FACTS ABOUT THE SANTHALS TRIBE YOU MAY NOT KNOW

 

             According to population figures, the Santhals are the most populous tribal group in India today. They are indigenous to the Indian states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha.

They lived in harmony with nature until the nineteenth century, practising shifting agriculture and hunting. They lived in Birbhum, Barabhum, Manbhum, Palamau, and Chhotanagpur's hilly regions.

These areas were administered by the Bengal Presidency, whose authority was transferred to the British following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The onslaught of the Zamindari system that they introduced disrupted the Santhal way of life. They were forced to work as bonded labourers on their own land in their own homes.

The barter system was used by the tribals for commercial activity. When currency was introduced as a result of colonial intervention, people began to rely on moneylenders. These moneylenders took advantage of them and drove them into abject poverty. They were burdened by heavy debts that kept piling up amidst the poverty and humiliation of being landless in what was traditionally their territory.

Two years before the Great Revolt of 1857, on June 30, 1855, two Santhal brothers, Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, organised 10,000 Santhals and declared a rebellion against the British. The tribals swore an oath to drive the British out of their homeland. Phulo and Jhano Murmu, the Murmu brothers' sisters, were also active in the rebellion.

When the cops arrived to arrest the brothers, the villagers killed them. They were successful in capturing large areas of land, including the Rajmahal Hills, the Bhagalpur district, and Birbhum.

Despite the fact that the rebellion caught the government off guard, it was crushed with a heavy hand. The British firepower could not compete with the tribal warfare methods of spears and arrows. Around 15000 Santhal villagers were killed, including the Murmu brothers, and their villages were destroyed.

The landlords supported the government whereas the local people including the milkmen and the blacksmiths supported the Santhals.

The Santhals were valiant fighters, but they were also honourable. According to some British observers at the time, the Santhals used poisoned arrows for hunting but not against their enemies in battle. The British came to 'civilise' the natives, which is ironic. Martial law was declared on November 10, 1855, and it lasted until January 3, 1856.

The Santhal revolt was overshadowed by the 1857 revolt, but it remains a watershed moment in the evolution of modern Santhali identity. It was instrumental in the formation of the state of Jharkhand in 2000.

Fight over momo: Thunderstorms and quarrels erupted in Mumbai with Momo.

 

                     Mumbai is well-known for its street food. With that street food, the two groups got into trouble on the side of the road.

On Monday, April 11th, residents of the Shankaracharya Marg area of Powai, Mumbai, were confronted with Momo. They dragged the issue into a brawl after splitting into two groups. Many people travelled through the area on horseback during the riots, but no one wanted to get in trouble.

The police arrived on the scene after hearing the news. He brought the situation under control by putting a stop to both groups' activities. So far, four people have been arrested by police.

According to a police official, the cause of the incident was not immediately clear.

Just as the words Momo conjure up images of Darjeeling, Sikkim, Nepal, and Tibet, the words Pao Bhaji and Faluda conjure up images of Mumbai. So the situation with Momo on the streets of Mumbai is incredible.

A similar incident occurred exactly one year ago in an Uttar Pradesh chat shop. That video quickly went viral on the internet.

Powerful Explosions Heard in Ukraine's Kyiv Following the Sinking of a Russian Warship

    

Ukraine War: The explosions appeared to be among the most significant in the capital region of Ukraine since Russian troops withdrew earlier this month.

Kyiv/Lviv: Powerful explosions were heard in Kyiv early Friday, and air raid sirens blared across Ukraine as residents braced for new Russian attacks following the sinking of Moscow's lead warship in the Black Sea due to a fire. 

The explosions appeared to be among the most powerful in Ukraine's capital region since Russian troops withdrew earlier this month in preparation for battles in the south and east. 

The missile cruiser's crew of over 500 people was evacuated after ammunition on board exploded, according to the ministry, which did not confirm an attack. Ukraine claims to have hit the warship with a locally manufactured Neptune anti-ship missile.

The ship's destruction comes as Russia's military continues its Black Sea shelling of Ukrainian cities some 50 days after the invasion began. On the adjacent Azov Sea, residents of Odesa and Mariupol have been prepared for additional Russian attacks.

In an early morning video speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alluded to the sunken warship, warning of Russian intentions to target the eastern Donbas region, including Mariupol.

Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine shortly after midnight on Friday, and continued to blare in the eastern districts of Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia even after the rest of the country fell silent, according to Ukrainian media.

 

Why Do Most Smokers Never Get Lung Cancer, According to DNA Mutation Research

 

        Despite the fact that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, only a small percentage of smokers develop the disease. Some smokers may have robust systems that protect them from lung cancer by restricting mutations, according to a study headed by academics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and published online on April 11, 2022 in Nature Genetics. The findings could assist identify smokers who are at a higher risk of developing the condition and should be closely monitored.

"This could be a significant step toward lung cancer risk prevention and early detection, moving away from the current herculean efforts needed to combat late-stage disease, where the majority of health expenditures and misery occur," said Simon Spivack, M.D., M.P.H., a co-senior author of the study, professor of medicine, epidemiology & population health, and genetics at Einstein, and a pulmonologist at Montefiore Health System.

                        Overcoming Challenges in Cell Mutation Research 

        Smoking has long been thought to cause lung cancer by causing DNA abnormalities in normal lung cells. Jan Vijg, Ph.D., a study co-senior author and professor and chair of genetics, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and the Lola and Saul Kramer Chair in Molecular Genetics at Einstein, said, "But that could never be proven until our study because there was no way to accurately quantify mutations in normal cells" (also at the Center for Single-Cell Omics, Jiaotong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China). Dr. Vijg overcome this challenge a few years ago when he developed a better method for sequencing the whole genomes of individual cells.

When studying cells with rare and random mutations, single-cell whole-genome sequencing technologies might generate sequencing errors that are difficult to identify from real mutations, which is a major problem. Dr. Vijg came up with a new sequencing technology called single-cell multiple displacement amplification to overcome the problem (SCMDA).

The Einstein researchers utilised SCMDA to analyse the mutational landscape of normal lung epithelial cells (cells that line the lungs) from two groups of people: 14 never-smokers ranging in age from 11 to 86, and 19 smokers ranging in age from 44 to 81 and having smoked a total of 116 pack years. (One pack year is one pack of cigarettes smoked every day for a year.) The cells were taken from people who were having a bronchoscopy for a reason other than malignancy. “These lung cells survive for years, even decades, and thus can accumulate mutations with both age and smoking,” said Dr. Spivack. "Of all the cell types in the lungs, these are the ones that are most prone to turn malignant."

Mutations Caused by Smoking

The researchers discovered that mutations (single-nucleotide variations and minor insertions and deletions) accumulated in the lung cells of nonsmokers as they grew older, and that smokers' lung cells had considerably more mutations. Dr. Spivack stated, "This experimentally demonstrates that smoking increases lung cancer risk by increasing the frequency of mutations, as previously hypothesised." “This is likely one reason why so few non-smokers get lung cancer, while 10% to 20% of lifelong smokers do.”

The number of cell mutations discovered in lung cells grew in a straight line with the number of pack years of smoking, implying that the risk of lung cancer increased as well. However, after 23 pack years of exposure, the increase in cell mutations came to a halt.

“The heaviest smokers did not have the highest mutation burden,” said Dr. Spivack. "Our findings show that these people survived so long despite their severe smoking because they were able to prevent additional mutation accumulation." This leveling off of mutations could stem from these people having very proficient systems for repairing DNA damage or detoxifying cigarette smoke.”

Sora is in a tense situation, with an indefinite bandh in effect.

 

            The government, assisted by a significant number of security officers, attempted to resume demarcation of Yatihibi Loukol territories acquired earlier for the construction of the National Sports University this morning, resulting in a difficult situation in Sora and nearby districts.

Following the relocation of the National Sports University to Haraothel, the State Government is intending to build a giant food park at Yaithibi Loukol.

Yesterday, a team of government officials attempted to demarcate the acquired area, but locals violently protested the practise, resulting in a violent conflict between police and demonstrators.

Some protesters and police personnel were injured in the confrontation.

The delineation exercise was halted when government officials and local leaders led by elected representatives agreed to resume it only once the government and the local people had achieved an agreement.

Some government officials, followed by a significant number of security forces, attempted to resume the demarcation exercise this morning, but they were met with strong opposition from the locals.

Local residents claim that the demarcation operation is an attempt to acquire homesteads and the local mosque, which were not included in the territory acquired earlier in the name of the National Sports University's construction.

Nonetheless, amid heavy security deployment, the government began digging drains with excavators to create a boundary between the surrounding villages of Yaithibi Loukol, namely Sora, Koijam, and Langthabal.

In protest of the government's initiative, a large number of Sora residents attempted to halt the digging of the drain, but police repulsed them by firing several rounds of tear gas shells.

Enraged by the renewed demarcation attempt, a mob set fire to a police booth at Sora Chinglak and a motorcycle (Bajaj Pulsar) allegedly belonging to police.

As the situation deteriorated, police opened several rounds of fire in the air in an attempt to maintain control.

Later, around 3.30 p.m., a large group of protesters succeeded in driving the police force away from Khongjom by pelting stones and firing sling shots.

Many police vehicles were damaged in the process and some police personnel too sustained injuries.

Local people of SORA decided to impose an indefinite bandh on Imphal-Moreh highway until the issue if Yaithibi Loukol is resolve, on the other hand people coming from Moreh to kakching  road were diverted to Papal.