made the OBC
commission when Congress had not even dreamt about it. We have given them strong
representation and given many seats to them... Caste census is the
responsibility of the central government and it will be done at an appropriate
time but the states ruled by unholy alliance are attempting to do it only to
mislead the OBC community to gain some votes. But OBC community knows that they
have always been neglected by the Congress and it’s the BJP government which
has safe guarded their interest,” Islam said in his statement. At the press
conference, Gandhi asked for a show of hands from journalists to know how many
of them were Dalits or OBCs to make a point that people from marginalised
sections did not get their due share.
4) PM Modi opens
P20 Summit :
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi inaugurated the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in New Delhi,
hosted by India's G20 Presidency. Modi described the summit as a
"mahakumbh" of parliamentary practices from around the world and
emphasized the importance of parliaments as spaces for debate and deliberation.
He acknowledged India's role as the world's largest democracy and highlighted
the need for global peace and cooperation, especially in times of conflict.
While conflicts and confrontations grip the world, Modi stressed that a divided
world cannot provide solutions, calling for unity, development, and the welfare
of all.
The P20 Summit, themed
"Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future," was attended by
parliamentary speakers from G20 and invitee countries, focusing on subjects
such as digital platforms, women-led development, SDG acceleration, and
sustainable energy transition. Notably, the representative of Canada was absent
from the event.
5) Analysis: Why
did Hamas attack now and what is next?: By Joe Macaron
A number of factors led
to Hamas’s operation in southern Israel.
On October 7, Hamas
launched a massive military operation into Israeli territory. The shooting of
thousands of rockets into Israel was followed by an attack by land, air and
sea, with fighters penetrating deep into territory under Israeli control. They
attacked military installations and temporarily took over various settlements.
The death toll among Israelis has exceeded 1,200, including more than 120
soldiers; dozens of Israeli hostages were also taken into the Gaza Strip.
The planning of the
operation took somewhere between a few months and two years, per different
accounts from Hamas leaders. The depth and magnitude of the attack were
unprecedented and took Israel by surprise. It was a reaction to changing
regional dynamics and growing Israeli aggression. While Hamas may appear to
have fulfilled its declared short-term goals of deterring Israeli violations of
Al-Aqsa Mosque and taking hostages to bargain for the release of Palestinian
political prisoners held in Israeli jails, it does not appear to have a
long-term end game. A heavy-handed response by Israel is ongoing – already
claiming more than 950 Palestinian lives – but sooner or later it will have to
end with mediation.
Why did Hamas
attack now?
Hamas’s move was
triggered by three factors. First, the policies of the far-right Israeli
government enabling settler violence in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem
led to a sense of desperation among Palestinians and growing demands for a
reaction. At the same time, the rising tensions in the West Bank caused by
these policies necessitated the shift of Israeli forces away from the south and
into the north to guard the settlements. This gave Hamas both a justification
and an opportunity to attack.
Second, the Hamas
leadership felt compelled to act due to the acceleration of Arab-Israeli
normalisation. In recent years, this process further diminished the
significance of the Palestinian issue for Arab leaders who became less keen on
pressuring Israel on this matter.
If a Saudi-Israeli
normalisation deal had been concluded, it would have been a turning point in
the Arab-Israeli conflict, which may have eliminated the already weak chances
of a two-state solution. This was also part of Hamas’s calculations.
Third, Hamas was
emboldened after it managed to repair its ties with Iran. In recent years, the
movement had to reconsider the political position it assumed in the wake of the
Arab Spring in 2011, in opposition to Iran and its ally, the Syrian regime.
Hezbollah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has said that he was personally involved in
improving the relations between Hamas and Damascus. A Hamas delegation visited
Damascus in October 2022 and its political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh
travelled to Beirut in April and Tehran in June. Just last month, Nasrallah hosted
the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ziad al-Nakhalah and the
deputy chief of Hamas’s political bureau Saleh al-Arouri. Will there be a
united front around Hamas?
Iran has denied direct
involvement in Hamas’s operation but it has expressed support for it. Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps general Yahya Rahim Safavi said “we support this
operation, and we are sure that the resistance front also supports this issue”.
However, Hamas’s
realignment with the “resistance axis” does not necessarily mean there will be
a united front on the ground confronting Israel. Hezbollah, for example, has
not joined the fight. Currently, domestic politics in Lebanon are not conducive
to a conflict with Israel, which is holding the Lebanese group back. What
Hezbollah is trying to do is to deter the Israeli army from going too far in
its revenge against Hamas in Gaza, hence it is increasing the pressure on the
Lebanese border. Its shelling of Israeli positions is most probably meant to
have a psychological effect than a military one. It has also chosen not to
overreact in relation to the killing of three of its members by Israeli
bombardment.
However, both Israel and
Hezbollah are on alert and tensions are high, which means miscalculations can happen.
What is Hamas’s end
game?
Three days into Hamas’s
surprising and overwhelming attack, it is not clear what its end game is and
what it can do to reap long-term benefits. Its priority has seemed to be to
take both military and civilian hostages to help deter aggressive Israeli
retaliation and later exchange them for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
However, Israel does not appear to be deterred. Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida
has said that Israeli bombardment has killed four Israeli citizens held in
Gaza. He has also warned that the movement will start killing hostages if
Israel strikes civilian homes in Gaza without warning; this might backfire
against Hamas if implemented.
The Hamas leadership has
said that the objectives of the attacks are ending “Israeli violations”,
securing the release of Palestinian prisoners, and “returning to the project of
establishing a state”. Hamas may be able to secure a prisoner swap deal with
Israel, although, in the past, many of those released from Israeli prisons had
been quickly rearrested. But the group does not have a clear roadmap for moving
forward on “establishing a state” and it cannot have one separately from the
Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.
What is next?
Israel has struggled to
recover from the attack. It has intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip
and announced a total blockade on the coastal enclave, turning off electricity
and blocking humanitarian aid. Netanyahu’s government was already facing
domestic turmoil before the attack due to its judicial reforms; its stability
will now be tested even further.
Israel will have to
decide whether to undertake a ground invasion and if it is worth the military
and political costs. Whether it proceeds with it or not, sooner or later its military
operation, including the excessive bombardment of the strip, will have to come
to an end. At that point, Israel will have to ask for Egypt to mediate some
kind of conclusion of this escalation and a deal to exchange prisoners.
When the Israeli assault
ends, Hamas, which has gained more legitimacy in Gaza and the West Bank with
its operation, will also face the challenge of translating it into policies and
governance that would serve the Palestinians in the long term. The United
States, for its part, will have to put its normalisation mediation plans on
hold for now. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected in Israel and
Saudi Arabia later this month to discuss normalisation talks, but his plans
have changed and now include a visit to Jordan.
Given the current public
mood in the Arab world after the Gaza attack, it would be too complicated to
advance talks on a Saudi-Israeli deal. Most probably, these talks will be put
on the shelf by the Saudis in the short term but not necessarily fully cancelled.
These developments work
in Iran’s favour. With the progress of Arab-Israeli normalisation halted,
Tehran can now pressure the US into re-entering a nuclear deal of some kind
that would take some of the sanctions pressure off the Iranian economy.
Whatever mediation
happens between Israel and Hamas eventually, it is unlikely to address the root
causes of the conflict. There does not seem to be any political will within
Israel to address issues like the imprisonment of Palestinians, the freezing of
Palestinian funds, the dire socioeconomic conditions in Gaza and the occupied
West Bank, or the continuing settlement expansion. This means the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict will continue to fester and produce cycles of
violence.
What is the Israeli government saying?
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said his Security Cabinet has declared the country
at war following the attack.
The decision, announced
on Sunday, formally authorises “the taking of significant military steps”, it
said in a statement.
“The war that was forced
on the state of Israel in a murderous terrorist assault from the Gaza Strip
began at 6:00 yesterday,” it said.
What is the latest on the ground?
Israel battered
Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, and in a sign that the conflict could spread
beyond blockaded Gaza, Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah exchanged artillery and
rocket fire.
On Monday, gun battles
continued between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces in three main areas in
southern Israel – at a kibbutz in Karmia and in the cities of Ashkelon and
Sderot.
Our correspondent,
Charles Stratford, who is in Israel’s Ashdod, said he received reports of an
“ongoing hostage situation” in the settlement of Kfar Aza, east of Gaza.
Israeli air attacks and
shelling aimed at houses and apartment buildings have displaced some 123,538
Palestinians in Gaza, according to the UN humanitarian relief agency.
Israel’s military, which
faces questions over its failure to prevent the attack, said it was still
fighting but had regained control of most infiltration points along security
barriers.
What are the international reactions so far?
People around the world
have taken to the streets of their cities in support of both Palestine and
Israel as fighting continues. Some of the countries where people were seen
waving flags in support of Palestine include Spain, South Africa and Syria.
In North America,
protests took place in support of Palestine in the US cities of Chicago and New
York and the Canadian city of Ottawa.
Meanwhile, the European
Union’s foreign chief, Josep Borrell, expressed solidarity with Israel.
The French foreign
ministry said France condemned the “terrorist attacks under way against Israel
and its population” and that France expressed its full solidarity with Israel.
The UK “unequivocally condemns”
the surprise attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israel on Saturday, Foreign
Secretary James Cleverly said.
Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said he was “deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in
Israel” and that India stands “in solidarity with Israel at this difficult
hour”.
Egypt warned of “grave
consequences” from an escalation in a statement from the foreign ministry
carried by the state news agency on Saturday. It called for “exercising maximum
restraint and avoiding exposing civilians to further danger”.
Lebanese group Hezbollah
issued a statement on Saturday saying it was closely following the situation in
Gaza and was in “direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian
resistance”.
An adviser to Supreme
Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei said Iran supported the Palestinians’ attack, the
semiofficial ISNA news site reported.
The latest:
Israeli media reports at
least 700 people in Israel killed since Saturday's attacks; Palestinian
officials say more than 400 people killed in Gaza.
Hezbollah claims
responsibility for strike in northern Israel; Israeli military fires back into
southern Lebanon.
PM Netanyahu announces
halt to supply of electricity, fuel and goods to Gaza.
Hamas says its attacks
are retaliation for Israel's escalated aggression in West Bank and Jerusalem.
U.S. secretary of state
says Hamas may want to disrupt attempts to normalize Saudi-Israel ties.
Global Affairs Canada
looking into reports one Canadian has died, two Canadians are missing.
6) Congress, NC sweep
Kargil hill development council polls:
In the first polls in
J&K since abrogation of Art 370, BJP could only muster two of the total 26
seats that went to polls With the results of all 26 seats declared in the
counting for Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Kargil) polls, the
National Conference and Congress alliance has won 22 seats, comfortably
crossing the halfway mark. There are a total of 30 seats in the council, of
which 26 are elected members and remaining four are nominated. The voting on
October 4 had seen over 77% voter turnout.
So far, NC has bagged 12
seats, with their ally Congress winning on 10. While the Bharatiya Janata Party
and independent candidates got two seats each.
These are the first
polls in the region post abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 and
bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, Ladakh and
J&K, in August 2019. The Peoples Democratic Party did not contest the polls
and extended support to NC.
The counting of votes
began on Sunday morning amid tight security. Although the NC and Congress
jointly contesting the polls, there was friendly contest between them on over a
dozen seats.
Congress candidates
emerged victorious from Shakar, Baroo, Parkachik, Chiktan,Choskore, Rainpora
Drass, Suru and Pashkum. NC candidates won Poyen,Silmo, Thasgam, Kargil town,
Yourbaltak, Padum, Bhimbhat, Lankerchey, Thangdumbur, Saliskut and Trespone
seats.
BJP candidates won
Khangral and Cha seats. Independent candidate Ghulam Mohammad won Barsoo seat.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which contested in four seats, lost on all of them.
NC vice-president Omar
Abdullah said the BJP was dealt a resounding defeat at the hands of the
alliance.
“ In celebration of our
strong alliance with the Congress party, we are delighted to announce this
victory. This result sends a message to all forces and parties that have
undemocratically and unconstitutionally divided the state without the consent
of its people,” he added.
Omar said these results
should serve as a wake-up call for the BJP. “It is time to stop hiding behind
the Raj Bhawan and unelected representatives and acknowledge the people’s
rightful desire for a democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Congress leaders said
Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Kargil as extension of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in late
August. “In Kargil Hill Council Elections Congress is leading towards Victory.
Rahul Gandhi ji recently visited Kargil & Ladakh . His visit made this
possible . Congratulations @khargeSaab, @RahulGandhiji, @kcvenugopalmp
@incladakh,”Congress MP
and J&K and Ladakh in-charge Rajani Patil posted on X.
Congress general
secretary and communications in-charge blamed media for news blackout.
“The national media of
course will blank it out, but trends coming in show Congress leading convincingly
in the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil with
an almost complete wipeout of the BJP. This is a direct impact of
@RahulGandhicontinuing Bharat Jodo Yatra in Ladakh last month,” he posted on X.
7) CAG transfers
auditors who flagged irregularities in central schemes:
The Congress demanded
that the transfer orders be cancelled immediately. The Comptroller and Auditor
General transferred three officers who were in charge of two audit reports that
flagged the alleged irregularities in the Centre’s Bharatmala and Ayushman
Bharat schemes, The Wire reported.
The audit reports were
tabled in parliament in August. The transfer orders were issued on September
12, the news website reported. Two of the transferred Indian Audit and Accounts
Service officers, Atoorva Sinha and Dattaprasad Suryakant Shirsa, were in
charge of the audit reports that flagged the alleged irregularities in the
Dwarka Expressway project and Ayushman Bharat scheme. The third officer, Ashok
Sinha, had initiated the audit of Ayushman Bharat, The Wire reported.
Atoorva Sinha, who had
become the principal director of audit infrastructure in Delhi in March, has
now been posted as the accountant general in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, the
report said. He was in charge of the report on highway projects under the
Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I that pointed out number of irregularities.
Bharatmala is Centre’s flagship road development scheme.
The Comptroller and
Auditor General reports had flagged irregularities in the Bharatmala project,
the construction of Dwarka Expressway, violation of toll rules by the National
Highways Authority of India, the Ayushman Bharat Scheme and alleged undue
advantage to the contractors in the Ayodhya Development Project.
The budget for the
Dwarka expressway project on the Delhi-Gurugram border had been increased from
the originally-approved amount of Rs 18.2 crore per km to Rs 251 crore per km,
according to the audit report. The Comptroller and Auditor General report said
that the National Highways Authority of India’s decision to opt for an elevated
carriageway in the Haryana section of the expressway had pushed the “civil
construction cost by 14 times”.
The CAG report also
flagged that nearly 7.5 lakh beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan
Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana were registered under a single cellphone number –
9999999999. The Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana is the
central government’s flagship scheme for health insurance for poor people.
Modi government
operates Mafia style, says Congress
On Wednesday, the
Congress demanded that the transfer orders of these three officers be cancelled
immediately. The Centre should instead take action on mega scams relating to Dwarka
Expressway, Bharatmala project and Ayushman Bharat, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh
added.
“The Modi government
operates mafia style under a cloak of silence and intimidation,” Ramesh said in
social media post. “If anyone exposes its modus operandi of corruption, they
are threatened or removed. The latest victims are three officers of the
Comptroller and Auditor General, who exposed massive scams in government
schemes in a report tabled during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.”
The report had
documented 1400% cost inflation and tendering irregularities in the Dwarka
Expressway, Ramesh said. He also added that the audit had flagged the diversion
of Rs 3,600 crore from highways projects, faulty bidding practices and 60% cost
inflation of the Bharatmala scheme.
8) Delhi HC
dismisses plea by NewsClick editor, human resources head challenging their
police remand:
The website’s
editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and human resources head Amit Chakraborty
were arrested on October 3 in a UAPA case. The Delhi High Court on Friday
dismissed petitions by NewsClick’s founder and editor-in-chief Prabir
Purkayastha and human resources head Amit Chakraborty challenging their police
remand in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Live Law
reported.
Justice Tushar Rao
Gedela said that there was no merit in their petitions.
Purkayastha and
Chakraborty were arrested on October 3 after the Delhi Police raided several
journalists associated with NewsClick following allegations that the news
organisation received money to spread Chinese propaganda. A day later, a city
court remanded them to police custody for seven days.
On October 6, Gedela had
said that there was something missing from the trial court’s remand order as it
was apparently passed without hearing the counsels of the accused men. This was
after Purkayastha’s lawyer told the judge that the remand order violates Delhi
High Court rules stating that an accused person is entitled to a counsel.
However, the High Court refused to grant them interim relief then On October 6,
Gedela had said that there was something missing from the trial court’s remand
order as it was apparently passed without hearing the counsels of the accused
men. This was after Purkayastha’s lawyer told the judge that the remand order
violates Delhi High Court rules stating that an accused person is entitled to a
counsel. However, the High Court refused to grant them interim relief then.
After their police
remand ended, Purkayastha and Chakraborty were sent to judicial custody for 10
days.
The High Court is yet to
hear Purkayastha and Chakraborty’s petition demanding that the first
information report against them be quashed, according to Bar and Bench.
In the FIR registered on
August 17, the police accused NewsClick of taking funds from China in a
“circuitous and camouflaged manner” to disrupt India’s sovereignty.
The case was registered
after The New York Times alleged in an August 5 report that the Indian news
website had received money from American businessman Neville Roy Singham, who
worked closely with the “Chinese government media machine” to spread its
propaganda. The FIR describes Singham as an active member of the propaganda
department of the Communist Party of China
9) Priyanka Gandhi
sounds Congress' 'guarantee' pitch in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh
Priyanka invokes Indira
in Gond tribe heartland of Madhya Pradesh
“You all have revered my
grandmother. I facially resemble her which is why you’ve come to see and hear
me. You revered her for her truthfulness and commitment to your cause.
Realising that her
grandmother Indira Gandhi remains a revered figure among tribals (particularly
the middle-aged and elderly population), Congress general secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra invoked the grandeur of the former prime minister in her second
successive election rally within a week in election-bound Madhya Pradesh on
Thursday.
Addressing an election
rally in Gond tribe-dominated Mandla district, just a week after her last rally
in Bhil and Bhilala tribe-dominant Dhar district, she tried to strike a chord
with the tribals (who constitute 21 per cent of the state population) by
mentioning about her close facial resemblance with Indira Gandhi.
While highlighting the
tribal-centric initiatives of the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in
neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Priyanka also announced a series of promises,
including the Padho-Padhao scheme, which would entail free education from
Classes I to XII along with monthly allowances/scholarships ranging between Rs
500 to Rs 1,500 (Rs 500 for classes I-XII, Rs 1,000 for classes IX and X and Rs
1,500 for classes XI and XII).
While reiterating the existing 11 poll guarantees of her party for MP, including conducting caste census/survey, Priyanka promised to implement the Sixth Schedule in areas housing more than 50 per cent tribal population, filling up the SC/ST backlog posts in government departments and providing equal sum under the PM Awas Yojana in both rural and urban areas. She also promised Rs 4,000 per sack support price for tendu leaves pluckers.
“You all have revered my
grandmother. I facially resemble her which is why you’ve come to see and hear
me. You revered her for her truthfulness and commitment to your cause. She
furthered your interest which is why you furthered her interest. It was she who
gave you the right over forest (land, water and forest),” said the Congress
leader. She alleged tribal lands are being snatched under the BJP rule. “When
you protest, bullets are fired on you,” Priyanka said.
21% tribals in
state
Tribals form 21% of MP’s
population. Priyanka addressed an election rally in Gond tribe-dominated Mandla
district, only a week after her last rally in Bhil and Bhilala tribe-dominant
Dhar district
1) India vs Australia Highlights, World Cup 2023: Kohli, KL Rahul power IND to six wickets win:
India (201/4) beat Australia (199) by 6
wickets in Chennai
India vs Australia
Highlights, World Cup 2023: Virat Kohli and KL Rahul produced yet another
masterclass as India kicked-off the World Cup 2023 campaign with a six-wicket
win against Australia in Chennai on Sunday. Rahul returned unbeaten on 97(115),
while Kohli slammed 85(116) as the pair stitched a crucial 165(215)-run stand
for the fourth wicket after India were reduced to 2-3 in the second over.
Riding on their efforts India completed the 200-run chase with 9.4 overs to
spare.
Meanwhile, the Indian
spin trio comprising Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, and Kuldeep Yadav too helped
India's cause by restricting Australia to a paltry 199/10 in 49.3 overs. Jadeja
took three wickets for 28 runs, with two of those coming in the same over.
Kuldeep took two while Ravichandran Ashwin took one.
2) India vs
Afghanistan, World Cup 2023 Highlights: Rohit's ton, Kohli fifty helps IND take
AFG to the cleaners:
India vs Afghanistan,
World Cup 2023 Highlights: Rohit Sharma blazed 131 in just 84 balls as India
beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets with 15 overs to spare.
India vs Afghanistan,
World Cup 2023 Highlights: Rohit Sharma oozed class and elegance en route to a
recording-breaking hundred, leading India to an emphatic eight-wicket win over
Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup here on Wednesday. Hasmatullah Shahidi's
dogged 80 and the young Azmatullah Omarazai's gutsy 62 took Afghanistan to 272
for eight after opting to bat. Jasprit Bumrah took four wickets and finished
with his best ever figures in a World Cup match. All of it, though, was
overshadowed by the show that Rohit put up, particularly in the first 10 overs.
He eventually reached his century in 63 balls, thus making it the fastest ton
by an Indian in the World Cup. On a batting beauty, India skipper Rohit (131
off 84) was unstoppable and flaunted his envious range of strokes. His record
seventh World Cup hundred off 63 balls helped India gun down the target in 35
overs, giving a big boost to their net run-rate ahead of their third World Cup
fixture against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 14.
3) Satwik-Chirag
make history, become doubles world No.1:
Only three other Indians
-- Padukone, Nehwal and Srikanth -- have climbed to the top of the rankings but
they all did it in singles Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty became the
first Indian pair, across all three doubles categories, to be ranked No.1 in
the world when they climbed two spots in the latest Badminton World Federation
(BWF) rankings released on Tuesday.
Only three other Indians
have had the privilege of being ranked No.1 in the world. Prakash Padukone was
the first when he became the top ranked men’s singles shuttler in 1980. India
had to wait another 35 years before delivering another world No.1 when Saina
Nehwal claimed the top spot in 2015 just after becoming the only Indian women’s
singles player to reach the All England Open Badminton Championships final
Kidambi Srikanth was the third Indian and second male player to be ranked No.1
when a brilliant run of form that saw him reach five Superseries finals – winning
four – to become world No.1 in 2018.
But Rankireddy and
Shetty are the first Indian pair to become No.1, overtaking Indonesians Fajar
Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Chinese Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang to
reach the summit. The pairing has had a fantastic run this year starting by
winning the Swiss Open in Basel in March – their first title since clinching
the French Open in October 2022. They continued their momentum next month when
they became the first Indians in 58 years to win the Badminton Asia
Championships. Dinesh Khanna was the first Indian to win the continental
tournament way back in 1965 before Rankireddy and Shetty claimed the
prestigious trophy in Dubai.
After a quiet May, the
reigning Commonwealth Games champions were back winning in June when they
clinched the Indonesia Open crown to stake claim to another first. Rankireddy
and Shetty had become the first Indians to win a Super 1000 tournament – the
elitest competition on the BWF World Tour – to also become the first Indians to
win at all levels of the World Tour. Shetty and Rankireddy claimed their fourth
title of the year at the Korea Open in July before becoming the first Indian
shuttlers to win a gold medal at the Asian Games. In Hangzhou, the duo also
helped India men clinch silver in the men’s team event too.
Rankireddy and Shetty
are next scheduled to play the Denmark Open Super 750 tourney in Odense from
October 17.
4) Asian Games
2023: India wins gold in men’s kabaddi, beats Iran in controversial final:
India clinched yet
another gold at the ongoing Asian Games after its men’s kabaddi team defeated
Iran 33-29 in the final in Hangzhou on Saturday.
India clinched yet
another gold at the ongoing Asian Games after its men’s kabaddi team defeated
Iran 33-29 in the final in Hangzhou on Saturday.
India went into the
half-time with the scoreline tilted 17-13 in its favour.
Earlier, the women’s
kabaddi team helped India reach the magical figure of 100 medals, after it
defeated Chinese Taipei 26-25 in a thrilling final to clinch gold. India, the
2010 and 2014 champion, reclaimed the gold medal after a shock defeat against
Iran in the 2018 final.
The medal takes India’s
tally to 103 - 28 gold, 35 silver and 40 bronze - and the nation will stay
fourth in the overall medal standings.
5) Asian Games 2023
highlights Day 14: India’s medal tally reaches 107 with gold in kabaddi,
cricket and badminton:
Asian Games 2023
highlights Day 14: India's medal tally reached 107 in Hangzhou on Saturday.
Asian Games 2023,
highlights Day 14: India's medal tally reached 107 on Day 14 at the 19th
edition of the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday. India's archery contingent
clinched two gold medals after Jyothi Surekha, Ojas Pravin Deotale finished on
top in their respective women's and men's compound events. Meanwhile, Abhishek
Verma bagged silver and Aditi Gopichand got a bronze in archery. The women's
kabaddi team won gold by defeating Chinese Taipei in the final. The men's team
also defeated Iran in a controversial final to bag another gold.
In badminton, Chirag
Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy clinched a historic gold by winning the
mixed doubles final. Meanwhile, the men's cricket team was awarded gold after
the first innings of their final against Afghanistan was halted due to rain.
The rain didn't stop and Team India was given gold due to being a higher seed.
In hockey, the women's team defeated Japan to come out on top in the bronze
medal encounter. In wrestling, Deepak Punia won a silver in 86kg men’s
freestyle. Vicky and Sumit crashed out of their respective categories. Later,
the men's and women's chess teams sealed silver medals to extend India's medal
tally to 104 in Hangzhou.
India's Medal Tally-
Gold: 28
Silver: 38
Bronze: 41
Results-
Archery: Aditi Gopichand bags BRONZE in women's compound archery
Jyothi Surekha clinches
GOLD in women's compound archery
Ojas Pravin Deotale wins
GOLD in men's compound archery
Abhishek Verma bags
SILVER in men's compound archery
Hockey: India win BRONZE
in women's hockey
Kabaddi: India clinch
GOLD, defeat Chinese Taipei in women's final
India defeat Iran in
men's final, win GOLD
Wrestling: Deepak Punia
defeats Uzbekistan's Javrail Shapiev in men's freestyle 86kg semifinal, into
final
Yash loses to
Tajikistan's Magomet in men's freestyle 74kg quarters
Sumit loses to Kyrgyzstan's
Aiaal Lazarev, in the men's freestyle 125kg pre-quarters
Vicky loses to
Kazakhstan's Alisher Yergali in his men's freestyle 97kg pre-quarters
Badminton: Chirag
Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy win GOLD in men's doubles
Cricket: India claim
GOLD in men's final
Volleyball: India win
3-2 vs China in women's classification 9th-10th
Roller Skating: Sai
Samitha Akula finishes in fourth position in long program final
Greeshma Dontara sixth
in long program final
Wrestling: Deepak Punia
wins silver in men's freestyle 86kg
Chess: Men's team and
women's team bag silver.
6) Asian Games 2023
: Last Medal tally
Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 People's Republic of China 201 111 71 383
2 Japan 52 67 69 188
3 Republic of Korea 42 59 89 190
4 India 28 38 41 107
5 Uzbekistan 22 18 31 71
6 Chinese Taipei 19 20 28 67
7 Islamic Republic of Iran 13 21 20 54
8 Thailand 12 14 32 58
9 Bahrain 12 3 5 20
10 D.P.R. Korea 11 18 10 39
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
A rogue AI known as
"the Entity" fights Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team as they
struggle to keep it out of the wrong hands. Stars: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell,
Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames
Genre: Action/Thriller
Platform: Amazon Prime
Video
Release Date: October
11, 2023
Sultan of Delhi
This is the story of
Arjun Bhatia's journey of ultimate power struggles, courage, treachery and
greed.
Stars: Tahir Raj Bhasin,
Mouni Roy, Anjum Sharma, Vinay Pathak, Anupriya Goenka, Nishant Dahiya
Genre:
Period/Crime/Thriller
Platform: Disney+
Hotstar
Release Date: October
13, 2023
Everybody Loves
Diamonds
It focuses on a group of
petty Italian thieves who try to fool high-level security and steal diamonds valued
at millions of euros. Stars: Kim Rossi Stuart
Genre: Comedy-Heist
Platform: Amazon Prime
Video
Release Date: October
13, 2023
Bigg Boss 17
 |
Bigg Boss 17
participants will include former journalist Jigna Vora, Munawar Faruqui,
Mannara Chopra and Manasvi Mamgai, as per media reports.
Stars: Salman Khan,
Participants to be announced
Genre: Reality TV
Platform: JioCinema
Release Date: October
15, 2023
Goosebumps (series)
Inspired by R.L. Stine's
worldwide bestselling book series, “Goosebumps” follows a group of five high
schoolers as they embark on a shadowy and twisted journey to investigate the
tragic passing three decades earlier of a teen named Harold Biddle – while also
unearthing dark secrets from their parents’ past.
Ben Cockell, Michelle
Mao, Rhinnan Payne, Samantha Blaire Cutler, William Chris Sumpter, Aiden
Howard, Alex Felix, Taylar Hende
Guthlee Ladoo:
The movie has flaws but
is impactful in delivering the message of the Right to Education and the
importance of being aware of other laws and rights created for all citizens.
The story is bittersweet and unsettling but also serves as a beacon of light in
promoting equity and empathy.
Story: The movie follows
a poor sweeper’s son who desires to attend school but is restricted by the
societal constraints of his caste. He forms an unspoken bond with a high-caste
headmaster who’s compassionate but powerless in the face of discrimination.
Will they rise above and make the young boy’s dream come true?
Roman Stories
Hardcover –by Jhumpa Lahiri (Author, Translator), Todd Portnowitz (Translator)
The first short story
collection by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author and master of the form since
her number one New York Times best seller Unaccustomed Earth • Rome—metropolis
and monument, suspended between past and future, multi-faceted and
metaphysical—is the protagonist, not the setting, of these nine stories
"A delectable,
sun-washed treat . . . the stories have the beating heart of the city itself, a
place of magnificent decay and vibrant, varied life." —Vogue
In “The Boundary,” one
family vacations in the Roman countryside, though we see their lives through
the eyes of the caretaker’s daughter, who nurses a wound from her family’s
immigrant past. In “P’s Parties,” a Roman couple, now empty nesters, finds comfort
and community with foreigners at their friend’s yearly birthday gathering—until
the husband crosses a line.
And in “The Steps,” on a
public staircase that connects two neighborhoods and the residents who climb up
and down it, we see Italy’s capital in all of its social and cultural
variegations, filled with the tensions of a changing city: visibility and
invisibility, random acts of aggression, the challenge of straddling worlds and
cultures, and the meaning of home.
About Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri was born
in London and raised in Rhode Island. Her debut, internationally-bestselling
collection, Interpreter of Maladies, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, the
PEN/Hemingway Award, The New Yorker Debut of the Year award, an American
Academy of Arts and Letters Addison Metcalf Award, and a nomination for the Los
Angeles Times Book Prize. It was translated into twenty-nine languages. Her
first novel, The Namesake, was a New York Times Notable Book, a Los Angeles
Times Book Prize finalist, and selected as one of the best books of the year by
USA Today and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications. Her second
collection, Unaccustomed Earth, was a #1 New York Times bestseller; named a
best book of the year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post,
and the Los Angeles Times, among others; and the recipient of the Frank
O’Connor International Short Story Award. Lahiri was awarded a Guggenheim
Fellowship in 2002 and inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters
in 2012.
These are splendid, searching
stories, written in Jhumpa Lahiri’s adopted language of Italian and seamlessly
translated by the author and by Knopf editor Todd Portnowitz. Stories steeped
in the moods of Italian master Alberto Moravia and guided, in the concluding
tale, by the ineluctable ghost of Dante Alighieri, whose words lead the
protagonist toward a new way of life
About Todd
Portnowitz
Todd Portnowitz is the
translator of In Search of Amrit Kaur by Livia Manera Sambuy (FSG, 2023), The
Greatest Invention by Silvia Ferrara (FSG 2022), Long Live Latin by Nicola
Gardini (FSG, 2019), and Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf, 2023,
translated with the author); his poetry translations include Go Tell It to the
Emperor: The Selected Poems of Pierluigi Cappello (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019),
Midnight in Spoleto by Paolo Valesio (Fomite, 2018), and the forthcoming
Methods by Lorenzo Carlucci (Fomite, 2024). He has received honors from the
Academy of American Poets (Raiziss/de Palchi Fellowship, 2015, Affiliated
Fellow at the American Academy in Rome) and the Bread Loaf Translators
Conference. An Associate Editor at Alfred A. Knopf, he is also a co-founder of
the Italian poetry blog Formavera and of the Brooklyn-based reading series for
writer-translators, Us&Them.
Nature Magazine
National Geographic
Cartoon Games
History Channel
Online Movies
Scientific American
Filmfare Mag
Online Britannica
Time Mag
Unexplained Mysteries
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