🌊 Goa celebrates St Lawrence with ancient traditions

The feast of St Lawrence is celebrated annually on August 10 in Goa, honoring the martyr Dolcy D’Cruz St Lawrence. The festivities take place in prominent churches in Bardez and Tiswadi across the region. Specific Masses are scheduled at St Lawrence Church, Sinquerim, and St Lawrence the Martyr Church, Agassaim. The celebrations involve traditional processions and the symbolic blessing of the sea. Fishermen and cruise-line workers especially observe this day, connecting to the sea's bounty. 🌊

📈 Stocks to check for August 10: Titan, Ola Electric & more

Several major companies reported their Q1 results, including Titan Company and Oil India Ltd. Titan reported a 65% jump in net profit, while Oil India saw its standalone profit rise over 60% for the June quarter. NLC India Ltd saw a 39.3% decline in its consolidated net profit for Q1 FY27. Ola Electric reported a net loss of ₹336 crore for Q1 FY27 despite narrowing the loss compared to the previous year. Many other firms like PFC and Hitachi Energy also released their earnings reports.

🚀 KDEM partners with GoodWorks for ₹5,000 Cr investment

Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) and GoodWorks Group signed an MoU to boost Karnataka's GCC growth. They aim to attract ₹5,000 crore investment across 50 new and expanded GCCs within the next five years. This partnership is expected to create over 62,500 direct and indirect jobs and inject ₹2,250 crore into the state's economy annually. The collaboration will focus on investment promotion and strengthening the state's ecosystem globally. Both parties plan to support international outreach across markets like North America and Europe.

🔬 Scientists watch electrons switch phases in quantum material ⚛️

Scientists at MIT have managed to watch electronic phases emerge and reassemble in real time within a quantum material. They studied erbium tritelluride, where electrons form wave-like patterns called charge density waves (CDWs). When cooled, two CDW phases form, one smoothly and another in isolated regions. The team used a pump-probe laser technique to 'shake' the material and observe its recovery. This research offers clues on how superconductivity and magnetism arise in quantum matter.

⛰️ Wayanad landslides: Climate met geology disaster

The 2024 Wayanad landslides occurred on the night of July 30, 2024, triggered by nearly 573 mm of rain in 48 hours. Researchers from University of Kerala, IISER Mohali, and Savitribai Phule Pune University studied the event in the upper catchment of the Punnapuzha river. The massive debris flow traveled almost 8 km, causing widespread destruction across Punchirimattam, Mundakkai, and Chooralmala. The study shows ancient crystalline rocks with pre-existing weaknesses determined the landslide's path. Extreme rainfall acted as the trigger, but geology dictated the severity of this event. ⛰️

🚨 Cleric warns against anti-Iran stance in Mecca Pact

Pakistani Shia clerics have warned the government against taking an anti-Iran position under a proposed ‘Mecca Agreement’. Shia scholar Agha Syed Jawad Naqvi suggested the pact might secretly target Iran, claiming Saudi Arabia is pressuring Pakistan. This alleged push aims to draw Islamabad into Middle Eastern wars, according to the cleric. Community leaders are waiting for the draft to decide their final stance on the agreement. If Pakistan betrays Iran, sources warn that large-scale protests will follow.

📚 JNU Scraps Event on Umar Khalid's Book

Jawaharlal Nehru University has canceled a planned discussion event. The event, focusing on Umar Khalid's book 'Fractured Communities', was scheduled to take place at JNU. The cancellation announcement was made recently, impacting the planned gathering. This decision comes amidst ongoing discussions regarding campus speech and academic freedom. Further details about the rescheduling, if any, are yet to be announced. 📚

📱 Samsung foldables get discounts, Pixel 11 coming soon

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 has a straight €340 discount, while the Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra are also on sale globally. The Z Fold8 accounted for 40% of Europe's Z8 pre-orders, with the launch happening on Friday. The Watch9 and Watch Ultra2 offer Prime subscriber discounts of €100 and €150 respectively. Motorola Razr models compete with the Galaxy line in features and battery life. Google is set to unveil the Pixel 11 series next week.

🩺 High BMI not a big deal for prostate cancer surgery

Elevated BMI did not significantly worsen most short-term outcomes after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. The study evaluated 1,366 patients at a single tertiary referral center. Key findings were reported on January 1, 2026. While BMI didn't affect pathology much, patients with higher BMI showed more hypertension and diabetes. Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm these observations.

🔬 New MRI model helps spot liver cancers in HBV patients

A novel MRI diagnostic model successfully separated scirrhous hepatocellular carcinoma (SHCC) from intrahepatic mass-forming cholangiocarcinoma (IMCC) in Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) patients. This multicentre study analyzed 183 cases across three centres, including 63 SHCC and 120 IMCC cases. The combined model achieved an AUC of 0.951 and 85.9% sensitivity in the training cohort. Key imaging features, like non-thin rim enhancement, were combined with serum biomarkers for this accuracy. This suggests a reliable preoperative tool to guide personalised treatment planning for high-risk patients. 🔬

📜 Konkani language movement faces linguistic bias

The Konkani language movement is reportedly being hampered by the overemphasis on written language versus spoken dialects. This linguistic issue exists within the rich cultural landscape of the Konkan coast, Goa, despite its diverse literary production. Hema Naik's novel, originally *Bhogdand* (1997), was recently translated by Augusto Pinto into *Leslie’s Broken Guitar Strings* (2025). Pinto highlights the translator's role in adapting texts, like explaining local terms such as *khazan*. This translation effort supports dialogue across different scripts and languages. 📚