1) Gaganyaan's
first test flight lifts off after brief glitch:
Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday successfully launched the first flight test for
its Gaganyaan mission at 10am from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Andhra
Pradesh's Sriharikota.
Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday successfully launched the first flight test for
its Gaganyaan mission at 10am from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Andhra
Pradesh's Sriharikota. Reason for the launch hold is identified and corrected.
The launch is planned at 10:00 Hrs. today," the space agency said on X.
The uncrewed flight test with a single-stage liquid propulsion rocket, equipped
with a Crew Module and Crew Escape System, was earlier scheduled to lift off at
8am on Saturday. Then it was rescheduled to 8:30am and 8:45am before it was
rescheduled at 10am.
"The liftoff
attempt of TV-D1 could not happen today. The liftoff was first rescheduled from
8am to 8.45am due to the weather situation. We had a smooth automatic landing
sequence (ALS) leading up to the command to liftoff the engine but the engine
ignition has not happened in the normal course," ISRO chief Somanath said
after the launch was put on hold just five seconds ahead of the scheduled
lift-off. He had stressed that while the space agency is trying to assess what
went wrong, the entire launch vehicle is safe and they will be announcing a
revised date for the launch soon.
"The ground
checkout computer that performs the function of the liftoff has withheld the
launch in view of the anomaly observed," he further said. The flight test,
being designated as the Test Vehicle Development Flight Mission-1 (TV-D1 Flight
Test), will demonstrate the performance and safety of the crew module and crew
escape system as part of the Gaganyaan mission. It will also test the safe
landing in the Bay of Bengal after the rocket launch.
The vehicle is 34.9
metres tall and has a lift-off weight of 44 tonnes. The structure of the TV-D1
flight is a single-walled unpressurised aluminium structure with a simulated
thermal protection system. The crew module, a habitable space with an
Earth-like environment in space for the crew, consists of a pressurised
metallic 'inner structure' and an unpressurised 'external structure' with
'thermal protection systems'. It is also equipped with crew interfaces, life support
system, avionics and deceleration systems and is also designed for re-entry to
ensure the safety of the crew during the descent till touchdown.
The entire test flight
sequence is expected to be brief as the Test Vehicle Abort Mission (TV-D1)
would have launched the crew escape system and crew module at an altitude of 17
km which was expected to make a safe touchdown in the sea, about 10 km from
Sriharikota on India's eastern coast. They would have later be retrieved by the
Navy from the Bay of Bengal. According to ISRO, the success of the test flight
will set the stage for the remaining qualification tests including around 20
major tests with 3 uncrewed missions of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3),
subsequently leading to the launch of the Gaganyaan mission.
The highly anticipated
Gaganyaan mission aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit at an
altitude of 400 km for a three-day mission, with a safe return to Earth
scheduled for 2025, thus making India the fourth nation to launch a manned
spaceflight mission after the US, Russia, and China.
Ahead of the launch, the
crew module underwent various tests at ISRO centres before it was integrated
into the launch complex in Sriharikota.
2) Drought in
Brazil's Amazon reveals some 2,000-year-old engravings:
The surfacing of the
engravings on the riverbank have delighted scientists and the general public
alike but also raised unsettling questions. An extreme drought in parts of the
Amazon has led to a dramatic drop in river water levels, exposing dozens of
usually submerged rock formations with carvings of human forms that may date
back some 2,000 years. Livia Ribeiro, a longtime resident of the Amazon's
largest city, Manaus, said she heard about the rock engravings from friends and
wanted to check them out.
"I thought it was a
lie ... I had never seen this. I've lived in Manaus for 27 years," said
Ribeiro, an administrator, after viewing the dazzling relics.
The rock carvings are
not usually visible because they are covered by the waters of the Negro River,
whose flow recorded its lowest level in 121 years last week. The surfacing of
the engravings on the riverbank have delighted scientists and the general
public alike but also raised unsettling questions.
"We come, we look
at (the engravings) and we think they are beautiful. But at the same time, it
is worrying... I also think about whether this river will exist in 50 or 100
years," Ribeiro said.
Drought in Brazil's Amazon has drastically reduced river levels in recent weeks, affecting a region that depends on a maze of waterways for transportation and supplies.
The Brazilian government
has sent emergency aid to the area, where normally bustling riverbanks are dry,
littered with stranded boats.
According to experts,
the dry season has worsened this year due to El Nino, an irregular climate
pattern over the Pacific Ocean that disrupts normal weather, adding to the
effect of climate change. The engravings comprise an archaeological site of
"great relevance," said Jaime Oliveira of the Brazilian Institute of
Historical Heritage (Iphan).
They are at a site known
as Praia das Lajes and were first seen in 2010, during another period of
drought not as severe as the current one. The rock carvings appear against a
backdrop of dense jungle, with the low brownish waters of the Negro River
flowing nearby.
Most of the engravings
are of human faces, some of them rectangular and others oval, with smiles or
grim expressions.
"The site expresses
emotions, feelings, it is an engraved rock record, but it has something in common
with current works of art," said Oliveira.
For Beatriz Carneiro,
historian and member of Iphan, Praia das Lajes has an "inestimable"
value in understanding the first people who inhabited the region, a field still
little explored.
"Unhappily it is
now reappearing with the worsening of the drought," Carneiro said. “Having
our rivers back (flooded) and keeping the engravings submerged will help
preserve them, even more than our work.”
3) First pill for
dengue shows promise in human challenge trial :By Jennifer Rigby:
There are currently no
specific treatments for dengue, a growing disease threat, the company said
ahead of presentation of the data at the American Society of Tropical Medicine
and Hygiene Annual Meeting in Chicago. “It is the first ever to show antiviral
activity against dengue,” Marnix Van Loock, who oversees emerging pathogens
research for J&J’s Janssen division, said of the drug.
In human challenge
trials, researchers intentionally expose healthy volunteers to a pathogen to
test a vaccine or treatment, or better understand the disease they cause.
Dengue fever, while
often asymptomatic, is also known as “break bone fever” for the severity of the
joint pain and spasms that some patients experience. It has long been a scourge
across much of Asia and Latin America, causing millions of infections each year
and tens of thousands of deaths, and is likely to spread further as climate
change makes more areas hospitable for the mosquitoes that spread it, the World
Health Organization’s chief scientist Jeremy Farrar said earlier this month.
In the trial done with
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 10 volunteers were given a
high dose of the J&J pill five days before being injected with a type of
dengue. They continued to take the pill for 21 days afterwards. Six of the 10
showed no detectable dengue virus in their blood after being exposed to the
pathogen, as well as no signs that their immune system had responded to
infection by the virus over 85 days of monitoring.
Six people in a placebo
group, who were also injected with dengue, all showed detectable virus when
tested. Trial participants received standard care from medical professionals
where necessary, and the virus used was a weakened version to minimise symptoms.
The positive early data
supports ongoing Phase II trials of the pill to prevent the four different
types of dengue in a real world-setting where the disease is common, J&J
said. The next step will be testing it as a treatment.
The drug works by
blocking the action of two viral proteins, preventing the virus from making
copies of itself. It was well-tolerated by all trial participants, J&J
said.
A key question for the
future will be ensuring access to the new drug, if it works on a larger scale,
in many of the low- and middle-income countries where it is most needed, an
echo of the challenge for the dengue vaccine the WHO backed earlier this month.
“We’re working on it,”
said Van Loock, adding that it was early days.
4) Wild Chimps
Shown to Undergo Menopause for the First Time: By Joanna Thompson
Menopause is rare in the
animal kingdom. In mammals, menopause occurs one year after an individual’s
final natural ovulation cycle and is marked by changes in hormone levels and
infertility. It has only been documented in a few species, including humans,
orcas and short-finned pilot whales. But new evidence shows that some wild chimpanzees
experience menopause as well.
Scientists spent years
studying the Ngogo chimpanzee group in Uganda. They gathered demographic and
hormonal evidence that strongly suggests a number of elderly females in the
population underwent menopause—and continued to live healthy lives for several
years afterward. Although researchers have observed signs of menopause in some
captive nonhuman primates, this is the first time it has been documented in
primates in the wild.
“I think this is an
incredibly exciting piece of research,” says Susan Alberts, a primatologist at
Duke University, who was not involved in the study, which was published on
Thursday in Science. “They’ve done such a beautiful job with their analysis.”
The Ngogo chimpanzee population is unique for many reasons. The primates, which
dwell in the interior of Uganda’s Kibale National Park, are far more isolated
from human cities than most of the world’s chimps. They are well-researched and
have even starred in their own Netflix series. And compared with other
chimpanzee populations, the Ngogo chimps tend live a long time. When Sholly
Gunter started working with the apes in the early 2000s, she noticed this right
away. “We had a lot of old ladies,” she says, “and that was unusual.”
Gunter, a biologist at
McLennan Community College and one of the co-authors of the new study,
suspected that these older female chimps might be undergoing menopause. So she
and her colleagues began collecting urine samples from the primates and testing
them for hormonal changes, such as increases in luteinizing hormone and
decreases in estradiol, that indicate menopause in humans.
They found these changes
in several elderly females. The researchers were then able to combine this
dataset with demographic information gathered from the population over several
years. Importantly, the data demonstrated “not only that chimpanzee menopause
can occur but [also] when it occurs,” says Melissa Emery Thompson, an
evolutionary anthropologist at the University of New Mexico and a co-author of
the study. The results showed that, similar to humans, the Ngogo chimpanzees
tend to begin menopause after age 50. On average, females that reached sexual
maturity lived around one fifth of their lives in a postreproductive
state—about half as long as human hunter-gatherers.
Why these chimps undergo
menopause is a bit trickier to explain. After all, it’s a bit of an
evolutionary mystery why an organism would outlive its reproductive capacity.
One of the prevailing explanations for menopause in humans, known as the
“grandmother hypothesis,” posits that it is evolutionarily advantageous for
older women to stick around and help raise the next generation. But “that’s not
really possible for chimpanzees because they don’t live with their daughters,”
says Peter Ellison, an evolutionary anthropologist at Harvard University, who
was not involved in the study. Adult female chimps tend to move to a different
family when it’s time for them to have babies, and they tend to raise them
communally, meaning that there is no genetic incentive for the primates to
favor their own grandchildren.
Instead the research
suggests that menopause may simply be a feature of mammalian reproductive
systems that emerges if such an animal lives long enough. “It may have been
something that was shared by the last common ancestor of humans and
chimpanzees,” Gunter says. And perhaps because of their isolation from
human-induced stress, the Ngogo chimps tend to live for a long time.
For some experts, it was
a surprising find. “If you had told me about this result before I read the
paper, I would have been skeptical,” Alberts says. Not all chimpanzees appear
to undergo menopause—but this could be a result of factors other than biology.
In most populations of chimps outside of the Ngogo group, adult females live to
around age 30, usually because of predators, disease or stress. Alberts says
the new paper’s results are so robust that she can’t argue with them, however.
The next step, she adds, would be to do similar long-term studies in additional
wild chimpanzee populations to figure out whether the Ngogo chimps are unique
in living beyond their reproductive years. Ellison would like to see similar
studies of other social mammal species, such as elephants and woolly spider
monkeys. The results may help us develop a better understanding of how
menopause evolved, as well as why—and whether—it remains so rare.
5) 'Frozen in time'
landscape discovered under Antarctic ice:
 |
| Lifting the lid image. To Demonstrate where the study site is beneath the ice |
This landscape, which is
bigger than Belgium, has remained untouched for potentially more than 34
million years, but human-driven global warming could threaten to expose it, the
British and American researchers warned.
"It is an
undiscovered landscape—no one's laid eyes on it," Stewart Jamieson, a
glaciologist at the UK's Durham University and the lead author of the study,
told AFP.
"What is exciting
is that it's been hiding there in plain sight," Jamieson added,
emphasizing that the researchers had not used new data, only a new approach.The
land underneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is less well known than the
surface of Mars, Jamieson said.The main way to "see" beneath it is
for a plane overhead to send radio waves into the ice and analyze the echoes, a
technique called radio-echo sounding.
But doing this across
the continent—Antarctica is bigger than Europe—would pose a huge challenge.
So the researchers used
existing satellite images of the surface to "trace out the valleys and
ridges" more than two kilometers (1.6 miles) below, Jamieson said.
The undulating ice
surface is a "ghost image" that drapes gently over these spikier
features, he added.
When combined with
radio-echo sounding data, an image emerged of a river-carved landscape of
plunging valleys and sharply peaked hills similar to some currently on the
Earth's surface.
It was like looking out
the window of a long-haul flight and seeing a mountainous region below,
Jamieson said, comparing the landscape to the Snowdonia area of northern Wales.
The area, stretching
across 32,000 square kilometers (12,000 square miles), was once home to Trees,
forests and probably animals.But then the ice came along and it was
"frozen in time", Jamieson said.
Exactly when sunshine
last touched this hidden world is difficult to determine, but the researchers
are confident it has been at least 14 million years.Jamieson said his
"hunch" is that it was last exposed more than 34 million years ago,
when Antarctica first froze over.
Some of the researchers
had previously found a city-size lake under the Antarctic ice, and the team
believes there are other ancient landscapes down there yet to be discovered.
Climate threat
The authors of the study
said global warming could pose a threat to their newly discovered landscape.
"We are now on
course to develop atmospheric conditions similar to those that prevailed"
between 14 to 34 million years ago, when it was three to seven degrees Celsius
warmer (roughly seven to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) than currently, they wrote in
the journal Nature Communications.Jamieson emphasized that the landscape is
hundreds of kilometers inland from the edge of the ice, so any possible exposure
would be "a long way off".
The fact that retreating
ice over past warming events—such as the Pliocene period, three to 4.5 million
years ago—did not expose the landscape, was cause for hope, he added.
But it remains unclear
what the tipping point would be for a "runaway reaction" of melting,
he said.The study was released a day after scientists warned that the melting
of the neighboring West Antarctic Ice Sheet is likely to substantially
accelerate in the coming decades, even if the world meets its ambitions to
limit global warming.
6) Human cancer
cells might slurp up bacteria-killing viruses for energy:By Darren Incorvaia
Lab-grown, mammalian cancer cells that ingested these viruses shows signs of cell growth
From our nose to our
lungs to our guts, the human body is home to a diverse range of microorganisms.
Such rich microbial ecosystems are prime hunting grounds for viruses that
infect and kill bacteria. But how these bacteria-killing viruses interact with
human cells has remained mysterious.
Past research has shown
that human cells can slurp up bacteria-killing viruses when a cell ingests a
large amount of the fluid surrounding it. Microbiologist Jeremy Barr wanted to
know if the ingested viruses have any effect on the cell’s immune response.
To his surprise, Barr
instead found that mammalian cancer cells grown in the lab use the viruses as a
food source. The results, published in the Oct. 26 PLOS Biology, show that it’s
possible for mammalian cells to use bacteria-killing viruses as fuel — meaning
normal, noncancerous cells could do it too, though this remains to be seen.
This nascent line of
work upends traditional biological dogma, says Barr of Monash University in
Melbourne, Australia. “You’re told that [phages] just do not interact with
mammalian cells,” he says. “And that’s completely false. They do.”
Bacteria-killing
viruses, called bacteriophages, are ubiquitous in the human body. Cells in our
body ingest up to 30 billion phages each day, Barr estimates. To test how the
phages interact with mammalian cells, the researchers experimented with human
and dog cancer cells, mainly because they are easy to cultivate in the lab. The
team grew the cancer cells in an environment flush with bacteriophage T4, a
common virus that preys on E. coli.
Barr’s team then used a
battery of antibodies, each of which binds to a specific type of protein, to
determine the proteins the cells made in response to the phage. Though the
researchers expected to see more proteins involved in inflammation, part of the
cell’s immune response, they instead saw changes in the amounts of proteins
involved in cell growth and division. “Cells that had been given phage were
actually growing at a faster rate,” Barr says. This suggests that “they’re
using the phages as a food source.”
Because the cells used
in this study were grown in a lab and come from established lines of cells used
for research, we can’t yet be sure that cells in the bodies of humans and other
mammals behave the same way, says Paul Bollyky, an immunologist at Stanford
University. “Cell lines are funny creatures,” he says. “They do things
energetically that are probably closer to tumor biology than to normal cell
biology, so it can be difficult to extrapolate.”
Still, “this is a really
exciting and trailblazing study from a group that’s doing excellent work,”
Bollyky says. “Like a lot of good science, this study really raises questions.”
Barr says he next wants
to investigate whether noncancerous cells derived from a living animal also
snack on phages. He also plans to examine more phages, especially viruses that
— like T4 — live in our guts, and others that are being used in phage therapy,
where viruses are used instead of antibiotics to kill infectious bacteria (SN:
12/14/21). “We know they kill the bacterial hosts, but what are they doing to
the human host?” Barr asks. “How do they interact?”
Rahul Gandhi said he was
locked in a room when he went to the airport to pay respect to Pulwama martyrs.
“I felt it was like an event, distasteful,” he said.
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi on Wednesday shared the video of his recent meeting with former J&K
governor Satya Pal Malik who spoke to Rahul Gandhi on several issues including
the Pulwama attack, the J&K situation, Adani and also going back to his
earliest days in politics. Satya Pal Malik blamed the government's lapses for
the 2019 Pulwama attack. In this interview, he reiterated the same. "I
told two channels that it was our fault but I was asked to not say this
anywhere...I thought my statements might impact the investigation, but there
was no investigation. It was used for the purpose of election. On the third
day, PM Modi gave his speech where he used it politically," Satya Pal
Malik said.
"Why did the
Pulwama incident happen? They had asked for 5 aircraft. Had he asked me, I
would have given those right away. I provided aircraft to students stuck in the
snow. It is easy to get aircraft on rent in Delhi. But their application was
lying for four months in the home ministry. And then it was rejected. The CRPF
personnel then took the road which was known to be unsafe," the former
governor said. As Rahul Gandhi shared the interview, he wrote, "Will this
conversation create a stir amid ED-CBI?
The explosive-laden
truck that attacked the CRPF vehicle was roaming in the area for around 10-12
days…the explosives were sent from Pakistan. The driver and the owner of the
vehicle had terrorist records. They were arrested and then released several
times. But they were not on the radar of the intelligence,” Satya Pal Malik
said. Speaking on Pulwama, Rahul Gandhi said as soon as he learnt about the
incident, he went to the airport to pay his respects to the martyrs. “I was
locked inside a room. I felt like it was an event. PM Modi was there. I had to
fight my way to get out of the room. It was quite distasteful,” Rahul Gandhi
said.
On Adani, Satya Pal
Malik told Rahul Gandhi that the government failed to keep its promise on MSP
because Adani built huge godowns, purchased crops at a price. "Next year,
their prices will increase and he will sell those. If MSP is implemented, a
farmer won't sell his products to them at a cheaper rate," Satya Pal Malik
said. As the two leaders discussed the Manipur situation, Satya Pal Malik said
the government has no control in Manipur. "But it is only for six months.
I can give in writing. They will not come back to power," Satya Pal Malik
said.
2) Mahua Moitra
says want to 'cross-examine' Darshan Hiranandani, demands list of alleged
gifts:
In his affidavit, the
businessman had said that the TMC leader targeted Gautam Adani to "malign
and embarrass" Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Friday
told the Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha that businessman Darshan Hiranandani's
recent affidavit against her was “scant on detail and provides no actual
inventory” of gifts he had allegedly given to her in return for asking
questions in Parliament. She urged the panel to summon the businessman and
allow her “to exercise my right to cross-examine” him In his affidavit, the businessman
had said that the TMC leader targeted Gautam Adani to "malign and
embarrass" Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also claimed that he had given
information to Moitra on the basis of which she attacked the Adani Group in
Parliament. He alleged that he had gifted her expensive luxury items and paid
for the “renovation of her official” bungalow. He added that the MP had
provided him her login credentials of the Parliament's official website so that
he could "post the questions directly on her behalf”.
Responding to Mahua
Moitra's accusation that the affidavit was signed by the businessman under
pressure from the Central government, he said in a television interview last
week that he signed the document voluntarily, without "any fear or
favour". He called his using the MP's parliamentary login credentials an
"error of judgment".
"An affidavit
notarised at the Indian High Commission in Dubai on 20/10/2023 was submitted on
a suo moto basis to the Committee and released publicly to the media by Shri
Darshan Hiranandani. Shri Hiranandani in a public interview expressed his
willingness to appear before the committee. His affidavit available in the
public domain, is extremely scant on detail and provides no actual inventory of
what he has allegedly given me," Moitra wrote in a letter to the panel's
chief, Vinod Kumar Sonkar.
"Given the
seriousness of the allegations and in keeping with the principles of natural
justice, it is imperative that I am allowed to exercise my right to
cross-examine Shri Hiranandani," she added. She urged the panel to ask him
to appear in person and provide a detailed "verified list of the alleged
gifts and favours he allegedly provided to me".
She said that any probe
against her without recording Hiranandani's oral evidence “will be incomplete,
unfair and akin to holding a proverbial kangaroo court”.
She added that the
businessman would need to be called to depose before the panel prepares its
final report.
On Thursday, the panel
recorded the oral evidence of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant
Dehadrai. The panel summoned her on October 31. In her response, however, she
expressed her inability to appear in person before November 5. "I
represent the state of West Bengal where Durga Puja is the biggest festival. I
am already committed to attending numerous pre-scheduled Vijaya Dashami
Sammelans/meetings (both government and political) in my constituency from 30th
October to 4th November 2023 and cannot be in Delhi on 31st October 2023,"
Mahua wrote.
She also appeared to be
questioning Sonkar's comment to media before issuing summons to her.
"Chairman, Ethics
Comm announced my 31/10 summons on live TV way before the official letter
emailed to me at 19:20 hrs. All complaints and suo moto affidavits also
released to the media. I look forward to deposing immediately after my pre-
scheduled constituency programmes end on Nov 4," she wrote on X.
MP Dubey, citing alleged
evidence furnished to him by her former friend Dehadrai, has written to Lok
Sabha Speaker Om Birla that she had been accepting money and other inducements
in return for asking questions in Parliament. He also alleged that her
parliamentary account was accessed from Dubai when she was in India. Moitra has
rubbished all allegations against her. She has claimed that the Adani Group was
trying to silence her and the BJP wanted to expel her from the Lok Sabha.
"If Adani group is
relying on dodgy dossiers created by dubious Sanghis & circulated by fake
degree wallahs to either shut me up or bring me down I would advise them not to
waste their time," she had written on X.
3) Weeks before
Rajasthan election, ED raids state Congress chief’s premises:
In a post on the social
media platform X, Gehlot called “non-stop” ED raids in Rajasthan the proof of
the Congress winning the election. He added the federal agency was being
misused against the Congress as the BJP was unable to win the trust of the
people in Rajasthan.
The raids on the
premises of Dotasara, who is contesting the November 25 election from
Lacchmangarh in Sikar, began at 8.30am.
People aware of the
matter said the raids were being conducted in connection with the Rajasthan
Eligibility Examination for Teachers paper leak in 2021 The ED was raiding the
coaching centre in Sikar for the second time since August. Dotasara has denied
any links with the centre.
There were no immediate
comments from Dotasara, the Congress or the ED on the raids.
Opposition BJP lawmaker
Ram Lal Sharma insisted the raids were being conducted on the basis of
evidence. “They should be worried only if they are guilty. Everyone should
cooperate in the probe.”
Opposition parties have
been citing a pattern in raids and accusing the BJP-led Union government of
repeatedly targeting their leaders through raids, summons and arrests ahead of
elections. The federal agencies and the Union government have repeatedly denied
these charges.
The Congress earlier
this year called ED raids in Chhattisgarh a result of pre-poll surveys which
predicted a “massive rout” for the BJP. Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are going to
the polls along with Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Mizoram between November 7
and 30. This will be the last major electoral exercise ahead of the 2024 elections.
The Congress wrested
power from the BJP in the Hindi-speaking heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh months before the 2019 general elections. It is
hoping to retain power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and form the government in
Madhya Pradesh, the largest of the five states accounting for roughly 15% of
India’s population.
The Congress lost power
to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh in March 2020 after the resignations of 22
legislators.
The BJP lost to the
Congress in Himachal Pradesh in 2022 and Karnataka in May. The Congress is
particularly buoyed by its performance in Karnataka, where it returned to power
on the back of an ideological campaign centred on welfare, social justice, and anti-corruption.
Congress leader
Sachin Pilot on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of
misusing central agencies to intimidate Congress leaders in Rajasthan as the
state gears up for the assembly elections. Addressing a press conference at Congress
headquarters in New Delhi, Pilot expressed his concern over the timing and
questioned the intent behind the actions of the federal agencies.
4) BJP MP Ramesh
Bidhuri handed key role in Rajasthan polls ...:
Bhartiya Janata Party
(BJP) MP Ramesh Bidhuri who found himself in the midst of extreme criticism as
he uttered communal slur at Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Danish Ali in an
ongoing session in the Lok Sabha, has now been handed a key-responsibility in
the upcoming crucial Rajasthan Assembly Elections. According to media reports,
Bidhuri has been made the election in-charge of Tonk constituency in Rajasthan.
Notably, Tonk is Congress leader Sachin Pilot's stronghold. However, the
Congress is yet to publish their candidate list, but speculations are rife that
Pilot is set to contest from Tonk for the Rajasthan Assembly Elections.
The Rajasthan
Legislative Assembly election is scheduled to be held in or before November of
this year to elect representatives for the 200-member house. The Rajasthan
Assembly polls is one of the litmus test the Opposition INDIA bloc will undergo
along with BJP as opposition, ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha Polls. The previous Rajasthan assembly elections
were held in December 2018. After the election, Indian National Congress formed
the state government, with Ashok Gehlot becoming Chief Minister.
The Indian National
Congress had become the single largest party with 100 seats, short of majority
by 1 seat. The BJP won 73 seats, much lower compared to the previous election
in which it won an absolute majority of 163 seats.
The Indian National
Congress formed the government with the BSP.
Despite seeming fissures
in the Rajasthan BJP between former chief minister Vasundhara Raje along with
her loyalists, and the BJP central leadership with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
at its helm, the saffron camp looks to win back power to restore faith in their
prospect to cinching a third straight win for the upcoming Lok Sabha
Polls. The other crucial polls to test
the Opposition INDIA bloc versus the BJP are the Madhya Pradesh assembly
elections, the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections that would be held before the
general assembly polls.
Bidhuri's derogatory
remarks targeting BSP MP Danish Ali during a discussion on the success of the
Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission in the Lok Sabha last week have sparked a furore,
with opposition leaders calling for stringent action against the BJP MP.
On Friday, Ali had
written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, demanding the issue of Bidhuri using
abusive language on the floor of the House be referred to the privileges
committee. Ali had Sought an immediate inquiry into the matter.
Several members of the
Congress, TMC and NCP among others have written to Birla seeking strictest
action against Bidhuri.
5) MP Election
2023: BJP Workers Create Ruckus After Party Fields Abhilash Pandey From
Jabalpur North:
A huge number of BJP
workers not only jammed the BJP divisional office premises but thrashed the
guard. The BJP’s fifth list has sparked uproar among the party workers in
Jabalpur. Supporters of BJP leaders— Sharad Jain and Kamlesh Tiwari created
ruckus outside the party office over ticket denial.
BJP has fielded Abhilash
Pandey from Jabalpur North against the Congress candidate and sitting MLA Vinay
Saxena— who had defeated Shivraj government's minister Sharad Jain in the 2018
elections by a margin of only 500 and votes. Now, this has hurt the workers of
aspirants Sharad Jain and Kamlesh Tiwari. Both of them were seeking ticket from
Jabalpur North. A huge number of BJP workers not only jammed the BJP divisional
office premises but thrashed the guards who were trying to control the
rebellious outburst.
Also, slogans were
raised against BJP state president VD Sharma. They strongly demanded the
replacement of the candidate from the central north region of Jabalpur.
Protesters Assault
Gaurd
Reason behind the
furious workers was dissatisfaction over the candidate announced from the
Jabalpur North assembly constituency who is Abhilash Pandey. Angered, the
myriad number of protesters surrounded and grabbed a guard by collar, beat him
and even abused him.
6) 8 ex-Indian Navy
officers awarded death penalty in Qatar; ‘Deeply shocked’,:
The eight former Indian
Navy personnel have been in jail since August last year. The charges against
them were not made public by Qatari authorities. A court in Qatar has handed
down the death penalty to eight former Indian Navy personnel who have been
detained in the country for over a year. The Indian government expressed shock
over the sentencing and vowed to explore all available legal options to secure
the release of its citizens. The eight men, including decorated officers who
have commanded major Indian warships, were working for Al Dahra Global
Technologies and Consultancy Services, a private firm that provided training
and related services to Qatar’s armed forces and security agencies. Their bail
pleas were rejected numerous times and their detention was extended by Qatari
authorities.
Commander (retired)
Purnendu Tiwari, who is among the detained Indians, served as Al Dahra’s
managing director and commanded several warships while serving with the navy.
Deeply shocked’
"We have initial
information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a
judgment in the case involving 8 Indian employees of Al Dahra company. We are
deeply shocked by the verdict of death penalty and are awaiting the detailed
judgment," the ministry of external affairs said in a statement.
"We are in touch
with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal
options," it added.
The ministry stressed
that they attach high importance to the case and have been following it
closely.
“We will continue to
extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also take up the verdict with
Qatari authorities,” the ministry said, refusing to make any further comment at
this juncture due to the confidential nature of the proceedings of the case.
People familiar with the
matter recently told HT on condition of anonymity that the eight men have been
charged with espionage. Qatari and Indian authorities have never provided
details of the charges against the men, who were held in solitary confinement
for long spells. The people further said an Indian journalist and his spouse
were recently ordered by Qatari authorities to leave the country for reporting
on the case.
The Indian nationals had
their first trial in late March.
Meetu Bhargava, the
sister of one of the officers, had sought help from the Indian government to
bring her brother back, reported ANI.
In a post on X on June
8, Bhargava had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene.
"These Ex Navy
officers are the pride of the nation & again I request our Hon'ble Prime
Minister with folded hands that it is high time that they all are brought back
to India immediately without any further delay pl. @narendramodi @AmitShah
@rajnathsingh @MOS_MEA" she posted on X.
7) Durga Puja In
Kolkata 2023 | The famous Hindu Festival
Durga Puja is the
biggest Festival in Kolkata and other states in India. The Holy Mother, The
Goddes Durga, wins the battle, kills the Bull demon Mahishasur, Defeat of evil
forces, and rescues the Universe from the Demon King. That's Why People in Kolkata
or India celebrate this occasion. In this writing, we will get to know all the
minor and essential things related to this festival
Various rules and
schedules associated with Durga Puja:
Kolkata, India, is
famous for its culture, festivals, and Hindu mythology. There are many
festivals, and each festival carries different stories. In twelve months, the
Proverbs of the Thirteenth festival means full of cultural celebrations in
Kolkata. Still, among all other celebrations, Durga Puja is the biggest festival
in Kolkata and other places in India.
This Puja mainly occurs
in the month of Ashvina (September to October). The new moon day in Ashvina
month is called Mahalaya, and on that holy day, people pour water in the name
of their ancestors. After the new moon day, Devi Paksha starts, which means
establishing positive female power or shakti sthapana. On that Auspicious day,
Goddes Durga gets invited to her father's place on the Earth from her laws or
husband's abode, Kailash, for 5 days. Once a year, She comes to her paternal
house, so the people of Earth or Hinduism followers celebrate these five days
glamorously.
On the Mahalaya, We can
see the Chokkhu daan, which means the Idol artists Draw the eyes on Goddess
Durga Idol. This Puja or worship continues for nine days, and these 9 days are
known as Navaratri.
But in Kolkata, Bengali
people celebrate from the 6th day after Mahalaya.
In 2023, Goddes Durga is
coming in the vehicle of a Horse, which means the world will be engaging in
anarchy. Warlike conditions will be seen —also departing on a Horse, which is
not auspicious. Again, the exact vehicle arriving and leaving is not a good
sign. Holy Mother is coming, and it is enough for a Good deed, isn't it the
truth? Mother Durga will destroy all the bad events and replace them with good
ones.
GLIMPSES OF DURGA
PUJA 2023 IN WEST BENGAL:
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| Kashi Bose Lane |
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| Kumatully Park |
1) IND vs NZ World
Cup 2023: India won by 4 Wickets (12 Balls Left):
Dharamsala, October 22
Virat Kohli anchored
another tricky chase with perfection after Mohammad Shami’s sizzling
five-wicket haul as India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the World Cup
here on Sunday, their first win over Black Caps in an ICC event after 20
years.
Shami (5/54) starred
with the ball to restrict New Zealand to 273 all out despite Daryl Mitchell’s
gutsy 130 off 127 balls. Kohli (95 off 104) later anchored India’s chase with a
near blemish-free knock and shared three crucial 50-run stands with Shreyas
Iyer (33), KL Rahul (27) and Ravindra Jadeja (39 not out) to guide his side
home in 48 overs.With India on the cusp of victory, Kohli went for the record
equalling 49th ODI hundred but much to the disappointment of a packed crowd at
the HPCA stadium, he was caught in the deep. Chasing 274, Shubman Gill (26)
relied on his exquisite timing to find boundaries, while Rohit Sharma (46)
played the power game.
Gill drove Trent Boult
through extra cover and square to pick up back-to-back boundaries in the
seventh over. He then flicked Matt Henry through mid-on and midwicket to bring
up India’s 50 in just 7.4 overs.
Rohit looked in ominous
touch as he just planted his foot forward and lap-swept Henry to the backward
square leg boundary and then followed it up with a six over mid-off two balls
later. Rohit was lucky as he was dropped by New Zealand skipper Tom Latham
behind the stumps off Mitchell Santner in the next over and he punished the
left-arm spinner by tonking him over deep midwicket for a six the very next
ball.
But Rohit failed to cash
in as he dragged a Lockie Ferguson delivery onto the stumps in the next over to
end the dangerous-looking 71-run opening stand.
Ferguson dealt another
blow to India in his next over in the form of Gill, who was caught by Mitchell
at deep third-man boundary. Kohli then took the innings forward with the help
of Iyer (33 off 29) and K L Rahul (27 off 35).
However, two quick
wickets of Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav made things little difficult for India
before Kohli bailed out the hosts with a 78-run sixth-wicket stand with Jadeja
(39 not out).While Rahul fell LBW to Mitchell Santner, Surya was a victim of an
unnecessary mix up with Kohli as India slumped to 191 for 5.Kohli, however,
failed to match Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 centuries as he departed in the
48th over while going for a six. His knock was studded with eight fours and two
sixes.
India, though, had a
rare ordinary day in the field and were guilty of dropping three catches.
Kuldeep Yadav (2/73) was the most expensive bowler but got the important
wickets of Tom Lathan and Glenn Phillips.Sent into bat, Mitchell and Rachin
Ravindra (75 off 87 balls) rescued New Zealand after a poor start, sharing 159
runs off 152 balls for the third wicket.
Jasprit Bumrah (1/45)
and Mohammed Siraj (1/45), also played their part well.
The start was far from
rosy for New Zealand who lost Devon Conway early. The left-hander flicked a
Mohammed Siraj delivery straight to Shreyas Iyer at forward square leg in the
fourth over.Introduced into the attack in the ninth over, Shami struck with his
first ball of the tournament by removing Will Young, who played on to an
incoming delivery. Regarded as one of India’s best fielders, Ravindra Jadeja
dropped a sitter at point of Shami’s bowling to hand Ravindra a life.Ravindra
cashed in on the chance with both hands and together with Mitchell forged a
much needed partnership to stabilise the innings.The duo was particularly
severe against Kuldeep Yadav, clobbering the left-arm spinner for three huge
sixes straight over his head.Ravindra brought up his fifty off 56 balls, while
Mitchell’s half-century came in 60 deliveries.
The Indians were sloppy
on the field as Mitchell also got a reprieve on 69 in the 33rd over when
Jasprit Bumrah dropped an easy chance at the long-off boundary.Shami finally
broke the partnership in the next over when Ravindra failed to clear the
long-on boundary, handing a simple catch to Shubman Gill. Ravindra’s wicket
hardly bothered Mitchell who continued to play aggressively, smashing the
Indian bowlers with disdain as New Zealand brought up their 200 in 36.1
overs.Kuldeep, who was put under pressure for the first time in the
competition, finally tasted success when he had New skipper Tom Latham LBW with
a wrong one.India pulled things back significantly by picking up six wickets in
the last six overs for only 30 runs.
2) Women’s Asian
Champions Trophy: India beat Thailand 7-1
Local player Sangita
Kumari (29th, 45th, 45th) starred for the home team, scoring a hat-trick to
ensure that India maintained an unbeaten record Playing their first match on
home soil in one-and-a-half years, the Indian hockey team expectedly beat
Thailand 7-1 in the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy opener in Ranchi on Friday
evening.
Local player Sangita
Kumari (29th, 45th, 45th) starred for the home team, scoring a hat-trick to
ensure that India maintained an unbeaten record against the southeast Asian
team in the six games the two teams have played against each other.
However, Thailand, the
lowest ranked outfit in the six-team tournament at world No.29, scored their
first ever goal against India when Supansa Samanso sounded the board in the
22nd minute against the run of play. The other Indian goals came via Monika
(7th), Salima Tete (15th), Deepika (40th) and Lalremsiami (52nd).
While India was clearly
the dominant team, they were far from their best despite scoring seven. India
ripped apart the Thai defence, attacking regularly but lacked finishing, which
was all over the place, or the home team would surely have scored in double
digits. Vandana Katariya, Lalremsiami, Salima and Sangita created multiple
chances but missed out on scoring in the goal-line melee. Had it not been for
goalkeeper Siraya Yimkrajang, who was fighting a lone battle in the Thai D,
India would have scored many more.
India made 27 circle
penetrations of which 19 shots were on goal which could have been many more
goals had India not wasted some open chances. India did not use aerial balls
and relied more on long, grounded passes against an inexperienced Thailand
whose midfield and defence were completely flummoxed.
In penalty corners,
India wasted five out of their six chances – scoring only once when local girl
Salima scored from a rebound. Many injections from Salima or Ishika Chaudhary
were not even trapped properly let alone being slammed in towards the goal.
Thailand, on the other hand, had only two shots on goal and earned only two
penalty corners, converting one.
The 8,000 who had turned
up to witness Savita Punia and Co winning at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh
AstroTurf Hockey Stadium returned home happy, but the hosts will need to pick
up their game when they take on Malaysia on Saturday.
Earlier in the day,
defending champions Japan (Rika Okagawa 13th, Mai Toriyama 43rd, Shiho
Kobayakawa 54th) beat world No.18 Malaysia 3-0 while newly crowned Asian Games
champions China lost 0-1 to South Korea (An Sujin).
3) Asian Para
Games: Pramod Bhagat completes hat-trick of medals as India inch towards magic
mark:
Eight medals in
badminton help India ended the penultimate day of Hangzhou Asian Para Games at
99 medals Shuttler Pramod Bhagat bagged a gold medal in men's singles SL3 event
as India rode on a medal rush in badminton to end the penultimate day of the
Asian Para Games on the cusp of 100 medals. Bhagat beat compatriot Nitesh Kumar
22-20, 18-21, 21-19 to claim the gold medal on Friday. The 35-year-old had
earlier won a bronze each in Men's Doubles SL3-SL4 and Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5
events, making it his most successful Asian Para Games.
Hangzhou is the fourth
Asian Para Games for Bhagat who has won at least one medal in each of the last
three Asian Para Games. The only edition from where Bhagat returned
empty-handed from was his debut Asiad back in 2010. He won two medals from
Jakarta 2018 —a gold in men's singles and a bronze in doubles— and has a lone
bronze from the 2014 Incheon Games.
4) Tilottama Sen,
Arjun Babuta clinch two more Paris quota places for India:
The duo bagged shooting
squad’s ninth and 10th Paris 2024 Olympics quota places, on yet another golden
day for India at the on-going Asian Shooting Championship
Tilottama Sen, only 15,
who started shooting in 2020 during the pandemic to keep herself occupied, shot
down a Paris Olympics quota place for the country in 10m air rifle at the Asian
Championships in Changwon, Korea, on Friday.
She had qualified in
fourth place with a score of 630.5. Tilottama top things up a notch to shoot
252.3 in the final and win a silver and a quota.Another Paris Olympics quota
came for India in men's air rifle event, with Arjun Babuta too clinching a
silver medal. Showing remarkable form, Arjun first topped the qualification
with a high score of 633.4 points and then gave a tough fight to Tokyo Olympics
silver medallist Sheng Lihao of China, eventually winning a silver medal.
(251.2 points) Lihao won gold with 252.1 points.
Missing the gold medal
would not hurt Arjun that much, since the 24-year-old been has been eyeing an
Olympic quota for a long time and has consistently shot impressive scores in
the last one year. Having won a gold medal in Changwon World Cup last year, Arjun
had happy memories of the place. It showed in his shooting too."We knew it
was around the corner," says Deepali Deshpande, Arjun's coach and former
international shooter who has groomed him since his junior days. "He was
in good shape and I could see that he has settled down after the changes we
made in his shooting."
Deshpande says that
Arjun has come through a "testing period" in the last couple of
years, overcoming a bad back injury and also had to work on his "general
attitude."
"He is one of the
most talented shooters I have seen. He has an eye for precision which is a rare
ability in shooters. But he has lot of other issues. He is never satisfied and
can pick faults with anything -- from his posture to technique."It has
been a long time since Arjun came to the spotlight as a talented junior in 2016
with a clutch of international medals but he struggled at the senior level in
international events. A back injury pegged him back in 2018 and he took a year
off only to come back stronger after the Covid break. He worked hard on his
physical conditioning and results started showing in 2021. But Arjun was
constantly grappling with doubts, wondering whether he was good enough at the
highest level.
Narrating an incident,
Deshpande recalls when Arjun called her anxiously during a national trial in
Bhopal earlier this year as he was not able to get his technique right during
the pre-event training. It was an important trial to maintain his place in the
team.
"He was complaining
about everything from his posture to movement, that it was just not working. We
had a session in the morning and suggested a small correction in his stance for
better balance. For the next 60 shots he did not budge from his stance, stood
in that particular way and shot brilliantly. It is not easy to incorporate such
changes, especially in air rifle where you have to bear the weight of the rifle
and stand in one posture shot after shot, but that's how talented he is."
says Deshpande.
"He has been a work
in progress for a long time. We made changes in equipment, he had put on some
weight, so we worked on his physique. There were persistent changes," she
added. "The age around 23-24 is very critical... you can be unsure about
your career. You want to be more responsible but if things don't go your way it
can lead to self-doubt and create confusion in mind. He was dealing with all of
that but at the National Games last year there was a shift in his attitude. He
became calmer and more focussed," she said. Before he left for Korea,
Arjun had sessions with a well-known psychologist and that helped too.
While Arjun has come up
the tough way, polishing his skills and working on his mental strength all
these years, Tilottama's rise has been meteoric. Her father Sujit Sen had taken
her to a shooting club in Bengaluru so that her daughter can spend some time
away from home during Covid.
Little did he know that
Tilottama would be soon winning state and national medals and find herself in
the national team (2022). Last year she won bronze in junior world championships
in Cairo, and in August she came close to shooting down a quota place for Paris
Olympics at her first Senior World Championships in Baku. She finished 4th,
while Mehuli Ghosh who won the bronze sealed one quota place for India.
"She was so close
to getting a Paris Olympics quota and that left her disaapointed. She also
narrowly missed out on selection for the Asian Games. So she was very very
determined to win here," says Sujit.
"When she started
shooting it was just to keep her engaged. There was school during COVID and she
was sitting idle at home but gradually she picked up and started winning medals
in state and national events."
However, Tilottama was
still shooting casually until she saw the India blazer for the first-time last
year. "That changed something in her for sure. The flag, the India
colours, has made her take up the sport seriously."Serious enough for a
15-year-old to strike down an Olympic quota.
5) Asian Para
Games: Record-breaking Sachin, Sidhartha shine as India record best-ever haul
Shot putter Sachin
Khilari and shooter Sidhartha Babu smash Games records as India's medals tally
surges to 82
Reigning world champion
Sachin Sarjerao Khilari won a gold medal in men's shot put F46 event as India
recorded their best-ever medal haul at the Asian Para Games on Thursday. F46
events involve athletes with upper limb(s) disability, impaired muscle power,
or impaired passive range of movement. Khilari, who created an Asian record
with a throw of 16.21m at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris en
route a gold earlier this year, took the top spot in Hangzhou with a throw of
16.03m.Khilari's effort was also a Games record, beating China's Wei Enlong's
2018 mark of 15.67m. Enlong, meanwhile, finished second with the best throw of
14.93m while India's Rohit Kumar took the bronze (14.56m) in the five-man
final.
The 33-year-old, who has
already bagged a Paris Paralympics quota, began the proceedings with a moderate
effort of 13.42m but warmed up with a throw of 15.11m. He fouled his next attempt
but broke the Games record on the fourth try before logging a 15.46m effort. He
closed the competition with a foul.
Such was Khilari's
domination that three of his four throws would have won him a gold. Hailing
from Karagani village in Maharashtra's Sangli district, Khilari met with an
accident during his school days which led to disability in his left hand. He
lost his muscles from the elbow due to gangrene and despite several surgeries,
his arm never recovered.Undeterred, Khilari pursued his education and became a
mechanical engineer. He is also a visiting faculty at various coaching centres
in his hometown where he trains MPSC and UPSC aspirants.
Khilari's gold was the
first top finish of the day for India and as the day wore on, medals began to
flow. India closed the day with 82 medals (18 gold, 23 silver, 41 bronze), ten
clear of the previous best mark set in Jakarta in 2018. The gold medal count,
currently at 18, is also India's best ever at the Asian Para Games, going past
the 15 top finishes in 2018.
Hosts China continue to
lead the medals tally with 393 podium finishes followed by Iran (96), and Japan
(104). Iran hold the second place ahead of Japan on account of a better gold
medal count while India are currently placed eighth. With two more competition
days to go, India look set to realise their 100-medal target. At the recently
concluded Asian Games, Indian athletes delivered 107 medals, breaching the
100-medal mark at the Asiad for the first time.
6) World Cup: AFG
create history, defeat arch-rivals PAK by eight wickets:
Afghanistan created history on Monday, bagging
their first-ever win against Pakistan in cricket history, sealing a
eight-wicket win in ODI 22 of the ongoing 2023 World Cup, in Chennai. Chasing
283, Afghanistan reached 286/2 in 49 overs, courtesy of half-centuries from
Ibrahim Zadran (87), Rahmat Shah (77*) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65). The Afghans
received a strong start in the second innings from their openers, Gurbaz and
Zadran. In cruise control mode, their partnership came to a sudden end in the
22nd over, as Shaheen Shah Afridi removed Gurbaz for 65 off 53 balls. Rahmat
Shah came in to replace Gurbaz, and was building a steady partnership with
Zadran. Ibrahim Zadran narrowly missed out on a ton, smacking 87 off 113 balls,
and lost his wicket to Hasan Ali. Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (48*) hit
the match-winning four as Afghanistan sealed a historic win.
Earlier, late blitz by
Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan helped Pakistan impose 282/7 in 50 overs against
Afghanistan in the ongoing World Cup encounter in Chennai. Both the batters
scored 40 each, while Pakistan skipper Babar Azam scored 74(92) before getting
out against Noor Ahmad. Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique gave Pakistan a good
start after they won the toss and opted to bat. The pair added 56 runs for the
open wicket before Azmatullah Omarzai provided Afghanistan with the first blow
as he removed Imam for 12(22). Babar Azam and Shafique then kept things ticking
forward before Noor Ahmad broke the 104-run stand between the duo. Shafique was
trapped LBW for 58(75).
Noor struck again
shortly removing wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan for 8(10). Mohammad Nabi
then injected another blow and removed Saud Shakeel for 25(34). Babar Azam's
resistance also came to an end of 74(92).
Tejas:
Tejas may appeal to fans
of patriotic movies and defence dramas. But a better story and a tighter
screenplay would have made the movie more impactful.
An Indian Air Force
fighter pilot is on a daring mission to rescue a hostage from terrorists. The
kidnap is also related to an impending attack on India. Will the protagonist
and her co-pilot save the nation?
Review: The thriller draws inspiration from the milestone decision of 2016 when
the Indian Air Force welcomed women into combat positions. The movie’s
protagonist, Tejas Gill (Kangana Ranaut), is one such pilot who storms the male
bastion, eager to fly a fighter plane and serve the nation. Sharp and brave,
she persuades her seniors to send her on a mission to rescue a hostage, along
with her co-pilot Afia (Anshul Chauhan). The film is about Tejas’s derring-do,
love for the country, and whether she succeeds in her effort.
Seeing two women in the
thick of things instead of traditional roles is refreshing. Their brains and
bravery are their weapons; seeing them in action will convince you they can
pull off this feat. Writer-director Sarvesh Mewara has turned the tables as men
have only supporting roles as the love interest or dudes in distress whom Tejas
rescues. While a welcome change, the narrative, and Tejas’s bravura go
overboard. Instances like the tug-of-war with a male pilot, bashing up a goon,
and being attacked by Aboriginal tribals seem forced and excessive.
Keeping track of the
timelines gets challenging as the narrative switches between the past and the
present. As the story builds up, sequences seem abrupt, and one wishes for a
more cohesive screenplay. That being said, things turn thrilling once the main
rescue operation begins, and the movie offers some high-octane action scenes.
However, a parallel track of an impending terrorist attack proves to be
distracting.
Director of Photography
Hari K Vedantam presents a visually appealing fare and efficiently captures the
airstrikes, flights, and fight sequences in the deserts. The movie scores high
in the action department, which Kangana Ranaut pulls off with elan. The actress
looks every bit like a fighter pilot and performs action as effortlessly as
emotional scenes. Anshul Chauhan, as her loud but supportive and loyal
co-pilot, is impressive. Shashwat Sachdev’s music is a highlight, especially
Jaan Da rendered by Arijit Singh, the energetic Ranjhana, and the victory
anthem, Aag Udi.
12th Fail
The inspiring story of
an IPS officer who failed class 12 exams, did odd jobs, slept for just three
hours each night, and started over four times to clear the UPSC exams.
12th Fail review: Clearing the coveted Union Public Service Commission
(UPSC) exams is not for the weak, whether in academics or conviction. This
makes Manoj Kumar Sharma's (Vikrant Massey) story extraordinary. The boy from a
village in Chambal, Madhya Pradesh, flunks his 12th exams after the new DPS,
Dushyant Singh (Priyanshu Chatterjee), prevents the teachers from enabling
students to cheat in the 'borad' (board) exams. Manoj clears the following year
in the third division and reaches Delhi to appear for the Civil Services
examination. He has the fire but not the academic acumen to make it, so much so
that he's not even aware there's such a thing as the UPSC or the IPS profile.
The story follows Manoj and how he juggles menial jobs to survive while
realising his dream, with his mentor (Anshumaan Pushkar), friends, and
girlfriend Shraddha Joshi's (Medha Shankar) support.
Every track in the film
is a story in itself — from Manoj's misled youth where he doesn't know the
right from the wrong to his struggles and restarting from zero each time. The
viewer feels involved in Manoj's success or failure. As the tension mounts when
he goes for the final leg (the interview), silent pauses and the ambient sound
makes you hold your breath, too.
The narrative flows
easily as it harks back to legends such as APJ Kalam and BR Ambedkar's call to
his followers: 'Educate, agitate, organise.' The movie also subtly touches upon
why corrupt politicians want the youth to stay unintelligent — so they can be
suppressed and ruled.
Vikrant Massey handles a
demanding role and character arc with great aplomb. He does justice to the
character at every turn — whether he’s agitated, helpless or determined to turn
the tide in his favour. Priyanshu Chatterjee shines in his brief role as the
DCP, whose honesty is his bravery. His prowess as a performer is evident in the
scene where he meets Manoj as his superior. His reaction is a mix of respect
for a senior and pride for inspiring a young man to choose the right path. As
Manoj's parents, Geeta Agrawal Sharma and Harish Khanna deserve mention for
their nuanced performances.
'12th Fail' is top-class
and a must-watch that will leave you impressed and inspired through almost every
scene of its 147 minutes. Full marks to Chopra for ensuring he gets the best
out of every character in the movie.
Life On Our
Planet’- October 25, 2023
In 'Life on Our Planet,'
the enthralling tale of Earth's survival and evolution unfolds. While we may be
familiar with the 20 million species currently coexisting on our planet, they
represent only a fraction of its rich history. A staggering 99% of Earth's past
inhabitants have disappeared. This series delves deep into the captivating
narratives of these ancient civilisations, meticulously tracing their ascent
and eventual decline. This series will be streaming on Netflix.
Sister Death’-
October 27, 2023
Before the terrifying
events of the 2017 horror film 'Veronica,' 'Sister Death' transports you to post-war
Spain, immersing you in the unsettling prelude involving Narcisa, a young
novice with eerie supernatural powers. After her enrolment in a reformed
convent, which has now transformed into a girls' boarding school, her presence
becomes the focal point of disturbing phenomena and the emergence of a sinister
demonic entity. Right in time for Halloween, you can watch this movie on
Netflix.
MUJIB:
THE MAKING OF A NATION’ (DUBBED) REVIEW | 27 October, 2023
Bangladesh
Film Development Corporation and National Film Development Corporation
(India)’s Mujib: The Making Of A Nation (dubbed from the Bengali film of the
same name; UA) is a biographical film about the life of
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh and father of the
nation, popularly known as Bangabandhu. As is well-known, he was assassinated
with his family during the coup d’état in 1975.
Atul Tiwani and Shama Zaidi
have written a fairly interesting screenplay based on real-life incidents, with
assistance from a team comprising Anam Biswas, Gias Uddin Selim, Shihab Shaheen
and Sadhana Ahmed. The drama is quite engaging but it is also too lengthy and,
therefore, gets a bit boring at places. Tiwari and Zaidi have infused emotions
too but they could’ve done with more of them. Although the drama is
interesting, its appeal to the Indian audience would be limited as the story is
about the neighbouring country. Not just that, the appeal also reduces greatly
because many of the actors are neither Indian nor well-known for the Hindi
film-going audience. The climax has tremendous shock value even though it is
documented in history. Atul Tiwari and Shama Zaidi’s dialogues needed to be
more punch-packed.
Arifin Shuvoo does an excellent job as Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.
He brings the character alive with his realistic portrayal. Nusrat Imrose Tisha
is very natural as his wife, Renu (Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib). Tauquir Ahmed
lends superb support as Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Raisul Islam Asad has his
moments as Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani. Shahidul Alam Sachchu is good as A.K.
Fazlul Huq. Fazlur Rahman Babu makes his presence felt in the role of Mostaq
Ahmed. Gayasuddin Sheikh is impactful as M.A. Wazed Miah. Tushar Khan is
natural as Manik Miah. Nusraat Faria is dignified as Sheikh Hasina
Shyam
Benegal’s direction is very good. Shantanu Moitra’s music and Atul Tiwari’s
lyrics are in synch with the film’s mood. Akashdeep Pandey’s cinematography is
excellent. Sham Kaushal’s action and stunt scenes are realistic. Art direction
(by Sukracharyya Ghosh, Vishnu Nishad and Nitish Roy) is superb. Aseem Sinha’s
editing is crisp. Dubbing is excellent. Released on 27-10-’23 at Inox (daily 1 show)
Book of This Week:
Lifespan by :David
A. Sinclair:
In this
paradigm-shifting book from acclaimed Harvard Medical School doctor and one of
TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people on earth, Dr. David Sinclair
reveals that everything we think we know about ageing is wrong, and shares the
surprising, scientifically-proven methods that can help readers live younger,
longer. For decades, the medical community has looked to a variety of reasons
for why we age, and the consensus is that no one dies of old age; they die of
age-related diseases. That's because ageing is not a disease – it is
inevitable. But what if everything you think you know about ageing is wrong?
What if ageing is a disease? And that disease is curable. In THE EVOLUTION OF
AGEING, Dr. David Sinclair, one of the world’s foremost authorities on genetics
and ageing, argues just that. He has dedicated his life’s work to chasing more
than a longer lifespan – he wants to enable people to live longer, healthier,
and disease-free well into our hundreds. In this book, he reveals a bold new
theory of ageing, one that pinpoints a root cause of ageing that lies in an
ancient genetic survival circuit. This genetic trick – a circuit designed to
halt reproduction in order to repair damage to the genome –has enabled earth’s
early microcosms to survive and evolve into more advanced organisms. But this
same survival circuit is the reason we age: as genetic damage accumulates over
our lifespans from UV rays, environmental toxins, and unhealthy diets, our
genome is overwhelmed, causing gray hair, wrinkles, achy joints, heart issues,
dementia, and, ultimately, death. But genes aren’t our destiny; we have more
control over them than we’ve been taught to believe. We can’t change our DNA,
but we can harness the power of the epigenome to realise the true potential of
our genes. Drawing on his cutting-edge findings at the forefront of medical
research, Dr. Sinclair will provide a scientifically-proven roadmap to reverse
the genetic clock by activating our vitality genes, so we can live younger
longer. Readers will discover how a few simple lifestyle changes – like
intermittent fasting, avoiding too much animal protein, limiting sugar,
avoiding x-rays, exercising with the right intensity, and even trying cold
therapy – can activate our vitality genes. Dr. Sinclair ends the book with a
look to the near future, exploring what the world might look like – and what
will need to change – when we are all living well to 120 or more. Dr. Sinclair
takes what we have long accepted as the limits of human potential and mortality
and turns them into choices. LIFESPAN is destined to be the biggest book on genes,
biology, and longevity of this decade.
About David
Sinclair
David A. Sinclair,
Ph.D., A.O. is one of the world’s most famous and influential scientists, known
for his work on controlling the aging process. He is a tenured Professor at
Harvard Medical School and TIME magazine named him “one of the 100 most
influential people in the world” (2014) and among the “Top 50 People in
Healthcare” (2018). His newsletter is at www.lifespanbook.com and you can follow him on
Twitter @davidasinclair or IG at davidsinclairphd. He has a top healthcare
podcast series called Lifespan.
David is on the board of
directors of the American Federation for Aging Research and has received more
than thirty-five awards for his research and is an inventor on 40 patents. Dr.
Sinclair has been featured on The Joe Rogan Experience, 60 Minutes, a Barbara
Walters special, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal,
The New York Times, Fortune, and Newsweek, among others.
After thirty years of
searching for truths about human biology, David is in a unique position. If you
were to visit him in Boston, you’d most likely find him hanging out in his lab
at Harvard Medical School, where he's a professor in the Department of Genetics
and CoDirector of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biological Mechanisms of Aging
Research. He also runs a sister lab at his alma mater, the University of New
South Wales in Sydney. In his labs, teams of brilliant students and PhDs have
both accelerated and reversed aging in model organisms and have been
responsible for some of the most cited research in the field, published in some
of the world’s top scientific journals. He is also a cofounder of the journal
Aging, which provides space to other scientists to publish their research on
one of the most challenging and exciting questions of our time. He's also a
cofounder of the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research, a group of the top
twenty researchers in aging worldwide.
In trying to make
practical use of his discoveries, he has helped start a number of biotechnology
companies and sits as chair of the scientific boards of advisers of several
others. These companies work with hundreds of leading academics in scientific
areas ranging from the origin of life to genomics to pharmaceuticals. He is, of
course, aware of his own lab’s discoveries years before they are made public,
but through these associations, he is also aware of many other transformational
discoveries ahead of time, sometimes a decade ahead.
Having received the
equivalent of a knighthood in Australia and taken on the role of an ambassador
(hence the AO at the end of his name), he's been spending quite a bit of his
time briefing political and business leaders around the world about the ways
our understanding of aging is changing—and what that means for humanity going
forward.
David is committed to
turning key discoveries into medicines and technologies that help the world. He
is involved in a variety of activities beyond being an academic including being
a founder, equity owner, adviser, member of the board of directors, consultant,
investor, collaborator with, and inventor on patents licensed to companies
working to improve the human condition or national security. For an updated
list of activities, see
Nature Magazine
National Geographic
Cartoon Games
History Channel
Online Movies
Scientific American
Filmfare Mag
Online Britannica
Time Mag
Unexplained Mysteries
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