इंटरनेट डेस्क। नेपाल के प्रधानमंत्री पुष्प कमल दहल प्रचंड इस समय चार दिवसीय भारत के दौरे पर हैं। अपनी इस यात्रा के दौरान वो तीसरे दिन मध्य प्रदेश के उज्जैन पहुंचे। जहां उन्होंने महाकालेश्वर मंदिर में भगवान शिव का रुद्राभिषेक किया है। वहीं नेपाल में कुछ लोगों को साम्यवादी नेता का मंदिर जाना रास नहीं आ रहा है।
नेपाल में उनकी आलोचना करते हुए कहा जा रहा है की मंदिर जाना उनकी कम्युनिस्ट नेता की छवि के अनुकूल नहीं है। डेनमार्क में नेपाल के पूर्व राजदूत विजय कांत का कहना है कि प्रचंड का अपने आधिकारिक दौरे में मंदिर जाना उनकी कम्युनिस्ट नेती की छवि को सूट नहीं करता है।
वहीं नेपली प्रधानमंत्री ने महाकाल मंदिर में दर्शन और पूजन के साथ भगवान का जलाभिषेक किया। इस दौरान नेपाल से विशेष रूप से लाए 100 रुद्राक्ष प्रधानमंत्री प्रचंड ने भगवान को अर्पित किए। 51 हजार रुपए की नकद राशि भी भेंट की। उन्होंने ई-कार्ट से महाकाल लोक का भ्रमण किया। इस दौरान राज्यपाल मंगुभाई पटेल ने उन्हें महाकाल लोक की विशेषताओं के संबंध में जानकारियां भी दी।
Siddhartha Deb returns to fiction after over a decade with The Light at the End of the World (Context/Westland). Like a hall of distorted mirrors, the book reflects in intriguing, unsettling ways the contemporary reality of India – and traces it back to many moments of apocalypse in the nation’s history.
In a conversation with Scroll, Deb, who teaches journalism for a living, spoke of arriving at the form of the novel, what fiction allows him to do, and his ambivalent relationship with the news. Excerpts from the interview:
What was the original impulse for writing this novel? How long did it take you? I wanted to read a big South Asian novel that engaged with the strangeness of our times in a formally inventive manner. I did not think that the realism dominating literary fiction was capable of quite handling this. I wanted something weird, something crossing over from literary fiction to genre fiction and back, something that moved between past, present, and future, and because this book didn’t seem to exist, I just began writing it.
It took seven years, but the writing was mostly done during my summer breaks from a full-time teaching job, in between parenting and journalism. It was finished, with a terrible sense of timing, just…
इंटरनेट डेस्क। पिछले कुछ दिनों से महिला पहलवानों के साथ यौन शोषण के मामले में गंभीर आरोप झेल रहे बीजेपी सांसद बृजभूषण शरण अब चारों और से घिरते नजर आ रहे है। बृजभूषण के खिलाफ पहलवानों के आंदोलन को किसानों ने पूरी तरह से सपोर्ट कर दिया है। किसानों ने शुक्रवार को उनके सपोर्ट में कुरुक्षेत्र में महापंचायत की।
इस बीच किसान नेता राकेश टिकैत ने बड़ा ऐलान भी कर दिया। उन्होंने बताया की महापंचाय में निर्णय लिया गया है की सरकार को पहलवानों की शिकायतों का समाधान करना चाहिए। साथ ही उन्हें बृजभूषण सिंह की गिरफ्तार करनी चाहिए। महापंचायत ने तय किया है की उनकी गिरफ्तारी से कम पर कोई समझौता नहीं होगा।
टिकेत ने कहा है की अगर ऐसा नहीं होता है तो हम 9 जून को पहलवानों के साथ दिल्ली के जंतर-मंतर जाएंगे। खाप नेताओं ने चेतावनी दी है कि अगर उन्हें जंतर-मंतर पर बैठने की अनुमति नहीं दी गई तो आंदोलन की घोषणा की जाएगी। टिकैत का कहना है कि सरकार को मौका दिया जाएगा। महिला पहलवानों के परिजनों को धमकाया जा रहा है। सरकार को उनकी सुरक्षा सुनिश्चित करनी चाहिए।
इंटरनेट डेस्क। राजस्थान में इस समय मानसून की सी बारिश हो रही है और उसका कारण है पश्चिमी विक्षोभ का असर। इस विक्षोभ का असर ऐसा है की लगातार पिछले कुछ दिनों से राजस्थान के अलग अलग इलाकों में बारिश और तेज अंधड़ का असर दिखाई दे रहा है। मौसम विभाग की माने तो आने वाले 24 घंटों में भी बारिश और अंधड़ का अलर्ट जारी है।
वहीं बात करले आगे की तो मौसम की तो राजधानी जयपुर समेत कई जिलों में पारा चढ़ने लगा है। जबकी लगातार बारिश का असर देखने को मिल रहा है। हालांकि, मौसम विभाग ने रविवार को कुछ जगहों पर तेज हवा के साथ बरसात का पूर्वानुमान जताया है। यानी अगले 24 घंटे में मौसम बदल सकता है।
मौसम विभाग की माने तो जयपुर, बीकानेर, भरतपुर और उदयपुर में कुछ जगहों पर बारिश के साथ तेज हवा के आसार हैं। जिससे लोगों को गर्मी से कुछ राहत मिल सकती है। वहीं बढ़ते तापमान की बात कर ले तो बारां जिला सबसे गर्म रहा। यहां अधिकतम तापमान 39.9 डिग्री रिकॉर्ड किया गया। जयपुर में शुक्रवार को अधिकतम पारा 35.5 डिग्री रिकॉर्ड किया गया। जयपुर मौसम केंद्र की माने तो 6 जून तक राज्य में आंधी-बारिश का अलर्ट जारी है।
इंटरनेट डेस्क। ओडिशा के बालासोर में शुक्रवार रात एक बड़ा रेल हादसा हो गया। इस हादसे में अब तक 233 लोगों की मौत हो चुकी है जबकि 900 से ज्यादा यात्री घायल बताए जा रहे है। जैसे जैस लोगों को ट्रेनों में से निकालने का काम चल रहा है मृतकों और घायलों की संख्या बढ़ने का अनुमान है।
मीडिया रिपोर्ट की माने तो हादसा बालासोर के बहानगा बाजार स्टेशन के पास हुआ। बताया जा रहा है की कोलकाता से चेन्नई जा रही कोरोमंडल एक्सप्रेस और यशवंतपुर-हावड़ा एक्सप्रेस बहानगा के पास डिरेल हो गईं। इसके बाद कोरोमंडल ट्रेन एक मालगाड़ी से टकरा गई। उसी में लोगों की मौत हो गई।
वहीं हादसे के बाद देश के प्रधानमंत्री ने शोक प्रकट किया है। प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने ओडिशा के बालासोर में हुए ट्रेन हादसे पर दुख जताया है। उन्होंने एक ट्वीट के जरिए अपनी संवेदनाएं व्यक्त की। राष्ट्रपति ने भी इस हादसे पर दुख जताया है। इसी बीच राज्य के सीएम नवीन पटनायक ने इस हादसे के बाद राज्य में एक दिन के राजकीय शोक की घोषणा की है।
Just as dawn broke on May 28, Douminthang Haokip and other residents of Haika L village in Chandel district set out for a nearby village, 7 km away.
It was, according to his brother Douthanglen Haokip, “public duty”.
The residents of the neighbouring village, Thingkangphai, were under attack and had called for help. “Several people, many of them armed, were coming from Imphal and trying to attack our villages,” said Douthanglen Haokip, a 36-year-old farmer and Douminthang’s brother.
Haika L village is a few kilometres from Sugnu, a town with a mixed population of Kukis and Meiteis in the foothills of Manipur. On May 28, the area saw heavy firing and several incidents of arson.
“The people of Thingkangphai asked us to come to their aid,” Douthanglen Haokip said. “One of our brothers too lived there. So, many villagers, including my brother, Douminthang, set out. He was carrying a single-barrelled gun.”
Even earlier, when fierce violence had broken out in Manipur on May 3, Douminthang, a 38-year-old farmer, had been at the forefront in protecting his village from mobs trying to burn down Kuki villages, said his brother.
But on the way to Thingkangphai, he was shot dead at Serou village around 4.30 am on May 28. “There…
From sleep trackers to wakefulness drugs, the 21st century has seen an influx of new technology that could radically alter the way we sleep.
Many of these new technologies chase the dream of optimised slumber. They promise to help tailor our sleep schedules to fit around our social lives, help us sleep for longer or even skip a night’s sleep altogether.
Here’s how technology is permeating our sleep, and what the future holds.
Time to wake up
Sleeping pills have recently been joined by a wave of wakefulness drugs, purportedly safer and more powerful alternatives to caffeine. It seems that they work best on people who are already sleep deprived and don’t have a huge effect on those who are already well rested.
Modafinil is touted for its cognition enhancing effects (especially in sleep-deprived people) and can supposedly keep people awake and alert for several days at a time. Some scientific studies are showing that this may indeed be the case, although results are mixed, with other research showing the effects are similar to caffeine.
The drug was developed to help people with narcolepsy but some have started using it for its focus-enhancing effects. It is a controlled drug (prescription only) in most countries. People who use it for cognitive enhancement or…
Whenever the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the US takes place, parents and children may wonder: What does it take to become a champion? Is it worth the effort?
As just about any former Scripps champion could tell you, the contest – which took place from May 31 to June 1 – involves a fair amount of luck, so preparation does not guarantee a victory. There’s simply no way a contestant can know which word awaits them from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. But if young people find enjoyment in learning how to spell words, as well as understanding the origins and meanings of these words, then they will feel proud of what they accomplished.
Still, as I state in my book, Hyper Education: Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough, there are certain practices that can greatly boost a child’s chances of becoming an excellent speller. I observed these practices among families who assist their children in competitive academics.
Invest in study materials
Rather than just open the dictionary, contestants study word lists, including the 4,000 words in the free official study guide provided by Scripps. Some parents create their own word lists based on observing past bees.
But to the extent possible, competitive spellers, including several previous Scripps National Spelling Bee winners, have purchased special…
The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said it hoped that Beijing would allow Indian journalists to work in China amid a diplomatic row between the two countries over visas for foreign reporters.
The development comes a day after Beijing said that it had expelled two Indian journalists in April as a “counter measure” against New Delhi’s “unfair” treatment of Chinese journalists.
State-run Prasar Bharati’s reporter Anshuman Mishra and The Hindu correspondent Ananth Krishnan were barred from returning to China. Both of them were based in Beijing but were in India when their visas had been “frozen”.
At a press conference on Friday, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that New Delhi allows all foreign journalists to operate in India without any difficulties. “Meanwhile, Indian journalists in China have been operating with certain difficulties, such as not being permitted to hire locals as correspondents or as journalists,” he said.
Bagchi said that the Indian government allows foreign journalists to hire locals to run their bureaus. Drawing a comparison with the neighbouring country, he said that Indian journalists face several restrictions while travelling within China.
“The Indian side supports and facilitates foreign journalists in India, I am sure you can attest to it,” Bagchi told reporters. “At the same time there should be no deviations…
तिरुवनंतपुरम। इंटरनेट को मौलिक अधिकार घोषित करने वाली केरल सरकार अपने स्वामित्व में इंटरनेट सेवा ;के-फोन नाम से शुरू करने जा रही है जिसके जरिये गरीबों को मुफ्त और अन्य को सस्ती ब्राडबैंड इंटरनेट सेवा मुहैया कराई जाएगी।
यह बहुप्रतिक्षित योजना पांच जून को शुरू करने से पहले ;पीटीआई-भाषा से बातचीत में के-फोन के प्रबंध निदेश्क और भारतीय प्रशासनिक सेवा (आईएएस) के पूर्व अधिकारी संतोष बाबू ने बताया कि सरकार का लक्ष्य केरल में आर्थिक रूप से पिछड़े 20 लाख लोगों को मुफ्त ब्रॉडबैंड सेवा उपलब्ध कराना है।
उन्होंने बताया कि के-फोन राज्य की मौजूदा दूरसंचार पारिस्थितिकी के साथ-साथ काम करेगी और इसके तहत शुरुआती चरण में स्थानीय स्व सरकार विभाग ने राज्य के 140 विधानसभा क्षेत्रों के 14 हजार परिवारों को चुना है जिन्हें मुफ्त इंटरनेट सेवा प्रदान की जाएगी।
संतोष बाबू ने कहा कि केरल फाइबर ऑप्टिक नेटवर्क (के-फोन) केरल की वाम सरकार की पहल है और उम्मीद की जा रही है कि इससे समाज के सशक्त और हाशिये पर गए वर्गों के बीच व्याप्त डिजिटल खाई को पाटने में मदद मिलेगी।
उन्होंने कहा कि सरकार का उद्देश्य के-फोन के जरिये डिजिटल क्रांति लाना, परिवर्तनकारी बदलाव लाना और आर्थिक व सामाजिक विकास के नए द्वार खोलना है।परियोजना के बारे में संतोष बाबू ने बताया कि मुफ्त इंटरनेट कनेक्शन पहले ही केरल के 17,280 सरकारी कार्यालयों तक पहुंचाया जा चुका है।
वहीं राज्य सचिवालय और 10 जिला कलेक्ट्रेट के-फोन का इस्तेमाल कर रहे हैं।उन्होंने बताया कि शुरुआती चरण में के-फोन की योजना पूरे राज्य में 30 हजार सरकारी कार्यालयों में इंटरनेट कनेक्शन देना और आर्थिक रूप से पिछड़े 14 हजार परिवारों को मुफ्त ब्रॉडबैंड कनेक्शन मुहैया कराना है।संतोष बाबू ने कहा कि के-फोन, केरल इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर इन्वेस्टमेंट फंड बोर्ड (केआईआईएफबी) के तहत सरकार द्वारा वित्तपोषित परियोजना है और ;; यह अन्य प्रतिद्वंद्वियों से कीमत को लेकर प्रतिस्पर्धा करने के लिए नहीं है।
नयी दिल्ली। रक्षा मंत्री ने हॉलीवुड की सफल फिल्म ;स्पाइडमैन के प्रसिद्ध संवाद का जिक्र करते हुए शुक्रवार को कहा कि ;;ताकत के साथ जिम्मेदारी भी बढ़ती है और भारत के वैश्विक स्तर पर बढ़ते कद के साथ-साथ उसकी जिम्मेदारी भी बढ़ेगी।
सिंह ने एक समारोह के दौरान कहा कि जब भारत एक महाशक्ति के रूप में उभरेगा, तो उसे यह सुनिश्चित करना होगा कि लोकतंत्र, धार्मिक स्वतंत्रता, मनुष्यों की गरिमा और वैश्विक शांति जैसे सार्वभौमिक मूल्य दुनिया में सभी जगह स्थापित हों।
रक्षा मंत्री ने कहा कि सरकार 2047 तक एक विकसित भारत के निर्माण की दिशा में काम कर रही है और देश के लगभग सभी क्षेत्रों पर ध्यान केंद्रित कर रही है।
सिंह ने देश में राजनीतिक परिदृश्य को लेकर कहा कि राजनीतिक दल लोकतंत्र के लिए अहम हैं और यह इन दलों के बिना बरकरार नहीं रह सकता।
उन्होंने खेद जताया कि भारत में ;;कई राजनीतिक दल किसी विचारधारा के आधार पर काम नहीं करते और उनकी राजनीति किसी एक व्यक्ति या एक परिवार या एक जाति के चारों ओर घूमती है।उन्होंने एक मीडिया समूह द्वारा आयोजित ;इंडिया इकोनॉमिक कॉनक्लेव (भारत आर्थिक सम्मेलन) में कहा, ;;मुझे लगता है कि विकसित भारत में इस प्रकार की राजनीति के लिए कोई जगह नहीं होनी चाहिए। राजनीति विचारधारा और मूल्यों पर आधारित होनी चाहिए, न कि परिवार, धर्म और जाति पर।
अमेरिका के राष्ट्रपति जो बाइडन गुरूवार को एक कार्यक्रम के दौरान लड़खड़ाकर ओंधे मुंह जा गिरे, जिसके बाद उनकी सिक्योरिटी ने उन्हें दौड़कर उठाया। ये पहला मौका नहीं है जब बाइडेन गिरे हो। इससे पूर्व भी वो एक या दो बार गिर चुके है। मीडिया रिपोर्ट के अनुसार कोलोराडो में अमेरिकी वायुसेना अकादमी के उपाधिग्रहण समारोह के दौरान यह हादसा हुआ।
जानकारी के अनुसार जो बाइडन लड़खड़ाकर गिरे पड़े। दरअसल, प्रमाण पत्र देने के बाद बाइडन जैसे ही आगे बढ़ें उनका पैर सैंडबैग में फंस गया और वह गिर पड़े। हालांकि, गिरने के तुरंत बाद उन्हें उनके यूएस सीक्रेट सर्विस के सदस्यों द्वारा उठाया गया, वह जल्दी से उठे और वापस अपनी सीट पर चले गए।
वहीं व्हाइट हाउस ने कहा कि गिरने के बाद राष्ट्रपति जो बाइडन ठीक हैं। वह उस वक्त लड़खड़ा गए जब वह पोडियम से वापस जा रहे थे, जहां से उन्होंने अकादमी के स्नातकों को संबोधित किया। उन्होंने सैकड़ों कैडेट्स को बधाई दी और प्रमाण पत्र वितरित किए।
। राजस्थान माध्यमिक शिक्षा बोर्ड कक्षा 10 का परीक्षा का परिणाम आज जारी होगा। ऐसे में 12वीं के सभी संकायों के परिणाम आने के बाद इंतजार कर रहे कक्षा 10 के सभी छात्रों का आज इंतजार समाप्त हो जाएगा। माध्यमिक शिक्षा बोर्ड की और इस बात की जानकारी दी गई है।
इस बार की परीक्षा में 10 लाख से अधिक कैंडिडेट्स शामिल हुए थे। जानकारी के अनुसार रिजल्ट शुक्रवार 02 जून को दोपहर 1 बजे रिलीज़ किया जाएगा। छात्र अपने एग्जाम रोल नंबर की मदद से अपना रिजल्ट चेक कर सकेंगे।
रिजल्ट चेक करने का लिंक बोर्ड की आधिकारिक वेबसाइट rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in पर लाइव होगा। छात्र अपने रोल नंबर की मदद से वेबसाइट पर लॉगिन कर अपनी मार्कशीट चेक कर सकेंगे। शिक्षामंत्री बुलाकी दास कल्ला प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस के माध्यम से रिजल्ट की घोषणा करेंगे।
। कांग्रेस के पूर्व राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष और पूर्व सांसद राहुल गांधी ने अपनी संसदीय सदस्यता जाने के बाद पहली बार कोई प्रतिक्रिया दी है और वो भी अमेरिका में जिसके बाद देश की राजनीति में उबाल आ गया है। उन्होंने वैसे आज तक इस मामले में अपनी और कोई बयान तक नहीं दिया था।
अब उन्होंने लोकसभा की सदस्यता जाने के बाद पहली बार प्रतिक्रिया दी। अमेरिका में राहुल ने कहा कि, मैं पहला ऐसा व्यक्ति, जिसे मानहानि मामले में इतनी बड़ी सजा मिली है। सदस्यता जाने को लेकर राहुल गांधी ने अमेरिका में भाजपा सरकार पर हमला बोला। साथ ही करीब दो महीने बाद अपनी सांसदी जाने पर भी चुप्पी तोड़ी।
उन्होंने कैलिफोर्निया के स्टैनफोर्ड यूनिवर्सिटी में एक सेमिनार को संबोधित करते हुए कहा कि उन्होंने कभी नहीं सोचा था कि मानहानि के मामले में उन्हें अधिकतम सजा मिलेगी और सांसद के रूप में अयोग्य घोषित कर दिए जाएंगे। उन्होंने इस दौरान भारत जोड़ो यात्रा का जिक्र भी किया।
। राजस्थान में मानसून पूर्व की बारिश ने पिछले 100 सालों को रिकॉर्ड़ तोड़ दिया है। ऐसी बारिश मानसून पूर्व कभी नहीं हुई। पूरे मई के महीने में कुछ दिनों को छोड़ दे तो हर दिन तेज हवाओं के साथ बारिश का दौर देखने को मिला है। वहीं गुरूवार को भी जयपुर जिले के कई इलाकों में जमकर ओले गिरे।
सुबह से ही बिगड़ा मौसम शाम तक ऐसा ही बना रहा है। मीडिया रिपोर्ट की माने तो जयपुर जिले के 25 किमी. के क्षेत्र में तूंगा , बस्सी, चौमू में जमकर ओलो की बारिश हुई, जिसके कारण किसानों की सब्जियों की फसलों को नुकसान पहुंचा है। वहीं घरों बाहर खड़ी कारों के शीशे भी टूट गए है।
वहीं मौसम विभाग ने आज भी जयपुर, दौसा, सवाई माधोपुर, टोंक, बूंदी,नागौर, जोधपुर, पाली, अजमेर, भीलवाड़ा जिलों में तेज अंधड़ के साथ बारिश की चेतावनी जारी की है। मौसम विभाग ने बताया है की आने वाले 24 घंटों से लेकर 72 घंटों तक तेज अंधड़ के साथ बारिश हो सकती है।
That will be all for the blog. Thanks for joining us.
#Hockey #MensJuniorAsiaCup 🏑
Uttam Singh and Co 🏆 with the trophy and medals.
Eyes on the Junior World Cup next for this group.https://t.co/GjMAkxDomC pic.twitter.com/8Ijx12kHd6
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) June 1, 2023
Full time, India 2-1 Pakistan: The big target from here of course, is the Junior Hockey World Cup. India were disappointing at the home edition last time around. Uttam Singh touched upon how the team is driven to make up for it. India had already qualified for the FIH Junior Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023, which is scheduled to be held from December 5 to 16, 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The top three teams from the Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 were set to qualify for the Junior World Cup, however with Malaysia receiving a direct entry as the host nation, the other three Semi-Finalists of the Men’s Junior Asia Cup had also qualified (Korea, Pakistan being the other two)
Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 – DAY 10 Moments of the Match India vs Pakistan#mjac2023#WatchHockey#asiahockey pic.twitter.com/QceEPpSnMg
— Asian Hockey Federation (@asia_hockey) June 1, 2023
Congratulations to the Indian Junior Men’s Team for clinching Gold and announcing themselves as the Best in Asia in the Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2023#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #AsiaCup2023 #GoldToIndianColts#GloryToIndianColts pic.twitter.com/Bk1xNlARht
“I think the economics of the world, the politics of the world, and the demographic of the world is making the world more multipolar.”
“The world is moving towards greater multi-polarity through steady and continuous re-balancing.”
“The Indo-Pacific is at the heart of the multipolarity and rebalancing that characterizes contemporary changes.”
“The United States is moving towards greater realism both about itself and the world. It is adjusting to multipolarity and rebalancing and re-examining the balance between its domestic revival and commitments abroad.”
Those are all comments by Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar over the last few years. Indeed, Jaishankar is a big votary of the concept of multipolarity – the idea that the world is not dominated by just one power (the United States), or two (the US and China, just as it was the US and the United Soviet Socialist Republic during the Cold War), but is instead now seeing a global order with a number of powers that are somewhat equally matched in terms of economic and military capacity and influence.
Jaishankar sometimes speaks of the need for establishing a multipolar world. And sometimes his comments seems to suggest the world is already multipolar or will soon be there.
Tragedy Strikes a Boat Full of Spies, and Conspiracy Theories Mount
SESTO CALENDE, Italy — The black clouds appeared quickly, sneaking up on sun-seeking revelers on the lake in northern Italy, interrupting early-evening aperitivi and lakefront strolls. A weather warning issued earlier in the day had not foreseen the violence of the storm that burst over the lake, with winds so extreme they sank a boat, killing four of its 23 passengers.
As news stories go, the incident on Lake Maggiore on Sunday was a freak tragedy that would usually have attracted fleeting attention.
But in subsequent days, the story took off in the Italian media when it emerged that 21 people on the boat were spies or former spies — including 13 from the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, and eight Italian ones. Official explanations that they had been celebrating a birthday did little to quell a speculative frenzy about their activities.
Two of those who died belonged to Italy’s intelligence service, according to a note issued by Italian intelligence, while Israel said that another victim had been a retired Mossad operative. The fourth victim, a Russian woman, had been married to the boat’s skipper.
What, Italians wondered, were all those spies really doing on a Sunday afternoon cruising on a rental boat named the “Good…uria” (a play on an Italian term for pleasure)? The gathering was quickly labeled a “spy party” by several media outlets.
Some outlets speculated whether the Alpine boat trip had been an opportunity to swap information. Was it a coincidence that the skipper was fluent in Bulgarian, as some noted, and married to a Russian, Anna Bozhkova? Had the spies been scoping the lake for Russian magnates investing nearby, as the Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera posited Thursday?
The prosecutor looking into the incident, Massimo De Filippo, and his boss, chief prosecutor Carlo Nocerino, said such questions were outside the scope of their investigation, which is to determine what made the boat capsize and sink.
Carlo Carminati, 60, the skipper, is being investigated on suspicion of negligent homicide, causing a shipwreck and being responsible for injuring the surviving passengers. “We’re not interested in what the passengers were doing,” said Nocerino in an interview in his office in Busto Arsizio in Lombardy, the region containing the part of the lake where the boat sank.
Nocerino said that he had asked the captain of the team trying to bring the boat to the surface to advise him immediately when it was back above water so that he and De Filippo would be the first aboard.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the boat had been dragged close to shore but remained underwater after several unsuccessful attempts to surface it using balloons.
“I don’t want there to be any doubt that we didn’t pursue the investigation to the fullest extent,” Nocerino said. The boat and its contents would be confiscated and placed under judicial authority, he said.
The prosecutor acknowledged speculation in the media that the government could shut down the investigation should documents or briefcases be found. “If we find briefcases, we will confiscate them,” Nocerino said dryly.
Adding to the intrigue, the surviving passengers appeared to have been spirited away from the lake within hours of the accident. The Mossad sent an aircraft to return the Israeli survivors home and tried to prevent publication of details about the incident in Israel, according to two Israeli defense officials. (The Israeli media reported that the Israeli casualty was a Mossad veteran only on Wednesday.)
A statement issued by Italian intelligence identifying two of the victims — Claudio Alonzi, 62, and Tiziana Barnobi, 53 — as members of Italian intelligence said they had been in the area “to attend a convivial gathering” for the birthday of one of the group. A spokesperson for the Italian agency said it had nothing to add.
Israeli information services have not officially released the real name of the Mossad veteran. His funeral was held in Ashqelon, Israel, on Wednesday.
The Mossad issued a statement Wednesday noting that “due to his service in the organization, it will not be possible to elaborate about him. The Mossad has lost a dear friend, a dedicated and professional worker who had dedicated his life to the security of the State of Israel for decades, even after his retirement.”
The former Mossad operative who died had belonged to a unit responsible for covert liaison with foreign intelligence services, according to a former senior defense official, who asked not to be named when discussing sensitive relations between espionage agencies.
Although he had retired from service at the Mossad, he continued to serve as a reservist for the organization and arrived in Italy together with his colleagues as part of a cooperative relationship between the Israeli and Italian spy organizations, the former official added.
The Mossad and Italian intelligence cooperate on issues of common interest, such as the war on terrorism, or gathering information on the Iranian nuclear project, he added.
None of the survivors had identification documents with them when they gave statements about the accident to Italian military police officers Sunday night. They said they had lost them when the boat capsized, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also confirmed that the Italians told the investigators they were employees of the presidency of the Council of Ministers, a catchall government department, while the Israelis said they were part of a government delegation.
Whatever the uncertainties surrounding the case, one thing that was certain was the unexpected violence of the storm on Lake Maggiore on Sunday night.
The civil protection agency for the Lombardy region had issued a Code Yellow — a caution — for the lake about possible thunderstorms that night. While all bulletins had warned of worsening conditions for the area, “such intense phenomena were considered unlikely that evening,” said Paolo Valisa, a meteorologist with a local weather agency. “You can predict a thunderstorm, but until now we haven’t been able to predict its intensity, at least in such a localized area.”
Nearby wind speed indicators on the lake indicated gusts between 42 and 60 kph, but it could have been even higher where the boat got trapped by a downburst, powerful winds that descend with cold air from a thunderstorm and spread out, he said.
Samuel Panetti and several friends had also been on the lake in their boat Sunday evening and were the first to rescue survivors of the Good…uria.
“The weather had been fine all day,” he said, but when the storm hit, the rain was so thick, it was like navigating through a cloud. “There was so much rain and hail, and the wind tossed the boat from left to right,” he recalled.
He saw what he first thought was a group of seagulls in the middle of the lake, but upon getting closer, he saw they were people from the sinking boat, “shouting for help, like children.”
He and his friends helped some get on board their boat and threw “anything that floated” into the water for others to latch on to. A few of the survivors managed to swim to shore.
The two female victims were found trapped inside the charter boat, which sank to a depth of about 50 feet. A third victim was found on the bottom of the lake, while another had been recovered floating.
“It was terrifying seeing all those people in the water; it seemed like a scene from a film. I still have a hard time believing it was true,” he said. “If we hadn’t come by, I think they would have all died,” he said.
Paolo Mazzucchelli, the director for public transportation on Lake Maggiore, said that at the moment the accident took place, “wind speed had grown very quickly in a very short period of time” and that the storm was “localized and very intense.”
“They found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.
One after another, bright flashes pierced through Kyiv’s night skies early on Tuesday morning, as Russia launched an “exceptional” aerial assault against the Ukrainian capital.
Most Kyiv residents would have had no way of knowing for sure that the sudden, terrifying loud bangs were the Ukrainian air defense systems taking down Russian missiles, rather than rockets hitting their city.
Liudmyla Kravchenko, her husband and their two children spent most of the night hiding in their corridor.
“There’s no bomb shelter nearby, the underground station is quite far from us … I think it’s even more dangerous to try to get there during the bombardment,” she told CNN.
Ukraine’s women break down gender norms in service to their country
Kravchenko said that while her family doesn’t always take shelter during air raid alarms, last night was different. “It was very scary, so after we heard the first explosions we rushed to the corridor … of course in case the missile hits our house directly, none of this will save our lives – not two walls, not three, not even five,” she said, pointing to the guidance that people unable to reach shelters should stay inside and try to be separated from a potential impact zone by two walls.
She said her one year old son Artem slept in her arms as they were waiting for the attack to end. Her nine-year-old daughter is now so used to air raids that she knows to “to drop everything and take cover” when her parents tell her to.
Liudmyla Kravchenko said her family hid in the corridor during the attack on Tuesday.Yulia Kesaieva/CNN
“My wife counted over 30 explosions and we saw dozens of launches by the Ukrainian air defense from our balcony. It was so fast, we didn’t even have time to get to a shelter,” Tymofiy Mylovanov, a presidential adviser and head of the Ukrainian School of Economics, said on Twitter.
Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said in a Telegram post that the barrage of missiles on Tuesday was the eighth assault on the Ukrainian capital this month. He said the attack came from multiple directions and was “exceptional in its density, with the maximum number of attacking missiles in the shortest time possible.”
Despite the intensity, most of the Russian munitions failed to hit their marks after being detected and destroyed by Ukraine’s defense systems, Popko added.
The falling debris caused some – although limited – damage on the ground. At least three people were injured, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Authorities said early reports of damage were minor, with a building and several vehicles catching fire from falling debris in one area of the capital.
Klitschko said some debris fell within the grounds of the Kyiv Zoo, damaging some green spaces but not causing any injuries to the animals. The mayor added the zoo would be open as normal on Tuesday.
Air defenses hard at work
Ukrainian Armed Forces chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said the attack, which started at about 3:30 a.m. local time, was launched from the north, south, and east.
“Six Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles were fired from six MiG-31K aircraft, nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea, and three land-based missiles (S-400, Iskander-M),” Zaluzhnyi said on Twitter, adding that Moscow also launched attack drones, all of which were destroyed.
While the Ukrainian military refused to comment on the type of weapons it used on Tuesday, two US officials and a Western official familiar with the matter told CNN that Ukrainian forces have begun using long-range Storm Shadow missiles provided by the UK to strike Russian targets.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed later on Tuesday that it destroyed a US-made Patriot air defense system in Kyiv on Tuesday – despite the Ukrainians saying all 18 Russian missiles launched at the country in the early hours of Tuesday morning were intercepted and destroyed.
The Ukrainian military has declined to comment on the claim by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Expert says the Patriot missiles are ‘not a game changer.’ Hear why
But a US official later told CNN that a US-made Patriot system was likely damaged, but not destroyed, as a result of Monday’s Russian missile barrage.
The US is still assessing to what degree the system was damaged, the official said, adding that will determine whether the system needs to be pulled back entirely or simply repaired on the spot by the Ukrainians.
Britain has delivered long-range ‘Storm Shadow’ cruise missiles to Ukraine ahead of expected counteroffensive, sources say
Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, said on Telegram that Tuesday marked “another unbelievable success for the Ukrainian Air Forces” with all six of the Kinzhal missiles shot down.
“Thank you to our Air Force service members and our partner states, who invested in securing the skies over Ukraine and all of Europe,” he said.
Kyiv resident Oleksandr Kravets, 50, said he saw the air defenses work first hand on Tuesday.
“I live on the 13th floor … I saw the missile wreckage falling. Our air defense are real heroes. I think they get better each month, the percentage of downed targets increases each time. I think it’s both – the experience and the new air defense systems we got,” he told CNN.
Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin have repeatedly talked up the hypersonic Kinzhal missiles for their ability to evade Ukraine’ original air defense systems.
However, that has changed since Ukraine received at least two US-made Patriot missile defense systems, one from Germany and one from the US, making it possible for Ukraine to intercept more modern Russian missiles such as the Kinzhal.
Earlier in May, Ukrainian and US officials said Russia had tried to destroy a Patriot battery with a Kinzhal air-launched ballistic-missile strike, but Ukraine Patriot operators were able to intercept the Russian weapon.
The Patriot systems, coupled with Ukraine’s other air defense systems, have been able to deal with most of what Russia has challenged them with in recent months – but Ukraine has been warning that its ammunition stocks are getting depleted.
Last week the Ukrainian capital was targeted by what Klitschko called Russia’s “most massive” drone attack, in which 36 Iranian-made Shahed were fired on the city. All 36 were intercepted and damage from falling debris was light, the mayor said.
An explosion is seen in the sky over Kyiv during a Russian missile strike on May 16, 2023.Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Ukrainian intelligence claims
The strikes on Kyiv came a day after Ukrainian intelligence claimed Russian forces are no longer capable of large-scale offensive action and faced a shortage of some missiles, such as the Kalibr.
However, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said Moscow still had enough missiles to sustain its current rate of air attacks.
He estimated Moscow has large stockpiles of S-300 missiles, which are capable of considerable destruction. The S-300 was designed as an anti-air weapon but Russia has frequently used it in a ground-to-ground mode, which makes it less accurate.
Zelensky signals long anticipated Ukraine counteroffensive will begin soon
Ahead of a much anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, Yusov said Russia “is on the defensive” along “the entire front line” and lacked the resources “to repeat large-scale offensive actions.”
“They have been preparing for defense all this time, and this is a serious factor that the Ukrainian command certainly takes into account when preparing for the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories,” he said.
In recent days, Ukraine’s military says it has gained an advantage in some areas near the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, but officials have been reluctant to provide specific dates for when the counteroffensive will begin.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in England Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv is “preparing very important counteroffensive steps.”
“We really need some more time,” he said, but added: “Not too much.”
Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who was accused of raping a nun in Kerala, resigned from his post on Thursday, reported PTI.
Apostolic Nunciature to India, which is the Vatican mission in the country, said that the Roman Catholic Church sought Mulakkal’s resignation not as a disciplinary measure but for the “good of the diocese” that needs a new bishop given the divisive nature of the case against him, reported PTI.
The development comes more than a year after Mulakkal was acquitted in the rape case by a sessions court in Kerala. However, the complainant has moved the Kerala High Court challenging the order.
“In this regard, the Apostolic Nunciature wishes to specify that the Holy See [governing body of Catholic Church] respects the verdict of the Additional District and Sessions Court, Kottayam, Kerala, acquitting Bishop Mulakkal from the allegations concerning him, as well as the appeal against the acquittal, which has been admitted by the Kerala High Court,” the diplomatic mission of Vatican said, reported PTI.
On Thursday, Mulakkal announced his resignation in a video message, reported The News Minute.
“The Holy Father Pope Francis has accepted my letter of resignation as Jalandhar Bishop, which I had written after detailed discussions with my superiors,” he said.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training has dropped chapters on evolution, the periodic table of elements and sources of energy from Class 10 science textbooks.
The education body responsible for formulating school curriculum in the country has also removed chapters – Democracy and Diversity, Popular Struggles and Movements, Political Parties and Challenges to Democracy – from Class 10 political science textbooks.
The NCERT said the chapters have been deleted as a part of a syllabus “rationalization” exercise. “In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is imperative to reduce content load on students,” it said.
The NCERT had made the decision to remove these chapters from the textbooks last year based on recommendations of experts, PTI reported. The changes have been implemented after the NCERT released textbooks for the new academic year that started in May.
The education body has said that the changes will remain in place for the next two academic years, in line with the National Education Policy that was approved by the Centre in 2020, reported Nature.
The decision to remove the chapter on evolution, including the Darwinian theory on natural selection, was opposed by more than 4,500 scientists, teachers and science communicators in an appeal organized by Kolkata-based Breakthrough Science Society last month.
“The scientific community feels that students will remain seriously handicapped in science & history.”
The online application window for recruitment to the post of Constable (Executives) in Chandigarh Police has opened today, June 1. Eligible candidates can apply for the vacancies on the official website chandigarhpolice.gov.in till June 22. The recruitment exam is tentatively scheduled to be conducted on July 23, 2023.
The recruitment drive aims to fill up a total of 700 Constable (Executives) vacancies.
Eligibility Criteria
Age Limit as on May 20: 18 to 25 years. The upper age is relaxed for reserved category candidates.
Educational Qualification: 10+2 or equivalent and for Ex-Servicemen, the educational qualification is either 10+2 or Certificates awarded in the Defense Services which are recognized as equivalent to 10+2.
Application Fee
The applicants from unreserved category/OBC are required to pay the fee of Rs 1000, whereas Rs 800 is applicable to candidates SC and EWS. Ex-servicemen are exempted from payment of the fee.
West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board (WBJEEB) has released the admit card for Joint Entrance for lateral entry in to B.E., B.Tech., B.Pharm. courses (JELET) 2023. Eligible candidates can download their hall tickets from the official website wbjeeb.nic.in.
“Downloadable admit card is available in Board’s websites: www.wbjeeb.nic.in and www.wbjeeb.in on and from 01.06.2023 to 10.06.2023(up to 1.00 p.m.),” reads the notification.
The exam is scheduled to be conducted on June 10 from 11.00 AM to 1.00 PM.
