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The Royal Swedish Academy on Thursday awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in literature to French writer Annie Ernaux for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory. "BREAKING NEWS: The 2022 #NobelPrize in Literature is awarded to the French author Annie Ernaux for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory," the official Twitter handle of The Nobel Prize said. "French writer Annie Ernaux, awarded the 2022 #NobelPrize in Literature, was born in 1940 and grew up in the small town of Yvetot in Normandy, where her parents had a combined grocery store and cafe. Her path to authorship was long and arduous," the tweet added. The Nobel Prize laureate, in her writing consistently and from different angles examines a life marked by strong disparities regarding gender, language and class. She has written over 30 literary works. In 'L'occupation' (2002) Ernaux dissects the social mythology of romantic love. On the basis of notes in a diary recording her abandonment by a lover, she both confesses and attacks a self-image built on stereotypes. Writing becomes a sharp weapon for dissecting truth. Ernaux has said that writing is a political act, opening our eyes to social inequality. For this purpose she uses language as "a knife", as she calls it, to tear apart the veils of imagination. With great courage and clinical acuity, Annie Ernaux reveals the agony of the experience of class, describing shame, humiliation, jealousy or inability to see who you are, she has achieved something admirable and enduring. The Nobel Prize laureate Ernaux believes in the liberating force of writing. Her work is uncompromising and written in plain language, scraped clean. And when she with great courage and clinical acuity reveals the agony of the experience of class, describing shame, humiliation, jealousy or inability to see who you are, she has achieved something admirable and enduring. Last year, Tanzanian author Abdulrazak Gurnah won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in 1948 and growing up on the island of Zanzibar, Gurnah has published ten novels and a number of short stories. The theme of the refugee's disruption runs throughout his work. He began writing as a 21-year-old in English exile, and although Swahili was his first language, English became his literary tool. (ANI)

At the Pre-COP 27 meeting in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt’s COP27 Presidency, spelled out the importance that the developed world keep its climate pledges to avoid a “crisis of trust” in the COP process whilst holding out hope for progress at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh this November.  Speaking to an audience including over 60 ministers from around the world about the impact of pledges not being met by the developed world, Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP27 President-Designate, said: “We have not yet delivered on the $100bn pledge, which in itself is more a symbol of trust and reassurance than a remedy to actual climate needs”.  Commenting on the current levels of support to protect people’s lives and livelihoods in the developing world he highlighted that “mitigation finance is receiving more attention than adaptation” and that “instruments of finance are still mostly non-concessional loans rather than concessional loans and grants which account for only six percent of climate finance.  We must find a way to address this challenge. Without appropriate and fair finance serving as a catalyst, we will all continue to struggle in delivering impactful climate action.”  Despite the scale of the challenge facing many nations, given current geopolitical and economic issues, the Egyptian Presidency-Designate spoke about the need to make progress stating that: “delaying action will only make it harder and more expensive.”   Speaking about the recent Heads of Delegation meetings held in Cairo, Shoukry stated his hopes about progress, saying that he: “witnessed a constructive exchange of views” which he believed had “paved the way for ... a smooth opening of our agenda and a constructive negotiation around the crucial issues of funding arrangements for loss and damage”.   The inclusion of loss and damage on the agenda would indicate a significant shift in the debate and would enable COP27 to make progress on four key areas of climate action: adaptation, mitigation, finance and loss and damage, which featured prominently in Pre-COP27’s agenda.  Recently, Denmark followed Scotland in providing unilateral support for loss and damage by earmarking$13m through a financial instrument for loss and damage.  Urging nations to address the trust deficit, Shoukry said: “we must develop and cultivate a sense of mutual trust and understanding.  Our effort must not be approached as a zero-sum equation.  We must all rise to the occasion and demonstrate leadership, set aside narrow national interests and appreciate the potential in cooperation, compromise and collective win-win scenarios”.

The Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology 2022 is awarded to Svante Paabo for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution, announced the award-giving organization on Monday.  "The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Svante Paabo for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution," read the Nobel Prize statement. The 2022 Nobel Prize laureate Paabo found that gene transfer had occurred from the now extinct hominins to Homo sapiens. This ancient flow of genes to present-day humans has physiological relevance today, for example affecting how our immune system reacts to infections, the statement said.  Paabo has established an entirely new scientific discipline, paleogenomics. By revealing genetic differences that distinguish all living humans from extinct hominins, his discoveries provide the basis for exploring what makes us uniquely human.  Through his pioneering research, Paabo 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, entirely from genome data retrieved from a small finger bone specimen.  Importantly, Paabo also found that gene transfer had occurred from these now extinct hominins to Homo sapiens following the migration from Africa around 70,000 years ago, the statement read.  Paabo is a Swedish geneticist specializing in the field of evolutionary genetics who was recruited to the University of Munich in 1990, where, as a newly appointed Professor, he continued his work on archaic DNA. Earlier in 2020, David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian jointly won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch. David Julius utilized capsaicin, a pungent compound from chili peppers that induces a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that responds to heat.  Ardem Patapoutian used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a novel class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs.  These breakthrough discoveries launched intense research activities leading to a rapid increase in the understanding of how the nervous system senses heat, cold, and mechanical stimuli. (ANI)

The sixth annual coordination meeting between the border guarding forces of India and Nepal concluded in Kathmandu on Thursday. The meeting was held between Director General, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Inspector General Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) from September 27 to 29. The meeting started at APF Headquarters in Halchowk and ended after the two sides signed an agreement for border cooperation.  The Indian delegation was led by S L Thaosen, Director-General of SSB and from the Nepal side, Raju Aryal, Inspector General of APF was leading the delegation. Pankaj Darad (IPS) IG P.K Gupta, IG and S.Subramaniam DIG were part of the delegation from SSB.  During the meeting both the delegations deliberated on streamlining the mechanism to curb trans-border crimes, timely exchange of information and enhance security across the Indo-Nepal border.  Heads of both forces agreed to develop the mechanism to prevent illegal border crossing of third nation citizens through the border. It was also decided that border forces will continue to reform methods used in view of present-day challenges. They mutually agreed to prevent the misuse of their respective territories by anti-nationals.  The Sashastra Seema Bal delegation also called on Bal Krishna Khand, Home Minister of Nepal at his Office in Kathmandu and reiterated the commitment of SSB to work for strengthening the friendship and cooperation between the two border forces of India and Nepal.  The security issues were also discussed for upcoming federal and provincial elections in Nepal. The Director General, SSB and Inspector General, APF have been holding Coordination meetings every year since 2012, alternatively in India and Nepal.  The 5th Annual Coordination meeting between SSB DG and APF IG was held in October last year. Both sides had agreed to take further measures for enhancing coordination and cooperation between their border guarding forces.  The decision was taken in the fifth annual coordination meeting between Director General Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Inspector General, Armed Police Force (APF), Nepal. The 5th Annual Coordination meeting began last year, on October 4 here in the national capital.  The Indian delegation was then led by DG BSF Kumar Rajesh Chandra and included Officers from SSB, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs. The Nepal delegation was led by Shailendra Khanal, IG APF and included Officers from APF, Home and Foreign Ministries of Nepal. (ANI)