SUBHADITYA NEWS CHANNEL PRESENTS NEWS OF THIS WEEK DATED 8/6/2024: SCIENCE.POLITICAL,SPORTS,MOVE AND BOOK NEWS THIS WEEK

 

1) The sun is entering solar maximum. Expect auroras, and more By Adam Mann

Recent space weather storms could be a taste of what’s to come until at least 2026 Beautiful curtains of pink and green light swirled in night skies around the world in May during one of the strongest displays of auroras in half a millennium.

The source of that light show was the sun. In the first week of May, a barrage of explosive solar flares and coronal mass ejections blasted billions of tons of material from the sun into space. This created the strongest solar storm in more than two decades, resulting in auroras as far south as Florida and parts of northern India (SN: 2/26/21). Those celestial fireworks were just the start of what could be a years-long run of similar displays. That’s because the sun is now nearing the peak of activity in its 11-year solar cycle — and already is far stormier than originally predicted.

Auroras happen when charged particles from the sun collide with oxygen and nitrogen molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere. As the atmospheric molecules shed the energy imparted from such collisions, they emit light in a variety of colors. Because the planet’s magnetic field directs these charged particles toward the poles, auroras are mostly seen only in the highest latitudes — unless the storms are unusually powerful.

To find out what to expect over the next few years, and to understand how this period of high solar activity impacts us, Science News talked to Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla, acting director of NASA’s Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office in Greenbelt, Md., and Shawn Dahl, a space weather forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo. The conversations have been edited for clarity and brevity.

SN: What was going on with the sun in early May that caused so much excitement?

Nieves-Chinchilla: We are getting to the maximum of solar cycle 25 [the current solar cycle, which began in December 2019]. And as we are approaching that, we have more activity from the sun, particularly in those days in May.

Dahl: Essentially, we had space weather activity going on in all three categories: from solar flares to radiation storms and, ultimately, to the geomagnetic storms that the world saw on May 10th through the 11th. There’s no doubt this was a historical storm, on par with the storm of 2003, which did cause some power outage issues in South Africa and Sweden.SN: Much of this was caused by spots on the sun’s surface known as active regions. What are those?

Dahl: Active regions are strong areas of localized magnetic fields that show up on the sun. They form deeper within the sun, and they punch up through the surface. Because they’re so strong magnetically, they inhibit the normal transfer of energy and light from deeper in the sun. So, they appear darker, and they’re much cooler than the surrounding surface of the sun. [The regions are as hot as 3,500° Celsius, whereas the rest of the surface is about 5,500° C.]

Nieves-Chinchilla: [In active regions], we can see lots of sunspots, these black areas on the sun. These regions accumulate a large amount of magnetic energy that eventually needs to get released.

SN: How did the May 10–11 storm impact us on Earth?

Dahl: Satellite communications were degraded because the ionosphere — the [part of the] atmosphere that the communications have to go through — was quite messed up. GPS was in error massively for farmers [who use machines that rely on the technology and were] trying to plant crops, as one example. They needed to be within centimeters of accuracy, and they were off by up to 10 feet. They had to stop their operations on [May 10] because of this storm.Launch operations were calling us — [folks] sending rockets up — because they had concerns with GPS accuracy. Aviation was changing their flight routes farther equator-ward to stay away from the communication issues. We were talking to [NASA] for the benefit of the astronauts on the space station. They were advised, when possible, to stay away from the less shielded areas of the space station [to avoid radiation].

The power grid had enormous effects throughout the system, seeing large amounts of induced currents that don’t belong there from the storm. [Operators] had equipment in place to help make sure that there was going to be no major catastrophic collapse anywhere. And, as far as we can tell, there were no bulk system failures.

SN: How do we prepare for such solar storms?

Nieves-Chinchilla: It was very interesting because [by coincidence] we had an exercise two days before the solar storm. And during this tabletop exercise, agencies were working together to evaluate if we were prepared to receive the storm. NOAA, for instance, and [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] need to talk to give notifications to specific people to be prepared for these things.

Dahl: There’s been a lot of work done over the last decade to learn more about space weather. All the technological providers that we use in society today are well aware of space weather and they incorporate it into their planning and thinking. This was the most successfully mitigated extreme space weather storm in history for that reason. That’s why we’re not hearing about a lot of confirmed impacts to our technologies.

SN: Solar cycle 25 was predicted to be relatively weak, right?

Dahl: The international panel of scientific experts that make these long-range solar cycle predictions — this was pre-2019 — they predicted a lightweight solar cycle very similar to the previous one, which was not all that active. We are well outside that original margin of error with that forecast. We expect solar max at this point to be much more active than originally anticipated. So, all of this year, all of 2025, and even into 2026 we anticipate to be at the highest risk for another such event.

SN: Those regions on the sun that caused the May storm are about to face Earth again. Can we expect similar events soon?

Nieves-Chinchilla: We don’t know yet. But I can tell you that there are several X-ray flares coming from this region Dahl: Perhaps we’ll see some more activity, but it certainly will not be anywhere close to what happened on May 10th or 11th. People should always go to our webpage to find out the real story of what’s factually going on and what we’re predicting.

2) These Neanderthal fire pits offer an extraordinarily precise snapshot of ancient life By Ewen Callaway

Researchers used traces of Earth’s changing magnetic field in sediments to identify the activity of ancient humans. More than 50,000 years ago, Neanderthals passed through a rugged river valley in Spain, leaving behind stone tools, animal bones and dozens of fire pits (and the world’s oldest-known fossil of human poo). These traces were found in the same layer of soil, suggesting that they were left by a single group of Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) and around the same time.

Researchers using a transformative new dating technique have now found that the hearths were established over a period of more than 200 years. The results were reported in Nature1 on 5 June.Such precise timescales are practically unheard of in analyses of the deep human past — estimates usually have error margins of thousands of years — and raise the possibility of uncovering changes in human activity that were previously elusive.“This information will completely change the way we can interpret archaeological assemblages,” says Ségolène Vandevelde, an archaeologist at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi in Saguenay.

Ancient layers

The Neanderthal hearths at El Salt, an archaeological site in Spain, occur in a single archaeological layer, which are usually interpreted as contemporaneous. Previous dating work suggested that the fires were set around 52,000 years ago — plus or minus a few thousand years2.

But Ángela Herrejón-Lagunilla, an archaeologist at the University of Burgos in Spain, and her colleagues suspected that those error bars hid the site’s true history. To date the Neanderthals’ time at El Salt more precisely, the researchers analysed magnetic minerals recovered from several hearths found within a few metres of each other. These minerals record the orientation of Earth’s fluctuating magnetic field at the time the fire was lastHerrejón-Lagunilla and her colleagues then modelled subtle changes in Earth’s magnetic field around 52,000 years ago — on the basis of measurements of more recent shifts — and, using this information, estimated the time between when the hearths were last used. Their analysis showed that the oldest and youngest fire pits were last lit at least 200 years apart, with decades-long intervals between the use of different hearths. This indicates that groups of Neanderthals regularly visited the site over many generations.

The length of time we found was surprisingly long, says Herrejón-Lagunilla, and it might prompt researchers to look anew for subtle changes in stone tools and other traces of human occupation. The same approach could be applied more widely — anywhere and anytime ancient humans and their relatives made fires. The controlled use of fire dates back at least 790,000 years.

“This has the potential to reveal new insights into how ancient humans lived, moved and organized themselves in social groups,” says Thomas Higham, an archaeological scientist at the University of Vienna.

“The main potential is to reach a timescale close to the human life,” adds Herrejón-Lagunilla. “We can’t understand 200 years as a single moment. That’s crazy.”

3) Physicists take molecules to a new ultracold limit, creating a state of matter where quantum mechanics reigns  by Ellen Neff, Columbia University

There's a hot new BEC in town that has nothing to do with bacon, egg, and cheese. You won't find it at your local bodega, but in the coldest place in New York: the lab of Columbia physicist Sebastian Will, whose experimental group specializes in pushing atoms and molecules to temperatures just fractions of a degree above absolute zero.

Writing in Nature, the Will lab, supported by theoretical collaborator Tijs Karman at Radboud University in the Netherlands, has successfully created a unique quantum state of matter called a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) out of molecules.

Their BEC, cooled to just five nanoKelvin, or about -459.66°F, and stable for a strikingly long two seconds, is made from sodium-cesium molecules. Like water molecules, these molecules are polar, meaning they carry both a positive and a negative charge. The imbalanced distribution of electric charge facilitates the long-range interactions that make for the most interesting physics, noted Will.

Research the Will lab is excited to pursue with their molecular BECs includes exploring a number of different quantum phenomena, including new types of superfluidity, a state of matter that flows without experiencing any friction. They also hope to turn their BECs into simulators that can recreate the enigmatic quantum properties of more complex materials, like solid crystals.

"Molecular Bose-Einstein condensates open up whole new areas of research, from understanding truly fundamental physics to advancing powerful quantum simulations," he said. "This is an exciting achievement, but it's really just the beginning."

It's a dream come true for the Will lab and one that's been decades in the making for the larger ultracold research community.

To go colder, add microwaves

Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation with a long history at Columbia. In the 1930s, physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi, who would go on to the Nobel Prize in Physics, did pioneering work on microwaves that led to the development of airborne radar systems.

"Rabi was one of the first to control the quantum states of molecules and was a pioneer of microwave research," said Will. "Our work follows in that 90-year-long tradition."

While you may be familiar with the role of microwaves in heating up your food, it turns out they can also facilitate cooling. Individual molecules have a tendency to bump into each other and will, as a result, form bigger complexes that disappear from the samples. Microwaves can create small shields around each molecule that prevent them from colliding, an idea proposed by Karman, their collaborator in the Netherlands.

With the molecules shielded against lossy collisions, only the hottest ones can be preferentially removed from the sample—the same physics principle that cools your cup of coffee when you blow along the top of it, explained author Niccolò Bigagli. Those molecules that remain will be cooler, and the overall temperature of the sample will drop.

4) Horses may have been domesticated twice. Only one attempt stuck By Tina Hesman Saey

Horse domestication arose from a need for speed about 4,200 years ago, a genetic analysis finds Horse power may have revved up about four millennia ago.

Horses were domesticated at least twice, researchers report June 6 in Nature. Genetic data suggest Botai hunter-gatherers in Central Asia may have been the first to domesticate the animals for milk and meat around 5,000 years ago. That attempt didn’t stick. But other people living north of the Caucasian Mountains domesticated horses for transportation about 4,200 years ago, the researchers found.

Those latter horses took the equine world by storm. In just a few centuries, they replaced their wild cousins and became the modern domestic horse.The findings call into question some long-held ideas about the when, why and who of horse domestication, says Ludovic Orlando, a molecular archaeologist and director of the Center for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse in France. For instance, ancient people from southwest Asia known as the Yamnaya have been credited with being the first horseback riders (SN: 3/3/23).

The Yamnaya were pioneers who hitched up cattle-drawn carts and left increasingly dry grasslands about 5,000 years ago to make new homes in Europe and Asia. Along the way, they helped build major Bronze Age cultures in Europe (SN: 11/15/17). They spread Indo-European languages and left a genetic legacy for modern people that includes increased risk of multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease (SN: 9/5/19; SN: 1/10/24).

But none of that happened on horseback, Orlando and colleagues argue. The timing just doesn’t work.

The researchers examined DNA from 475 ancient horses that lived as far back as 50,000 years ago and 77 modern horses. Combining that genetic analysis with carbon dating and archaeological data, the team established a timeline for horse domestication.

DNA data suggest horses were domesticated later than previously thought

Researchers already knew that domestic horses galloped off the steppes of what is now southwestern Russia and began spreading around Europe and Asia, replacing wild horses (SN: 10/20/21). The new genetic data show that happened about 4,200 years ago. Before then, “there are many bloodlines that you see around,” Orlando says. “But from 4,200 years ago, that bloodline that was north of the Caucasian range becomes global.” The speed of the spread suggests people domesticated horses with mobility in mind, he says.

If the Yamnaya people and the horses were migrating together, their genes would have spread at the same time, “because you would be literally on their backs,” Orlando says. But the horse genes didn’t start spreading until about 800 years after the Yamnaya migrated.

The idea that Yamnaya weren’t horseback riders and herders is “potentially a difficult pill to swallow for a lot in the science community,” says William Taylor, an archaeozoologist at the University of Colorado Boulder who was not involved in the study. The new research overturns the idea that Yamnaya were horse people. “The animals we know today as domestic horses did not have a presence in Yamnaya culture,” he says. “This is a hard reality that genetic evidence is able to provide.”Some researchers say the finding ignores earlier evidence of horsemanship and attempts at domestication. And, says archaeologist Volker Heyd of the University of Helsinki, the Yamnaya would have needed horses in order to spread so quickly. “Our best scenario for the rapid and extensive Yamnaya expansions, covering 5,000 kilometers and more in 100 to 200 years, [is for it] to have been facilitated by wheel and wagon and on horseback.”

Not so, says archaeologist Ursula Brosseder of the Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie in Mainz, Germany. “There is a general mistake in assuming that migration needs horses. [But] humans throughout history have done their migrations mostly not with horses but on foot.” Even walking, people can cover 1,000 kilometers in a month, she says.

Genetic evidence shows when people purposely started breeding horses

Using a new technique, Orlando’s team found that as the horses began to spread, their generation time fell from just over seven years to about four years. And other genetic evidence suggests that closely related horses bred. Neither of those things happen naturally, Orlando says. The evidence points to people controlling horse breeding to increase numbers and to select for certain traits, clear signs of domestication (SN: 7/6/17).The researchers also found the shortened generation time in 5,000-year-old horse remains associated with the Botai culture of Central Asia. Previous research suggested that the Botai may have milked and bridled horses (SN: 3/5/09). The short generation time could be an indication that the Botai were domesticating prey horses to pump up their meat supply, Orlando says. If so, it could be the first attempt at horse domestication, although one that ultimately wasn’t successful. The only living relatives of Botai horses are wild Przewalski’s horses, six of which were included in the genetic analysis of modern animals (SN: 2/22/18).

Brosseder says that the shortened breeding time is “very convincing” evidence that the Botai were using horses for a specific purpose, which could be considered domestication.

But Taylor doesn’t buy that the Botai domesticated horses. He’s been “squinting at the available evidence and thinking about what the archaeology shows,” he says, and concludes that what was happening with Botai horses “was the last hurrah of a hunter-prey relationship with horses … that really didn’t have anything meaningful to do with domestication.”

5) Researchers discover 400,000-year-old stone tools designed specifically for butchering fallow deer in Israel by Tel-Aviv University

A new study from Tel Aviv University identified the earliest appearance worldwide of special stone tools, used 400,000 years ago to process fallow deer. The tools, called Quina scrapers (after the site in France where they were first discovered), were unearthed at the prehistoric sites of Jaljulia and Qesem Cave. They are characterized by a sharp working edge shaped as scales, enabling users to butcher their prey and also process its hides.

The researchers explain that after the elephants disappeared from the region, the ancient hunters were forced to make technological adaptations enabling them to hunt, butcher, and process much smaller and quicker game—fallow deer. The study also found that the unique tools were made of non-local flint procured from the Mountains of Samaria, which probably also served as the fallow deers' calving area, about 20km east of Jaljulia and Qesem Cave.

 

Consequently, the researchers hypothesize that Mounts Ebal and Gerizim (near Nablus of today) were considered a source of plenty and held sacred by prehistoric hunters as early as the Paleolithic period. The study was led by Vlad Litov and Prof. Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University's Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures. The paper was published in Archaeologies.

The researchers explain that for about a million years, starting 1.5 million years ago, early humans used stone tools called scrapers to process hides and scrape the flesh off the bones of mostly large game. In the Levant, they mainly hunted elephants and other large herbivores that provided most of the calories they needed. The study found, however, that about 400,000 years ago, following the elephants' disappearance, hunters turned to a different kind of prey, considerably smaller and quicker than elephants—fallow deer.

Litov explains, "In this study we tried to understand why stone tools changed during prehistoric times, with a focus on a technological change in scrapers in the Lower Paleolithic, about 400,000 years ago. We found a dramatic change in the human diet during this period, probably resulting from a change in the available fauna: the large game, particularly elephants, had disappeared, and humans were forced to hunt smaller animals, especially fallow deer.

"Clearly, butchering a large elephant is one thing, and processing a much smaller and more delicate fallow deer is quite a different challenge. Systematic processing of numerous fallow deer to compensate for a single elephant was a complex and demanding task which required the development of new implements. Consequently, we see the emergence of the new Quina scrapers, with a better-shaped, sharper, more uniform working edge compared to the simple scrapers used previously."The study relies on findings from an excavation at the Jaljulia prehistoric site next to Highway 6 in central Israel, probably inhabited by humans of the homo erectus species, as well as evidence from the nearby Qesem Cave. At both sites the excavators discovered many scrapers of the new type, made of non-local flint whose nearest sources are the western slopes of Samaria, to the east of the excavated sites, or today's Ben Shemen Forest to the south.

Prof. Barkai adds, "In this study we identified links between technological developments and changes in the fauna hunted and consumed by early humans. For many years, researchers believed that the changes in stone tools resulted from biological and cognitive changes in humans. We demonstrate a double connection, both practical and perceptual.

"On the one hand, humans started making more sophisticated tools because they had to hunt and butcher smaller, faster, thinner game. On the other, we identify a perceptual connection: Mounts Ebal and Gerizim in Samaria, about 20km east of Jaljulia, were a home range of fallow deer and thus considered a source of plenty.

"We found a connection between the plentiful source of fallow deer and the source of flint used to butcher them, and we believe that this link held perceptual significance for these prehistoric hunters. They knew where the fallow deer came from and made special efforts to use flint from the same area to make tools for butchering this prey. This behavior is familiar from many other places worldwide and is still widely practiced by native hunter-gatherer communities."

Litov concludes, "We believe that the Mountains of Samaria were sacred to the prehistoric people of Qesem Cave and Jaljulia, because that's where the fallow deer came from. It's important to note that in Jaljulia we also found numerous other tools made of different kinds of locally-procured stones. When the locals realized that the elephant population was dwindling, they gradually shifted their focus to fallow deer.

"Identifying the deer's plentiful source, they began to develop the unique scrapers in the same place. This is the earliest instance of a phenomenon that later spread throughout the world. The new scrapers first appeared at Jaljulia on a small scale, about 500,000 years ago, and a short time later, 400,000 to 200,000 years ago, on a much larger scale at Qesem Cave"The Samarian highlands east of Jaljulia and Qesem Cave were likely the home range of a fallow deer population, as evidenced by bone remains recovered from local archaeological sites throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Many fallow deer bones were also found at the altar site on Mount Gerizim, attributed in the Old Testament to Joshua bin Nun, and identified by some traditions as the place of Abraham's Covenant of the Pieces described in the Book of Genesis."Apparently, the Mountains of Samaria gained a prominent, or even sacred status as early as the Paleolithic period and retained their unique cultural position for hundreds of thousands of years."

6) Gigantic Jurassic pterosaur fossil unearthed in Oxfordshire, UK :by University of Portsmouth

A team of paleontologists has discovered a fossil of a gigantic flying reptile from the Jurassic period with an estimated wingspan of more than three meters—making it one of the largest pterosaurs ever found from that era.Excavated from a gravel pit near Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, the fossil includes part of the pterosaur's wing bone, which was broken into three pieces but still well-preserved.

Experts from the universities of Portsmouth and Leicester have published a paper on the specimen in Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. The fossil was topographically scanned and identified as belonging to an adult ctenochasmatoid; a group of pterosaurs known for their long, slender wings, long jaws and fine bristle-like teeth. It is now housed in the Etches Collection in Kimmeridge, Dorset.

Professor David Martill from the University of Portsmouth said, "When the bone was discovered, it was certainly notable for its size. We carried out a numerical analysis and came up with a maximum wingspan of 3.75 meters. Although this would be small for a Cretaceous pterosaur, it's absolutely huge for a Jurassic one!

"This fossil is also particularly special because it is one of the first records of this type of pterosaur from the Jurassic period in the United Kingdom."Pterosaurs from the Triassic and Jurassic periods typically had wingspans between one and a half and two meters, so were generally smaller than their later relatives from the Cretaceous period, which could have wingspans of up to 10 meters. However, this new discovery suggests that some Jurassic pterosaurs could grow much larger.Professor Martill added, "This specimen is now one of the largest known pterosaurs from the Jurassic period worldwide, surpassed only by a specimen in Switzerland with an estimated wingspan of up to five meters."

Geologist, Dr. James Etienne, discovered the specimen while hunting for fossil marine reptiles in June 2022 when the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation was temporarily exposed in the floor of a quarry. This revealed a number of specimens including bones from ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs and other ancient sea creatures including ammonites and bivalves, marine crocodiles and sharks.

Dr. Dave Unwin, from the University of Leicester, said, "Abfab, our nickname for the Abingdon pterosaur, shows that pterodactyloids, advanced pterosaurs that completely dominated the Cretaceous, achieved spectacularly large sizes almost immediately after they first appeared in the Middle Jurassic right about the time the dinosaurian ancestors of birds were taking to the air."

 

1) Lok Sabha Election Phase 7 Voting Highlights: 6-week long polls end with over 58% turnout on last phase

Lok Sabha Election Phase 7 Voting Highlights: Apart from PM Modi, the other candidates in the fray today include BJP leaders Kangana Ranaut, Ravi Kishan and Anurag Thakur, Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, RJD leader Misa Bharti, and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, to name a few The 57 seats voting in the last and the seventh phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 saw about 58.34 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm, the Election Commission of India said on Saturday.Voting is underway since 7 am to decide the fate of 904 candidates, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, across 57 seats in seven states and one Union Territory in the last and final phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

Himachal Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of about 48.6 per cent followed by Jharkhand with 46.8 per cent turnout till 1 pm. West Bengal saw about 45. per cent, Uttar Pradesh about 39.3 per cent and Bihar recorded a turnout of about 35.6 per cent till 1 pm. Chandigarh UT saw a turnout of about 40 per cent till 1 pm, according to Election Commission of India.Sporadic incidents of violence marred the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, as TMC and BJP workers clashed in various parts of violence-prone Jadavpur, Diamond Harbour constituencies, according to news agency PTI

Earlier in the day, the PM called upon the voters to turnout in large numbers and vote. “I hope young and women voters exercise their franchise in record numbers. Together, let’s make our democracy more vibrant and participative," he said. The states where voting is being held in the seventh phase today are Punjab (all 13 seats), Uttar Pradesh (13 seats), West Bengal (9 seats), Bihar (8 seats), Himachal Pradesh (all 4 seats), Jharkhand (3 seats), Odisha (six seats) and the lone seat of Chandigarh Union Territory.

The voting began at 7 am. Apart from PM Modi, the other candidates in the fray today include BJP leaders Kangana Ranaut, Ravi Kishan and Anurag Thakur, Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, RJD leader Misa Bharti, and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, to name a few.Elections are also being held for 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha along with Lok Sabha polls. The votes will be counted on June 4.Over 10 crore electors, including 5.24 crore men, 4.82 crore women and 3,574 third-gender voters are eligible to vote in today's phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024.About 10.9 lakh polling officials have been deployed on duty across 1.09 lakh polling stations, the Election Commission said.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, among the 57 seats that are voting in the seventh phase today, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone had won 25 seats. And the Congress could just eight of these seats.

The voter turnout in the sixth phase of polling held on May 25 was 63.37 per cent, which is slight dip from the 2019 turnout of 64.4 per cent. In the fifth phase held on May 20 was 62.15 per cent, which is higher than the polling in the same seats in 2019 when it was 61.82 per cent. The fourth phase of polling held on May 13 recorded a turnout of 69.16 per cent while the third phase held on 7 recorded 65.68 per cent voter turnout. The second phase held on April 26 saw 66.71 per cent turnout and the first phase of polling held on April 19 saw 66.1 turnout, according to the Election Commission of India.Today's polling will mark a finish to world’s largest polling marathon that began on April 19 and already covered 6 phases and 486 Lok Sabha seats. Counting of votes will take place on 4th June. Lok Sabha Elections 2024 held over 44 days between April 19 and June 1 is what has been the second-longest elections after the first general elections held in India in 1951-52.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), 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 Results 2024: 5 factors that didn't work for PM Modi and BJP

Election Results 2024: The biggest surprise among states for the BJP is coming from Uttar Pradesh, where the INDIA bloc has so far won 40 of the 80 seats. In 2019, the BJP had won 62 seats from Uttar Pradesh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to reach a majority mark in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 as the saffron party ended up winning 240 seats in the 543-member house. The INDIA bloc has won 234 seats, belying exit poll numbers that predicted less than 200 seats for the alliance of opposition parties formed to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance.In 2019, the BJP won 303 seats on its own while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) got 353 seats. Here are five key factors that seemingly didn’t work for the PM Modi-led BJP this time.

The UP shocker

The biggest surprise among states for the BJP comes from Uttar Pradesh, where the INDIA bloc has won 43 of the 80 seats, reducing the BJP to 33 seats in the bellwether state. In 2019, the BJP had won 62 seats from Uttar Pradesh. Analysts said one reason for the BJP's underwhelming performance in UP was the difference in campaign styles. The BJP campaign focused more on holding big rallies, while the SP and Congress tried to reach out to local communities.

The BJP relied on big rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In contrast, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who camped in Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, didn’t hold many big rallies. Instead, she focused on daily meetings with smaller groups of people.

Many political analysts said that the BJP should not have repeated its MPs in UP, unlike in Delhi, where it changed only one sitting MP.

Ram Mandir campaign

The construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was a key campaign issue for the BJP in the run-up to the 2024 general elections. However, the issue did not resonate with voters. In fact, the BJP lost the Faizabad seat, where Ayodhya, the city of Ram Mandir, is situated. Among neighbouring seats, the BJP is ahead in two of the seven seats bordering Faizabad – Gonda and Kaiserganj. In the remaining five seats, the Congress was leading in Amethi and Barabanki while the SP was ahead in three others - Sultanpur, Ambednagar and Basti. The Congress and SP are alliance partners in India bloc.

The Agnipath Scheme

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been vocally criticising the Agnipath scheme for recruiting soldiers. It seems the scheme didn’t work for the BJP as is evident from the dent in its performance in Rajasthan and Haryana, the two states which send a large number of youths to defence and paramilitary forces. In Haryana, where the BJP won all 10 seats in 2019, the saffron party led in five seats while the Congress was ahead in five other seats. Similarly, in Rajasthan, where the BJP+ had won all 25 seats, it led in only 14 seats this time. The Congress was ahead in eight seats.

The splits in Maharashtra

Another setback is in Maharashtra. The BJP is leading in 12 seats, while the Congress is leading in 11 seats. In 2019, the BJP won 23 of the seats in Maharashtra, while the Congress won only one seat there. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) is leading in 10 seats. Thackeray's Shiv Sena is an INDIA bloc partner. The Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, a BJP ally, leads in six seats.The split of the Shiv Sena in 2022 and the NCP in 2023 hasn’t gone down well with the voters. There was also a delay in announcing NDA candidates from Maharashtra.

The Maratha agitation for reservations in education and government jobs also impacted the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra.

The turncoats

Many Congress turncoats that switched to the BJP are not doing well in elections. For example, Ravneet Bittu, the Congress-turned-BJP leader, is trailing in Punjab. Preneet Kaur, who switched from the Congress to the BJP just before Lok Sabha Elections, is also trailing.

In Haryana, Ashok Tanwar, who joined the BJP just before the elections, is trailing from the Sirsa seat.

3) Rahul Gandhi to be made leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha? Congress leaders, Sanjay Raut say ‘no objection if…’

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: After Congress' victory in 99 Lok Sabha constituencies, party leaders and MPs advocate for Rahul Gandhi to assume the role of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to become the leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha? The grand old party secured a victory in 99 Lok Sabha constituencies, marking huge gains in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. According to reports, Congress has been urging Rahul Gandhi to take up the position of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Rahul Gandhi won the Rae Bareli constituency from Uttar Pradesh and the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency from Kerala. Earlier in the day, Congress MP-elect Manickam Tagore, in a post on microblogging site X, urged former Congress party president Rahul Gandhi to lead the Congress in the lower house.

"I sought votes on the name of my leader, Rahul Gandhi. I think he should be the Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha. I hope elected Congress MPs also think the same. Let's see how the Congress Parliamentary Party decides. We are a Democratic Party," Tagore, who won from Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu, said Congress leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha and Karti Chidambaram, have advocated for Rahul Gandhi to assume leadership of the Lok Sabha parliamentary party.

Tankha emphasized Gandhi's pivotal role in leading the campaign, suggesting that the decision should be unanimous among party leaders and MPs. Tankha said, "Rahul ji led the campaign frontally. He was the face. He is duty-bound to take on the mantle of Lok Sabha parliamentary party leadership. @RahulGandhi cannot take all decisions about himself. Some decisions the party leaders / MPs have to take. Surely will be a unanimous choice."

Karti Chidambaram expressed his belief that Gandhi should take up the role of opposition leader on behalf of the Congress. Chidambaram said, "...I think the slot will come to the Congress. In my personal opinion, Rahul Gandhi himself must take up the leader of the opposition on behalf of Congress."Rahul Gandhi, credited by the party for the remarkable resurgence in the 2024 elections, had previously stepped down as Congress president after the party's defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Notably, the 53-year-old Rahul Gandhi has not held any constitutional post even when his party was in power.

Even Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut lauded Gandhi's leadership, stating that there would be no objections if Gandhi were willing to lead. Raut highlighted Gandhi's stature as a national leader and supported his leadership within the alliance."If Rahul Gandhi is ready to accept the leadership, why would we object? He has proven himself as a national leader for multiple times. He is one of the popular leaders. We all want him and love him. There is no objection and difference in the alliance," Sanjay Raut said at a press conference.Although Rahul Gandhi faced controversies, such as his expulsion from the Lok Sabha over a defamation case, the Supreme Court of India reinstated him to his seat.

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4) Maharashtra election results 2024: Devendra Fadnavis take‘responsibility for loss’, offers to quit as Deputy CM

Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis says, I take the responsibility for such results in Maharashtra. I was leading the party.Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra Deputy chief minister and BJP leader, takes responsibility for the drubbing loss in the state in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and urged the senior leadership to ‘to relieve me from the responsibility of the government’Fadnavis said on Wednesday, "I take full responsibility for the BJP's defeat in Maharashtra. I fell short in some places, and the setback in Maharashtra is my fault.

"To focus on the next assembly elections and fix the shortcomings, I request the top brass of my party to relieve me of my government duties. I will meet my seniors and communicate my expectations to them," Fadnavis said while addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Mumbai.

Fadnavis said he would hold discussions with his seniors, he further noted, "There were some issues of coordination with chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, which we will meet and discuss soon."Commenting on the statement, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare says, "The party may take action against Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Devendra Ji. But he wants a dignified exit so he is taking a protective stand..."

BJP win 9 seats in Maharashtra in Lok Sabha polls

Earlier in the day, meeting of the Maharashtra unit of the BJP took place in Mumbai, a day after the party won nine Lok Sabha seats in the state, where its tally dwindled by 14 as compared to the 2019 parliamentary polls. Fadnavis and the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule are among the leaders who are attended the meeting, party sources said.BJP win 9 seats in Maharashtra in Lok Sabha polls

Earlier in the day, meeting of the Maharashtra unit of the BJP took place in Mumbai, a day after the party won nine Lok Sabha seats in the state, where its tally dwindled by 14 as compared to the 2019 parliamentary polls. Fadnavis and the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule are among the leaders who are attended the meeting, party sources said.In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 23 seats in Maharashtra. This time, the BJP and allies won 17 seats out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, with the BJP's tally dwindling by less than half compared to 2019, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) won 30 of the 48 seats.

The BJP-led NDA fell significantly short of its target of bagging 45-plus seats in Maharashtra, garnering just 17 seats. The Congress won 13 seats, a quantum jump from the solitary seat it won in the state in 2019, while Shiv Sena (UBT) won nine and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) got eight seats.

5) Narendra Modi to take oath as PM for 3rd time on June 9 at 6 PM: Pralhad Joshi

BJP leader Pralhad Joshi says Narendra Modi will be sworn in as Prime Minister for the third time on Sunday, June 9, at 6 p.m.Addressing the NDA parliamentary party meeting at the Central Hall of the old Parliament building, Joshi said the oath-taking ceremony is scheduled for 6 pm on June 9. Senior alliance leaders, including chief ministers and NDA MPs, attended the meeting. BJP president J P Nadda is expected to propose a resolution supporting Modi's leadership, which allies and MPs are likely to endorse.

Other NDA leaders, such as Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Anupriya Patel, and Pawan Kalyan, were also in the meeting. The NDA, with 293 MPs, comfortably exceeds the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha.At the meeting, BJP national president JP Nadda said, "We extend heartiest congratulations to the Prime Minister, who spent every moment in the service of the nation. That is the reason that India is creating history today and NDA is forming a government for the third consecutive time with a majority."

Upon reaching the Parliament, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said, “I had already congratulated him (PM Modi) for his third term and the success of the NDA as the third term government."Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who was among those who arrived to attend the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting, said, “We were able to win only one seat in Goa. I am sad that we could not win the other seat as well."

Following Modi's election as the leader of NDA MPs, prominent alliance members such as TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu, JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar, and Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde are expected to accompany the Prime Minister for a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu. They will present her with the list of parliamentarians supporting Modi.With 293 MPs, the NDA comfortably exceeds the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha.Chandrababu Naidu's TDP and Nitish Kumar's JDU, having won 16 and 12 seats, respectively, in their respective states, have extended support to the NDA.

The INDIA bloc has 234 MPs in the new parliament and Congress 99.

6)Lok Sabha Election Results 2024: 93% winners are crorepatis. THESE are top 3 richest candidates

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: According to ADR, 93% of the newly elected Members of Parliament are crorepatis. TDP's Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani from Andhra Pradesh is the richest newly elected MP. BJP leaders Konda Vishweshwar Reddy and Naveen Jindal are on the second and third spots, respectively.

A total of 504 out of the 543 candidates who won in the Lok Sabha 2024 Elections are crorepatis, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, indicating a rapid increase in the number of super-wealthy politicians entering in the Parliament.The ADR report released on Thursday showed that the percentage of rich candidates winning the Lok Sabha Elections in 2024 increased to 93% from 88% in the 2019 elections and 82% in the 2014 elections.Out of the 543 winning candidates analysed, 504 (93%) are crorepatis. Out of 539 MPs analysed during Lok Sabha 2019 elections, 475 (88%) MPs were crorepatis. Out of the 542 MPs analysed during Lok Sabha 2014 elections, 443 (82%) MPs were crorepatis, and out of 543 MPs analysed during the Lok Sabha 2009 elections, 315 (58%) MPs were crorepatis," read the ADR report.

TDP's Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani is the richest newly elected MP

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate, Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, is the richest newly elected Member of Parliament. The TDP leader won the election from the Guntur constituency of Andhra Pradesh and has a total asset of ₹5,705 crore. The politician from Andhra Pradesh has movable assets worth ₹5,598 crore, whereas immovable assets are worth ₹106 crore.

BJP's Konda Vishweshwar Reddy ranks 2nd on the list

Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate who won the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 from Chevella constituency in Telangana, is the second wealthiest candidate to win the Lok Sabha polls 2024. Vishweshwar has a total asset of ₹4,568 crore.

BJP's Naveen Jindal is 3rd on the list

Industrialist and politician Naveen Jindal is the third richest MP with more than ₹1,241 crore total assets. He won the Lok Sabha 2024 polls from the Kurukshetra constituency of Haryana.

BJP has the richest candidates

According to the average assets per winner data accumulated by the ADR in its report, the average assets per winner for 240 BJP-winning candidates is ₹50.04 crore. The 99 INC candidates who won have average assets of ₹22.93 crore, whereas 37 SP candidates who won have average assets worth ₹15.24 crore, 29 AITC candidates who won have average assets worth ₹17.98 crore, and16 TDP candidates who won have average assets worth ₹442.26 crore.

7) Rahul Gandhi alleges ‘biggest stock market scam’, demands JPC probe

On May 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the stock market will hit new highs after the Lok Sabha election results.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) investigation into what it calls the ‘biggest stock market scam’.

“Why did the PM and Union Home Minister give specific investment advice to the five crore families investing in the stock market? Is it their job to give investment advice? Why were both interviews given to the same media owned by the same business group which is also under SEBI investigation for manipulating stock?” Gandhi said at a press briefing.

“What is the connection between the BJP, the fake exit pollsters and the dubious foreign investors who invested one day before the exit polls were announced and made a huge profit at the cost of five crore salaries?” he added.

“We demand a JPC into this. We are convinced that this is a scam. Somebody has made thousands of crores of rupees at the cost of Indian retail investors and the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister have given an indication to buy. So we demand today a joint parliamentary committee to investigate this,” Rahul Gandhi was quoted by ANI as saying.

On May 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the stock market will hit new highs after the Lok Sabha election results. “I can say with confidence that on June 4, as BJP hits record numbers, the stock market will also hit new record highs," he had said.

On May 13, Union home minister Amit Shah had urged not to link the stock market movements directly to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.“The market has nosedived in the past as well. So one should not link it directly to elections. Anyway, some rumours may have fuelled it (the fall). In my opinion, buy before June 4. The market is going to shoot-up," the minister had told NDTV profit.

Broader issue than Adani’, alleges Rahul

Rahul Gandhi alleged that PM Modi and Union home minister who had data on actual election results, advised retail investors to buy stock.

“This is a broader issue than just the Adani issue. It is connected to the Adani issue, but this is a much broader issue. This is directly the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister, who is privy to data on actual election results, who has IB reports, who have their own data, who are advising retail investors to buy stock,” he said.

“This has never happened before. The Prime Minister has never commented on the stock market before. This is the first time the Prime Minister has commented very interestingly and multiple times, one after the other, saying that the stock market is going to boom," he added.

“At the same time, he has information that the exit polls are wrong. He has information that he knows what is going to happen because he has IB data and he also has his own party data,” Rahul Gandhi further alleged.

 

 

1) Chhetri, Tendulkar and the roulette of fairytale farewells

While the whole nation rallied to take Tendulkar to his desired World Cup win in 2011, there was nobody to share the burden of expectation during ‘Sonar’ Sunil’s last bow.On Thursday evening, over a cup of tea, a curious hotel manager walked up to a waiting customer, and greeted him before asking, “If you don’t mind… If I ask you to come up with two topics of interest to discuss, what would they be?”

The man at the table was quick to reply “Sunil Chhetri’s retirement.” He then asked, “Where is the hullabaloo about Chhetri’s [India] retirement? If [Sachin] Tendulkar was playing his last game would there be such less excitement?”

Some parallels could be drawn between Tendulkar and Chhetri’s careers. Both are celebrated stars of their respective sports, who have played at the highest level for over two decades. But that’s where the comparison ends.

Tendulkar was a larger-than-life personality who commanded the imagination of over a billion people whenever he had a bat in hand. There have been many times Chhetri has scaled every blade of grass, putting in a real shift for the national team, and was still met with apathy from close to a billion people.But for his final game, he didn’t have to put out an impassioned plea, requesting people to come in numbers. The match was at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, for an all-important World Cup qualifier. In the build-up to the game, there was a buzz about the strong 60,000+ crowd who would make it a memorable night for Indian football.

And they came from everywhere and across all ages. Toshupta Bhattacharya travelled two hours from Kolaghat along with his young son. “Our hopes are very high for this game,” he said. There was Chandradeep from Kolkata, who was watching his first India game live. “I am really emotional. My first India match will be his last match,” he reflected.

If the team got the win on the board, they would have sung into the night with Chhetri parading around the Salt Lake Stadium. His warm-up walkout was accompanied by the army band along with a thunderous roar of “Chhetri! Chhetri!”

After the Indian national anthem, banners were unfurled all around the stands. One read “Thank you, Sunil Chhetri.” The one next to it said “GOAT of Indian football.” A bigger banner to its left had bright orange words which read: Sonar [Golden] Sunil. But the two tifos in the north stand summed up Chhetri perfectly. It depicted Chhetri carrying Indian football on the global map on his back.But on Thursday night, there was no one to share the burden of expectation to stick to the expectant script. While all the Indian players spoke of wanting to give Chhetri the perfect send-off, when the moment came, many seemed saddled by the occasion.

2) Norway Chess 2024: Praggnanandhaa beats Caruana, Carlsen prevails over Firouzja

The day’s other game was also decided by Armageddon, as R. Praggnanandhaa defeated Fabiano Caruana of the United States.World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen beat Alireza Firouzja of France in the penultimate round of the Norway Chess tournament at Stavanger on Thursday.After the classical game was drawn, the local superstar won in Armageddon with black pieces in 46 moves to increase his lead at the top of the table.

Carlsen moved to 16 points, 1.5 more than the second placed Hikaru Nakamura of the United States. The American lost in Armageddon to World champion Ding Liren, for whom the win must have been quite a relief. The Chinese player has been going through a torrid time in the tournament.The day’s other game was also decided by Armageddon, as R. Praggnanandhaa defeated Fabiano Caruana of the United States. The Chennai teenager was in third place with 13 points, followed by Firouzja (12)

Caruana was on 10.5 points, while Ding, assured of the last place with a round remaining, was on six.

The female World champion from China, Ju Wenjun, however, retained her sole lead in the women’s event. She beat Koneru Humpy in Armageddon and was on 16 points.Ju’s compatriot Lei Tingjie, who defeated R. Vaishali in the classical game, and Ukraine’s Anna Muzhchuk, who overcame Pia Cramling of Sweden in Armageddon, were in joint second place with 14.5 points each. Vaishali was on 11.5 points, followed by Humpy (9) and Cramling (6.5).

The results (ninth round):

Open: Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 12 lost to Magnus Carlsen (Nor) 16; Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 14.5 lost to Ding Liren (Chn) 6; Fabiano Caruana (USA) 10.5 lost to R. Praggnanandhaa 13.

Women: Lei Tingjie (Chn) 14.5 bt R. Vaishali 11.5; Koneru Humpy 9 lost to Ju Wenjun (Chn) 16; Pia Cramling (Swe) 6.5 lost to Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) 14.5.

3)T20 World Cup 2024: We were not up to the mark, says Babar after USA stuns Pakistan

The U.S. beat Pakistan in a Super Over in Dallas to achieve one of the biggest upsets in Twenty20 World Cup history and secure its second win of the tournament.Pakistan has a tendency to underestimate less established teams at major tournaments, captain Babar Azam said, adding that his side played well below their standard in a shocking defeat to the United States at the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday.

Pakistan has a tendency to underestimate less established teams at major tournaments, captain Babar Azam said, adding that his side played well below their standard in a shocking defeat to the United States at the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday.

The U.S. beat Pakistan in a Super Over in Dallas to achieve one of the biggest upsets in Twenty20 World Cup history and secure its second win of the tournament.This is not the first time that Pakistan has suffered a defeat to lower-ranked opposition in major tournaments, with the 2009 champions losing to Zimbabwe in the 2022 T20 World Cup and Afghanistan at last year’s 50-overs World Cup.

“Whenever you come into any tournament, you always do the best preparation,” Babar told reporters after the defeat.

“But you can say it’s a kind of mindset, when you come up against a team like this, you relax a little. You take things a little lightly.

“If you don’t execute your plan against any team, then whatever team it is, they will beat you. I believe that we are not up to the mark in executing. We are doing well in preparation, but in the match, we are not executing our plans as a team.”

Babar also lamented his side’s failure to take wickets in the first half of the U.S. innings, with an early 68-run partnership between Mohank Patel and Andries Gous proving vital in the host nation’s chase.“We are not playing good in all three departments,” Babar said.We are better than that in the bowling, we aren’t taking wickets in the first six overs. In the middle overs, if your spinner is not taking wickets then pressure is on us.

“But I think the way they finished the game in the super overs, credit to the U.S. team.”

Pakistan next faces archrival India in a blockbuster game in New York on Sunday.

4) Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner, French Open 2024 Semifinal: Preview, Head-to-head record, live streaming info

French Open 2024: Another chapter of the exciting Alcaraz vs Sinner rivalry is set to take place at the clay Major as the two players lock horns for a place in their maiden final at Roland Garros.The clash is set to take place on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Preview

Another chapter of the exciting Alcaraz vs Sinner rivalry is set to take place at the clay Major as the two players lock horns for a place in their maiden final at Roland Garros.

It is the youngest men’s semifinal at a Major since Andy Murray defeated Rafael Nadal at US Open in 2008.

Sinner has, undoubtedly, been the best player this season and deservingly, will be crowned World No. 1 when the latest ATP Rankings will be released on Monday. The 22-year-old will be the first Italian man to achieve this feat.Sinner started the year by claiming his maiden Major at the Australian Open, beating 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals before coming from two-sets-to-love down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the final. He has also clinched titles in Rotterdam and Miami.

At Roland Garros, he has largely been untroubled except the fourth-round clash against local favourite Corentin Moutet where he almost got bagelled in the opening set.

Alcaraz, Sinner’s opponent for the semifinals, is one of the two players who have beaten the Italian this year. The 21-year-old Spaniard lost to Alexander Zverev in Melbourne before a forgettable South American claycourt season where he also got injured.Reigning Wimbledon champion Alcaraz looked to be back in form as he defended his title at Indian Wells where he defeated Sinner in an entertaining semifinal. However, due to a forearm injury, he could only play in Madrid leading up to French Open.

Like Sinner, Alcaraz too has dropped just one set on his way to the semifinals in Paris.

Sinner is looking to become only the second Italian man in history to reach the French Open final after 1976 champion Adriano Panatta. On the other hand, Alcaraz bids to become the youngest player to reach a Grand Slam final on all three surfaces and second-youngest Roland Garros men’s singles finalist since 2000, only behind Rafael Nadal in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

5) T20 World Cup 2024: England eyes to halt formidable Australia, South Africa faces Netherlands challenge

England’s opening game against Scotland was rained off after the latter made 90 for no loss in 10 overs, forcing the teams to take home a point each.Defending champion England will look to restitch its T20 World Cup campaign through an improved bowling effort when its faces Australia in a Group B match here on Saturday.

England’s opening game against Scotland was rained off after the latter made 90 for no loss in 10 overs, forcing the teams to take home a point each. But even those 60 balls showed the need for England to buckle up in the bowling department, to begin with.

Scottish openers George Munsey and Michael Jones scored freely against all England bowlers, and Australia carries far more lethal guns in its line-up.David Warner and Marcus Stoinis showed the extent of damage they can do while outclassing Oman in Australia’s tournament opener.

Once again, there will be a lot of focus on Jofra Archer, who gave away 12 runs in two overs against Scotland, as the pacer continues his comeback trail into top-flight cricket.

But bwling is just one part, as the English batters under skipper Jos Buttler, who had a good run in the IPL 2024, will have to fire in unison against the Aussie attack.

The Australian bowlers were potent against Oman even without Pat Cummins, who had a reasonable outing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024. Nathan Ellis played ahead of Cummins in that game, but Australia might bring back the premier pacer against a much more formidable opponent.

While Australia’s batting looks settled, the misfiring Glenn Maxwell remains a missing link.After enduring a shipwreck of an IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bengaluru recently, the ‘Big Show’ got out for a first-ball duck against Oman. The 2021 champions will be eager to see Maxwell return to his best at the earliest, and a match against England offers him a perfect occasion.

HIT MAN – NETFLIX

Hit Man is a black comedy movie based on Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 Texas Monthly magazine article of the same name. The plot of the movie revolves around a part-time officer who acts as an undercover hitman to stop crime. However, the situation goes out of control when he develops feelings for a potential client.

GULLAK SEASON 4 – SONYLIV

The Mishra family is back with new episodes where the parents face new challenges managing their adult kids. Watch them navigate the changing dynamics of parenting in the new season of the family entertainer which stars Jameel Khan, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Vaibhav Raj Gupta, and Harsh Mayar, among others

MUNJYA – THEATRES

Given the success of horror-comedy movies in the recent past, this upcoming movie helmed by Aditya Sarpotdar is an exciting option to step out and enjoy entertainment on the big screen. Titled Munjya, the upcoming movie features Sharvari, Mona Singh, Abhay Verma, and Sathyaraj in pivotal roles.

GOBHIR JOLER MAACH 2 – HOICHOI

Apart from Gullak Season 4, Hierarchy, Die In A Gunfight, Hit Man, and other titles, the list of new OTT releases arriving later this week includes Gobhir Joler Maach 2. The new season of the Bengali series picks up from where the previous one ended and follows the four friends whose lives have been upended by a secret game of

BLACKOUT – JIOCINEMA

This is an exciting comedy thriller that revolves around a young man who gets involved in a car accident and finds a vehicle loaded with gold and cash. As the story progresses, four more characters with their own troubles add more chaos to the already complex situation. The cast of the film includes Vikrant Massey, Sunil Grover, Mouni Roy, and Jisshu Sengupta, among others.

Boomerang (2024 Bengali film)

Boomerang is an Indian Bengali-language science fiction action comedy film directed by Sauvik Kundu Produced by Jeet under the banner of Jeetz Filmworks and Grassroot Entertainment, it stars Jeet and Rukmini Maitra, both portraying dual roles. Sourav Das, Ambarish Bhattacharya, Kharaj Mukherjee and Rajatava Dutta play other pivotal roles

Scientist Samar Sen (Jeet), inventor of the "Virtual Mobile" is a scientist of high intellect and mettle. With meticulous precision, he created an andro-humanoid robot "Nisha", very identical to his wife Isha (Rukmini Maitra). Yet this breakthrough became a boomerang for him and created a confusion. The story evolves around the theme of comedy of errors through whimsical slapstick comedy and unpredictable events.

BOOK OF THIS WEEK:

Hurda by Atharva Pandit (Author)

Valentine’s Day 2013 Murwani, a village in Maharashtra Three sisters—Anisha, Sanchita and Priyanka—disappear from school that afternoon. No one knows where they went or why, but everyone remembers they were up to no good. Six years later, a journalist from Mumbai returns to the scene of the crime and tries to piece together what exactly happened that fateful day. Hurda is that story told through the voices of the many whose lives intersected with those of the three sisters. Based on a real-life incident, this novel takes a surgical knife to contemporary India and sets up for display its pervasive and deep misogyny. Savagely hilarious and deeply disturbing, a whodunit as well as an examination of what the lives of women are worth, Hurda marks the arrival of a bold new voice from South Asia.

Atharva Pandit (Author)

In 2018, you graduated from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. Why the decision to be a journalist?

I have always been very interested in long-form stories, the kind of stories and profiles the New Yorker and Esquire used to do. CJ Chivers’ “The School”, on the Beslan school massacre, is a great example. It’s a piece of reportage I read every year. And then there was a time when I began reading Marie Colvin, Anthony Shadid, and Christopher Hitchens’ dispatches from the war front and all of those countries they covered, and then I was inevitably introduced to Ryszard Kapuscinski and the Polish school of reportage and the various methods of true crime.

In India, of course, I would wait for the newest The Caravan profile and I would dream of writing something like that for the magazine. All of this was instrumental in pushing me towards journalism because I figured that since the only thing I know how to do is writing, I might as well try and earn a living out of it. Of course, that sounds hilarious at this point.