New York City’s Imagine Science Film Festival announced the lineup of films and events for the hybrid presentation of its 15th edition, taking place October 14-21. This year continues Imagine Science’s unique exploration through cinema of the intersection between science and society. This year’s theme is Science New Wave, characterized by its rejection of traditional scientific film conventions and stereotypes in favor of experimentation and personal expression. The festival will include 101 films (29 features and 72 short films) from 40 countries.
Imagine Science will also utilize its art/science networking tool, ‘Habitat,’ as well as the film festival’s own streaming platform, Labocine, as the only film festival which has its very own platform (as opposed to a third-party platform). The innovations allow the film festival to bring together art and science communities to spark true collaboration (Habitat) and encourage audiences to view the festival’s programming with an eye toward their greater mission to foster that intersection between art and science, like this year’s Science New Wave theme. This year’s initiative to engage art/science collaborations and a community of scientists and filmmakers beyond the NYC-based film festival itself has over 3000 multidisciplinary people participating on the ambitious project. Imagine Science FF Programming Coordinator Natalia Solórzano, said “This year’s Imagine Science Film Festival is by far the most ambitious undertaking, worthy of its 15th year of existence. Films coming from corners of the world will accompany us during these 8 days.”
ISFF Artistic Director and Founder Alexis Gambis, added, “Imagine Science ……. survived hurricanes, pandemics, and recessions. Experimentation, research, and community-building are part of this organization’s DNA. Imagine Science acts as a mirror to show others the many ways we can create and make scientifically enriched narratives. This year, we continue to celebrate the Science New Wave. It gave courage to an entire generation to experiment with the rules of storytelling and break away from conventions and rules. Godard forever.”
To learn more, visit imaginesciencefilms.org/ny15
(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Health & Wellness, Cuisine and Spirituality)
‘Double Exposure’ Investigative Film Festival for its eighth annual season presents the 11 investigative feature films selected for the highly curated film festival and symposium series. It takes place in-person, October 13-16 in Washington, DC.
Based in Washington D.C., the epicenter of power in the United States, if not the world, Double Exposure is the first and only U.S. film festival solely dedicated exclusively to investigative storytelling. A project of the investigative news organization 100Reporters, Double Exposure combines film screenings for the public followed by in-depth filmmaker Q&As that frequently include film protagonists and subject experts, and that dig much deeper than traditional Q&As. These are paired with a professional conference for filmmakers and journalists whose work is driven by the investigative instinct.
This year’s slate is a testimony to the incredible dedication of journalists and filmmakers who risk it all to go beyond the headlines.” said Double Exposure founder and co-director Diana Jean Schemo. “This year’s lineup reveals the value of long form storytelling to offer depth and nuance to headline news,” says festival co-director Sky Sitney. “The films take us viscerally and visually into the stories that shape our world today, often at the profound risk and extraordinary sacrifice of the filmmaker and journalist behind the lens. One film in our lineup, Myanmar Diaries is credited to an anonymous filmmaking collective to protect their identity: a group of local filmmakers working tirelessly in Myanmar to expose crimes committed by the military. While Mantas Kvedaravičius, the Lithuanian director behind Mariupolis 2, was tragically killed during the filming of his project – arrested by Russian soldiers when he attempted to leave the city and reportedly murdered. The film was completed by co-director Hanna Bilobrava.”
TICKETS & PASSES
For Tickets & Passes, and more information visit dxfest.com
2022 DOUBLE EXPOSURE FILM LINEUP
OPENING NIGHT
The Grab
Dir: Gabriela Cowperthwaite l USA l 1h 42m
An investigative journalist uncovers the money, influence, and alarming rationale behind covert land grabs by some of the world’s most powerful countries.
CLOSING NIGHT
Retrograde
Dir: Matt Heineman l USA l 1h 34m
The story of the last months of the 20-year war in Afghanistan through the intimate relationship between American Green Berets and the Afghan officers they trained.
CENTERPIECE FILM
American Pain
Dir: Darren Foster l USA l 46m
American Pain traces the rise and fall of twin bodybuilders from Florida who became the kingpins of the largest oxycodone trafficking network in US history.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Body Parts
Dir: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan l USA l 1h 30m
Hazing
Dir: Byron Hurt l USA l 1h 43m
Into the Weeds
Dir: Jennifer Baichwal l USA l 1h 36m
The Killing of a Journalist
Dir: Matt Sarnecki l Denmark/Czech Republic/USA l 1h 40m
Mariupolis 2
Dir: Mantas Kvedaravičius l Ukraine l 1h 52m
Myanmar Diaries
Dir: Anonymous l Myanmar l 1h 10m
The New Greatness Case
Dir: Anna Shishova l Russia l 1h 32m
Pray for our Sinners
Dir: Sinéad O’Shea l Ireland l 1h 21m
SYMPOSIUM PANELS LINEUP
REFRAMING REPRESENTATION
Participants: Patricia Aufderheide, Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh, June Cross
Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s decade-long work has focused on developing a new visual and narrative language for telling stories of under-represented voices in India – ranging from farming communities and journalists working to create transformative change for their communities to refugees and LGBTQ artists finding ways of platforming critical issues around citizenship. In this session, Thomas and Ghosh will talk about how they maintain the delicate balance between filmmaker–participant relationships and the stakes and challenges of storytelling in a dynamically evolving and complex democracy. With Patricia Aufderheide, media scholar and a member of the Documentary Accountability Working Group, they will look at the internal process of working with subjects, and the external pressures that swirl around films that challenge power in an increasingly polarized and dangerous world.
WHISTLEBLOWERS AND THE CREATOR ECONOMY
Participants: Karim Amer, Ed Pierson, Mary Inman, and Amber Scorah
Theranos. WeWork. Uber. Anna Delvey. Harvey Weinstein. Over the past year, the entertainment industry has brought true stories of corporate fraud, scandal, and power abuse to the screen, as part of a growing trend in Hollywood to transform adaptations of non-fiction journalism into film and television. Whistleblowers are also beginning to take to storytelling via social media and podcasts, transcending the gatekeepers of book agents or journalists to share valuable information with the public and achieve virality on their own terms. This panel will explore what it means to incorporate the whistleblower into the process of making a movie – narrative or documentary – or a television show or series about their story.
DOCUMENTALITY FOR FILMMAKERS AND JOURNALISTS
Participants: Malikkah Rollins, Dr. Meryl Heyliger
Documentary filmmakers, as well as journalists, often engage with issues related to trauma, injustice, and abuse, but there has been very little institutional or even community support, let alone recognition of the burden of witnessing. DocuMentality, an initiative of The D-Word, Film in Mind and Malikkah Rollins, recognizes the hidden impact of this work on the frontlines. We seek to normalize a conversation about mental health and well-being in the documentary industry, and to provide best practice guidance and information for documentary filmmakers – and for journalists as well – to become more resilient resources for themselves, their teams and the people who entrust them with their stories.
FACING GOLIATH
Participants: Byron Hurt, Jennifer Baichwal, Nate Halverson, Amanda Pike
Investigative filmmakers and journalists are committed to holding power to account and following a covert trail of misdeeds wherever it may lead. But what happens when the trail lands them on the doorstep of the most powerful governments, corporations, and institutions in the world? In three remarkable films in this year’s lineup, filmmakers and their subjects dare to stand up to powerful, perhaps even untouchable institutions.
REFLECTION IS KEY: HOW VALUES-BASED FILMMAKING CAN REDUCE HARM
Participants: Natalie Bullock Brown, Molly Murphy
Filmmakers come up with ideas for new documentaries every day. But should they be made? This panel will explore how the Documentary Accountability Working Group’s framework for values, ethics, and accountability in non-fiction filmmaking can be utilized to deeply consider the merits and possibilities for harm during the very first phase of production: reflection.
LUNCHTIME CONVERSATION: READING THE SUPREME COURT ON FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
Participants: Max Mishkin, Jennifer Nelson, Alison Schary
First Amendment at a Changing Supreme Court: Discussing what the new, right-leaning Supreme Court means for First Amendment issues, including potential changes to anti-SLAPP laws and the “actual malice” standard in defamation liability.
VANISHING ACT: CAPTURING THE DEATH OF DEMOCRACY
Participants: Anna Shushova, Matt Sarnecki
In Myanmar Diaries, anonymous filmmakers mix chilling footage of police arrests and killings filmed by citizen journalists with fictionalized scenes by an anonymous filmmaker collective that gave voice to fear and despair, struggle and resistance, following that country’s military takeover in February 2021. Anna Shushova, in The New Greatness Case, zeroes in on a KGB sting that entrapped teenagers into challenging the authority of Vladimir Putin, landing them in prison, to convey how fear can be engineered to rise and choke civic engagement. The Killing of a Journalist begins with a very tight focus on two people in Slovakia, 27-year-old investigative journalists and his fiancée, coldly murdered at home. Their killing prompts a sprawling investigation and nationwide protests, with surprising results. Each of these films tackles an increasingly urgent question for filmmakers in an age of crisis: How do you capture the death of freedom, when it becomes a way of life?
MEET THE FUNDERS WHO ARE MEETING THE MOMENT
Participants: Eric Ferrero, Keisha Knight, Lauren Pabst
This year’s edition of a perennial favorite at Double Exposure, the Meet the Funders panel, comes with a particular focus, in response to assaults on freedom across the planet, captured so vividly in this year’s film slate, and the looming threat to democracy closer to home. We’ve asked participating funders to talk about their grantmaking as it supports work to investigate and expose efforts to dismantle democracy and freedom.
OBTAINING AUDIO & VISUAL MATERIALS THROUGH PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS
Participants: Gunita Singh, Ken Klippenstein, Lauren Feeney
Police body cam footage, military training videos, surveillance recordings from government buildings — these are just a few examples of the types of audio/visual material that can be obtained via public records requests and incorporated into your documentary films and video journalism. In this workshop, we’ll talk about what sorts of materials you might be able to find and offer helpful tips on how to navigate the notoriously complex process. This workshop will have a special focus on audio and video material but will also explore how to access other types of documents.
WORLD BUILDING FOR STORYTELLERS: A VIEWERS LIKE US CASE STUDY
Participants: Olivia Aylmer, Grace Lee, Tony Patrick
As storytellers, documentarians, and investigative journalists, we are also world builders: actively shaping the future and seeding change through the questions we raise, the histories we document, and the fresh perspectives we gather. In this interactive workshop, Tony Patrick will walk attendees through the basic tenets of a world-building session, wherein a group of participants connect with each other and collectively envision the future of XYZ organization/industry/city/institution, unlocking a blueprint for actionable change, consensus, and problem-solving in the process.
LEGAL BOOT CAMP: INVESTIGATIVE BASICS FOR FILMMAKERS
Participants: Jennifer Nelson, Lisa Zycherman
A primer on journalists’ legal rights and responsibilities, including safety tips for investigative journalism, recording laws, and common legal issues that may arise while filming (e.g., intrusion, trespass, recording laws), how to avoid them, and related resources. Lawyers will field your questions at the end of the presentation.
NAVIGATING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES IN DOCUMENTARY FILM
Participants: Tom Hentoff, Jen Nelson
Legal experts will provide intellectual property training, including advice regarding fair use, clearance of music, and visuals and archival materials, with a focus on issues affecting the investigative documentary film community. Time will be set aside for questions from the audience.
FOR PRINT JOURNALISTS: BEYOND THE PITCH
Participants: Douglas Blush, Erica Berenstein
So, you’ve just seen your groundbreaking investigation in print, and you believe it would make a riveting film. But how do you get there? This session will demystify the process. You’ll learn how to evaluate your story’s cinematic and storytelling potential and tease out creative points of entry for a visual story.
THE ART, CRAFT AND HEART OF A GREAT PITCH
Participant: Judith Helfand
A two-hour pitching workshop led by Judith Helfand, award-winning filmmaker. Helfand will lead a series of exercises meant to engage the storyteller in you. This session will prepare you for round table meetings and fast intros at the festival, in part by showcasing examples of pitches that incorporate best practices while honoring the unique voice of the filmmaker and proposed film. Helfand believes in the wonder of wordsmithing and the power of context, in using words with edges and delighting in detail. She will push you to identify the core inquiry and fundamental question at the heart of your story.
TENDING THE UNSPOKEN WOUNDS: THE ROLE OF SELF-REFLECTION IN CULTIVATING A HEALING-CENTERED ETHIC IN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM & DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING
Participant: Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Rashad
Many in the industry find themselves standing (or struggling) at an exquisitely perplexing crossroad: how do we document and share the stories unfolding in a world which is experiencing such upheaval and uncertainty? How do we both bear witness and process the painful AND joyous events in the lives of our storytellers? How does one acknowledge and cope with vicarious trauma in a field which prioritizes (the myth of) objectivity as the gold standard of professionalism? This workshop will explore these questions from the lens of self-awareness, critical consciousness, and healing justice.
Double Exposure
Double Exposure, a project of the nonprofit investigative news organization 100Reporters, showcases the best new films inspired by the investigative instinct, in a bid to raise public recognition of this vital form of reporting that doesn’t just ask tough questions, but delivers answers. It pairs film screenings with a concurrent symposium for journalists and filmmakers to connect with each other, and with the producers, editors, funders, and experts who can advance their work. To learn more, visit dxfest.com
Manchester City and Chelsea breezed past FC Copenhagen and AC Milan respectively in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, October 5. Erling Haaland scored a brace for City as they continued their perfect start to the UCL campaign. The Norwegian striker scored in the seventh and 32nd minutes to continue his brilliant start to the season. Davit Khocholava’s own goal in the 39th minute made it 3-0 before a Riyad Mahrez penalty and a Julain Alvarez goal rounded off a perfect day for Guardiola’s men. Chelsea secured a 3-0 win over reigning Serie A champions AC Milan at Stamford Bridge, thanks to goals from Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Reece James. Graham Potter’s team were on the front foot from the get-go and Fofana gave them the lead in the 24th minute. However, he was subbed off from the field due to an injury. Aubameyang scored against his former side in the 56th minute to make it 2-0 before James ended the game and ensured the Blues got all three points in the 62nd minute. Champions League holders Real Madrid edged past Shakthar Donetsk 2-1, courtesy of goals from Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo. Oleksandr Zubkov pulled one back for Shakthar as Madrid held their nerves to see off the Ukrainian team.
A new-look India, led by Shikhar Dhawan, suffered a nine-run defeat at the hands of South Africa in the first ODI at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Thursday, October 6. With the win, South Africa earned the crucial Super League points, which they desperately need to qualify for next year’s World Cup in India. India had a horrendous start while chasing the 250-run target. Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan, who resumed their opening partnership from tour of Zimbabwe, failed to make a mark in the opening ODI against South Africa. South Africa struck twice inside first six overs to remove Gill (3) and captain Dhawan (4). The new-look India’s batting woes continued as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan didn’t last long, leaving the hosts at 51/4 after 17.4 overs. Left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi got rid of Gaikwad (19), while left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj dismissed Kishan (20).
Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson tried to rebuild India’s innings and took the side past the 100-run mark. But soon after completing his fifty, Iyer departed on a short ball by Lungi Ngidi. Samson and incoming Shardul Thakur kept India’s hopes alive as they took the match deep.
But with the asking run rate creeping, Thakur perished (33) and Samson’s (86 not out off 63) effort went in vain in the end.
Earlier, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen’s unbeaten knocks lifted South Africa to 249/4 after rain delayed the start of the match. South Africa got off to a slow start, with Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock struggling in the middle.
Melbourne (TIP)- Shooting will return to the Commonwealth Games roster in the 2026 edition in Victoria, Australia, while wrestling has been dropped in a bitter-sweet turn of events for India. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and the Commonwealth Games Australia on Wednesday unveiled the full sport programme for the Victoria 2026 CWG, featuring 20 sports and 26 disciplines, including nine fully integrated para sports. The return of shooting, which was controversially dropped from the Birmingham CWG earlier this year, is a welcome development for India. Shooting has been India’s strongest sport in the Commonwealth Games with 135 medals (63 gold, 44 silver and 28 bronze) till now. Wrestling is in third spot with 114 (49 gold, 39 silver and 26 bronze) medals. In the 2018 Gold Coast edition, Indian shooters won 16 medals — 25 per cent of the country’s total medals of 66 — with 7 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze.
The addition of para-shooting in the 2026 Games will also add to India’s medal tally.
But the absence of wrestling which yielded the most number of medals — 12 (6 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze) at the Birmingham Games is a big loss. The sport has been dropped after featuring in four successive Games since 2010.
Archery, on the other hand, has featured only twice in the CWG — in 1982 and 2010 — and India stands second in the all-time medal tally for the sport. The dropping of wrestling is, however, not on unexpected lines. Wrestling is not a sport that is very popular in Australia and the host nation usually picks sports where home athletes are expected to do well. Shooting is a popular sport in Australia which finished second behind India in the 2018 CWG with nine medals (3 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze) from the sport.
However, the 2026 edition will not have full bore shooting events and will be competed in pistol, rifle and shotgun disciplines. This development will, however, have no impact on the medal prospects of the Indian shooters as they are not traditionally strong at full bore events. “The shooting programme will include air pistol, air rifle, shooting para sport and shotgun trap. However, full bore are not included,” according to an Australian shooting official. “It is better for shooting to be on the programme in a reduced way than not at all.” The shooting programme in the 2018 Gold Coast CWG had disciplines on full bore, pistol, rifle and shotgun.
In April, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had written to the CGF to include shooting, wrestling and archery in the 2026 CWG, describing their dropping from the initial list of sports as “shocking”.
Golf, 3×3 Basketball, 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball, Coastal Rowing, Shooting, Shooting Para Sport, BMX Racing, Mountain Bike Cross Country, Track Cycling and Para Cycling Track have been added to roster, while Coastal Rowing, Golf, and BMX will make a Commonwealth Games debut. “Victoria 2026 is also proposing to add in Para disciplines in Golf, Coastal Rowing and the Road Race and will work with the Commonwealth Games Federation and relevant international sporting federations to determine if this is possible,” a CGF media release read. It is estimated the Games will contribute more than USD 3 billion to Victoria’s economy, creating more than 600 fulltime equivalent jobs before the Games, 3,900 jobs during the Games and a further 3,000 jobs beyond the Closing Ceremony.
CGF President Louise Martin said, The Games are set to be competitive and action-packed, featuring an extensive, fully integrated Para Sport Program, the debuts of Coastal Rowing, Golf and BMX, the return of Shooting and the scintillating 3×3 Basketball.
The Programme is rooted in the CGF’s 2026-30 Strategic Roadmap, which provides hosts with greater flexibility to propose new sports, especially ones with specific local relevance that will enhance cultural showcasing and increase community engagement.
The 2026 CWG will be staged from March 17-29 in the Australian state of Victoria across multiple cities and regional hubs including Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland. The Opening Ceremony will take place at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Vinod Khosla, Romesh Wadhwani and Rakesh Gangwal made it to the Forbes 2022 list. Indian-Americans Vinod Khosla, Romesh Wadhwani and Rakesh Gangwal made it to the Forbes 2022 list of 400 wealthiest Americans with Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry leading the pack with a net worth of $8.2 billion. Overall, Tesla’s Elon Musk earned the top spot for the first time, unseating former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who had held the top spot for four consecutive years. As a group, the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth $4 trillion, $500 billion less than last year, Forbes noted. Chaudhry, 63, who founded the cybersecurity firm Zscaler in 2008, is ranked 79. He and his family members own 42 per cent of the Nasdaq-listed firm which went public in March 2018. Before Zscaler, Chaudhry had founded four other tech companies that were all acquired — SecureIT, CoreHarbor, CipherTrust, and AirDefense. In 1996, Chaudhry and his wife quit their jobs and used their life savings to launch SecureIT, their first startup. Chaudhry had moved to the US in 1980 to attend graduate school. He now lives in Reno, Nevada.
With a net worth of $5.2 billion, Vinod Khosla (67) was ranked 181. His firm, Khosla Ventures, invests in experimental technologies such as biomedicine and robotics. Khosla had co-founded the computer hardware firm Sun Microsystems in 1982 with Andy Bechtolsheim, Bill Joy, and Scott McNealy. Romesh T. Wadhwani (67), founder and chairman of Symphony Technology Group, was ranked 196 with a net worth of $5.1 billion. He stepped down as CEO of SymphonyAI at the start of 2022 in a move to ready the firm for a potential public offering. He is also the chairman of ConcertAI, an AI company focused on healthcare and life sciences that was valued at $1.9 billion by venture capital investors in March 2022.
With a net worth of $3.7 billion, airline veteran Rakesh Gangwal (69) made his fortune from InterGlobe Aviation, the parent outfit of budget airline IndiGo, India’s largest by market share. He started his airline career with United Airlines in 1984 and went on to run US Airways Group as its chief executive and chairman. Gangwal had cofounded IndiGo with Rahul Bhatia in 2006 with one aircraft. The Miami resident, who is ranked 261 on the list, owns close to 37 per cent of the company
A United Nations agency warned on Monday of the risk of a monetary policy-induced global recession that would have especially serious consequences for developing countries and called for a new strategy. “Excessive monetary tightening could usher in a period of stagnation and economic instability” for some countries, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a statement released alongside its annual report. “Any belief that they (central banks) will be able to bring down prices by relying on higher interest rates without generating a recession is, the report suggests, an imprudent gamble,” it said. The report said that higher interest rates, including hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, would have a more severe impact on emerging economies, which already have high levels of private and public debt. The report, entitled “Development prospects in a fractured world”, also warned of a potential debt crisis in the developing world. “The current course of action is hurting vulnerable people everywhere, especially in developing countries. We must change course,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan told a press conference in Geneva.
Asked about solutions, she suggested there were other ways to bring inflation down, mentioning windfall taxes on corporations, better regulations to control commodity speculation and efforts to resolve supply-side bottlenecks.
“If you want to use only one instrument to bring inflation down…the only possibility is to bring the world to a slowdown that will end up in a recession,” she said. Overall, UNCTAD revised down its 2022 global growth projection to 2.5% from the earlier 2.6% estimated in its March assessment. It expects growth of 2.2% in 2023. The International Monetary Fund also warned last month that some countries may slip into recession next year and revised its growth forecast downwards.
Global recession can be avoided if governments’ fiscal policies were consistent with monetary policy tightening, but likely there would be countries falling into recession next year, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director Kristalina Georgieva said. In the context of monetary policy tightening, fiscal policy cannot stay idle because the cost of living crisis is hitting parts of society dramatically, Georgieva said. She said fiscal policies that indiscriminately support everybody by suppressing energy prices and providing subsidies are working against monetary policies’ purposes. “So you have monetary policy putting a foot on the brakes and fiscal policy putting a foot on the accelerator,” she said, after taking part in a conference on food security in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Governments across the globe have stepped in to support their populations amid high food inflation and shortages by following the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, sending shockwaves through financial markets and the economy.
Earlier, a United Nations agency warned of the serious consequences of a monetary policy-induced global recession for developing countries. It called for a new strategy, including corporate windfall taxes, supply-side efforts and regulation on commodity speculation.
Elon Musk is proposing to buy Twitter Inc. for the original offer price of $54.20 a share, potentially avoiding a courtroom fight over one of the most contentious acquisitions in recent history. Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Shares in Twitter climbed as much as 18% on the news, and is now halted. Representatives for Musk and for San Francisco-based Twitter didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Musk’s proposal to match the original deal terms means Twitter is facing a future under the leadership of a mercurial billionaire who has spent months publicly criticizing its management and questioning its value. It also means that his claims — about how many of Twitter’s users are bots, for instance — are not likely to be scrutinized in a courtroom. Musk had been trying for months to back out of his contract to acquire Twitter, signed in April. Musk began showing signs of buyer’s remorse shortly after the deal was announced, alleging that Twitter had misled him about the size of its user base and the prevalence of automated accounts known as bots.
Karwa Chauth is considered to be a very special day in the life of a married woman. It is a one day festival in which married women observe fast from sunrise to moonrise with much fervor and gaiety. The day falls on the fourth day of Kartik month in Hindu calendar, about nine days before Diwali in the month of either October or November. On this day, the married women specially pray to Goddess Gauri (Parvati) seeking the well-being, prosperity and safety of their husband.
Origin
Karva is another word for ‘pot’ (a small earthen pot of water) and chauth means ‘fourth’ in Hindi (a reference to the fact that the festival falls on the fourth day of the dark-fortnight, or krishna paksh, of the month of Kartik).
The festival originated and came to be celebrated only in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The hypothesis is that military campaigns were often conducted by Hindus who were defending India against Mughal invaders, they would often leave their wives and children to go off to war. Their wives would often pray and celebrate a day of socialising, with other women, by preparing special meals, and dressing up in their finest regalia, and having what would today be deemed as a romantic evening with their husband before he went off to war. Women whose husbands had already gone off to war, join the fast to pray for the safety of their husbands at this time as they ventured away from home to defend India. The festival coincides with the wheat-sowing time (i.e., the beginning of the Rabi crop cycle). Big earthen pots in which wheat is stored are sometimes called Karvas, so the fast may have begun as a prayer for a good harvest in this predominantly wheat-eating region.
There is another story about the origin of this festival. Earlier, girls sometimes barely teenagers used to get married, go and live with their in-laws in very remote villages. Everyone would be a stranger there for the new bride. In case she had any problems with her husband or in-laws, she would have no one to talk to or seek support from. Her own parents and relatives would be quite far and unreachable. Telephones, buses and trains were not heard of in those days. People had to walk almost a whole day to go from one place to other. Once the girl left her parent’s home for in-laws, she might not be back before long. Thus the custom started that, at the time of marriage, when bride would reach her in-laws, she would befriend another woman there who would be her friend (kangan-saheli) or sister (dharam-behn) for life. It would be similar to god-friends or god-sisters. Their friendship would be sanctified through a small Hindu ceremony right during the marriage. The bride’s friend would usually be of the same age (or slightly older), married into the same village (so that she would not go away) and not directly related to her in-laws (so there was no conflict of interest later).
Emotionally and psychologically, it would be very healthy and comforting for the bride to have her own ‘relative’ near her.Once the bride and this woman had become god-friends or god-sisters, they would recognize their relation as such. They would treat each other like real sisters. During any issues later in life, involving even the husband or in-laws, these women would be able to confidently talk or seek help from each other. Moreover, the bride’s parents would treat her friend just like their own daughter. Thus Karva Chauth started as a festival to celebrate this special bond of friendship between the brides and their god-friends. A few days before Karva Chauth, married women would buy new karvas (spherical clay pots) — 7″-9″ in diameter and 2-3 litres capacity-and paint them on the outside with beautiful designs. Inside they would put bangles and ribbons, home-made candy and sweets, make-up items, and small clothes. The women would then visit each other on the day of Karva Chauth and exchange these karvas.
Rituals
Women begin preparing for Karva Chauth a few days in advance, by buying cosmetics (shringar), traditional adornments or jewelry, and puja items, such as the Karva lamps, matthi, henna and the decorated puja thali (plate).Local bazaars take on a festive look as shopkeepers put their Karva Chauth related products on display.On the day of the fast, women from Punjab awake to eat and drink just before sunrise. In Uttar Pradesh, celebrants eat soot feni with milk in sugar on the eve of the festival. It is said that this helps them go without water the next day. In Punjab, sargi is an important part of this pre-dawn meal and always includes fenia. It is traditional for the sargi to be sent or given to the woman by her mother-in-law. If the mother-in-law lives with the woman, the pre-dawn meal is prepared by the mother-in-law. The fast begins with dawn. Fasting women do not eat during the day. In traditional observances of the fast, the fasting woman does no housework. Women apply henna and other cosmetics to themselves and each other. The day passes in meeting friends and relatives. In some regions, it is customary to give and exchange painted clay pots filled with put bangles, ribbons, home-made candy, cosmetics and small cloth items (e.g., handkerchiefs). Since Karva Chauth follows soon after the Kharif crop harvest in the rural areas, it is a good time for community festivities and gift exchanges. Parents often send gifts to their married daughters and their children.
In the evening, a community women-only ceremony is held. Participants dress in fine clothing and wear jewellery and henna, and (in some regions) dress in the complete finery of their wedding dresses. The dresses (saris or shalwars) are frequently red, gold or orange, which are considered auspicious colors. In Uttar Pradesh, women wear saris or lehangas. The fasters sit in a circle with their puja thalis. Depending on region and community, a version of the story of Karva Chauth is narrated, with regular pauses. The storyteller is usually an older woman or a priest, if one is present. In the pauses, the Karva Chauth puja song is sung collectively the singers perform the feris (passing their thalis around in the circle).
The fera ceremony concluded, the women await the rising of the moon. Once the moon is visible, depending on the region and community, it is customary for a fasting woman, with her husband nearby, to view its reflection in a vessel filled with water, through a sieve, or through the cloth of a dupatta. Water is offered (arka) to the moon (som or chandra, the lunar deity) to secure its blessings. She then turns to her husband and views his face indirectly in the same manner. In some regions, the woman says a brief prayer asking for her husband’s life. It is believed that at this stage, spiritually strengthened by her fast, the woman can successfully confront and defeat death (personified by Yama). In Rajasthan the women say “Like the gold necklace and the pearl bracelet, just like the moon may my suhaag always shine brightly.” The husband now takes the water from the thali and gives his wife her first sip and feeds her with the first morsel of the day (usually something sweet). The fast is now broken, and the woman has a complete meal.
Rameshwaram is located on a beautiful island in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is separated by a small Pamban channel from Sri Lanka. According to Hindu mythology, this is the place where Lord Rama created a bridge across the sea to Sri Lanka. Rameshwaram has the first sea bridge connecting the town of Mandapam with Pamban Island, and Rameswaram. Abdandoned town of Dhanushkodi is also located on Pamban Island which was a bustling town until it got destroyed in 1964 by cyclone. Renowned for its magnificent prakaras with massive sculptured pillars on either side, The Ramanathaswamy Temple houses the longest corridor in the world. Agniteertham is famous for its sacred waters and Pilgrims perform poojas in honour of their ancestors at this seashore. The five-faced Hanuman Temple holds the floating stone which was used to build the bridge between India and Sri Lanka.
Places To Visit- Rameshwaram Temple
A perfect blend of mind-boggling architecture and spiritual significance, Rameshwaram Temple, also known as Ramanathaswamy Temple of Tamil Nadu is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It also boasts of being one of the 12 Jyotirlinga temples of India. Not just spiritually, Rameshwaram Temple is appealing architecturally also. With the longest corridor of the world and immaculate carvings on pillars, it is definitely a treat for your eyes.
The lingam in the Rameshwaram Temple was installed by Lord Rama but, the construction was led by several rulers over the centuries. Inside the temple, there are two lingams- Ramalingam and Shivalingam. The latter is still worshipped first to preserve the words of Lord Rama. Besides daily Abhishkams and poojas performed with great zeal, there are absorbing festivals worth witnessing.
Dhanushkodi Temple and Beach
Dhanushkodi was until a few years ago a wonderful temple on the southern tip of India. However, due to a natural calamity, the cyclone, it got completely washed away.
It holds the advantage of being on an island and is exquisitely covered by waters on all the four sides of it. It is sandwiched between the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. When viewed from a birds eye,The seas are in the shape of bow and arrow. The arrow head is considered to be a sacred place for worship by the Hindus and people from far and wide come there to offer sacred prayers to the deity. Lord Rama has his pious foot marks in this temple and the whole story of Ramayana revolves around this temple island. It is a wonderful pilgrim place for the followers of Lord Rama. The place is an approximate of 18 kms from Rameshwaram and one can easily travel by road.
Jatayu Tirtham
Jatayu tirtham is the holy temple constructed in the memory of Jatayu, who was the most loyal eagle of Rama and who helped lord Rama at various instances in getting herbs from the mountains.
It is said that this eagle lost its life in order to save the life of lord Rama and hence its sacrifice is always appreciated and it is worshiped as a deity even today. It was buried in the soil when it died and Jatayu temple has been created at the place of its burial. The whole of its pit was filled with vibhuti, which is the holy ash that is obtained after the yagnas. It is believed that it was buried in the soil whenafter death and Jatayu temple has been created at the place of its burial. The whole of its pit was filled with vibhuti, which is the holy ash that is obtained after the yagnas.
Agnitheertham
One of the 64 sacred baths in Rameshwaram, the Agnitheertham is one of the most important theertham and receives a large number of tourists each day. Located on the beach side of Sri Ramanathaswamy temple, Agnitheertham is the only theertham sited outside the temple complex.
In the Sanskrit language, the word agni means fire; while the word theertham means holy water. Agnitheertham has been mentioned several times in the ancient texts and mythological legends as a pilgrimage of significant importance among the Hindus. The devotees visiting the theertham offer their prayers to the deity and atone their sins by taking a dip in the holy waters.
Lakshmana Tirtham
Lakshmana Tirtham had been constructed in the loving memory of Lord Lakshman, brother of Lord Rama. In order to offer sacred prayers to lord Lakshmana, this temple has been constructed in Rameshwaram itself which indicates that Lord Lakshman had been given a valuable place in the dynasty of Lord Rama. Several wonderful sculptures of Lord Lakshmana have been carved out from marble and the temple has the statues of lord Rama and Goddess Sita too which signifies the spirit of unitedness that exisited between them.
Villoondi Tirtham
Villoondi Tirtham is a beach which is also considered a sacred natural water body and a favourite amongst tourists. It also has a spring inside the sea which makes the attraction a unique one and is often associated with the Legend of Ramayana. It is believed that Lord Rama shot an arrow to create this spring to help his people with drinking water.
Common charger for mobile devices will soon be a reality as the European parliament on Tuesday passed a new law requiring USB Type-C to be the single charger for all mobile phones and tablets from 2024, a press release by the EU Parliament read.
The new law, adopted by plenary on Tuesday with 602 votes in favour, 13 against and 8 abstentions, is part of a broader EU effort to reduce e-waste and to empower consumers to make more sustainable choices. This move will be benefitting the environment and the consumers. USB Type-C port will be the new standard for portable devices, offering high-quality charging and data transfers.
By the end of 2024, all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in the EU will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C charging port. From spring 2026, the obligation will extend to laptops.
Buyers will be able to choose whether to purchase a new device with or without a charging device. Following Parliament’s approval, EU consumers will soon be able to use a single charging solution for their electronic devices, the press release added.
Under the new rules, consumers will no longer need a different charger every time they purchase a new device, as they will be able to use one single charger for a whole range of small and medium-sized portable electronic devices.
Regardless of their manufacturer, all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems, earbuds and laptops that are rechargeable via a wired cable, operating with a power delivery of up to 100 Watts, will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C port. Source: ANI
Engineers flying the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars have spotted a foreign object on the surface in the footage beamed back by the helicopter. The object was seen in the helicopter’s navigation camera footage during its 33rd hop on the alien world.
The Jet propulsion Laboratory, which flies the quadcopter on Mars, said that the foreign object debris was not visible in Navcam footage from the previous flight. The helicopter has been revving up its wings as it continues to aid Perseverance in the search for ancient microbial life on Mars. “The FOD is seen in Flight 33 Navcam imagery from the earliest frames to approximately halfway through the video when it fell from the leg and drifted back to the Mars surface,” JPL said in a blog update.
While the telemetry data indicate that the machine is not damaged, post-flight search and transfer have come out to be nominal. “The Ingenuity and Perseverance Mars 2020 teams are working to discern the source of the debris,” JPL added in its update about the quadcopter. The 33rd flight for the helicopter on Mars saw it climb to an altitude of 10 meters above the surface, covering a distance of 111.238 meters. The helicopter revved at a speed of 4.75 meters per second and remained airborne for 55.61 seconds. The aim of the flight was to reposition the helicopter.
The small, autonomous aircraft has been on Mars for over a year now, during which it has not only demonstrated its ability to fly in the Red Planet’s thin air, but also act as a guide for the Perseverance rover. Ingenuity was deployed to the surface on April 4, 2021, and on April 19, it became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet.
Scientists in the US have developed a new drug that can turn SARS-CoV-2 against itself, and prevent the deadly virus from infecting humans. The researchers from The Scripps Research Institute believe that the drug, called NMT5, is likely to be effective against the emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2.
The drug, described in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, coats SARS-CoV-2 with chemicals that can temporarily alter the human ACE2 receptor — the molecule the virus normally latches onto to infect cells. When the virus is near, its path into human cells via the ACE2 receptor is blocked. In the absence of the virus, however, ACE2 can function as usual, the researchers said.
“What’s so neat about this drug is that we’re actually turning the virus against itself,” said study senior author Stuart Lipton, a professor at The Scripps Research Institute.
The team tested a library of compounds and pinpointed NMT5 as having two key properties: It could recognise and attach to a pore on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, and chemically modify human ACE2 using a fragment of nitroglycerin as the warhead.
The researchers realised this could turn the virus into a delivery vehicle for its own demise.
They characterised and tested NMT5 in isolated cells as well as animals. The study showed how NMT5 attaches tightly to SARS-CoV-2 viral particles as the viruses move through the body. The researchers then revealed the details of how the drug adds a chemical, similar to nitroglycerin, to certain molecules if it gets close enough. When the virus gets near ACE2 to infect a cell, it translates into NMT5 adding a “nitro group” to the receptor. When ACE2 is modified in this way, its structure temporarily shifts — for about 12 hours — so that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can no longer bind to it to cause infection.
“What’s really beautiful is that this only knocks down availability of ACE2 locally when the virus is coming at it. It doesn’t knock down all the function of ACE2 elsewhere in the body, allowing for normal function of this protein,” said Lipton. Source: PTI
The researchers have identified immune cell types that could be targeted to create particular immunotherapies for chemotherapy-resistant breast tumours. Researchers from King’s College London and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, with support from Breast Cancer Now, have performed a deep dive into the different immune markers within tumour tissues and blood samples of early breast cancer patients whose cancer failed to respond to chemotherapy given to them prior to surgery.
The research, published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, gives insight into the function of immune cells in patients with chemotherapy-resistant breast cancers. While chemotherapy may not kill cancer cells in these high-risk patients, immunotherapy, a type of treatment that helps the immune system to attack cancer cells, may provide a benefit.
To investigate the immune environment that surrounds these chemotherapy-resistant tumours, researchers employed multiple and novel complementary technologies looking at proteins and genes on both pre-treatment and post-treatment breast cancer tissue. They also measured how 1,330 cancer and immune-related genes within cancer tissues were affected by chemotherapy.
They found that chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells had very few immune cells around them, but chemotherapy did induce changes in several immune cell types. Specifically, they found increases in the number of “innate” (first responder) cells such as neutrophils and natural killer (NK) cells. NK cells help the body to fight infection and cancer. But the analysis found the increased NK cells in patients with chemotherapy-resistant disease lacked cytotoxic activity – the ‘killing instinct’. Researchers also found that immune-related genes associated with NK cells were those associated with cell inhibition or exhaustion, which meant NK cells were unable to fight cancer cells.
‘The fibrous fruit not only helps with blood pressure and digestion, but also works wonders for your skin. This banana and honey fruit pack helps exfoliate the skin and gets rid of the clogged pores and dry, dead skin, leaving your skin with a subtle glow.
How to make: Take a couple of mashed bananas and add a tablespoon of honey and lemon juice. Apply this evenly on the face and neck area. Let it dry for about 15 minutes and wash it off with lukewarm water for best results.
Green tea mask
Green tea is extremely rich in antioxidants and does magic to your body, both internally and externally. It works great for oily skin, cures acne issues and its anti-inflammatory properties help fight premature ageing.
How to make: Take two tablespoons of green tea and grind it into a fine powder. Now, add some whipped yogurt and a few drops of an essential oil (optional). Massage the prepared pack thoroughly over your skin. Wash it off with warm water after five minutes.
Papaya and honey face pack
A fruit abundantly rich in antioxidants, papaya is known to treat dark spots and pigmentation with its high vitamin A and vitamin C content. When mixed with the natural humectant honey, it makes a great mask to help treat pigmentation, fine lines, sunburn, and a lot more.
How to make: Mash some semi-raw papaya cubes and add a tablespoon of honey and milk to it. Give all the ingredients a good mix and once it converts into a smooth paste, apply the mask over your face and neck. Let it settle for 15-20 minutes before rinsing it off.
Regular exercise and proper food not only helps you to build immunity but also keeps your weight in check. To aid the process, all you need to add to your daily routine is a morning drink that will improve your health overall just like a miracle. Result? Good skin. Great hair. And of course, weight loss.
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
Add one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to a lukewarm glass of water and drink it first thing in the morning. Ensure that you do not consume anything in the next 30 minutes of drinking this miracle potion that aids in weight loss, helps to reduce cholesterol and lowers blood sugar levels.
AMLA JUICE
Concentrated amla juice is available in almost every drugstore. Add two tablespoons of the juice to a glass of water and drink it on an empty stomach. Do not eat or drink anything till the next thirty minutes. Amla juice is a perfect drink to boost immunity and also helps in weight loss apart from improving skin and hair.
HONEY LEMON WATER
An age-old remedy, honey lemon water is a preferred drink for weight loss. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice and honey each to a glass of lukewarm water and drink it first thing in the morning.
AMLA ALOE VERA JUICE
The concentrated form of amla and aloe vera juice is also available in drugstores as well as online. Mix 30ml of juice in a glass of water and drink it on an empty stomach in the morning. This mixture contains essential vitamins and improves metabolism and digestion, thereby aiding weight loss. It acts as a natural detox and promotes clear skin.
GINGER WATER
Add half a teaspoon of ginger zest to a pot of boiling water. After a few minutes, pour the mixture into a glass and allow it to cool for a while. Drink it once it is lukewarm. Ginger water boosts immunity and hydrates the body apart from helping in weight loss and balancing blood sugar levels.
GREEN TEA AND MINT TEA
Boil a cup of water with a few mint leaves. After five minutes, add green tea to the pot. Boil it for five minutes and then, strain it into a cup and drink it in the morning. This is an effective drink for weight loss.
LEMON HONEY & CINNAMON WATER
Mix half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder with some lemon juice and honey. Put the mixture in a glass and add warm water to it. Drink it on an empty stomach. This concoction kills your hunger pangs, thereby aiding in weight loss.
LEMON WATER WITH CHIA SEEDS
Add the juice of half a lemon to a glass of lukewarm water. Mix Chia seeds in this drink and consume it in the morning. It will not only detoxify your body but will also help you in losing weight.
GREEN TEA
If you want to cut a long story short, ditch your regular cup of coffee or chai, and begin your day with green tea. It contains antioxidants and is also great for your skin. Weight loss? Yes, it helps.
It is well known that aerobic exercises, such as running and cycling, can help you live longer, but less has been known about the effect of lifting weights on longevity. Now, results from a new study suggest that adding weightlifting to your exercise regime, even in later life, is a sensible thing to do if you want to avoid an early death.
The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, aimed to find out if lifting weights was linked to a lower risk of death from any cause, either on its own or alongside moderate to vigorous exercise.
Moderate-intensity exercise was described as “activity where you worked up a light sweat or increased your breathing and heart rate to moderately high levels”, and vigorous activity as “activity strenuous enough to work up a sweat or increase your breathing and heart rate to very high levels”. The researchers led by a team from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, analysed data on just under one lakh men and women from ten cancer centres in the US. The participants had an average age of 71 and an average body-mass index of 27.8 (overweight). They followed the group for just shy of a decade, monitoring deaths from any cause, including heart disease.
Around a quarter of people (23 per cent) reported lifting weights, with 16 per cent doing so regularly – between one and six times a week. And around a third (32 per cent) either met or did more than the recommended amount of aerobic exercise.
Weightlifting and aerobic exercise were independently linked with a lower risk of premature death from any cause, except cancer. For adults who reported no aerobic activity, any weightlifting was associated with a nine per cent to 22 per cent lower risk of early death, depending on how often they lifted weights. For those who did not lift weights but did any level of aerobic exercise, this was 24 per cent to 34 per cent.
However, the lowest risk was seen in those who did both weightlifting and aerobic exercise. For example, lifting weights once or twice a week and doing at least the recommended amount of aerobic exercise had a 41 per cent to 47 per cent lower risk of premature death. The study also found that women benefited more from weightlifting than men.
Possible explanations for these findings are that weightlifting may have similar beneficial effects to aerobic exercise. For example, reducing heart disease risk factors by improving blood pressure and blood lipid (cholesterol and triglycerides) profile.
Other recent research that combined studies on muscle strengthening and health outcomes found similar results, but also found a reduced risk of cancer, overall. Perhaps this new study did not find effects for cancer as they were targeting a population already at higher cancer risk, given the participants were part of a cancer screening programme. The best effects were again seen from combining aerobic and strengthening activity. Measuring exercise by asking participants to recall how much they exercised over the past year, for example, is a good option for large observational studies of this type, but it can mean over or under-reporting may influence the findings. A study that used digital devices such as smart watches to measure actual activity would provide more accurate results.
Actors Margot Robbie and Cara Delevingne were reportedly involved in an altercation with a photographer in Argentina recently. The altercation, which soon became physical as the actors got involved, resulted in the paparazzo pressing charges after he ended up with a broken arm. Two friends of the actors, who reports say aren’t bodyguards, have been detained by the police. Cara and Margot worked together on the 2016 film Suicide Squad, in which Margot played her iconic role of Harley Quinn, while Cara played the antagonist Enchantress. The two have since remained friends and often meet for luncheons. As per a report, they were recently dining in Buenos Aires, Argentina when a paparazzo reportedly invaded their personal space.
According to a TMZ report, the two were ‘thrust into a dangerous situation’ as they were leaving the restaurant and the photographer Pedro Alberto Orquera rushed to click them. The report states that eyewitnesses called the photographer ‘intrusive’ and ‘aggressive’ as he tried to click them while Margot was entering the car. This led to the Uber driver speeding away and the actor had to jump out on the pavement.
Katrina Kaif is all set to experiment with her characters and has now decided to play the role of a ghost in Phone Bhoot. The actress has been roped in by Excel Entertainment to feature in their horror-comedy that also stars Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter. The movie’s first look featuring the trio – Katrina Kaif, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter has piqued curiosity among the audience for its unusual casting. A source close to the film confirmed about the actress saying, “Phone Bhoot is undoubtedly a film that has been the talk of the town for a long time. While the audience does know some elements of the story as well as about the film, the big question that left everyone wondering was about the details of the ghost in the film. While we have seen Katrina essaying many glamorous characters in her intriguing filmography, this time she will be seen playing the character of a ghost for the first time in the film. As the film is slated to release this Diwali season, it would be exciting to see Katrina playing such a different role on the big screen. Katrina coming as a ghost with her distinctive charm would be a treat to watch in the film. Phone Bhoot will also mark Kartina’s first film after her marriage.” Katrina Kaif, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Ishaan Khatter recently attended Koffee With Karan 7 with Karan Johar asa the host. While audience got a glimpse of their off screen camaraderie, they seem to be quite excited to see them together on the big screen as well. Directed by Gurmmeet Singh and written by Ravi Shankaran and Jasvinder Singh Bath, Phone Bhoot is produced by Excel Entertainment, headed by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar. The film will be a post-Diwali release and is all set to be released on November 4.
Alia Bhatt was awarded the Time100 award in Singapore on October 2. She was looking stunning in a dusty shimmery cape gown as she accepted the award. The soon to-be-mom delivered an impressive acceptance speech. Alia said, “I am immensely proud to be here tonight as the representative of my country — a country that has built both me and my career. India is a country that, at its core, values diversity above anything else.”
She added, “And lastly when it comes to making an impact, I hope that I can continue to do so in whatever way possible, but for now, tonight, this award has genuinely made an impact on me…Me and my little one, who has relentlessly kicked me through this speech.” Alia also thanked her family members. “Thank you all for patiently listening to me. Also thank you to my team, for constantly being there for me, my family; my mom (Soni Razdan) for bringing me on to this planet; my father (Mahesh Bhatt); my sister Shaheen Bhatt, who has helped put my talks into words; my husband Ranbir Kapoor. I need to give them separate awards for putting up with me on a daily basis.”
Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone continue to go strong on the relationship front. Amid rumours of their separation, Ranveer has praised Deepika after she was signed by an international jewellery brand as its brand ambassador. After Cartier welcomed Deepika Padukone as its ‘newest ambassador’ along with a stunning black and white picture of her sporting a diamond necklace from the brand, Ranveer reacted to the post. He tweeted, “My Queen. Doing us proud!” along with a tricolor, hands joined in prayer and heart emoji. Recently, Ranveer had stepped out in a pink look from head to toe. He shared pictures of his look in a pink tee and pants paired with pink jacket and shoes on Instagram. Deepika had called his look ‘edible’ in the comments section. He also called Deepika ‘Queen on Instagram, while reacting to her look at the recent The Business of Fashion event in Paris.
Deepika was among many celebrity guests at the The Business of Fashion event in Paris. She is the first Indian to feature on the Bof 500 cover. At the event, she joined the likes of Kylie Jenner, Natasha Poonawalla, Charli XCX, Ellie Goulding, Jaden Smith, Jared Leto, Paloma Elsesser and Karlie Kloss. Ranveer and Deepika had made quite a few joint public appearances last month. They attended Mukesh Ambani’s Ganpati visarjan and attended the Ganpati darshan at Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde’s residence. Deepika had also joined Ranveer on stage to present him a trophy at the Filmfare Awards held last month. She gave her a kiss on the cheek and a hug as she arrived on stage. She handed him the Filmfare best actor award for his performance in the film 83. Deepika had co-produced the film, and had played the role of Kapil Dev’s wife Romi Bhatia in it. Source: HT
Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, Barry Sharpless win 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and Barry Sharpless won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. While Barry Sharpless and Morten Meldal laid the foundation for a functional form of chemistry click chemistry in which molecular building blocks snap together quickly and efficiently. Carolyn Bertozzi took it to a new dimension and started utilising it in living organisms. “This year’s Prize in Chemistry deals with not overcomplicating matters, instead working with what is easy and simple. Functional molecules can be built even by taking a straightforward route,” said Johan Aqvist, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry. The Chemistry Nobel is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as per the will of Alfred Nobel. So far, the committee has chosen 113 laureates in the field, of which seven have been women. Meanwhile, 25 chemistry prizes have been shared by two laureates.
Frederick Sanger is the only person to have won the Chemistry prize twice, in 1958 and in 1980. The Nobel Committee in 2021 awarded the top award jointly to Benjamin List and David MacMillan for their development of a precise new tool for molecular construction: organocatalysis. The tool has had a great impact on pharmaceutical research and has made chemistry greener. The Chemistry announcement comes a day after the Academy announced the Physics Nobel, which has been given to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger for their experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science. The three laureates conducted groundbreaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single unit even when they are separated.
3 scientists share Nobel Prize in Physics
Three scientists jointly won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday, October 4, for proving that tiny particles could retain a connection with each other even when separated, a phenomenon once doubted but now being explored for potential real-world applications such as encrypting information. Frenchman Alain Aspect, American John F. Clauser and Austrian Anton Zeilinger were cited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for experiments proving the “totally crazy” field of quantum entanglements to be all too real. They demonstrated that unseen particles, such as photons, can be linked, or “entangled,” with each other even when they are separated by large distances. It all goes back to a feature of the universe that even baffled Albert Einstein and connects matter and light in a tangled, chaotic way.
Bits of information or matter that used to be next to each other even though they are now separated have a connection or relationship—something that can conceivably help encrypt information or even teleport. A Chinese satellite now demonstrates this and potentially lightning fast quantum computers, still at the small and not quite useful stage, also rely on this entanglement. Others are even hoping to use it in superconducting material.
Svante Pääbo awarded Nobel Prize in medicine
The Nobel Prizes 2022 for medicine or physiology was awarded to Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo. Svante Pääbo was given the award “for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution,” the Nobel Prize committee. Considered the most prestigious prize in the scientific world, it is awarded by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($900,357).
Through his pioneering research, Svante Pääbo accomplished something seemingly impossible: sequencing the genome of the Neanderthal, an extinct relative of present-day humans. He also made the sensational discovery of a previously unknown hominin, Denisova. Importantly, Pääbo also found that gene transfer had occurred from these now extinct hominins to Homo sapiens following the migration out of Africa around 70,000 years ago. This ancient flow of genes to present-day humans has physiological relevance today, for example affecting how our immune system reacts to infections.
In 1990, Pääbo was recruited to the University of Munich, where, as a newly appointed Professor, he continued his work on archaic DNA. He decided to analyze DNA from Neanderthal mitochondria – organelles in cells that contain their own DNA. The mitochondrial genome is small and contains only a fraction of the genetic information in the cell, but it is present in thousands of copies, increasing the chance of success.
Svante Pääbo (born 20 April 1955) is a Swedish geneticist specialising in the field of evolutionary genetics and a Nobel prize laureate. As one of the founders of paleogenetics, he has worked extensively on the Neanderthal genome. He was appointed director of the Department of Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany in 1997. He is also a professor at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan.
French author Annie Ernaux wins Nobel Prize in Literature
French author Annie Ernaux has won the 2022 Nobel Prize in literature “for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory.” Annie Ernaux was born in 1940 and grew up in the small town of Yvetot in Normandy. “Annie Ernaux’s debut was Les armoires vides (1974; Cleaned Out, 1990), and already in this work she started her investigation of her Norman background, but it was her fourth book, La place (1983; A Man’s Place, 1992), that delivered her literary breakthrough,” The Swedish Academy said in a statement.
“In her writing, Ernaux consistently and from different angles, examines a life marked by strong disparities regarding gender, language and class. Her path to authorship was long and arduous,” the statement further read. Ernaux’s famous works include A Woman’s Story, A Man’s Place, Simple Passion, Cleaned Out and L’occupation.
Facebook parent Meta said on Monday it has launched a new set of free software tools for artificial intelligence applications that could make it easier for developers to switch back and forth between different underlying chips. Meta’s new open-source AI platform is based on an open-source machine learning framework called PyTorch, and can help code run up to 12 times faster on Nvidia’s flagship A100 chip or up to four times faster on AMD’s MI250 chip, it said.
But just as important as the speed boost is the flexibility the software can provide, Meta said in a blog post. The software has become a key battleground for chipmakers seeking to build up an ecosystem of developers to use their chips. Nvidia’s CUDA platform has been the most popular so far for artificial intelligence work.
However, once developers tailor their code for Nvidia chips, it is difficult to run it on graphics processing units, or GPUs, from Nvidia competitors like AMD. Meta said the software is designed to easily swap between chips without being locked in.
“The unified GPU back-end support gives deep learning developers more hardware vendor choices with minimal migration costs,” Meta said in its blog post. Meta’s software is made for AI work called inference, which is when machine learning algorithms that previously have been trained on huge amounts of data are called on to make quick judgments, such as deciding whether a photograph is of a cat or a dog. “This is a software effort that is multi-platform. And it’s a testament to the importance of software, particularly for deploying neural networks in machine learning for inference,” said David Kanter, a founder of MLCommons, an independent group that measures AI speed.
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Three scientists jointly won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday, October 4, for proving that tiny particles could retain a connection with each other even when separated, a phenomenon once doubted but now being explored for potential real-world applications such as encrypting information. Frenchman Alain Aspect, American John F. Clauser and Austrian Anton Zeilinger were cited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for experiments proving the “totally crazy” field of quantum entanglements to be all too real. They demonstrated that unseen particles, such as photons, can be linked, or “entangled,” with each other even when they are separated by large distances. It all goes back to a feature of the universe that even baffled Albert Einstein and connects matter and light in a tangled, chaotic way.
The Nobel Prizes 2022 for medicine or physiology was awarded to Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo. Svante Pääbo was given the award “for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution,” the Nobel Prize committee. Considered the most prestigious prize in the scientific world, it is awarded by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($900,357).
