SUBHADITYA NEWS CHANNEL PRESENTS NEWS OF THIS WEEK DATED 11/5/2024:: SCIENCE,POLITICAL,SPORTS, MOVIES AND BOOK NEWS OF THIS WEEK

 

1) Lampreys have ‘fight or flight’ cells, challenging ideas about nervous system evolution By Claudia López Lloreda

These sympathetic nervous system cells were thought to be lacking in jawless vertebrates With terrifyingly sharp teeth arranged around a circular mouth, lampreys look about as primitive a vertebrate as you could imagine. But a new study finds that the animals have a surprising similarity to people: Lampreys have the nerve cells responsible for the “fight or flight” response. The finding challenges the idea that this part of the nervous system emerged later in evolutionary history, and it puts lampreys closer to complex vertebrates — like humans.

“The conclusions are textbook-changing level,” says Daniel Meulemans Medeiros, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Colorado Boulder who was not involved with the new study but has worked with the research group before. Sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) belong to a group of fish called jawless vertebrates, which scientists thought lacked nervous system characteristics seen in jawed vertebrates, such as the sympathetic nervous system. This system is what’s behind the “fight or flight” response, and it activates the body by releasing hormones to control body temperature and cardiovascular function.

In past work, Caltech neuroscientist Marianne Bronner had examined the lamprey nervous system in detail, specifically the peripheral nervous system, which lies outside of brain and spinal cord, and the neurons in the gut. While studying and developing markers for these neurons, Brittany Edens, a researcher in Bronner’s lab and coauthor of the new study, noticed peripheral neurons outside the lamprey’s intestine. Bronner’s team decided to investigate.

The team used a technique that tags and lights up specific mRNA in individual cells of lamprey embryos. That allowed the researchers to look at three or four genetic factors associated with sympathetic neurons simultaneously. A cluster of cells lining the heart and the trunk of the embryonic lampreys had these genetic factors, indicating that the cells were the sympathetic neurons seen in other vertebrates, the team reports April 17 in Nature.

Next, the team tracked where these cells originated by injecting a dye to label cells of the neural crest, a patch of stem cells that migrate during development and give rise to cells of the peripheral nervous system. The lamprey’s sympathetic neurons lit up with the dye, showing that the cells came from the neural crest, just like they do in more complex vertebrates.

But there were also key differences. Compared with other vertebrates, the lamprey’s sympathetic nervous system formed much later in development and the clusters of cells were smaller. Previous studies may have missed these cells by looking for them at the wrong time during embryo development. So even though the sympathetic system is present, it’s rudimentary nonetheless, Bronner says. “It’s very simplified compared to what it would be in mammals.”The findings suggest that the sympathetic nervous system was not an innovation of jawed vertebrates, but rather that the blueprint for it has been around since even before lampreys diverged from the main vertebrate line about half a billion years ago, says Shreyas Suryanarayana, a neuroscientist at Duke University who was not involved with the study.“As you look deeper, it becomes clear that the basic building blocks of these complex systems present in humans are, in fact, very old,” Suryanarayana says. In more complex vertebrates, this system then diversified, expanded and grew larger, he says.

Previous studies had already begun to dismantle the idea of a simple nervous system in lampreys. For example, researchers had found that connections and proteins in specific brain areas of the lamprey resembled those seen in other vertebrates. More recently, scientists found that signaling involved in how the lamprey’s brain organizes itself also applied to all vertebrates.

Medeiros suggests that researchers should now look even further back in evolutionary time at invertebrates to see if they also have sympathetic neurons, which could explain how the vertebrate nervous system evolved.

“That’s really the one of the questions that has fascinated me for years: How did you go from invertebrates to vertebrates?” Bronner says. “I don’t have the answer, but I will keep trying to figure it out.”

2) This snake goes to extremes to play dead — and it appears to pay off By Richard Kemeny

To avoid becoming a meal, some animals simply fake it until they make it. And fake deaths with several unappealing elements may make the whole display more efficient, a study finds. 

Dice snakes that bleed from the mouth and cover themselves in musk and feces spend less time pretending to be dead than those that don’t, researchers report May 8 in Biology Letters. These defenses, the scientists suggest, could be working in synergy: heightening the overall impact of the display while helping the snake escape a predator more quickly.

Death-feigning is a common defensive tactic across the animal kingdom (SN: 11/1/23). It often involves prey lying still while exposing vulnerable body parts, making it a high-risk but potentially high-reward maneuver. Many predators won’t touch apparently dead things, perhaps because of parasites, or maybe because the lack of movement doesn’t elicit their predatory response. 

The dice snake (Natrix tessellata) is particularly elaborate when staging its demise. When captured, it will thrash around and hiss before covering itself — and probably the predator — in feces and musk. For the grand finale, it opens its mouth agape, sticks out its tongue and fills its mouth with blood.

Biologists Vukašin Bjelica and Ana Golubović of the University of Belgrade in Serbia wanted to know if these combined defensive efforts make the whole ploy happen faster. They captured 263 wild dice snakes on the island of Golem Grad in North Macedonia and recorded any smearing of feces or musk. The team then placed the snakes on the ground and stepped out of sight, mimicking the actions of a hesitant predator, before recording all subsequent behaviors.

Just under half of the snakes smeared themselves in musk and feces, while around 10 percent bled from the mouth. Some fake deaths without musk, poop or blood lasted almost 40 seconds. The 11 snakes that combined all three defenses spent, on average, around two seconds less feigning death. 

Perhaps the trifecta of tricks heightens the intensity of the show for the predator, cutting the animals’ interaction short and increasing the snake’s chance of survival. “Two seconds might not be a lot but can be just enough for a snake to mount an escape if the predator backs away from attacking it,” says Bjelica. “Even the smallest chance can make a difference in being eaten or not.” 

Over the last decade, says evolutionary ecologist Tom Sherratt of Carleton University in Ottawa, “there has been a push not to see antipredator responses in isolation, but as an integrated whole.” The new findings, he says, raise some questions: “Why the variation? Why don’t they all have auto hemorrhaging and fecal display? It could be something about their experience, but there’s variation there to explain.” 

Ecologist Katja Rönkä of the University of Helsinki says the next step is to study the predator side of this behavior: “Why are they deterred by ‘dead’ animals, especially since they just saw them alive?”

3) ‘Milestone’ discovery as JWST confirms atmosphere on an Earth-like exoplanet By Sumeet Kulkarni

Astronomers say that they have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to detect for the first time an atmosphere surrounding a rocky planet outside the Solar System1. Although this planet cannot support life as we know it, in part because it is probably covered by a magma ocean, scientists might learn something from it about the early history of Earth — which is also a rocky planet and was once molten.

Finding a gaseous envelope around an Earth-like planet is a big milestone in exoplanet research, says Sara Seager, a planetary scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge who was not involved with the research. Earth’s thin atmosphere is crucial for sustaining life, and being able to spot atmospheres on similar terrestrial planets is an important step in the search for life beyond the Solar System.

The planet investigated by JWST, called 55 Cancri e, orbits a Sun-like star 12.6 parsecs away and is considered a super-Earth, a terrestrial planet a little bigger than Earth — in this case, with about twice Earth’s radius and more than eight times as heavy. According to a paper published today in Nature1, its atmosphere is probably rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide and has a thickness that is “up to a few per cent” of the planet’s radius.

A mysterious planet

Another reason that 55 Cancri e is uninhabitable is that it is very close to its star — around one sixty-fifth of the distance from Earth to the Sun. And yet, “it’s perhaps the most studied rocky planet”, says Aaron Bello-Arufe, an astrophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and a co-author of the paper. Its host star is bright in our night sky, and because it is large for a rocky planet, it’s easier to study than other planets outside the Solar System. “Every telescope or instrument that you can think of in astronomy has pointed to this planet at some point,” Bello-Arufe says.

55 Cancri e was so well studied that after JWST launched in December 2021, engineers pointed the observatory’s infrared spectrometers towards it for testing. These instruments can detect the chemical fingerprints of gases swirling around planets as they absorb infrared wavelengths from starlight. Bello-Arufe and his colleagues then decided to dig deeper to confirm whether the planet had an atmosphere.

Before the latest observations, astronomers had changed their minds about 55 Cancri e myriad times. The planet was discovered in 20042. At first, researchers thought it was probably the core of a gas giant similar to Jupiter. But in 2011, the Spitzer Space Telescope observed the planet as it passed in front of its star3, and researchers found that 55 Cancri e is in fact a lot smaller and denser than a gas giant, making it a rocky super-Earth. Some years later, researchers noticed that 55 Cancri e was cooler than it should have been for a planet so close to its star, indicating that it probably has an atmosphere4. One hypothesis was that the planet is a ‘water world’ enveloped by supercritical water molecules; another was that it is surrounded by an expansive, primordial atmosphere composed mainly of hydrogen and helium5. But these ideas were eventually disproved.

A planet so close to its star would be bombarded by stellar winds and have a hard time holding on to volatile molecules in its atmosphere, says Renyu Hu, a planetary scientist at JPL and a co-author of the latest study. Two possibilities remained, he says. The first was that the planet is completely dry, with an ultrathin atmosphere of vaporized rock. The second was that it has a thick atmosphere composed of heavier, volatile molecules that do not bleed away easily.

A clearer picture

The latest data indicate that 55 Cancri e’s atmosphere contains carbon-based gases, pointing to option two. The team collected bona fide evidence of an atmosphere, Seager says, but more observations are needed to determine its full composition, the relative quantities of gases present and its precise thickness.

Laura Schaefer, a planetary geologist at Stanford University in California, is interested in learning how 55 Cancri e’s atmosphere interacts with materials beneath the planet’s surface. It’s still possible that the atmosphere is being eroded by stellar winds, the study’s authors say, but the gases could be getting replenished by the melting and outgassing of rocks in the magma ocean.

“Earth probably went through at least one magma-ocean stage, maybe several,” Schaefer says. “Having actual present-day examples of magma oceans can help us understand the early history of our Solar System.”

4) Hacking the immune system could slow ageing — here’s how By Alison Abbott

Our immune system falters over time, which could explain the negative effects of ageing.Stem-cell researcher Carolina Florian didn’t trust what she was seeing. Her elderly laboratory mice were starting to look younger. They were more sprightly and their coats were sleeker. Yet all she had done was to briefly treat them — many weeks earlier — with a drug that corrected the organization of proteins inside a type of stem cell.

When technicians who were replicating her experiment in two other labs found the same thing, she started to feel more confident that the treatment was somehow rejuvenating the animals. In two papers, in 2020 and 2022, her team described how the approach extends the lifespan of mice and keeps them fit into old age1,2.

The target of Florian’s elixir is the immune system. The stem cells she treated are called haematopoietic, or blood, stem cells (HS cells), which give rise to all immune cells. As blood circulates, the mix of cells pervades every organ, affecting all bodily functions.

But the molecular composition of the HS cells changes with age, and this distorts the balance of immune cells that they produce. “Fixing the drift in them that occurs with time seems to fix a lot of the problems of ageing — not only in the immune system but also in the rest of the body,” says Florian, who is now at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain.

In March3, another team showed that restoring the balance between two key types of immune cell gives old mice more youthful immune systems, improving the animals’ ability to respond to vaccines and to stave off viral infections.Other scientists have used different experimental approaches to draw the same conclusion: rejuvenating the immune system rejuvenates many organs in an animal’s body, at least in mice. And, most intriguingly, evidence suggests that immune-system ageing might actually drive the ageing of those organs.

The potential — helping people to remain healthy in their later years — is seductive. But translating this knowledge into the clinic will be challenging. Interfering with the highly complex immune system can be perilous, researchers warn. So, at first, pioneers are setting their sights on important yet low-risk goals such as improving older people’s responses to vaccinations and improving the efficiency of cancer immunotherapies.

“The prospect that reversing immune ageing may control age-related diseases is enticing,” says stem-cell scientist Vittorio Sebastiano at Stanford Medical School in California. “But we are moving forward cautiously.”

Fading immunity

The human immune system is a complex beast whose multitudinous cellular and molecular components work together to shape development, protect against infections, help wounds to heal and eliminate cells that threaten to become cancerous. But it becomes less effective as people age and the system’s composition starts to change. In older age, people become susceptible to a range of infectious and non-infectious diseases — and more resistant to the protective power of vaccines.

The immune system has two main components: a fast-acting innate system, which destroys invading pathogens indiscriminately, and a more-precise adaptive immune system, whose components learn to recognize specific foreign bacteria and viruses and generate antibodies against them.

The HS cells in the bone marrow spawn the immune cells of both arms of the system. They differentiate into two main classes — lymphoid and myeloid — which go on to differentiate further. Lymphoid cells are mostly responsible for adaptive immunity, and include: B cells, which produce antibodies; T cells, which help to attack invaders and orchestrate complex immune responses; and natural killer cells, which destroy infected cells. Myeloid cells include a raft of cell types involved mostly in innate immunity.One of the earliest changes in the immune system as people age is the shrinking of the thymus, which begins after puberty. This organ is the crucible for T cells, but a lot of the tissue has turned to fat by the time people hit their 30s, slashing the production of new T cells and diminishing the power of the immune system. What’s more, the function of T cells alters as they age and become less specialized in their ability to recognize infectious agents.

The proportions of different types of immune cell circulating in the blood also changes. The ratio of myeloid to lymphoid cells skews markedly towards myeloid cells, which can drive inflammation. Moreover, increasing numbers of immune cells become senescent, meaning that they stop replicating but don’t die.

Any cell in the body can become senescent, typically when damaged by a mutation. Once in this state, cells start to secrete inflammatory signals, flagging themselves for destruction. This is an important anticancer and wound-healing mechanism that works well in youth. But when too much damage accumulates with ageing — and immune cells themselves also become senescent — the mechanism breaks down. Senescent immune cells, attracted by the inflammatory signals from senescent tissue, secrete their own inflammatory molecules. So not only do they fail to clean up properly, but they also add to the inflammation that damages surrounding healthy tissue. The phenomenon is known as ‘inflammaging’.

“It becomes a terrible positive feedback — a never-ending dance of destruction,” says immunologist Arne Akbar at University College London.

And evidence suggests that this feedback loop is kicked off by the immune system. In a series of experiments in mice4, Laura Niedernhofer at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis has shown that immune-cell senescence actually drives senescence in other tissues. “These cells are extremely dangerous,” she says.

Her team used genetic methods to eliminate an important DNA-repair enzyme in the immune system of the mice. The animals remained healthy until adulthood but then, unable to correct accumulating mutations, various types of immune cell started to become senescent.

A few months later, increasing numbers of cells in organs such as the liver and kidney also fell into senescence, and the organs showed signs of damage. These effects were all reversed when the scientists gave the mice immune cells from the spleens of young, healthy mice.

All of this suggests that fixing the characteristics of immune-system ageing could help to prevent or mitigate diseases of ageing, says Niedernhofer.

Battling senescence

Many scientists are trying to do just that, from very different angles. Lots of the approaches hint that very short treatments of the immune system might have long-term effects, keeping side effects to a more manageable minimum.

One approach is to tackle senescent immune cells head on, using drugs to either remove them or block the inflammatory factors they secrete. “Senescent immune cells have long been known to be very modifiable in humans,” says Niedernhofer. “They go up if you smoke and down if you exercise.” Some drugs — such as dasatinib, which is approved for the treatment of some cancers, and quercetin, which is marketed as an antioxidant dietary supplement but not approved as a drug — are known to reduce the age-related acceleration of senescence, and dozens of clinical trials are testing their impact on various age-related diseases. Niedernhofer herself is involved in a small clinical trial on older people with sepsis, a condition that becomes more deadly with age.

Her team is also doing experiments to assess which of the many types of immune cell is the most important in driving senescence in the body, which should help in the design of more precise therapies. Two types — T cells and natural killer cells — are emerging as key contenders, she says. She plans to screen natural products and drugs already approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration for their ability to interact with those types of immune cell in senescence.

Akbar thinks that targeting inflammation itself might be as effective as targeting the senescent cells. He and his colleagues did a study in healthy volunteers using the investigational compound losmapimod, which blocks an enzyme involved in the production of inflammatory molecules called cytokines. They treated the volunteers with the drug for four days, and then, over the course of a week, measured their skin responses to an injection of the virus that causes chickenpox. Most people are exposed to this virus during their lives and it frequently lingers in the body. But with age, people tend to lose their immunity to it, and it can then manifest as shingles. The drug restored the immune response in the skin in older volunteers to a level similar to that seen in the younger volunteers5. In unpublished work, Akbar has found the same robust skin results up to three months later.

“Temporarily blocking inflammation in this way to allow the immune system to function might similarly boost the response of older patients to flu vaccinations,” says Akbar.

Immune boost

The value of priming the aged immune system before administering a vaccine has been demonstrated in a series of clinical trials led by researcher Joan Mannick, chief executive of Tornado Therapeutics, which is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Those trials tested analogues of the drug rapamycin and other drugs with similar mechanisms, which target the immune system and are approved for prevention of organ transplant rejection and for the treatment of some cancers. The drugs block an enzyme, called mTOR, that is crucial for many physiological functions and which becomes dysregulated in old age.

For several weeks before receiving their influenza vaccinations, trial participants were treated with doses of the drugs that were low enough to avoid side effects. This treatment regimen improved their responses to the vaccine, and boosted the ability of their immune systems to resist viral infections in general.But rapamycin can raise susceptibility to infection and affect metabolism, so Mannick is planning trials with similar drugs that might have a safer profile. “But there are all sorts of different ways to try to improve the immune system,” she notes.

One other way is to try to restore the function of the thymus to maintain the production of new T cells. Immunologist Jarrod Dudakov at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington, is researching the basic biology of thymus cells to try to work out how they regenerate themselves after stressful assaults. “It’s all a bit early to see how this understanding will translate into the clinic,” he says. But he thinks that maintaining the ability of the thymus to generate a broad repertoire of T cells will be “foundational”.

Others are trying to combat ageing by generating thymic tissue from pluripotent stem cells for eventual transplantation. But Greg Fahy, chief scientific officer at Intervene Immune in Torrance, California, says he sees no need to wait for these long-term prospects to come to fruition, because an available drug — synthetic growth hormone — is already known to regenerate thymus tissue. He is doing a series of small studies on healthy volunteers using growth hormone as part of a cocktail of compounds. Early results indicate that the participants show increased levels of functional thymic tissue, and that their epigenetic clock — a biomarker of ageing — reverses by a couple of years6. Fahy is now extending the trial to look at whether the drug cocktail also improves physical fitness in a larger group of volunteers.

Turn back time

Another approach, not yet in the clinic, is to partially reprogram immune cells, to try to turn back the clock in cells that have become senescent. This involves transiently exposing the cells in a dish to a cocktail of transcription factors known to induce a pluripotent state in adult cells Sebastiano and his colleagues have shown in human cells that this process corrects the epigenetic changes that occur with ageing7. He has co-founded a start-up company to use the technique to try to counteract a problem in a cancer therapy known as CAR T, in which T cells are engineered outside the body to target and destroy a person’s cancer. But the T cells can turn senescent before they can be returned to the person. Rejuvenating them during the generation process would make production quicker and more robust, says Sebastiano.

Florian’s approach, too, aims to produce healthier immune cells — inside the body1,2. HS cells in the blood rack up epigenetic changes, and their environment also changes as they age. This causes proteins in the cells to arrange themselves more symmetrically — a process known as polarization — which shifts the balance of stem-cell differentiation in favour of myeloid cells over lymphoid cells. Florian’s studies used a four-day treatment with a compound, called CASIN, that inhibits one part of this process to correct the polarization, and helped the mice to live longer.

The team saw the same life-extending effects when HS cells from old mice given CASIN were transplanted into old mice that hadn’t received the treatment. “This very small step had a large impact,” says Florian.

Florian next hopes to bring her work to the clinic. As a first case study, she thinks her drug might support regeneration of the immune system after people receive chemotherapy for cancer.

How old?

Research on immune ageing faces some fundamental challenges. One is shared with ageing studies in all organs — the inability to measure ageing precisely.

“We don’t know in a quantitative, measurable, predictive way what ageing means at the molecular level in different cell types,” says Sebastiano. “Without those benchmarks, it is very hard to show rejuvenation.” Last year, a consortium of academics got together to begin developing a consensus on biomarkers of ageing — which will be essential when scientists come to seek approval from regulatory agencies for anti-ageing therapies.

Another challenge is the difficulty in pinning down what makes one immune cell unique. Until recently, it has been hard to demonstrate which subtypes of immune cells live where, and how they change with time.

But technologies such as single-cell RNA sequencing, which quantitatively measures the genes being expressed in individual cells, have tightened up analysis. A large study of immune cells in the blood of mice and humans across a range of ages published last November, for example, revealed 55 subpopulations. Just twelve of those changed with age8.

With so many strands of research coming together, scientists are cautiously hopeful that the immune system will indeed prove to be a key lever in healthy ageing. Don’t expect an elixir of youth any time soon, says Florian — by definition, ageing research takes a long time. “But there is such great potential for translation.”

5) New super-pure silicon chip opens path to powerful quantum computers by University of Melbourne

Researchers at the Universities of Melbourne and Manchester have invented a breakthrough technique for manufacturing highly purified silicon that brings powerful quantum computers a big step closer.The new technique to engineer ultra-pure silicon makes it the perfect material to make quantum computers at scale and with high accuracy, the researchers say.

Project co-supervisor Professor David Jamieson, from the University of Melbourne, said the innovation, published in Communications Materials, uses qubits of phosphorous atoms implanted into crystals of pure stable silicon and could overcome a critical barrier to quantum computing by extending the duration of notoriously fragile quantum coherence.

"Fragile quantum coherence means computing errors build up rapidly. With robust coherence provided by our new technique, quantum computers could solve in hours or minutes some problems that would take conventional or 'classical' computers—even supercomputers—centuries," Professor Jamieson said.

Quantum bits or qubits—the building blocks of quantum computers—are susceptible to tiny changes in their environment, including temperature fluctuations. Even when operated in tranquil refrigerators near absolute zero (minus 273 degrees Celsius), current quantum computers can maintain error-free coherence for only a tiny fraction of a second.

University of Manchester co-supervisor Professor Richard Curry said ultra-pure silicon allowed construction of high-performance qubit devices—a critical component required to pave the way towards scalable quantum computers."What we've been able to do is effectively create a critical 'brick' needed to construct a silicon-based quantum computer. It's a crucial step to making a technology that has the potential to be transformative for humankind," Professor Curry said.

Lead author Ravi Acharya, a joint University of Manchester/University of Melbourne Cookson Scholar, said the great advantage of silicon chip quantum computing was it used the same essential techniques that make the chips used in today's computers.

"Electronic chips currently within an everyday computer consist of billions of transistors—these can also be used to create qubits for silicon-based quantum devices. The ability to create high quality silicon qubits has in part been limited to date by the purity of the silicon starting material used. The breakthrough purity we show here solves this problem."

Professor Jamieson said the new highly purified silicon computer chips house and protect the qubits so they can sustain quantum coherence much longer, enabling complex calculations with greatly reduced need for error correction."Our technique opens the path to reliable quantum computers that promise step changes across society, including in artificial intelligence, secure data and communications, vaccine and drug design, and energy use, logistics and manufacturing," he said.

Silicon—made from beach sand—is the key material for today's information technology industry because it is an abundant and versatile semiconductor: It can act as a conductor or an insulator of electrical current, depending on which other chemical elements are added to it.

"Others are experimenting with alternatives, but we believe silicon is the leading candidate for quantum computer chips that will enable the enduring coherence required for reliable quantum calculations," Professor Jamieson said.

"The problem is that while naturally occurring silicon is mostly the desirable isotope silicon-28, there's also about 4.5 percent silicon-29. Silicon-29 has an extra neutron in each atom's nucleus that acts like a tiny rogue magnet, destroying quantum coherence and creating computing errors," he said.

The researchers directed a focused, high-speed beam of pure silicon-28 at a silicon chip so the silicon-28 gradually replaced the silicon-29 atoms in the chip, reducing silicon-29 from 4.5% to two parts per million (0.0002 percent).

"The great news is to purify silicon to this level, we that you would find in any semiconductor fabrication lab, tuned to a specific configuration that we designed," Professor Jamieson said.

In previously published research with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, the University of Melbourne set—and still holds—the world record for single-qubit coherence of 30 seconds using silicon that was less purified. Thi

seconds is plenty of time to complete error-free, complex quantum calculations.

Professor Jamieson said the largest existing quantum computers had more than 1,000 qubits, but errors occurred within milliseconds due to lost coherence.

"Now that we can produce extremely pure silicon-28, our next step will be to demonstrate that we can sustain quantum coherence for many qubits simultaneously. A reliable quantum computer with just 30 qubits would exceed the power of today's supercomputers for some applications," he said.

A 2020 report from Australia's CSIRO estimated that quantum computing in Australia has potential to create 10,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in annual revenue by 2040.

"Our research takes us significantly closer to realizing this potential," Professor Jamieson said

 

1) Lok Sabha Election 2024 Voting highlights: 63% voter turnout recorded across 11 states, UTs in Phase 3

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Voting Live Updates: Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat recorded nearly 57% voter turnout as of 10:15 pm in Phase 3 voting on May 7. Meanwhile, Assam recorded the highest turnout at 77%. Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live Updates: The polling will is being held in 93 Lok Sabha constituencies across 11 states and Union Territories in the third phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 today. As many as 1,331 candidates are in the fray in the Phase 3 polls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were among the first voters on Tuesday. Before casting his vote the PM urged all those who are voting in today’s phase to vote in record numbers. “Their active participation will certainly make the elections more vibrant," the PM said in a post on X.

Fate of over 283 Lok Sabha seats would be sealed after the third phase is over today. This means elections to more than half of the 543 Lok Sabha seats will be over in the first three phases.

Voting began at 7 am and ends at 6 pm. About 39.92 % voter turnout was recorded across 93 seats until 1 pm, according to the poll panel in the Phase 3 of polling on Tuesday. West Bengal recorded highest 49.27% turnout till 1 pm.

Voting will be completed in Gujarat and Goa states and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Union Territory on Tuesday. Also with 14 seats voting in this phase, voting for all 28 seats of Karnataka will also be over today. With seven seats voting today, the Lok Sabha Election for 11 seats of Chhattisgarh will also be over.

Among the other seats third phase are four in Assam, five in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, nine in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, 10 in Uttar Pradesh and four in West Bengal.

Among the key candidates whose fate will be sealed today include Union Home Minister Amit Shah who is contesting from Gandhinagar (Gujarat),  Shivraj Singh Chouhan from Vidisha (MP), Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna (MP) and Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri (UP), to name a few.Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule taking on his nephew Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar from Baramati seat in Maharashtra is also a keenly-watched contest in third phase.

Union Ministers Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot) and Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) are also in the fray in this phase of polling.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies bad won 75 of the 93 seats going to polls on Tuesday. Of these 71 where by the BJP alone. The INDIA bloc parties had won only 8 seats. The Congress had won just four seats. Four seats were bagged the undivided Shiv Sena, three by undivided NCP, two by independents, and one by the AIUDF.

As many as 17.24 crore voters are eligible to vote in the third phase. Around 18.5 lakh Polling officials have been deployed across 1.85 lakh polling stations, the poll panel said. There are over 14.04 lakh registered 85+ year-old voters. Another 39,599 voters are above 100 years of age in phase 3 polling.The first two phases of elections were held on April 19 and 26. Overall, voting for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases. The remaining phases will be held on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes for all seven phases of Lok Sabha Elections will take place on June 4.The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is seeking a record third term under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has set a target of winning 400 seats this election. The ruling alliance is challenged by the opposition parties led by the Congress under the banner of the INDIA bloc.

2) Lok Sabha election 2024: Voter turnout sees a 2.9% point dip over 2019 during Phase 3 polling

Phase 3 of the Lok Sabha election 2023 saw a 2.9% drop in voter turnout compared to 2019. Assam had the highest turnout at 81.61% and Uttar Pradesh the lowest at 57.34%.Phase 3 of the Lok Sabha election 2023, which covered 11 states and 93 constituencies, recorded a 2.9% point dip in voter turnout compared to 2019, Election Commission data revealed.The voter turnout for the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls, which took place on Tuesday, stood at 64.4%, whereas in the 2019 general election, these constituencies recorded a turnout of 67.33%.This year, the voter turnout dipped during Phase 1 and Phase 2 as well. As per the poll panel, in the first phase, held on April 19, the final turnout was 66.14%--a drop of just under 4 percentage points compared to 2019.

In the second phase, the final turnout was 66.71%--a drop of about 3 percentage points from 2019.The highest voter turnout in the third phase was recorded in Assam at 81.61%, and the lowest was in Uttar Pradesh at 57.34%.

The voter turnout in seats in other states that voted on Tuesday in the third phase is Bihar -58.18 %, Chhattisgarh -71.06 %, Goa -75.20 %, Gujarat-58.98 %, Karnataka-70.41 %, Madhya Pradesh - 66.05 %, Maharashtra - 61.44 % and West Bengal -75.79 %, as per the latest ECI data.A total of 1331 candidates, including around 120 women, were in the electoral fray in this phase. A total of 17.24 crore voters were eligible to cast their franchise in the third-phase at 1.85 lakh polling stations.With the conclusion of Phase 3, polling is over in 20 States/UTs and 283 constituencies for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.Prominent leaders who contested in the Phase 3 poll battle included Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former Madhya Pradesh chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Digvijaya Singh, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav, and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule

3) Arvind Kejriwal gets interim bail till June 1, will have to surrender next day

Arvind Kejriwal will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2, the Supreme Court said.The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal till June 1 in a big relief. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta passed the order after it heard both sides earlier. The interim bail has been granted in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha election -- though the Enforcement Directorate opposed it and said campaigning for the election was not a constitutional right. An interim bail till June 1 means Kejriwal will be out of jail when Delhi votes on May 25. On June 2, Kejriwal will have to surrender. He will be in jail on June 4, the counting and the result day.

The detailed order mentioning the bail conditions will be uploaded by evening.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy. The interim bail means he would walk out of Tihar jail after over a month.

When will Kejriwal walk out of Tihar?

The formalities take some time and Kejriwal may not actually walk out of Tihar today but Kejriwal's lawyer Shadan Farasat said they will be trying for Kejriwal's release today itself. The interim bail order has no restriction o his election campaigning, Farasat said.

Why Kejriwal granted 21-day interim bail: What Supreme Court said to ED

The ED opposed the interim bail for electioneering and said there are no such precedents available that a politician was granted interim bail for his campaigning. The Supreme Court reasoned that granting 21-day interim bail to Kejriwal would not make much of a difference.The Supreme Court bench on Tuesday hinted at granting interim bail to Kejriwal so that he can campaign for the elections. It said if interim bail were granted, Kejriwal would not be allowed to discharge any official duties as the chief minister. Kejriwal's counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi first opposed it but later agreed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing ED, told the bench at an earlier hearing that there can't be any deviation only because Kejriwal is Chief Minister and asked if the Supreme Court is carving out exceptions for politicians.

"How can a Chief Minister be treated differently from an aam aadmi? There can't be any deviation only because he is a chief minister. Would campaigning for elections be more important?" he had argued. The top court said elections are held once in every five years.

4) Out on bail, Arvind Kejriwal to kickstart his Lok Sabha campaign today: 10 points

Arvind Kejriwal has been barred by the Supreme Court from visiting the chief minister's office or the Delhi secretariat Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday walked out of Tihar Jail on interim bail after spending 40 days in judicial custody. In his first reaction, he thanked Lord Hanuman and sought people's support to end alleged "dictatorship" in India. He will today carry out a road show in Delhi.I am feeling great to be with you. I had told you that I would come out soon... First of all, I want to pay obeisance to Lord Hanuman. I am among you because of the blessings of Lord Hanuman," he said.

Here are 10 points on Arvind Kejriwal's bail:

Arvind Kejriwal also thanked the Supreme Court for granting him bail till June 1. He announced that he will participate in a roadshow in South Delhi's Mehrauli today. The roadshow will be Arvind Kejriwal's first political engagement since he was jailed on March 21. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann will also participate in the road show.

Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the Delhi liquor policy case, has been barred by the Supreme Court from visiting his office or the Delhi secretariat.

Arvind Kejriwal can't even sign files except those that require the lieutenant governor's approval.

Apart from barring him from visiting his office and the Delhi secretariat, the court also asked him to not make any comment linked to his alleged role in the Delhi excise policy case.

The court has also asked him to surrender on June 2, a day after the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections gets over.

On Friday, Arvind Kejriwal invited his supporters to visit Connaught Place's Hanuman temple at 11 am today. AAP leaders hailed Arvind Kejriwal's release. "Truth can be troubled but not defeated. The decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court is welcome. The dictatorship will end. Satyamev Jayate," said AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who recently came out of jail.

Union minister Amit Shah, meanwhile, said the people of the country will remind him of the excise scam. "This is not regular bail. It is an interim bail. He can campaign but every time he goes to campaign, people will be reminded of the excise scam," he said.

Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal, who has been campaigning for the party in her husband's absence, said his release was the victory of democracy. "Hanuman ji ki jai. This is the victory of democracy. It is the result of the prayers and blessings of millions of people. Many thanks to everyone," she wrote on X in Hindi.

While granting him bail, the Supreme Court asked him to furnish bail bonds of ₹50,000. Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate opposed his bail saying it would be like giving "the premium of placing the politicians in a benefic position compared to ordinary citizens of this country".The bench, however, noted that Kejriwal wasn't convicted, and wasn't a criminal or a threat to the society.

5) Why is Cong quiet on Adani, Ambani, have they received funds from them: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today alleged that Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has stopped attacking his government for being close to industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani since the elections were announced and asked the Congress to declare funds that they have received from these industrialists.

For years, Congress’s Prince (shehzade) would all the time talk about '5 industrialists'... then they started to name 'Ambani' and 'Adani'... But since the elections are declared, they have stopped abusing Ambani, Adani…," he said while addressing an election rally in Telangana's Warangal on Wednesday.Why? I wish to ask the Shehzadey of Congress to declare how much black money have they received from Adani, and Ambani?" Modi said.

How Congress leaders countered charge

This charge was countered by several leaders of the Congress party, who have said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is staring at an impending defeat in the general elections and, hence, making such baseless allegations.

"Let me remind you Prime Minister ji. From 3 April until now (8 May), Rahul Gandhi ji has spoken about Gautam Adani 103 times and 30 times about Mukesh Ambani," Congress leader Pawan Khera said in a video uploaded on social media website X.

Emails sent to the Reliance and Adani Group did not elicit any response till the time of going to print.Gandhi and several other opposition leaders have, even in Parliament, made allegations of crony capitalism against the Modi government for helping his ‘industrialist friends’. Gandhi had, during the 2019 elections, alleged that the Modi government had helped Anil Ambani through offset deals in the Rafale purchase.Gandhi and several other opposition leaders have, even in Parliament, made allegations of crony capitalism against the Modi government for helping his ‘industrialist friends’. Gandhi had, during the 2019 elections, alleged that the Modi government had helped Anil Ambani through offset deals in the Rafale purchase.

During February 2023, Gandhi had raised allegations of a close relationship between PM Modi and Adani by holding a photo of Modi with Adani on the businessman’s plane. Gandhi's aim was to emphasize their perceived proximity and potential influence.

He had stated, “From Tamil Nadu, Kerala to Himachal Pradesh, we have been listening to only one name everywhere - 'Adani'. Across the country, it's just 'Adani', 'Adani', 'Adani'... People wondered how Adani was successful in every business he entered." This statement underlined the widespread discussions surrounding Adani's business ventures and his perceived influence.During February 2023, Gandhi had raised allegations of a close relationship between PM Modi and Adani by holding a photo of Modi with Adani on the businessman’s plane. Gandhi's aim was to emphasize their perceived proximity and potential influence.

He had stated, “From Tamil Nadu, Kerala to Himachal Pradesh, we have been listening to only one name everywhere - 'Adani'. Across the country, it's just 'Adani', 'Adani', 'Adani'... People wondered how Adani was successful in every business he entered." This statement underlined the widespread discussions surrounding Adani's business ventures and his perceived influence.Gandhi had also alleged that the Adani Group over-invoiced coal imports, leading to a hike in power tariffs. Gandhi stated, “We are providing subsidies in Karnataka and will also do so in Madhya Pradesh if we come in power. But the youth of the country must understand, that ‘as soon as you switch on the fan or light, the money goes into the pocket of Gautam Adani.’"

Gandhi had also alleged that the government is blocking his attempts to raise concerns about Adani in Parliament, claiming that his microphone was turned off when he spoke about the businessman.Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed - it's all here

6) INDIA bloc storm arriving in Uttar Pradesh: Rahul Gandhi

At a joint rally with Akhilesh Yadav in Kannauj, Rahul Gandhi predicts 50 seats for SP-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh, says the BJP will face its worst defeat Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday asserted that an INDIA bloc storm was arriving in Uttar Pradesh and the ruling BJP was going to face its worst- ever defeat on June 4, the day votes are counted after conclusion of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls on June 1.

He claimed the INDIA bloc would win more than 50 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Gandhi was addressing a joint rally with Akhilesh Yadav in Kannauj, where the Samajwadi Party chief is contesting the Lok Sabha polls. The two leaders addressed another public meeting in Kanpur, 80 km away.

In Kannauj, Gandhi called Akhilesh his “brother” who was on way to a historic win and predicted Narendra Modi was not going to be the prime minister again on June 4.

“(On) June 4, 2024, Narendra Modi will not be the prime minister of India, you take it in writing (from me),” Gandhi said.

“Whatever we had to do, we have done. Now, you will see that in Uttar Pradesh, our alliance is going to get not less than 50 seats. We have stopped the BJP in other states,” he said.The Congress and the Samajwadi Party, both constituents of the INDIA bloc, are contesting the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance in Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Kannauj and Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli, besides Wayanad in Kerala.

“The INDIA alliance and Akhilesh Yadav are going to win big here,” Gandhi said in Kannauj.“A storm of the INDIA alliance is arriving in U.P, and the BJP is going to face its biggest defeat in the country, here in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

He said Uttar Pradesh, which paves the way for the country, has made up its mind for a change.The public has made up its mind,” he emphasised.Attacking Modi, he said the prime minister did not take the names of Adani and Ambani in the last 10 years but did so a few days ago.“He took the names of his friends only when he realised INDIA alliance has cornered him; he wants to save himself because he is losing,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi further said the prime minister had questioned whether Ambani-Adani had sent tempo loads of black money and added that the prime minister has personal experience of the tempo.

“The PM has said they (Ambani-Adani) give black money, why hasn’t he sent the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after them?”

Modi had made the remarks at a rally in Telangana on May 8.

“Since his Rafale issue got grounded, he started chanting about ‘five industrialists’. Then he started saying Ambani-Adani. But ever since elections have been announced, these people (Congress) have stopped abusing Ambani-Adani. I want to ask from Telangana soil, let the shehzada announce, how much has been lifted from Ambani-Adani? Has tempo loads of money reached the Congress?” Modi had said, referring to Rahul Gandhi as prince.For his part, Rahul Gandhi on Friday also claimed that now, the BJP, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah will attempt to divert “your attention”.

“For the next 10-15 days, they will try to divert your attention...Don’t get distracted,” he said, adding there is just one issue in the general elections in India.

All issues arise out of it - the Constitution of India, which the BJP wants to change, he added.“Akhilesh and I have decided that no matter what, we will not allow the Constitution of India to be touched,” he further said.

In Kanpur, Gandhi said the Modi government ruined the small and medium-scale businesses with GST and demonetisation.Ask anyone, they would say the Modi government finished their businesses, he said.In Kannauj, Akhilesh Yadav was emotional and remembered the legacy of his father Samajwadi Party founder, the late Mulayam Singh Yadav, and his own association with the district. Akhilesh Yadav had made his electoral debut in Kannauj in the year 2000 when he won a Lok Sabha by-election from the constituency. He retained the seat in 2004 and 2009 but vacated it in 2012 on being sworn in as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

“Whether I contested from Kannauj or not, I never left the people of Kannauj,” Akhilesh said, exhorting the people to wash way the BJP with the votes like they (BJP workers) allegedly washed a temple premises after his visit in Kannauj recently.

He said the farmers, youths and women all want a change from the “misrule of the BJP”, which only made false promises and lied to them at every step.The fourth phase of this election was going to be decisive and people were all set to disturb the balance of the BJP, which was sliding fast, he said.

Both Kannauj and Kanpur will go to the polls in the fourth phase on May 13.

 

 

 1) Former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh to face trial for sexual harassment of women wrestlers

The charges against Brij Bhushan were framed by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot of the Rouse Avenue Court. The detailed order is awaited.A Delhi court on Friday framed charges of sexual harassment against the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Singh. He will now face trial for allegedly harassing five women wrestlers. The charges against Brij Bhushan were framed by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot of the Rouse Avenue Court. The detailed order is awaited.

Sufficient material

In an open court, the judge said there was sufficient material on record to frame the accused for the offences punishable under Sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 354A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), with respect to five wrestlers who were named as Victim No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 by the court.

The court also observed that there was sufficient material on record to frame charges against Brij Bhushan for the offence punishable under Section 506(1) (criminal intimidation) with respect to two wrestlers.Charges were also framed against Vinod Tomar, suspended assistant secretary of WFI, who is also an accused in this case for the offence of criminal intimidation against Victim No. 1.

The court has discharged him from the offence of abetment with regard to all the accused.

Protest for months

Many renowned wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat, had protested for months in New Delhi last year, demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan for allegedly sexually harassing several women grapplers, including a minor.

The harassment took place between 2016 and 2019 at the WFI office, Brij Bhushan’s official residence, and also abroad, the victims alleged.

As the wrestlers’ protest continued for weeks, the sports ministry had constituted an oversight committee to internally investigate the matter.The police filed an FIR against Brij Bhushan after the intervention of the Supreme Court in May 2023. In June, a 1,000-page chargesheet was filed at the Rouse Avenue court.

A minor wrestler, who too had protested against the former WFI president, later took back her complaint and changed the statement.

‘False and motivated’

During the hearing on framing of charges, Brij Bhushan maintained that the case was “false and motivated”.

Sakshi, who was at the forefront of the wrestlers’ protest in Jantar Mantar, said all the women wrestlers were happy that charges have been framed against Brij Bhushan and Tomar..

“We have full faith in the judiciary, and look forward to a fair trial and justice being meted out to us,” said Sakshi.

2) Charges framed against Brij Bhushan: Vinesh Phogat – ‘Sends a strong message that women can take on powerful men’

Wrestlers hail Delhi court's decision to frame charges against sexual harassment accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, say their battle will continue Calling it a significant victory in the fight for justice by women wrestlers, top grapplers welcomed the framing of sexual harassment charges against former Wrestling Federation of India president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

“It is a big victory for women and sends a strong message that women can take on powerful men and they don’t have to be afraid. Protesting against someone so powerful was not easy but we were determined that women wrestlers should get justice. The framing of charges is a significant development and the fight in court will continue,” Vinesh Phoghat told The Indian Express.

Phogat, a two-time world championship medallist, and Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik were leading the protests demanding the arrest of Singh after six women wrestlers complained of sexual harassment.A Delhi Court on Friday ordered the framing of charges against Singh. The Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot stated that there was sufficient material to frame charges against Singh in the offences of outraging the modesty of a woman and sexual harassment (sections 354 and 354A of the IPC). For Vinod Tomar, the former WFI assistant secretary who is the second accused in the case, the Court noted that there was sufficient material to frame charges against him for criminal intimidation concerning the allegations of one victim.

“There were so many questions raised by critics when we started our protest demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan. But we were steadfast in our quest to get justice. At the same time, we were worried that Brij Buushan could use his powerful connections. But we had a lot of faith in our lawyer and today was a victory in court for us but the battle will continue. People in the wrestling fraternity knew what Brij Bhushan had done over the years but most of them had Bajrang’s wife Sangeeta Phogat, a national medalist, posted a press statement on X which read: “As complainants of the sexual harassment of women wrestlers by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, MP, the then president of the Wrestling Federation of India, the women wrestlers are today extremely happy that charges have been framed against him… and Federation secretary Vinod Tomar under section 506 IPC.

“This is a major milestone in our 18-month-long movement against the main perpetrator of sexual crimes against women wrestlers, which has been going on since January 2003 on the streets, committees, Jantar Mantar and now in court. We have full faith in the judiciary and hope for a fair hearing and justice. We are extremely grateful to our legal team led by senior advocate Rebecca John… We also thank all those women who stood shoulder to shoulder with us.”

Bajrang also took to X with the message ‘Satyameva Jayate’.

“Charges have been framed against Brij Bhushan. Thanks to the honourable court. This is a big victory for the struggle of women wrestlers. The daughters of the country have had to go through such a difficult time, but this decision will give them relief. Those who trolled women wrestlers should also be ashamed.”

Brij Bhushan had been found liable for prosecution for sexual harassment, molestation and stalking of women wrestlers in a Delhi Police chargesheet. Six women wrestlers had filed a complaint of sexual harassment in April last year and India’s top wrestlers had protested for two months at Jantar Mantar demanding his arrest. The Delhi Court on Friday stated that for all allegations levelled against Bhushan by victim number 6, he has been discharged. The sixth victim’s allegations dated back to 2012.

Last week, a Delhi court rejected Brij Bhushan’s plea of seeking further investigation into the allegations of sexual harassment.On the political front, the BJP last week named Karan Bhushan Singh as its candidate from the Kaiserganj seat in Uttar Pradesh, replacing his father and sitting MP Singh. In February this year, Karan took over as president of the UP Wrestling Federation, which Brij Bhushan had been heading for the last 12 years.

3) Neeraj Chopra satisfied with performance but not happy with effort after season best throw at Doha Diamond League

Neeraj, who is keen to maintain his consistency, admitted he didn’t feel great out on the field, for reasons unknown.Two centimetres. That’s less than an inch, 1/3rd of an average index finger. That was the margin of victory for Jakub Vadlejch on Friday night, the Czech javelin thrower pushing Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra to second spot.It is also symbolic of not just how fierce the competition is at the top level but also a sign of a budding rivalry on the field.

Friday, however, was about a lot more than the result itself. As a season opener in an Olympic year, it was a testing ground for all the work done in off season and a chance to identify the gaps, figure out the positives and work out plans for the next two months that will ideally culminate in a gold at Paris. On all counts, Team Neeraj will clearly be working overtime here on.In the previous edition here, Chopra had pipped Vadlejch by 4 cm for the top spot. He had done the same at the 2022 World Championships, this time taking silver. And while the likes of Anderson Peters have massive throws against their names, it’s these two who have been at the forefront of world javelin for the past few years, their consistency separating them from the rest.

On Friday too, Vadlejch had four throws over 84m with two fouls. Neeraj had the same, except with one foul and one 82m mark. It’s this consistency that Neeraj has been keen to maintain even though he admitted he didn’t feel great out on the field, for reasons unknown.

“Overall I thought it could have been better but the best thing is the consistency. My warm-up throw was really good but the first throw went bad. More importantly, the body didn’t feel very good, I don’t know why, but I still managed an 88m-plus (88.36m) throw,” he reflected after the event.

For someone famous for his ‘one and done’ performances, playing catch up against a rival who wouldn’t concede any space was not familiar territory for Neeraj. Interestingly, the trademark roar too was conspicuously absent, even during his best effort. The closest he came to it was in the 3rd attempt, an 86.24m, with the slightest of reaction and none of the arms-up celebration.

The 27-year old, however, isn’t too perturbed going forward. “We will prepare better for future competitions. But if I could throw 88m without feeling too good, I want to test myself and see how much I can manage when everything is right. There will be at least 3-4 more competitions before Paris but such contests help us push each other,” he insisted.The man in charge of Team Neeraj, Klaus Bartonietz, was more circumspect and measured in his assessment. The German understands his ward like perhaps few do and while he is not worried about competition, he already knew what to work on in the coming months.

“This is what we expected, maybe a little more stability and managing 86-87m 3-4 times instead of one 88m, but this is not a problem. It is a great result, actually. But it is the first competition, he knows the conditions are good with wind and wants to use it, maybe matching 90m also in the back of mind. But this was technically what we actually trained for. In the next competitions, gradually we will increase the technical level and performance,” Bartonietz told Sportstar.

The one thing Neeraj wasn’t happy about was his effort, which by his own admission was less than optimum. “I am satisfied with my performance but perhaps not with my effort. I feel I could have pushed more even in the last throw. But it’s good that this is the first competition of the season, there is still time. Now we know what to do, we will work on it,” he admitted and it was something Bartonietz agreed with.

“The mindset is important, not throwing hardest to go furthest, that will not work for everybody. You need to have a certain level of control to bring your power into the low axis of javelin and get the distance. It worked very well in training, we do expect some problems in competitions but then, that’s what we train for,” he shrugged.

As for the rivalry, Bartonietz believes Neeraj and Vadlejch understand each other well enough to push each other to do better. Jakub himself, meanwhile, was more forthcoming. “I think we are rivals but also, I hope, good friends. Today’s 2cm victory is a little revenge for the previous year. But I have only one goal, that is Paris,” he declared, adding that the first throw did set the template.

“Getting a good first throw is very important for the mindset. I was lucky to get a good one. It was very close but another win in Diamond League is perfect for me. The main goal is Paris. I have three more competitions before that, hope to get even better. Next up will be Golden Spike (in Ostrava), next chance to try and beat him,” he laughed.

It’s a challenge Chopra is more than willing to accept. “Challenge accepted, I am always ready for a good battle. Next time, it won’t be just 2 cm but much more, in our favour,” he promised.

That would be but a pitstop en route to the biggest prize of them all – the Olympic gold. The athletes themselves may see each other as contenders but Bartonietz calls it as he sees it – the champion and the ‘pretenders’ – and is confident that his ward is on the right track to retain the crown.

“But you can already see who will be the pretenders – Peters also is there, and we have to see Keshorn Walcott also. Plus the Germans, who are not here but we will see them in the next competitions,” he signed off.

4) Paris 2024: Nisha Dahiya secures India’s fifth Paris Olympic Games quota in women’s wrestling

This will be the first time India will have five women wrestlers at the Olympics. This was a day after all six Greco-roman wrestlers came up with forgettable performances.Nisha Dahiya became the fifth Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Paris Olympics after prevailing over Romania’s Alexandra Anghel in the 68kg semifinals at the World Olympic Qualifiers here on Friday.

This will be the first time India will have five women wrestlers at the quadrennial extravaganza.

This was a day after all six Greco-roman wrestlers came up with forgettable performances.

Nisha, a World U-23 bronze medallist and Asian Championships silver-medal winner last year beat Anghel 8-4 by points to enter the final and secure another Olympic quota for India.This will be the first time that five Indian woman wrestlers will be competing in the Olympics.

Against Anghel, Nisha zoomed to a 8-0 lead with a flurry of attacks in the first period. She began with a right leg attack and converted that into a takedown. She quickly followed that up with a two-pointer and rolled her rival for a comfortable 6-0 cushion.

Before the end of first period, she had taken what became an unassailable 8-0 lead.

The second period was all about defence after a double leg attack did not turn into points. The Romanian, who is a silver medal winner at the European championship, woke up from her slumber to launch attacks and had Nisha in trouble.First she managed a takedown and then found another scoring move. With time running out, Anghel went for a kill, turning Nisha on the mat while aiming for a ‘fall’ but the Indian freed herself from the grip to thwart the danger.

Nisha did well to defend her lead in the remaining 55 seconds of the bout.

Nisha had earlier defeated Belarusian teenager Alina Shauchuk, competing as an independent athlete, on points 3-0 to secure a place in the quarterfinal.

Nisha, 25, then overcame the challenge of ninth-ranked wrestler from the Czech Republic Adela Hanzlickova, a multiple European Championships medallist, on points 7-4 to book a place in the semifinal against Anghel, ranked 58th in the world.

In a bout lasting the full distance, Nisha, who trains in Rohtak at the famous Sir Chhotu Ram stadium where Sakshi Malik also trained, took a quick 3-1 lead in the first round of three minutes and despite a fight-back by Adela, managed to win with ease.

However, Mansi (62kg) came up against a far superior opponent in eighth-ranked Belarusian opponent Veranika Ivanova, who achieved a victory by fall in the pre-quarterfinal round with 25 seconds remaining on the timer.Mansi can still secure a place in the bronze-medal round through the repechage route and hope to win an Olympic quota but for that Veranika will have to enter the final.

Four Indian women wrestlers have already secured Paris berths. While Antim Panghal obtained an Olympic quota in 53kg category with a bronze-medal finish at the World Championships last year, Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Anshu Malik (57kg) and Reetika Hooda (76kg) clinched the spots for the country at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in March.

India’s Greco-Roman grapplers had failed to impress on the opening day of the Qualifiers here on Thursday, bowing out in the preliminary rounds in all six weight categories.

Sumit (60kg), Ashu (67kg), Vikas (77kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Nitesh (97kg) and Naveen (130kg) had all lost their bouts.

Indian men’s freestyle grapplers will hope to offset the below-par showing of their Greco-roman compatriots when they step on the mat on Saturday.

5) GT vs CSK, IPL 2024: Gill, Sai Sudharsan hundreds setup comfortable win for Titans against Super Kings

Despite the fightback from Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali after a flurry of wickets, Mohit Sharma used his slower balls to good use to ensure a 35-run win.The last time Gujarat Titans met Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium, B. Sai Sudharsan stroked his way to a brilliant 96 in the 2023 IPL final in what proved to be a losing cause

On Friday against the same opponent, Sai Sudharsan went one better and completed his maiden IPL hundred (103, 51b, 5x4, 7x6) to power GT to 231 for three. The opener had his partner Shubman Gill to guide him all along. The skipper made a hundred of his own (104, 55b, 9x4, 6x6) as the two made mincemeat of a hapless Super Kings attack to set up a 35-run win for their side.

The duo made good use of the excellent batting conditions, showing their full range, a mix of conventional batting and intelligent improvisations during their 210-run partnership.

In reply, CSK got off on the wrong note and was reduced to 10 for three within the third over. Daryl Mitchell (63) and Moeen Ali (56) got the chase back on track, stroking valiant half-centuries as they added 109 runs for the fourth wicket.

But just when the two overseas stars were setting the platform for a fightback, Mohit Sharma weaved his magic. The medium-pacer first foxed Mitchell and then Moeen with slower deliveries to have them caught in the deep. From there, CSK’s chase fizzled outEarlier, right from the first ball he faced, Gill showed he meant business; he cut Mitchell Santner for a boundary and deposited him over long-on in the first over. Sai Sudharsan joined the party with a couple of sixes against the pacers as the host scored 58 in the PowerPlay.

But, it was in the middle overs that the Titans piled on the misery on CSK as the two batters went after Simarjeet Singh and Daryl Mitchell’s innocuous medium pace.

Gill and Sai Sudharsan then majestically touched the three-figure mark in the 17th over bowled by Simarjeet. While the former punished a full toss, the latter scooped the ball over fine-leg for a maximum.It was the kind of inspirational individual brilliance the 2022 champion needed to snap out of its three-match losing streak. With its fifth win, the Titans live to fight another day.

6) Grand Chess Tour 2024: Gukesh strikes back with victories over Praggnanandhaa and Keymer in Warsaw

World number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway joined Shevchenko in the lead on seven points out of a possible ten and these two are now followed by Wei Yi of China who is one point behind.Newly-crowned FIDE Candidates’ champion D Gukesh struck back after recovering from a sedate start to defeat compatriot R. Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer in the Superbet rapid and blitz tournament, a part of the Grand Chess tour.Gukesh, who recorded just a lone draw out of three games, fought his way back at the expense of Praggnanandhaa earlier in the first round of the day. Praggnanandhaa lost his way in the middle game and did not quite recover.

Wasting no time following the loss to Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa also returned much stronger in the fifth-round, defeating Holland’s Anish Giri, while Gukesh made most of chances to crush Keymer.

The dream run of Romanian Kirill Shevchenko was ended by Erigaisi Arjun who scored his first victory in the event.At the top, World number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway joined Shevchenko in the lead on seven points out of a possible ten and these two are now followed by Wei Yi of China who is one point behind.The Indian trio of Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun are sharing the fourth spot on five points along with Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan. Duda Jan-Kryzstof of Poland and Vincent Keymer of Germany share the eighth spot with four points and a completely off-form Giri is now in the last spot with just two points.

Four more rounds remain in the rapid section of the event before an 18-round blitz tournament kickstarts

Earlier, World Number seven Arjun held Carlsen to an easy draw in the opener and then drew two more games to remain within striking distance of early leader Kirilll Shevchenko of Romania after the third round of tournament.While Gukesh lost his first two games before drawing the third, R Praggnanandhaa recovered in the third round to beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan to be on a fifty percent score.

Shevchenko, the lowest seed in the tournament emerged as the early leader with three victories on the trot coming in contrasting fashion.

 

 

 DARK MATTER – APPLE TV+

This highly engaging sci-fi series is an adaptation of Blake Crouch’s 2016 novel of the same name. It revolves around an astrophysicist who investigates dark matter — one of the most complex theories in modern physics.

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – THEATRES

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes serves as a sequel to War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). The newly released film follows a young chimpanzee of an eagle-oriented clan, who goes on a harrowing journey where he begins to question everything he has been taught since childhood. The choices he makes will define the future of apes and humans. The Wes Ball directorial features Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, and William H. Macy in prominent roles.

CHAALCHITRA EKHON – HOICHOI

Chaalchitra Ekhon is a Bengali movie penned and helmed by Anjan Dutt. It focuses on the mentor-protégé equation and also serves as a tribute to filmmaker-screenwriter Mrinal Sen in his centenary year.

DOCTOR WHO – DISNEY+ HOTSTAR

Disney+ Hotstar has dropped an edge-of-the-seat sci-fi thriller that follows the Doctor who travels through space and time with his companion making new friends and foes. A must-watch for all sci-fi genre lovers.

MOTHER OF THE BRIDE – NETFLIX

The list of new OTT releases to watch this weekend includes Netflix’s new romantic comedy film titled Mother of the Bride. It stars Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove, and Benjamin Bratt in pivotal roles. The film centres around a young woman, Emma, who returns home from London and informs her mother about her wedding plans. The story takes an unexpected twist when the latter learns that the groom’s father is her ex whom she hasn’t met in decades. The events that unfold next promise to keep you hooked to the screen till the end.

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: SUMMER SCHOOL – JIOCINEMA

Apart from Bodkin, Undekhi S3, The Goat, Super Rich in Korea, and other titles, the list of new OTT releases to watch this weekend also includes a mind-numbing mystery-horror drama titled Pretty Little Liars: Summer School. It revolves around a group of teenage girls whose lives turn upside down when a mysterious killer starts tormenting them.

SRIKANTH – THEATRES

Rajkummar Rao plays the title role in Srikanth, a biographical film based on the life of a visually impaired Indian entrepreneur and industrialist, Srikant Bolla, who founded the Bollant industry, which employs differently-abled individuals.

MURDER IN MAHIM – JIOCINEMA

An adaptation of Jerry Pinto’s novel of the same name, Murder in Mahim tells the tale of an honest police officer who joins forces with a retired journalist to enter Mumbai’s crime world to unravel a mystery related to a murder case. The thriller drama is headlined by Vijay Raaz and Ashutosh Rana.

BOOK OF THIS WEEK:

Knife:by Salman Rushdie (Author)

On the morning of 12 August 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black – black clothes, black mask – rushed down the aisle towards him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.

What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey towards physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.

Knife is Rushdie writing with urgency, gravity, and unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable.

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie( born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, typically set on the Indian subcontinent. Rushdie's second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was deemed to be "the best novel of all winners" on two occasions, marking the 25th and the 40th anniversary of the prize.

After his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), Rushdie became the subject of several assassination attempts and death threats, including a fatwa calling for his death issued by Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran. Numerous killings and bombings have been carried out by extremists who cite the book as motivation, sparking a debate about censorship and religiously motivated violence. In 2022, a man stabbed Rushdie after rushing onto the stage where the novelist was scheduled to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York.

In 1983, Rushdie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was appointed a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France in 1999. Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for his services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked him 13th on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Since 2000, Rushdie has lived in the United States. He was named Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University in 2015.Earlier, he taught at Emory University. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2012, he published Joseph Anton: A Memoir, an account of his life in the wake of the events following The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in April 2023. He has married five times, four of which have ended in divorce.