Article content DUBLIN (AP) — Vote counting was underway Saturday in Ireland’s national election after an exit poll suggested the contest is a close-fought race among the country’s three largest political parties. Recommended Videos Election officials opened ballot boxes at count centers across the country, kicking off what could be several days of tallying the results. If the exit poll is borne out, that could be followed by days or weeks of negotiations to form a coalition government. The exit poll suggested voters’ support is split widely among the three big parties — Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein — as well as several smaller parties and an assortment of independents ranging from the left to the far right. The poll said center-right party Fine Gael was the first choice of 21% of voters, and another center-right party, Fianna Fail, of 19.5%. The two parties governed in coalition before the election. Left-of-center opposition party Sinn Fein was at 21.1% in the poll. Pollster Ipsos B&A asked 5,018 voters across the country how they had cast their ballots. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points. The figures only give an indication and don’t reveal which parties will form the next government. Ireland uses a complex system of proportional representation in which each of the country’s 43 constituencies elects several lawmakers and voters rank candidates in order of preference. As a result, it can take some time for full results to be known. Fianna Fail politician Michael McGrath, a former finance minister and now a European Union official, said “a number of different parties and groups will have to be involved” in forming a government. “I hope it is a stable government that has the prospect of lasting the five years because of the challenges we are facing in Ireland and throughout the European Union,” he told the PA news agency at a count in Cork, southwest Ireland. “Let’s allow the picture to emerge over the days ahead.” The result will show whether Ireland bucks the global trend of incumbents being ousted by disgruntled voters after years of pandemic, international instability and cost-of-living pressures. The cost of living — especially Ireland’s acute housing crisis _ was a dominant topic in the three-week campaign, alongside immigration, which has become an emotive and challenging issue in a country of 5.4 million people long defined by emigration. The outgoing government was led by the two parties that have dominated Irish politics for the past century: Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. They have similar policies but are longtime rivals with origins on opposing sides of Ireland’s 1920s civil war. After the 2020 election ended in a virtual dead heat, they formed a coalition. Before polling day, analysts said the most likely outcome was another Fine Gael-Fianna Fail coalition. That remains a likely option. The front-runners to be the next taoiseach, or prime minister, are current Taoiseach Simon Harris of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin — despite their parties’ relatively lackluster showing. The two parties would need the support of smaller groups or independents to achieve a majority in the 174-seat Dail, the lower house of Parliament. The Green Party, which held 12 seats in the last parliament and propped up the governing coalition, acknowledged that it was headed for a disappointing result. Among a large crop of independent candidates was reputed organized crime boss Gerry “the Monk” Hutch, who has seen a groundswell of support since he was bailed on money-laundering charges in Spain this month in order to run for election. Early results suggested he stood a good chance of winning a seat in Dublin. Sinn Fein achieved a stunning breakthrough in the 2020 election, topping the popular vote, but was shut out of government because Fianna Fail and Fine Gael refused to work with it, citing its leftist policies and historic ties with militant group the Irish Republican Army during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland. Though Sinn Fein, which aims to reunite Northern Ireland with the independent Republic of Ireland, could become the largest party in the Dail, it may struggle to get enough coalition partners to form a government. During the election campaign, both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail maintained they would not go into government with it. A Sinn Fein-led government would shake up Irish politics — and the future of the United Kingdom. The party is already the largest in Northern Ireland, and a Sinn Fein government in the republic would push for a referendum on Irish reunification in the next few years. The party, which had urged people to vote for change, hailed the result after the exit poll was released. “There is every chance that Sinn Fein will emerge from these elections as the largest political party,” Sinn Fein director of elections Matt Carthy told broadcaster RTE on Friday night.fortune gems free play no deposit 。

Shopping on Temu can feel like playing an arcade game. Instead of using a joystick-controlled claw to grab a toy, visitors to the online marketplace maneuver their computer mouses or cellphone screens to browse colorful gadgets, accessories and trinkets with prices that look too good to refuse. A pop-up spinning wheel offers the chance to win a coupon. Rotating captions warn that a less than $2 camouflage print balaclava and a $1.23 skeleton hand back scratcher are “Almost sold out.” A flame symbol indicates a $9.69 plush cat print hoodie is selling fast. A timed-down selection of discounted items adds to the sense of urgency. Pages from the Shein website, left, and from the Temu site, right. Welcome to the new online world of impulse buying, a place of guilty pleasures where the selection is vast, every day is Cyber Monday, and an instant dopamine hit is always just a click away. By all accounts, we’re living in an accelerating age for consumerism, one that Temu, which is owned by the Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings, and Shein, its fierce rival , supercharged with social media savvy and an interminable assortment of cheap goods, most shipped directly from merchants in China based on real-time demand. The business models of the two platforms, coupled with avalanches of digital or influencer advertising, have enabled them to give Western retailers a run for their money this holiday shopping season. A Christmas tree ornament purchased on Temu. Software company Salesforce said it expects roughly one in five online purchases in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada to be made through four online marketplaces based or founded in Asia: Shein, Temu, TikTok Shop — the e-commerce arm of video-sharing platform TikTok — and AliExpress. Analysts with Salesforce said they are expected to pull in roughly $160 billion in global sales outside of China. Most of the sales will go to Temu and Shein, a privately held company which is thought to lead the worldwide fast fashion market in revenue. Lisa Xiaoli Neville, a nonprofit manager who lives in Los Angeles, is sold on Shein. The bedroom of her home is stocked with jeans, shoes, press-on nails and other items from the ultra-fast fashion retailer, all of which she amassed after getting on the platform to buy a $2 pair of earrings she saw in a Facebook ad. Neville, 46, estimates she spends at least $75 a month on products from Shein. A $2 eggshell opener, a portable apple peeler and an apple corer, both costing less than $5, are among the quirky, single-use kitchen tools taking up drawer space. She acknowledges she doesn’t need them because she “doesn’t even cook like that.” Plus, she’s allergic to apples. “I won’t eat apples. It will kill me,” Neville said, laughing. “But I still want the coring thing.” Shein, now based in Singapore, uses some of the same web design features as Temu’s, such as pop-up coupons and ads, to persuade shoppers to keep clicking, but it appears a bit more restrained in its approach. Shein primarily targets young women through partnerships with social media influencers. Searching the company's name on video platforms turns up creators promoting Shein's Black Friday sales event and displaying the dozens of of trendy clothes and accessories they got for comparatively little money. But the Shein-focused content also includes videos of TikTokers saying they're embarrassed to admit they shopped there and critics lashing out at fans for not taking into account the environmental harms or potential labor abuses associated with products that are churned out and shipped worldwide at a speedy pace. Neville has already picked out holiday gifts for family and friends from the site. Most of the products in her online cart cost under $10, including graphic T-shirts she intends to buy for her son and jeans and loafers for her daughter. All told, she plans to spend about $200 on gifts, significantly less than $500 she used to shell out at other stores in prior years. “The visuals just make you want to spend more money,” she said, referring to the clothes on Shein's site. “They're very cheap and everything is just so cute.” Unlike Shein, Temu's appeal cuts across age groups and gender. The platform is the world’s second most-visited online shopping site, software company Similarweb reported in September. Customers go there looking for practical items like doormats and silly products like a whiskey flask shaped like a vintage cellphone from the 1990s. Temu advertised Black Friday bargains for some items at upwards of 70% off the recommended retail price. Making a purchase can quickly result in receiving dozens of emails offering free giveaways. The caveat: customers have to buy more products. Despite their rise, Temu and Shein have proven particularly ripe for pushback. Last year, a coalition of unnamed brands and organizations launched a campaign to oppose Shein in Washington. U.S. lawmakers also have raised the possibility that Temu is allowing goods made with forced labor to enter the country. More recently, the Biden administration put forward rules that would crack down on a trade rule known as the de minimis exception, which has allowed a lot of cheap products to come into the U.S. duty-free. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to slap high tariffs on goods from China, a move that would likely raise prices across the retail world. Both Shein and Temu have set up warehouses in the U.S. to speed up delivery times and help them better compete with Amazon, which is trying to erode their price advantage through a new storefront that also ships products directly from China. 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Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 23: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) today took a significant stride in the fight against cyber-terrorism by filing a charge sheet against key operatives behind the notorious “Kashmir Fight”, a social media handle. The platform, operated by The Resistance Front (TRF)-a proscribed terrorist organization-was used to issue chilling online threats to migrant Kashmiri Pandit employees with a view to spread fear and unrest among them. The charge sheet was filed before the 3rd Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu, today. In February 2024, a series of threatening posts were published on social media by the terror outfit’s social media handle, following which an investigation was initiated by the SIA Jammu. During the course of investigations, the SIA apprehended Farhaan Muzaffar Mattoo, a resident of Srinagar, for his alleged role in gathering and sharing sensitive information about targeted employees. Investigations further revealed that Mattoo acted as a conduit, using encrypted communication platforms to pass critical data about migrant employees to handlers based in Pakistan, who then issued threats through the “Kashmir Fight” platform. The charge sheet has also named Sheikh Sajjad Ahmad, alias Sajjad Gul, a Srinagar resident now operating from Pakistan, as the mastermind of this plot. Sajad is accused of coordinating the campaign to intimidate migrant employees and disrupt communal harmony in the UT. “The exposing of terror plans to disrupt peace underscores the determination of Jammu and Kashmir Police to protect its citizenry and provide a peaceful environment to them,” an official statement issued here this evening said. There have been reports that the terrorists and Over Ground Workers (OGWS) were using Social Media to lure the youth into terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Some of the Social Media accounts are operating from across the border including Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK).

When it comes to healthcare, don’t make ‘private’ a dirty wordAnthony Edwards’ leadership had to take another step forward this week for TimberwolvesThe Rams improved to 9-6 and took control of the NFC West on Sunday with their fourth straight victory since Thanksgiving. Their 19-9 win over the New York Jets in sub-freezing temperatures was not dominant — they trailed 9-6 entering the fourth quarter, and they were outgained by nearly 100 yards — but Los Angeles still matched its largest margin of victory this season and continued to look like a looming nightmare for any postseason opponent. The Rams have now won eight of 10 since their bye week, when they were 1-4 and the NFL world wondered whether they would trade Super Bowl MVP receiver Cooper Kupp or even quarterback Matthew Stafford to spur their roster reboot. Los Angeles decided not to punt its season, and Sean McVay's team has driven from last to first. “You don’t want to ride the emotional roller coaster that these games can take you on,” McVay said Monday. “You do have the ability to stay steady, to stay the course and try to right the ship. Certainly that’s not complete by any stretch, but our guys have done an excellent job of not allowing the way that we started, especially in those first five games, to affect what we did coming off that bye.” The Rams also have clinched their seventh winning record in eight regular seasons under McVay — an achievement that shouldn’t get lost in the recent successes of a franchise that had 13 consecutive non-winning seasons before it rolled the dice and hired a 30-year-old head coach back in 2017. After winning it all in February 2022 and then having the worst season by a defending Super Bowl champion in NFL history, the Rams have made the most of their time in between true powerhouse status and a major rebuild. They also started slowly last year, entering their bye at 3-6 before a 7-1 finish. The Rams can become the first team in NFL history to make back-to-back postseason appearances after being three games under .500 each year. These Rams don't stand out on either side of the ball, although their talent level appears to be higher on offense than defense. Instead, they've mastered a delicate balance of complementary football — the offense and defense covering each other's weaknesses and setting up their teammates for success. The Rams have scored more than 30 points just once all season, and they managed only 31 points in their last two games combined. Their defense has allowed only one touchdown in the past two games — but right before that, Josh Allen and the Bills racked up 42 points and 445 yards in the most recent of a few defensive stinkers from LA this season. The Rams keep winning anyway, and now they can clinch McVay's fourth NFC West title by beating Seattle in two weeks. “Fortunately, we’re in a position where you don’t necessarily have to rely on other things to happen if you just handle your business,” McVay said. What's working Kyren Williams and the offensive line are driving the Rams' offense. After a slow start caused partly by McVay being forced to abandon the running game when the Rams repeatedly fell behind early, the 2023 Pro Bowler has surged to career highs of 1,243 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns with his 122-yard performance in New York. What needs help Stafford's 110 yards passing were his fewest with the Rams and the second-fewest in his 16-year career from a full game. Sunday's weather was a major factor, but the Rams must throw the ball effectively to somebody other than Puka Nacua. Kupp has just 193 yards receiving in his past five games combined. Stock up Defensive back Jaylen McCollough made a career-high nine tackles in only 31 snaps. The undrafted rookie continues to be a remarkable find, earning playing time alongside veteran safeties Quentin Lake and Kam Curl and fellow rookie Kam Kinchens. Stock down CB Cobie Durant didn't play for the second straight week despite being cleared to return from his bruised lung. Veteran Ahkello Witherspoon got every snap in place of Durant, who started LA's first 13 games. McVay praised Witherspoon's recent play when asked why Durant didn't get on the field in New Jersey. Injuries The Rams' improved health, particularly on both lines, is the key to their surge. McVay reported no new injuries out of the road trip following Tyler Higbee's successful season debut. Key number 12-1 — The Rams’ record in December with Stafford as their starter over his four years in LA. Next steps The Rams need to win at least one of their final two games to wrap up their first NFC West crown since 2021. They host eliminated Arizona on Saturday night, but can't clinch the division unless the Seahawks lose to moribund Chicago. The Rams are currently the NFC's third seed, but that doesn't matter a whole lot because both the third and fourth seeds will have to play one of the NFC North's two powerful wild-card teams in the opening round.Who are the Iranis, some of whose members were arrested after they rioted and pelted stones at Ambivali railway station in Thane district on Wednesday evening, injuring policemen? According to the police, the group was from Irani Basti, a settlement near the railway station. They had attacked the police to free a man from their locality who was detained for allegedly robbing gold chains. Police called the rioters members of the ‘Irani gang’. The Maharashtra government included Iranis in the list of ‘Nomadic and Denotified Tribe’ in the early 2000s, making them eligible for quotas in government jobs and seats in educational institutions, said Shabbir Ansari, founder of All India Muslim OBC Organisation, a group formed after the Mandal Commission report to help backward Muslim groups to access the reservations According to Ansari, the Iranis who are Shia Muslims, were earlier called Balochi, their origins traced to Balochistan, an ethno-linguistic area that straddles the Pakistan-Iran border. They spoke Balochi but now are fluent in Hindi or Marathi, said Ansari. Not much is known about their migration to areas around Mumbai. They are believed to be members of a group that migrated in the 16th century. An Irani woman from Ambivali said that she has never seen Iran because seven generations of her family have lived here. Police said they are involved in petty crime, with some young men from the community languishing in jails for months. Most of the cases are related to theft and robbery. "Iranis are active in Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. Several cases of theft have been filed in Thane alone," said a police official. Retired police inspector Dinesh Katke said a majority of the Iranis did not hold formal jobs and were involved in chain snatching, theft, and cheating cases. Katke added that when police teams approach an Irani settlement, they have a modus operandi of attacking the police team. “In these attacks, the women and children come forward to stop police action. Police from other states have also alerted us about suspicious persons hiding in the Irani Basti,” said Katke. Though the group now has preferential treatment for jobs and educational seats, the community remains poorly educated. “The biggest problem is the lack of education. Many of them work as police informants,” said a social worker. Sandeep Rokade, a ward officer from the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation, agreed. “During the election period, we held a meeting with them to raise awareness for the election in the locality and received good responses from them. However, there is a lack of education among them.” Ansari said that the community largely lived in settlements near railway stations. There are localities in Ambivali, Kalyan, Mumbra, and Bhiwandi around Mumbai. Groups also live in Sangli, Parbhani, Pune, and Satara. Over 40 families with 400 members live in Ambivali, a town in Kalyan taluka of Thane. Dashrath Tare, a local ex-corporator from Ambivali, said the group had arrived in Vasind in Shahapur taluka and Ambivali 50 years ago. “However, they left Vasind. In Ambivli they set up bamboo tents near the railway station. Over the following few years, they built permanent structures. They are all voters now,” said Tare. Sanjay Jadhav, current additional commissioner of Kalyan division, mentioned that when he was DCP of Kalyan in 2015, he held a meeting with community leaders at their mosque. “Many children were admitted to civic schools while the youth received vocational training. Many got jobs and incidents of chain snatching dropped after some time,” said Jadhav. The Iranis resent the ‘criminal’ tag given by the police. An Irani woman who the reporter spoke to blamed the police for falsely implicating her community members in the case. An Irani man from Ambivli said that the community is always blamed for all chain snatching incidents in Kalyan, Ulhasnagar and other cities. “The police always feel that the crime might have been committed by Iranis,” said the man, accusing the police of targeting the group when any crime happens in the area. Cases reported 1. April 10, 2019: 10 policemen from the Bandra police station entered Irani's Ambivali home, a mob of 21, including women, pelted them with stones and drove them out, critically injuring one cop. In the ensuing chaos, the accused fled. 2. November 9, 2023: A joint team of 15 personnel from Andheri and Khadakpada police stations were assaulted by a mob in Ambivali in the early hours of the day when they went to arrest a suspected chain snatcher. It later emerged that he was part of a gang planning robbery during Diwali. Four policemen were injured after being attacked by the mob. The mob pelted stones and attacked the police with sticks. One person was arrested and the others are still at large. 3. February 4, 2024: Mira-Bhayandar Crime Branch police team approached Irani Basti in Kalyan, and three policemen were injured after a group of Iranis attacked them by hurling stones. 4. December 4, 2024: Policemen, including an Assistant Police Inspector from the Mumbai Police, suffered injuries after a group of 20 Iranis attacked them by pelting stones in the premises of Ambivali railway station on Wednesday night. The police had come to Irani Basti, located near Ambivali railway station, to catch a suspected 20-year-old chain snatcher.

NEW YORK , Nov. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On the year of their 125 th year Anniversary, The E-J Group continues to expand to meet their client's needs by strengthening their presence in the Northeast. E-J has acquired State Electric Corporation. State Electric, located in Bedford, Massachusetts , has been in business since 1988 and is one of the most respected and trusted full-service electrical contractors in New England. The depth of experience and expertise, particularly in healthcare, life science, commercial, sports & entertainment, transportation, power and renewable energy, transmission, distribution and substation work, will only enhance the services offered to our clients. The E-J Group looks forward to providing their clients with additional experience, expertise, and innovative solutions to this area of the Northeast for the reliable, fast-track project delivery they are accustomed to. "We are pleased to welcome State Electric to the E-J Family," says Anthony E. Mann , CEO of the E-J Group. "State's culture of safety first, innovative solutions align with E-J's and makes for an ideal new member of the organization." "All our divisions operate under the same philosophy, safety first while delivering the best quality workmanship, utilizing prefabrication and lean construction solutions. We share the same client focused approach of doing business," states Ronnie Koning , President of State Electric Corp. "Being part of the E-J Group provides more opportunities for our employees and strengthens what we offer to our clients." State Electric will retain its name and cultural identity, with its current leadership continuing in their respective roles. Ronnie Koning will remain as President, reporting to E-J's EVP, Dave Ferguson . Brendan Dickie will continue as COO, and Jane Wu will maintain her position as Controller. Their collective expertise will remain instrumental to the organization's ongoing success. E-J has thrived and survived the test of time by emerging into nearly a $1 billion national electrical company with great financial strength, national clients, project diversity, and a company culture that is founded on Safety First. E-J currently has 15 offices in 5 states across the country in New York , New Jersey , Connecticut , Rhode Island , Arizona , and now Massachusetts . About E-J: The E-J Group is active in all facets of electrical contracting - we are not your typical electrical contractor. We bring experience, expertise and a national reputation on projects that vary in size to over $300 million . Typical installations include rail systems, transit facilities, office buildings, hospitals, power, renewable and clean energy, co-generation facilities, roadway and outdoor specialty, airports, industrial facilities, universities, sport stadiums, extra high voltage distribution, utility, and gas infrastructure. At E-J, four family generations of practical expertise have created an organization keyed to the most modern technological advances in providing rapid and efficient solutions to today's lighting, power, energy, and communication needs. E-J has a 125-year reputation for unparalleled integrity, quality, and service in the electrical field. Please visit our website at www.ej1899.com to learn more about the company. About State Electric Corporation: State Electric Corporation is a leading full-service electrical contractor in the Northeast. Since 1988, State Electric has been a trusted partner of owner's construction managers, utilities, low voltage integrators, and other business partners around the region. While working in partnership with clients, State continually executes the most complex and high-profile electrical construction projects on time and on budget. Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts , with a satellite office in Braintree , State Electric is a signatory contractor to the IBEW. Contact: Katie Nilsen , VP Business Development & Strategy – E-J Group 917-807-9496 View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-e-j-group-welcomes-state-electric-corporation-to-the-organization-302314568.html SOURCE E-J Electric Installation Co.

Kumho Tire cruises toward meeting 2024 sales guidanceNicole Kidman and Tom Cruise ’s daughter has shared a glimpse into what she’s been working on recently in a rare social media post. The adopted daughter of the Hollywood heavyweights, Bella Kidman-Cruise , was in St Petersburg, Florida, on December 6 to see the debut of one of her artworks in the city’s Imagine Museum. The 31-year-old took a photo to celebrate the occasion, posting it to Instagram with the caption, “this lil guy made it to @imaginemuseum”. She could be seen standing beside her abstract green-yellow painting with a proud smile. Bella maintains a low-key profile online and typically posts only photos of her art. She also runs an online store where she sells totes, prints, pins and T-shirts designed with her artwork.

With his debut novel ‘The Other Side of the Rainbow’ published recently, Niranjan Nayak, an English professor at Puri’s SCS College, embarks on a transformative journey — from the routine life of an academic to the exciting life of a writer. The novel is about a friend’s loving recall of a friendship formed at the college of their dreams a long time ago, a friendship that was cut short by a cruel stroke of fate. The novel transports the reader back to that past in an effort to comprehend what appeared incomprehensible to the actors themselves. A steady and unrelenting focus on the thought processes, delineated through two ‘I’ narrations, Arun’s and Rajiv’s that alternate with each other, lifts the novel from the plane of a light-hearted campus novel to a serious engagement with the labyrinthine alleyways of the mind. The verse with which the prologue opens sets the stage for the excavation of the past. Not an easy task given the failure, as the verse tells us, to see the ‘invisible me’, to hear the ‘tumult in a silent zone.’ The second metaphor is close to George Eliot’s ‘roar which lies on the other side of silence’, suggesting the rationale for the novel’s title, ‘The other side of the rainbow’. To say what cannot be said with the words that the polite society has handed to us and to peek into the abyss is the forte of three categories of truth tellers — the fictionist, the philosopher and the psychologist. But to do these two seemingly impossible tasks of speaking and looking against the grain while not abandoning the grain itself, is the province and forte of the fictionist alone. It involves the writer in fracturing syntax, in forcing words beyond and against their conventional meanings. Nayak doesn’t fracture syntax, but he does the latter in ample measure through his resort to paradox, oxymoron and conundrum. For Arun, beginning and end merge. For Rajiv, destination is not destiny. ‘Life’, said Bertrand Russell, ‘is an uneasy awakening between two sleeps.’ Arun and Rajiv, the two protagonists of Nayak’s tale and those of us who are among their auditors, would tend to agree. They themselves speak in paradoxes and conundrums. Arun and Rajiv are ordinary students who become friends during their four-year residence at Ravenshaw College. One of them – Arun, the son of a ‘pakodawala’ — comes of a dirt-poor family and the other – Rajiv – just a notch above, namely a lower middle class family. Though they share a bond, they seem headed in different, almost opposite, directions. This is thanks as much to their differing social backgrounds as to their different psychological orientations. Arun wants to flee his fatherless and shelter home-ridden past, good grades in examination his only vehicle. Rajiv wants to flee a father-dominated oppressive present, with alcohol as his prop. Arun is mother-fixated and Rajiv is caught in a bitter oedipal struggle. The fact of Arun being intellectually gifted and Rajiv being lackadaisical goes into the mix as well, making them the perfect unlike poles that attract rather than repel. The excruciating tale that the novel tells takes shape from the sweetness of their intertwined lives and the bitterness of their interrupted friendship, with two potentially romantic entanglements — Arun’s with Ruby and Rajiv’s with Saswati, threatening to derail it. Arun’s unrequited feelings for Ruby, a girl his social superior, complicates their friendship, bringing into it a deficit of trust and openness. Rajiv’s words capture the fraught relations quite well: ‘We were three hands of a queer structure that looked like a triangle that didn’t have any corner or meeting point’ (p. 173). Rajiv too cannot bring himself to love Saswati. It takes its toll on both, but more cruelly on Arun. It is painful to read the climax revealingly given the name: ‘A Tree Sheds Its Leaf.’ Does the setting of Ravenshaw College play a part in this sad human drama? Or is it only a mute backcloth? Nayak is clearly not writing a novel to document Ravewnshaw College. But his novel darkly hints at how the lives of its young population are warped by academic competitiveness and snobbery related to status. Arun’s breakdown is ultimately caused by his dark and brooding disposition. But it is exacerbated by family expectations and an uncaring environment, making for a potentially tragic tale. Rajiv survives to not only tell the story of wasted opportunities, broken dreams and shattered hopes but also to give his life some closure by revisiting Arun’s village after thirty years. His chance meeting with Saswati also helps him to heal. Thus a melancholic and disturbing tale is turned into a redemptive one of losing and finding. The novel is a gripping read. (Himansu S. Mohapatra is an academic and translator) Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now. A former Professor of English & noted translator Prev PostTrump uses image of Jill Biden to sell his perfumes and colognes

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What is the mantra to success? For the five students who topped Lucknow Centre in the recent chartered accountancy (CA) exam, it is time management, long study hours and sobriety from social media. In the exam whose results were announced late Thursday night, three of the top five candidates of Lucknow Centre of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) are from the city. Yukti Agrawal, who hails from Gurugram, is the Centre topper. Kushagra Agrawal, who secured second spot in the Centre, is the city topper with 352 marks. He said he was in class eight when he decided to become a chartered accountant. “My father, a financial consultant, inspires me. Even at an early age, I was intrigued when he used to speak about taxation and similar terms. I cleared my final exam on my first attempt. However, after giving the examination I was in a dilemma about whether I would be able to clear the group. After seeing my result, I screamed out of joy. It was no less than a dream come true moment for me,” said Kushagra. Kushagra maintains a daily sheet to track the progress in his studies. He said this helped him to work efficiently “with full concentration”. Shivansh Soni, from Ambedkar Nagar, won the second spot in the Centre ranking. He was followed by Vanshita Jain, who secured the second spot in the city rankings, with 340 marks. Despite living in a joint family that encountered some financial issues, her parents and friends supported her in every step of the way. “Consistency is the key to success. After writing the examination, I was not sure of my success because some papers were quite tricky. I think studying for 10-12 hours every day for the last four years helped me. To concentrate better, I removed social media from my life,” added Vanshita. Kratika Gupta, fifth in the Centre and third in city rankings, said that her elder sister, a CA herself, inspired her to clear the examination. “I studied for more than 8-9 hours daily, which was a difficult task as I was doing my articleship simultaneously. I increased the number of hours for studies as the examinatios approached closer. My parents burst into tears of joy when I told them that I am now a CA. Consistency is the key to success,” she said.