4-Billion-Year-Old Nitrogen-Containing Organic Molecules Discovered In Martian Meteorites

A research team including research scientist Atsuko Kobayashi from the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan and research scientist Mizuho Koike from the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, have found nitrogen-bearing organic material in carbonate minerals in a Martian meteorite. This organic material has most likely been preserved for 4 billion years since Mars' Noachian age. Because carbonate minerals typically precipitate from the groundwater, this finding suggests a wet and organic-rich early Mars, which could have been habitable and favourable for life to start.




A rock fragment of Martian meteorite ALH 84001 (left). An enlarged area (right) shows the orange-coloured carbonate grains on the host orthopyroxene rock [Credit: Koike et al. 2020]


For decades, scientists have tried to understand whether there are organic compounds on Mars and if so, what their source is. Although recent studies from rover-based Mars exploration have detected strong evidence for Martian organics, little is known about where they came from, how old they are, how widely distributed and preserved they may be, or what their possible relationship with biochemical activity could be.

Martian meteorites are pieces of Mars' surface that were themselves blasted into space by meteor impacts, and which ultimately landed on Earth. They provide important insights into Martian history. One meteorite in particular, named Allan Hills (ALH) 84001, named for the region in Antarctica it was found in 1984, is especially important. It contains orange-coloured carbonate minerals, which precipitated from salty liquid water on Mars' near-surface 4 billion years ago. As these minerals record Mars' early aqueous environment, many studies have tried to understand their unique chemistry and whether they might provide evidence for ancient life on Mars. However, previous analyses suffered from contamination with terrestrial material from Antarctic snow and ice, making it difficult to say how much of the organic material in the meteorite were truly Martian. In addition to carbon, nitrogen (N) is an essential element for terrestrial life and a useful tracer for planetary system evolution. However, due to previous technical limitations, nitrogen had not yet been measured in ALH84001.


Carbonates plucked from ALH 84001 on the silver tape (left) and their nitrogen XANES spectra with reference compounds (right). Blue colour bar indicates the absorption energy of N-bearing organics [Credit: Koike et al. 2020]

This new research conducted by the joint ELSI-JAXA team used state-of-the-art analytical techniques to study the nitrogen content of the ALH84001 carbonates, and the team is now confident they have found the first solid evidence for 4-billion-year-old Martian organics containing nitrogen.

Terrestrial contamination is a serious problem for studies of extraterrestrial materials. To avoid such contamination, the team developed new techniques to prepare the samples with. For example, they used silver tape in an ELSI clean lab to pluck off the tiny carbonate grains, which are about the width of a human hair, from the host meteorite. The team then prepared these grains further to remove possible surface contaminants with a scanning electron microscope-focused ion beam instrument at JAXA. They also used a technique called Nitrogen K-edge micro X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (μ-XANES) spectroscopy, which allowed them to detect nitrogen present in very small amounts and to determine what chemical form that nitrogen was in. Control samples from nearby igneous minerals gave no detectable nitrogen, showing the organic molecules were only in the carbonate.

Schematic images of early (4 billion years ago) and present Mars. The ancient N-bearing organics were trapped and preserved in the carbonates over a long period of time [Credit: Koike et al. 2020]

After the careful contamination checks, the team determined the detected organics were most likely truly Martian. They also determined the contribution of nitrogen in the form of nitrate, one of the strong oxidants on current Mars, was insignificant, suggesting the early Mars probably did not contain strong oxidants, and as scientists have suspected, it was less-oxidizing than it is today.

Mars' present surface is too harsh for most organics to survive. However, scientists predict that organic compounds could be preserved in near-surface settings for billions of years. This seems to be the case for the nitrogen-bearing organic compounds the team found in the ALH84001 carbonates, which appear to have been trapped in the minerals 4 billion years ago and preserved for long periods before finally being delivered to Earth.

The team agrees that there are many important open questions, such as where did these nitrogen-containing organics come from? Kobayashi explains, 'There are two main possibilities: either they came from outside Mars, or they formed on Mars. Early in the Solar System's history, Mars was likely showered with significant amounts of organic matter, for example from carbon-rich meteorites, comets and dust particles. Some of them may have dissolved in the brine and been trapped inside the carbonates.' The research team lead, Koike adds that alternatively, chemical reactions on early Mars may have produced the N-bearing organics on-site. Either way, they say, these findings show there was organic nitrogen on Mars before it became the red planet we know today; early Mars may have been more 'Earth-like', less oxidising, wetter, and organic-rich. Perhaps it was 'blue.'

Source: Tokyo Institute of Technology [April 29, 2020]

Cultivating Cooperation Through Kinship

4/30/2020 

While the capability for organisms to work together is by no means novel, humans possess an unparalleled capacity for cooperation that seems to contradict Darwinian evolutionary principles. Humans often exhibit traits—such as sympathy, loyalty, courage, and patriotism—that prioritize collective well-being over individual fitness, and often cooperation occurs among individuals with no shared biological relation. This behavior, likewise, adapts in response to changing conditions, demonstrating the flexible nature of human cooperation.




Dance is a form of culturally based cooperation. It is a system of shared self-expression and meaning in which individuals gain personal and social benefits through participation while excluding (i.e., punishing) those who would disrupt the coordination or enaction
of the performance. The experience of the performers and any audience present acts deep emotional levels through established cultural symbols and their associated feelings [Credit: Liane Gabora]

In "Identity, Kinship, and the Evolution of Cooperation," published in Current Anthropology, Burton Voorhees, Dwight Read, and Liane Gabora argue that humans' tendency toward these cooperative traits—or ultrasociality—sets them apart. Voorhees, Read, and Gabora assert that components of human cooperation—especially cooperative behavior between unrelated individuals—are unique, and the authors suggest that existing theories lack explanations for how this distinctly human shift to cooperative behavior arose and how cooperation is maintained within a population.

Expanding upon the current literature, Voorhees, Read and Gabora present a theory that attributes unique elements of human cooperation to the cultivation of a shared social identity among members of a group. The authors propose that evolutionary developments in the brain enabled the acquisition of this shared identity by providing humans with the capability for reflective self-consciousness. Reflective self-consciousness allows an individual to fully recognize their own personhood and point of view. In turn, recognition of their own experiences aided humans in identifying similar mental states in others, allowing humans to view themselves as part of a collective unit.

The authors argue that cultural idea systems such as kinship systems, provided the necessary framework for cultivating this unique degree of cooperation among humanity. Unlike culture-gene theories where group characteristics develop from individual traits, cultural idea systems provide a top-down, organizational structure that establishes expectations of behavior among individuals in a group and leads individuals to view other members as kin. As individuals are indoctrinated, or enculturated, in these systems, their worldviews are shaped. They develop an understanding of accepted cultural norms, how to interpret their environment and their experiences, and how to interact with one another. In particular, the authors assert that enculturation fosters feelings of obligation toward cultural kin.

Emphasizing linkages between psychology and behavior, the authors suggest this obligation deterred individuals from deviating from accepted behaviors and in turn, sustained cooperative behavior within the group. A shared social identity provided beneficial advantages. As a result, the authors propose that an association developed between an individual's social identity and their survival instincts. In kinship systems, emotions are experienced within a specific cultural context, resulting in culture-laden mental feelings that prompt behavior. Voorhees, Read, and Gabora likewise argue that external cues contradicting existing culture-laden mental feelings can result in emotional reactions. Any behavior that diverges from cultural norms and threatens an individual's identity could be physiologically perceived as endangering their survival. Group members will feel driven to punish defectors in response. This theory can thus explain why failure to meet group obligations may evoke guilt in those who deviate from cultural expectations.


Source: University of Chicago [April 30, 2020]

Evidence Of Late Pleistocene Human Colonization Of Isolated Islands Beyond Wallace's Line

Evidence Of Late Pleistocene Human Colonization Of Isolated Islands Beyond Wallace's Line

4/29/2020 

A new article published in Nature Communications applies stable isotope analysis to a collection of fossil human teeth from the islands of Timor and Alor in Wallacea to study the ecological adaptations of the earliest members of our species to reach this isolated part of the world. Because the Wallacean islands are considered extreme, resource poor settings, archaeologists believed that early seafaring populations would have moved rapidly through this region without establishing permanent communities. Nevertheless, this has so far been difficult to test.


Shell fish hook recovered from the site of Lene Hara dating to 11,000 years ago. An earlier, less complete example was recovered from Asitau Kuru, indicating an early marine specialization for humans arriving on these islands [Credit: Sue O'Connor]

This study, led by scientists from the Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI SHH), alongside colleagues from the Australian National University and Universitas Gadjah Mada, used an isotopic methodology that reveals the resources consumed by humans during the period of tooth formation. They demonstrate that the earliest human fossil so far found in the region, dating to around 42,000-39,000 years ago, relied upon coastal resources. Yet, from 20,000 years ago, humans show an increasing reliance on tropical forest environments, away from the island coasts. The results support the idea that one distinguishing characteristic of Homo sapiens is high ecological flexibility, especially when compared to other hominins known from the same region.


Pleistocene hominin adaptations in Southeast Asia


Over the last two decades, archaeological evidence from deserts, high-altitude settings, tropical rainforests, and maritime habitats seem to increasingly suggest that Late Pleistocene humans rapidly adapted to a number of extreme environments. By contrast, our closest hominin relatives, such as Homo erectus and Neanderthals, apparently used various mixtures of forests and grasslands, albeit from as far apart as the Levant, Siberia, and Java. However, this apparent distinction needs testing, especially as finds of another closely related hominin, the Denisovans, have been found on the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau.


The site of Makpan, Alor [Credit: Sue O'Connor]


As one of the corresponding authors on the new paper, Sue O'Connor of Australian National University says, "The islands beyond Wallace's Line are ideal places to test the adaptive differences between our species and other hominins. These islands were never connected to mainland Southeast Asia during the Pleistocene, and would have ensured that hominins had to make water crossings to reach it." Tropical forest settings like those in Wallacea are often considered barriers to human expansion and are a far cry from the sweeping 'savannahs' with an abundance of medium to large mammals that hominins are believed to have relied on.

Fossils and stone tools show that hominins made it to Wallacean islands at least one million years ago, including the famous 'Hobbit,' or Homo floresiensis, on the island of Flores. When our own species arrived 45,000 years ago (or perhaps earlier), it is thought to have quickly developed the specialized use of marine habitats, as evidenced by one of the world's earliest fish hooks found in the region. Nevertheless, as co-author Ceri Shipton puts it "the extent of this maritime adaptation has remained hotly debated and difficult to test using snapshots based on, often poorly preserved, animal remains."


Stable isotope analysis and Late Pleistocene humans

This new paper uses stable carbon isotopes measured from fossil human teeth to directly reconstruct the long-term diets of past populations. Although this method has been used to study the diets and environments of African hominins for nearly half a century, it has thus far been scarcely applied to the earliest members of our own species expanding within and beyond Africa. Using the principle 'you are what you eat,' researchers analyzed powdered hominin tooth enamel from 26 individuals dated between 42,000 and 1,000 years ago to explore the types of resources they consumed during tooth formation.



Maps showing the location of the sites studied within Wallacea. Asitau Kuru, Lene Hara, Matja Kuru 1 and 2 (Timor), Makpan, and Tron Bon Lei (Alor) [Credit: Roberts, et al., 2020, Australian National University CartoGIS 19-282 KD]

The new paper shows that the earliest human fossil available from the region, excavated from the site of Asitau Kuru on Timor, was indeed reliant on maritime resources, suggesting a well-tuned adaptation to the colonization of coastal areas. "This fits with our existing models of rapid human movement through Wallacea on the way to Australia," says co-author Shimona Kealy of the Australian National University.

From around 20,000 years ago, however, human diets seem to have switched inland, towards the supposedly impoverished resources of the island forests. Although some individuals maintained the use of coastal habitats, the majority seemingly began to adapt to the populations of small mammals and tropical forest plants in the region. As co-author Mahirta at Universitas Gadjah Mada puts it, "Coastal resources such as shellfish and reef fish are easy to exploit and available year-round, however growing populations likely forced early island occupants to look inland to other resources."

A species defined by flexibility
This study provides the first direct insights into the adaptations of our own species as it settled in a series of challenging island environments in Wallacea. "Early human populations here, and elsewhere, could not only successfully use the enormous variety of often-extreme Pleistocene environments," suggests Patrick Roberts, lead author of the study and Group Leader at MPI SHH, "they could also specialize in them over substantial periods of time. As a result, even if some local populations did fail, the species as a whole would go on to become tremendously prolific."

As dense tropical rainforests replaced mixed grass and woodlands, other hominins in Southeast Asia went extinct. Ecological flexibility, supported by unique technologies and the capacity for social relationships and symbolism, seem to have carried Homo sapiens through the climactic fluctuations of the Late Pleistocene, however. The authors concede that more work is needed to conclusively test the ecological distinction between hominin species. The discovery of Denisovan populations in the tropical environments of Asia or application of this isotopic approach to other hominins in the tropics could yet show Homo sapiens to be less exceptional. Nonetheless, for the time being it seems that it was our species that could best adapt to the variety of environments across the face of the planet, leaving it, by the end of the Pleistocene, the last hominin standing.

Source: Max Planck Society [April 29, 2020]

Deformed Skulls From Ancient Cemetery In Hungary Reveal Multicultural Community In Transition

4/29/2020 07:00:00 PM

The ancient cemetery of Mozs-Icsei dulo in present-day Hungary holds clues to a unique community formation during the beginnings of Europe's Migration Period, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Corina Knipper from the Curt-Engelhorn-Center for Archaeometry, Germany, Istvan Koncz, Tivadar Vida from the Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary and colleagues.


Upper part of the body of grave 43 during excavation. The girl had an artificially deformed skull, was place in a grave with a side niche and richly equipped with a necklace, earrings, a comb and glass beads. The girl belonged to a group of people with a non-local origin and similar dietary habits, which appeared to have arrived at the site about 10 years after its establishment [Credit: Wosinsky Mor Museum, Szekszard, Hungary]

As the Huns invaded Central Europe during the 5th century, the Romans abandoned their Pannonian provinces in the area of modern-day Western Hungary. Pannonia's population entered a period of continuous cultural transformation as new foreign groups arrived seeking refuge from the Huns, joining settlements already populated by remaining local Romanized population groups and other original inhabitants.

Later, the Huns themselves would fall to an alliance of Germanic groups. To better understand this population changing rapidly under chaotic circumstances, Knipper and colleagues turned to the cemetery of Mozs-Icsei dulo in the Pannonian settlement of Mozs, established around 430 AD.

The authors conducted an archaeological survey of the cemetery and used a combination of isotope analysis and biological anthropology to investigate the site's previously-excavated burials.



Artificially deformed skull of an adult woman. Permanent binding during childhood caused the elongation of the braincase and the depressions in the bone [Credit: Balazs G. Mende. Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary]

They found that Mozs-Icsei dulo was a remarkably diverse community and were able to identify three distinct groups across two or three generations (96 burials total) until the abandonment of Mozs cemetery around 470 AD: a small local founder group, with graves built in a brick-lined Roman style; a foreign group of twelve individuals of similar isotopic and cultural background, who appear to have arrived around a decade after the founders and may have helped establish the traditions of grave goods and skull deformation seen in later burials; and a group of later burials featuring mingled Roman and various foreign traditions.

51 individuals total, including adult males, females, and children, had artificially deformed skulls with depressions shaped by bandage wrappings, making Mozs-Icsei dulo one of the largest concentrations of this cultural phenomenon in the region. The strontium isotope ratios at Mozs-Icsei dulo were also significantly more variable than those of animal remains and prehistoric burials uncovered in the same geographic region of the Carpathian Basin, and indicate that most of Mozs' adult population lived elsewhere during their childhood. Moreover, carbon and nitrogen isotope data attest to remarkable contributions of millet to the human diet.

Though further investigation is still needed, Mozs-Icsei dulo appears to suggest that in at least one community in Pannonia during and after the decline of the Roman Empire, a culture briefly emerged where local Roman and foreign migrant groups shared traditions as well as geographical space.

Source: Public Library of Science [April 29, 2020]

African Skeletons From Early Colonial Mexico Tell The Story Of First-Generation Slaves

/30/2020
Five centuries after Charles I of Spain authorized the transport of the first African slaves to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the ancestry of the hundreds of thousands of abducted and enslaved people forms an integral part of the genetic and cultural heritage of the Americas. The origins and experiences of those enslaved individuals, however, remains largely unknown.

The skull of one of the individuals studied, in which the dental modifications are apparent, and the tubes used for isotope and genetic tests, both of which were carried out as part of our study. One of the strong points of our paper is the junction of several disciplines in telling a whole story, which we exemplify in this picture combining two different lab approaches
together with ethnohistory and anthropology to get a complete picture. [Credit: Collection of San Jose de los Naturales, Osteology Laboratory, (INAH), Mexico City, Mexico,R. Barquera]

This study, published in Current Biology, applies an interdisciplinary approach to explore the backgrounds and living conditions of three African individuals recovered from a mass grave on the grounds of Hospital Real de San Jose de los Naturales, an early colonial period hospital in Mexico City officially devoted to the indigenous population. Dated to the 16th century, these individuals tell the stories of some of the earliest people forcefully relocated to the Americas in the early years of European colonialism.

Multidisciplinary study reconstructs the lives of early enslaved Africans
The three individuals in the study first caught the attention of the team with their distinct dental modifications, a filing of the upper front teeth consistent with cultural practices recorded for African slaves which can still be observed in some groups living in western Africa today.

"Combining molecular biology, isotopic data and bioinformatic tools with classical historical, anthropological and archaeological evidence allowed us to gain insights into the life history of some of the earliest African slaves in the Americas," says Johannes Krause, director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI SHH).


Skulls and dental decoration patterns for the three African individuals from the San Jose de los Naturales Royal Hospital. A. Skull from individual 150 (SJN001). B. Skull from individual 214 (SJN002). C. Skull from individual 296 (SJN003). D. Close-up of dental modification patterns for individual 150 (SJN001). E. Close-up of dental modification patterns for individual 214 (SJN002).
F. Close-up of dental modification patterns for individual 296 (SJN003)

 [Credit: Collection of San Jose de los Naturales, Osteology Laboratory, (INAH), Mexico City, Mexico, R. Barquera & N. Bernal]

Genetic analysis showed that all three individuals shared a Y-chromosome lineage that is highly prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, and which is now the most common lineage among African Americans. Combined with isotopic data showing that all three individuals were born outside of Mexico and osteobiographies showing years of physical abuse before premature death, the findings suggest that these individuals may be among the first Africans to reach the Americas after being abducted in their homelands in Sub-Saharan Africa.

"Modern lab techniques allow us to gather incredible amounts of data from very little biological material. The amount of information we can give back to archaeologists, anthropologists and society today using only one tooth from each individual is something we could only dream about just ten years ago," says Rodrigo Barquera, the study's lead author.

The spread of pathogens across the Atlantic

Researchers from all three departments and one independent group of the MPI SHH and two laboratories from the INAH combined their expertise to tell the story of these individuals, examining not only their ancestry and origins, but also their health status and life experiences. The team was able to reconstruct two full pathogen genomes from tooth samples. One individual was infected with a strain of the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) typically found in western Africa today.

"Although we have no indication that the HBV lineage we found established itself in Mexico, this is the first direct evidence of HBV introduction as the result of the transatlantic slave trade," says Denise Kuhnert, leader of the tide research group at MPI SHH. "This provides novel insight into the phylogeographic history of the pathogen."

Some osteological findings for individual 150 (SJN001). 

A. Exostosis at the insertion of the coracoclavicular ligament and origin site of the deltoid muscle.

 B. Thoracic vertebra displaying early signs of a developing of Schmorl's hernia on the inferior aspect of the vertebral body. 

C. Green coloration acquired by contact with copper on the cervical vertebrae. D. Green colouration acquired by contact with copper on the costal end of a rib diaphysis 

[Credit: Collection of San Jose de los Naturales, Osteology Laboratory, (INAH), Mexico City, Mexico,R. Barquera & N. Bernal]

Another individual was infected with Treponema pallidum pertenue which causes yaws, a painful infection of the bones similar to syphilis that affects joints and skin. The same strain of yaws has been previously identified in a 17th century colonist of European descent, suggesting the establishment of this disease lineage of African origin in the early colonial population of Mexico.

"This study sheds light into early cases of yaws after the European colonization of the Americas," says Aditya Kumar Lankapalli of MPI SHH. "Future studies should focus on understanding the transmission and introduction of this pathogen to the Americas. More high-coverage ancient Treponema genomes will allow us to get a better understanding of the coevolution and adaptation of this pathogen to humans."

"Interdisciplinary studies like this will make the study of the past a much more personal matter in the future," adds Thiseas C. Lamnidis. The authors hope that future interdisciplinary endeavors will continue to provide insights into the lives, deaths and legacies of historically oppressed groups whose stories have been buried, often in mass graves.

Source: Max Planck Society [April 30, 2020]

INDIA
Journalists’ Unions approach Supreme Court against the illegal salary cuts and retrenchments in the garb of Corona pandemic crisis

Journalists Union appeal before the apex court, allege salary cuts and retrenchment illegal
By Team PGurus
-April 17, 2020

Journalists Union appeal before the apex court, allege salary cuts and retrenchment illegal

Three Journalists’ Unions have approached the Supreme Court on Thursday against the illegal retrenchments and salary cuts implemented by certain media companies in the garb of the Corona pandemic crisis. The petition filed by three prominent Unions – National Alliance of Journalists, Delhi Union of Journalists and Brihan Mumbai Union of Journalists appealed to the Apex Court to direct Central and State Governments to take stringent action against the media barons who violate the laws and norms during the COVID-19 crisis.

“This public interest litigation is being filed regarding the inhuman and illegal treatment being meted out by employers to their employees and workers in the newspaper and media sector, by issuing termination notices, imposing steep wage cuts unilaterally, sending workers and employees on indefinite unpaid leave, and soon, taking the excuse of the nation-wide lockdown” imposed in light of the spread of COVID-19, Coronavirus.

“Several newspapers, magazines, online media outlets, and other employers in the media sector have reportedly taken step after the announcement of the nation-wide lockdown in March 2020 to retrench workers and employees, impose wage cuts, etc. in spite of advisories issued by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India and even appeals by the Prime Minister of India to not terminate the services or reduce the wages of their employees, “said the petition citing the salary cutting and retrenchments implemented by the media barons with impunity.

The petition filed by the Journalists’ Unions pointed out the massive salary cuts and retrenchments illegally implemented by Times of India, Economic Times, Indian Express, Business Standard and Quint Website, Bloomberg Quint, News Nation, Outlook Magazine, Hamara Maha Nagar newspaper from Mumbai and NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar’s family members run Sakal Newspaper Group.

PGurus have reported the salary cut in Indian Express[1] and retrenchment in Quint[2] blaming the Corona crisis by Goenka family and Raghav Bahl.

Noted lawyer Colin Gonsalves is expected to argue for the Journalists’ Unions. The six-page synopsis of the petition filed by Journalists’ Unions is published below:

Journalist Unions by PGurus on Scribd


References:
[1] Blaming Corona, Indian Express implements huge salary cuts – Apr 4, 2020, PGurus.com

[2] Blaming Corona, Quint website owner Raghav Bahl kicks out staffers through forced leave without salary from April 15 – Apr 13, 2020, PGurus.com

After salary cuts, Times of India Group plans massive retrenchment in the garb of Corona crisis

Times of India Group trying to retrench in the garb of Corona crisis, allege insiders
By Team PGurus
-April 28, 2020

Times of India Group trying to retrench in the garb of Corona crisis, allege insiders

Ignoring all Governments’ directions, Samir Jain & Vineet Jain-controlled Times of India Group has illegally implemented 10 to 20 percent salary cuts and planning for a huge retrenchment of employees in the garb of the Corona Crisis. The controversial Bennett and Coleman Company Limited (BCCL) which is popularly known as the Times of India Group which is running many newspapers, TV channels, and Internet platforms is having more than Rs.1000 crores profit is now coming out with fake stories of huge losses due to COVID-19 and planning for a huge retrenchment of journalists and other staffers.

According to insiders, the Jains have asked the department heads in Times of India & Economic Times newspapers and TV channels like Times Now and Mirror Now to prepare a list of employees to be sacked. This is nothing but a ruse to keep their profits intact by salary cuts and retrenchments, say many staffers. Another trick used by the owners is to transfer employees to distant areas and get automatic resignation from them.

“More than Rs.1000 crores is the entire Group’s minimum profit after all taxes have been paid. Obviously, due to 40 days of lockdown, there is a drop in the advertisement revenues. But they saved a lot in expenses by cutting the number of pages being printed per edition. Now newspapers are having only 12 or 16 pages while in their heydays they printed more than 40 to 50 pages. Losses are there but manageable comparing the annual profits crossing more than Rs.1000 crores after paying all taxes,” say, staffers, indicating that they would complain to the Government or prefer to go to Court.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the Government of India, National Broadcasters Association, and Indian Newspaper Society on the petition filed by various Journalist Unions against salary cuts and retrenchments in the garb of Corona crisis[1].

It is learned that many other journalists who are facing retrenchment threats from Times of India andother media organizations are expected to intervene in this case.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy has already filed a petition against Times of India owners Jain brothers accusing huge tax evasion and money laundering by floating series of shell companies[2].

References:

[1] “If Business Does Not Start, How Long Will People Sustain Without Jobs?” SC Issues Notice In Plea Against Media Houses Laying Off Employees Amid Lockdown – Apr 27, 2020, LiveLaw.in

[2] Subramanian Swamy urges probe by Income Tax, ED, CBI, SEBI and SFIO into the huge tax violations, money laundering in Times of India Group – Dec 25, 2019, PGurus.com

Kurdistan: An Invisible Nation

Stefano M. Torelli
Cengiz Gunes
Robert Lowe

Published 2016
https://www.academia.edu/26624778/Kurdistan_An_Invisible_Nation

Spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, Kurdistan is one of the hottest geopolitical areas in the Middle East. It is a land inhabited by over 30 million people, representing one of the largest stateless "nations" worldwide. The Kurds play a crucial role in the region, and the so-called "Kurdish factor" has constantly been a key ingredient of recent Middle East crises: from the wars in Iraq under Saddam Hussein to the fight against the so-called Islamic State. Not to mention the strategic relevance that Kurdistan assumes as one of the oil-richest areas in the region. What new balances would an eventual victory of Kurds over IS create? What are the long-term goals of the Kurdish community? How to reach a solution to the Kurdish question able to satisfy all the actors involved? Can we envisage a common future for the Kurds or will they remain tied to the political destinies of the countries they live in? These are just some of the questions that this report tries to answer collecting contributions from leading international experts.

BACK TO THE MOUNTAINS?
Walter Posch
on the Kurdish Struggle: "Back to the Mountains?" Article published in Zenith 4/15
https://www.academia.edu/19556356/Back_to_the_mountains

We Have No Friends but the Mountains: The Background to Kurdish Autonomy

Gary K Busch

The role and status of the various Kurdish groups in Iraq, Iran. Turkey and Syria are shaping the conflicts which continue in these nations. Iraqi Kurdistan has just voted for its autonomy, provoking a hostile reaction from the nations of the region. It is important to understand the roots of this ancient antagonism and the lack of unity among the Kurds which has always stood in the way of their progress towards an independent Kurdistan.

https://www.academia.edu/34887562/We_Have_No_Friends_but_the_Mountains_The_Background_to_Kurdish_Autonomy

The Kurds - History Religion Language Politics

Walter Posch

Jaffer Sheyholislami

Iraqi History,

Iranian Studies,

Kurdish Studies,

Nationalism,

Syrian Studies

This edited volume convenes international and national scholars, national scholars are immigration experts from the Austrian ministry of the Interior and defense experts from the Ministry of National Defense

COMPLETE BOOK AS PDF

https://www.academia.edu/18589375/The_Kurds_-_History_Religion_Language_Politics

Political Significance of the Kurds of the Middle East During the 21st Century

Alparslan Deringör

Middle East Studies,

Cold War,

Kurdish Question in Turkey,

Kurdistan,

Kurds

As of September 2015, Syrian Civil War is already past its fourth year. Mostly unknown to the mainstream media outlets up until last year, 2014 would see the global media highlighting the growing, important role of the Kurds in the fight against the Islamic State. Lacking a state of their own, Kurds are no stranger to war and conflict, situated in the critical area in the Middle East, they have often found themselves in the middle of major turmoil, and lately, repression. Subject to renewed aspirations regarding statehood since the beginning of 2000s, clashes with the IS have forced Kurds into conflict again, meanwhile presenting an opportunity for global recognition and ratification and showing exactly how significant the Kurds are in the critical and important borders of Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

https://www.academia.edu/16625888/Political_Significance_of_the_Kurds_of_the_Middle_East_During_the_21st_Century

The United States and the Kurds

A Cold War Story

✣

Douglas Little

Beneath the snowcapped Zagros Mountains that stretch from southeastern Turkey through northern Iraq to western Iran live 25 million Kurds, the largest ethno linguistic group in the world without a state of theirown. Speaking a language closer to Farsi than Arabic or Turkish and practicing Sunni Islam despite the presence of powerful Shiite communities nearby,the Kurds over the centuries forged a distinctive national identity shaped by an abiding mistrust of Turks, Arabs, and other outsiders who opposed Kurdish independence. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the wake of the First World War, the Kurds embarked on a relentless quest to establish a free, united, and independent Kurdistan, sometimes bargaining with neigh-boring peoples, other times pleading with the great powers, but never inching from armed struggle to secure national liberation. When the Second World War ended, most Americans had never heard of the Kurds, and the few who had were bafºed by the always complex and occasionally absurd tribal,ethnic, and religious rivalries that plagued the no-man’s-land wedged between the Anatolian Peninsula and the headwaters of the Tigris River

By the late 1940s, however, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in an escalating Cold War in which an early hot zone stretched from the Turkish straits through Iraq and Iran to the Persian Gulf. As the ideological conflict heated up, Washington discovered that Kurdish nationalism could be useful in limiting Moscow’s innocence in the Middle East. In a classic Cold War story that would be repeated from the central highlands of Vietnam to the rugged savannas of Angola, U.S. policymakers exploited ancient ethnic
and tribal fault lines inside Kurdistan to achieve short-term geopolitical ad-vantage. U.S. officials displayed neither diplomatic commitment nor sentimental attachment to the Kurds, whom they viewed as little more than spoilers in a 40-year struggle to keep the Soviet Union and its Arab clients like Iraq off balance. Although the Kurds began to make cameo appearances in con-temporary news accounts in the 1970s, recently declassified documents now make it possible to trace more fully the ambivalent U.S. relationship with Kurdish nationalism during the Cold War.
This article examines three key episodes: ªrst, the secret backing given to the Kurds by the administrations of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Ken-nedy in an effort to weaken the Iraqi military regime of Abdel Karim Qassim,who had tilted toward Moscow after seizing power in Baghdad in July 1958;second, the cynical covert action launched by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in Iraqi Kurdistan, with help from Iran and Israel, after Saddam Hussein signed an alliance with the Soviet Union in April 1972; and third, Washington’s halfhearted attempts in the early 1990's to use Kurdish guerrillas to foment regime change in Iraq after the first Gulf War. In each case, the U.S. government exploited long-standing anti-Arab resentments among the Kurds, secretly supplied U.S. guns or dollars or sometimes both, and helped ignite an insurrection in Kurdistan, only to pull the plug unceremoniously when events threatened to spiral out of control.

https://www.academia.edu/9687244/The_United_States_and_the_Kurds