Prashant Sreekumar (Image/X@yegwave)

Prashant Sreekumar, a 44-year-old Indian-origin man died after waiting for hours in the emergency room of Edmont Hospital.He began experiencing intense chest pain while at work. A client drove him to Grey Nuns Hospital in southeast Edmonton, where he was registered at triage and asked to wait in the emergency room. His father, Kumar Sreekumar, arrived at the hospital shortly afterwards. “My son told me, ‘Papa, I cannot bear the pain,” Kumar recalled, as reported by Canadian news channel Global News.

According to the family, Prashant described his pain as “15 out of 10” and informed hospital staff about the severity of his condition.An electrocardiogram (ECG) was conducted to assess his heart, but the family said he was told that nothing serious was detected and that he would need to continue waiting. He was also offered Tylenol to manage the pain.As the hours passed, Kumar said nurses periodically checked his son’s blood pressure, which kept rising. “It went up, up, and up. To me, it was through the roof,” he said.More than eight hours later, Prashant was finally called into the treatment area. Kumar said his son had been seated for only a few seconds when he suddenly stood up, clutched his chest and collapsed.“Nurses called for help, but it was too late,” Kumar said. Prashant died of an apparent cardiac arrest.Prashant is survived by his wife and three children, aged 3, 10 and 14. Family members said he was deeply devoted to his children and known for his cheerful, playful nature. The family often travelled together and shared a close bond.“He lived for his family and his kids,” his father said. “Anyone who knew him would say they had never met someone as kind as him.”Friends and relatives are now seeking answers, questioning how someone reporting severe chest pain could remain untreated for so long in an emergency room.Family friend Varinder Bhullar, who had also used Prashant’s accounting services, said the death has deeply shaken the local Indian-origin community in Edmonton.“This is a huge loss,” Bhullar said. “We expect better from the hospital and from the health-care system.”Grey Nuns Hospital is operated by Covenant Health. In a statement, the organization said that the case has been referred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.“We offer our sympathy to the patient’s family and friends. There is nothing more important than the safety and care of our patients and staff,” the hospital said in a statement.As the family mourns Prashant’s death, they say they are struggling to come to terms with how he died and without being seen by a doctor. “They took my baby for nothing,” his father said.

Magnus Carlsen and R Praggnanandhaa

World No. 1 and five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has shared his thoughts on the players competing in the 2026 Candidates Tournament. According to the former world champion, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa is the third strongest contender to win the event.

Carlsen believes that Praggnanandhaa has a good chance, but still ranks him behind two American players. The Candidates Tournament is very important in chess. The winner earns the right to challenge the current World Champion. This time, the champion is India’s D Gukesh. Eight top players will take part in the tournament, and Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian among them.The 2026 Candidates Tournament will begin on March 28 in Cyprus. Carlsen feels that Americans Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana are the top favourites. After them, he places Praggnanandhaa. He also said that there is a clear gap between these three and the rest of the field. “Just like last time, probably the Americans are the favourites. Then we got Pragg as the third favorite, and then probably a pretty big drop off after that. Wei Yi is really good, but I don’t think he’s capable of winning enough games to win the Candidates. So it will be interesting to see,” Carlsen told Chess.com in an interview. Apart from Nakamura, Caruana, and Praggnanandhaa, the tournament will include Anish Giri from the Netherlands, Matthias Bluebaum from Germany, Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan, Wei Yi from China, and Andrey Esipenko from Russia. Carlsen also spoke about players who missed out on qualifying. He feels that some strong names deserved a place in the Candidates. “I would have loved to see some more big names in the field, but then again, if you didn’t qualify, you didn’t qualify. Maybe this system should kind of account for somebody like Vincent Keymer, who was really close to qualifying a lot of times and has the highest rating of anybody who’s not there. He certainly deserved to be there, but I guess he and Arjun and a few others will have to await their returns. It’s always interesting to follow,” Carlsen added.

Deep down, beneath the icy edges of the Greenland Sea, a remarkable and previously undiscovered geological and biological complex has been found by scientists. The existence of this topographic anomaly deep down in the sea, where light, high pressure, and low temperature are prevalent factors, extends our understanding of what is known about the oceanography of the Arctic. The findings are especially pertinent in light of recent increased scientific interest in the Earth’s poles in relation to increased understanding of global climate processes. The observation of a level of biological and geological interaction in one of the most remote ocean regions on Earth contributes important information on what is known about the physical characteristics of the Arctic.

Why methane hydrate mounds forming deep beneath the Arctic Ocean

The most notable aspect of the discovery is that it consists of a number of gas hydrate mounds along the Molloy Ridge, a tectonic boundary that lies deep beneath the Greenland Sea. A gas hydrate is a molecule that consists of a large amount of trapped methane, all held together with crystalline ice. The existence of these hydrates at a depth of some 3,640 meters is one of the deepest known hydrate formation sites that have been discovered so far. According to the research paper that was published in Nature Communications, high-resolution images that included the extent of these hydrate mounds along the ridge have been discovered with the help of a remotely operated robotic vehicle. Gas hydrates have until now been thought to be largely associated with continental slopes and the shallower margins of the Arctic.

How life survives without sunlight on the Arctic sea floor

The ecologists surrounding the hydrate mountains recorded the existence of a dense population of chemosynthetic organisms. Such organisms receive energy from chemicals instead of sunlight. Based on the fact that the area is lightless, the organisms receive energy from the methane seeping from beneath the seafloor. The organisms form the base of the food chain, in turn supporting other life forms. Scientists recorded tube worms, crustaceans, as well as a dense mat of microbes aggregated in areas surrounding the seeps. The organisms exhibit specific adaptations in order to withstand high pressures as well as near-freezing temperatures. The organisms’ metabolism is specifically attuned in order to take advantage of the methane as well as sulphide compounds seeping from the sediments. The finding shows the existence of life in the deepest parts of the Arctic Ocean utilizing available energy in the area.

What role does the Molloy Ridge play in deep Arctic sea floor processes?

The Molloy Ridge is recognised as one of the deepest mid-ocean ridges in the world and is characterised by tectonic plates that are gradually drifting apart. The tectonic activities in this process result in the creation of cracks and channels in the Earth’s crust that facilitate methane gas to flow from deeper to upper layers. When methane gas reaches lower temperatures close to the ocean floor, it either gets trapped in its hydrate form or seeps out gradually. The process that is observed in this tectonic interaction is directly related to biological activities occurring on the ocean floor. The mid-ocean ridge functions both as a channel and as a supporting structure that determines hydrate and biologically active zones. The process of interaction in this study is very helpful in gaining an understanding of deep-sea ecosystems’ maintenance at a deeper level for extended periods.

What this discovery means for Arctic methane stability

Methane has a crucial role within the carbon cycle, and what happens to methane under the ocean floor is closely tracked because methane can affect the climate. The methane hydrate mounds under the Greenland Sea support a long-term trap that holds methane under stable conditions. At present, the conditions on the Molloy Ridge support a stable environment to retain methane, hindering massive amounts of methane from entering the water body. Still, recognising such systems is critical to predict their reaction to potential warming within the ocean currents or temperatures. The findings provide scientists a chance to observe and measure methane within a system that has been underrepresented within climate models to predict climatic changes. The findings confirm the essence of the deep basins within the Arctic to control carbon beneath the Earth and within the ocean.

Why the deep Arctic Ocean is becoming a focus of scientific research

The discovery of hydrate mounds and their ecosystems in the Greenland Sea is one such finding that showcases the effect that advances in technology are having on deep oceanography. The use of remotely operated vehicles with sophisticated sensors and imaging systems is enabling scientists to explore regions that were hitherto unexplored. With every new expedition, new layers of complexity are being found under the Arctic Ocean, from unexpected topographical features to new ecosystems. The Molloy Ridge finding indicates that perhaps such regions are to be found elsewhere on deep tectonic margins, waiting to be located and studied.Also Read | A step toward time travel? Physicists reverse waves in time

India’s ambition of exporting goods and services worth $1 trillion by the end of FY26 is likely to remain out of reach, Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) predicted in its latest report on Thursday, pointing to weak merchandise shipments due to weak global demand and increasing protectionist trends.Ajay Shrivastava, founder of the economic think tank, said that India is expected to record flat increase in exports this year with goods outflows showing almost no growth. Total exports in FY26 are expected to rise only to almost $850 billion, missing the $1 trillion number by $150 billion. The think tank predicted that services exports might be able to cross $400 billion, providing “the only meaningful growth cushion for India’s trade,” as the overall growth struggles with weak global demand. Meanwhile, Shrivastava highlighted that the target may be achieved if India succeeds in sealing major trade deals. “That I think we may achieve once our trade deal with the US and EU comes. That is maybe next year, not this year,” he said.While exports face sustained pressure, Shrivastava said that domestic economic conditions remain stable. “The domestic economy is working fine,” he said, adding, “The GDP numbers are telling; low inflation numbers are telling. The only pressure on the GDP will be the pressure on the export side.”

India’s trade with US and EU — a different picture

Despite the overall slowdown, recent trade figures suggest that India has begun to diversify its export destinations. Shrivastava pointed out that exports to the United States declined sharply between May and November, even as shipments to other regions rose.Exports to the US dipped almost 21% amid President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs imposition on Indian shipments.“We have seen that between May and November, our exports to the US are down by 20.7%” he said. The report added that unless Washington rolls back the extra 25% duties on India or locks in a trade deal, “exports to India’s largest market risk further erosion.”For India’s trade with the European Union, the think tank highlighted a difference with exports dropping even before duties came into play with the bloc’s compliance and reporting requirements dragging down the country’s steep shipments by almost 24%.EU will “activate its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on January 1, 2026, effectively imposing a carbon tax on imports.” From the next year, 2026, EU importers will lable Indian goods inclusive of the CBAM costs, “with payments settled through certificate surrender in 2027.”

India is diversying its export destinations

Shrivastava said, “During this time, our exports to the rest of the world increased by 5.5%. That means diversification already started happening in a small way.”However, he cautioned that geographical diversification must be accompanied by changes in the composition of India’s exports. “For more diversification, for more exports to these countries, we have to focus on diversifying our export basket also,” Shrivastava said. “Right now, our export basket needs inclusion of more medium to high-tech products.” The think tank said that while the country has already signed 18 FTAs and more possible in 2026, India’s priority must change, going from signing agreements to “making FTAs deliver real export gains, especially in electronics, engineering and textiles.”

What should be India’s strategy for 2026?

The think tank cautioned that tariffs, climate-related taxes and geopolitical uncertainty will continue to weigh on global trade conditions. Export survival and growth will depend on competitiveness at home, including better products, deeper manufacturing capabilities and lower costs.Back in FY25, India’s overall exports stood at $825 billion, including $438 billion in merchandise outflows and $387 billion in services.

A new Pentagon report reveals China’s military buildup increasingly threatens the US homeland. Beijing is developing capabilities for direct attacks on critical infrastructure, cyber systems, and space assets, aiming to disrupt American decision-making during a Taiwan crisis. This signifies a shift from regional deterrence to direct homeland vulnerability, fundamentally altering US defense calculations.

For the first time, a Pentagon report says plainly what had long been implied. China’s “historic military buildup” has made the US homeland “increasingly vulnerable.” The phrase appears early in the Defense Department’s 2025 annual assessment of China’s military power, and it is not rhetorical flourish. It marks a shift in how the US government wants Americans to understand the problem Beijing poses. This is no longer only about aircraft carriers in the Pacific or missile ranges around Taiwan. It is about the United States itself as a target.The report, formally titled Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, describes a Chinese military that is no longer content with regional deterrence. The People’s Liberation Army is now measuring its capabilities against what it calls the “strong enemy,” an unmistakable reference to the United States. In doing so, it is building ways to pressure American decision-making directly, including through cyber access to critical infrastructure, long-range conventional and nuclear strikes, and attacks on the space systems that underpin US military power.The effect, the report argues, is a new vulnerability equation. Washington must now think not only about whether it can intervene in a conflict near Taiwan, but whether it can do so while absorbing disruption at home.Why it matters

‘National total war’The most striking doctrinal shift described in the report is Beijing’s embrace of what Chinese military writings call “national total war.” The idea treats future conflict not as a discrete military contest but as a clash between entire national systems. Political authority, economic resilience, civilian infrastructure, information control, and military power are all part of the same battlefield.The Pentagon links this thinking directly to China’s long-term political goal of “national rejuvenation” by 2049 and to its nearer-term military benchmarks. Defense spending has nearly doubled since Xi Jinping took power. Civil-military integration reforms are designed to ensure that commercial sectors and local governments can be rapidly mobilized in wartime. Chinese planners, the report notes, have studied the war in Ukraine closely, drawing lessons about industrial capacity, sanctions resistance, and the risks of a prolonged fight.

This is not abstract theory. The report repeatedly emphasizes integration. China’s “core operational concept,” known as Multi-Domain Precision Warfare, is built around fusing data from space, cyber, air, sea, and land sensors into a single targeting system. The aim is to identify weak points in an adversary’s operational system and strike them quickly, at scale, and in coordination.

Taiwan as the pacing scenarioEverything in the report ultimately bends back toward Taiwan. The Pentagon reiterates that the PLA is making “steady progress” toward its 2027 goals, which are explicitly tied to the ability to force unification with the island. The assessment translates the implication without hedging: China expects to be able to “fight and win” a war over Taiwan by the end of 2027.To get there, Beijing is refining multiple military options. A maritime blockade. A joint firepower strike campaign. A full-scale amphibious invasion. In 2024, the PLA’s “JOINT SWORD” exercises rehearsed the encirclement of the island, simulated strikes on sea and land targets, and practiced blocking key ports. These were not symbolic displays. They were stress tests of command-and-control, logistics, and coordination under realistic conditions.Crucially, Taiwan planning is inseparable from counter-intervention. The PLA’s growing missile forces can now range 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles from China’s shores. In sufficient volume, the report warns, those strikes could seriously disrupt US operations across the western Pacific. Chinese units train against professional “blue forces” that replicate US equipment and tactics. The point is explicit preparation for a fight with American forces, not a generic regional contingency.Cyber as a homeland leverIf Taiwan is the likely trigger, cyber operations are the lever that reaches home. The report calls China the most persistent cyber threat to US government, military, and civilian networks in 2024. What distinguishes the current assessment is its emphasis on pre-positioning.Chinese cyber actors associated with campaigns such as “Volt Typhoon” have “burrowed into US critical infrastructure,” the report says. These intrusions go beyond espionage. They demonstrate the ability to disrupt systems during a crisis, including those needed to mobilize and deploy US forces. Likely targets include military command networks and civilian infrastructure with political or economic significance.The Pentagon’s language is careful but unsettling. Disruptions might be localized and temporary, lasting days or weeks. But the strategic effect could be outsized. Interruptions to pipelines, power, or telecommunications during a Taiwan crisis could slow military response and generate public pressure at home. Another campaign, known as “Salt Typhoon,” targeted US telecommunications providers in 2024, highlighting vulnerabilities in the backbone of American communications.Taken together, cyber operations are portrayed as a way to impose costs below the nuclear threshold while shaping the domestic environment in which US leaders make decisions.The ‘kill chain’The report is equally blunt about space. China sees space superiority as decisive. Its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance satellite fleet has more than tripled since 2018, reaching over 359 systems by early 2024. That constellation dramatically improves China’s ability to track US aircraft carriers and expeditionary forces across the Pacific.These satellites are not passive observers. They are integral to closing what the military calls the kill chain: finding targets, tracking them, and delivering long-range precision strikes. Without space-based sensors and communications, that chain breaks.China is therefore building multiple ways to sever its adversary’s access to space. The report describes kinetic antisatellite missiles capable of destroying satellites in low Earth orbit, with ambitions to reach higher orbits. It highlights “dual-use” satellites equipped with robotic arms, such as Shijian-21, that can grapple and reposition other satellites. Ground-based lasers can disrupt or damage sensors. Jammers target military satellite communications across frequency bands.Cyber plays a role here too. Chinese actors have been implicated in attacks on foreign satellite networks, particularly those of the United States. The goal is not necessarily to destroy everything, but to degrade enough systems to slow decision-making and blunt operational advantage at the outset of a conflict.Nuclear growth and signalingOverlaying all of this is a rapidly expanding nuclear force. China’s warhead stockpile remained in the low 600s through 2024, the report says, but it is on track to exceed 1,000 by 2030. New silo fields in western China, a growing fleet of mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, and advances in early warning systems point to a shift toward higher readiness.The report also notes Chinese interest in lower-yield nuclear weapons, suggesting a strategy that contemplates limited nuclear use rather than only massive retaliation.The effect is to thicken the strategic layer. Nuclear expansion does not replace cyber or conventional pressure. It sits alongside them, complicating escalation dynamics and shortening decision timelines.Ships, reach, and presenceNaval power provides the endurance behind this posture. China’s third aircraft carrier, Fujian, completed its first sea trials in 2024. The navy aims to field six carriers by 2035, for a total of nine. In October, China’s two operational carriers conducted their first dual-carrier operations, a milestone in integrated combat capability.The relevance to homeland vulnerability is indirect but real. Maritime power supports blockade options around Taiwan and sustained airpower projection. It also helps keep US forces at distance while other tools apply pressure elsewhere.China’s ambitions are not confined to the Indo-Pacific. The report details a growing global logistics network, from Djibouti to Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, with potential future sites in Africa and the Pacific islands. Access to the Atlantic, the Pentagon warns, would pose new challenges for US planners.

Russia and the outer perimeterChina’s partnership with Russia adds another layer. Combined bomber patrols near Alaska, joint coast guard operations in the Bering Sea, and expanded exercises signal a shared interest in countering the United States. These activities are not decisive on their own, but they stretch attention and resources, reinforcing the report’s central theme of multi-directional pressure.What the warning really meansThe Pentagon’s core message is not simply that China is stronger. It is that Beijing is building an integrated system designed to shape US choices in a crisis. The question is no longer only whether the United States can prevail militarily near Taiwan. It is whether it can do so while managing cyber disruption at home, threats to space systems, and a more complex nuclear backdrop.China is not betting on a single knockout blow. It is constructing multiple pressure points, many of them far from the Taiwan Strait, to raise the cost and uncertainty of American intervention.The report does not offer easy solutions. It does, however, make clear that the era in which the US homeland could be treated as a sanctuary in great-power conflict is ending. The competition, as Beijing’s own doctrine suggests, is becoming a contest between entire systems. And in that contest, distance alone is no longer protection.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) begins commercial flight operations on Thursday, opening a second aviation gateway for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region after years of missed deadlines. The new facility is expected to emerge as one of the busiest and a significant aviation hub in the country.On its opening day, the airport is expected to handle over 4,000 passengers, according to people familiar with the matter.Here is all that you need to know about the Navi Mumbai International Airport — Flights, schedule, routes, pictures & more!

Airlines operating from the Navi Mumbai International Airport

Commercial operations will see four airlines operating domestic services from NMIA. These include IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air and Star Air, an NMIA spokesperson said.People familiar with the matter said IndiGo will be the dominant operator across most routes, while Akasa Air will operate services to Ahmedabad, Goa, Kochi and Delhi. Air India Express will operate flights to Bengaluru and Delhi, and Star Air will operate flights to Goa.

Navi Mumbai International Airport – Destinations and routes

NMIA will be connected to nine domestic destinations, including Hyderabad, Goa and Bengaluru. Routes to Delhi will see the highest activity, with a total of three daily flights operated by IndiGo, Air India Express and Akasa Air, the people said.In the initial phase, the airport is expected to operate up to 24 scheduled daily departures to 13 destinations, with the capability to manage up to 10 aircraft movements per hour, according to an NMIA statement.

Today’s flight schedule at the Navi Mumbai International Airport

Thursday’s launch will see around 30 domestic flights, split equally between arrivals and departures.

The terminal building opened to departure passengers around 6.40 am, the NMIA spokesperson said. Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, Jeet Adani, director (airports), and other officials will be present at the airport to welcome passengers arriving on the first flight and to hand over boarding passes to departing travellers.

Stunning images of the Navi Mumbai International Airport

Also see: Exclusive first glimpse of Navi Mumbai international airport

How to get to the Navi Mumbai International Airport?

Getting to the NMAI from Pune or Lonavala:For those travelling from Alibag, Pen, or rest of the Konkan:Getting to NMAI from Navi Mumbai and PanvelFrom Kalyan, Dombivli, or BhiwandiGoing from Eastern Suburbs to Navi Mumbai International AirportThane, Airoli, or Ghansoli to NMAIWestern Suburbs to NMAIGoing to NMAI from Central Mumbai Planning your journey from South Mumbai to NMAI