Setting Up Air Separation Units for Industrial Gases

The process of Air separation is regarded as a common mechanical process that is employed to extract all or particularly one of the essential air components. The three fundamental constituents are Oxygen - 20.9%, Nitrogen - 78.1% and Argon - 0.9%. These three particular gases form the bloodline of modern industries such as the chemical product, metallurgy, petrol refining, and steel product industries and thus, they are the primary users of the Air Separation Unit (ASUs) of the world. For example, argon is required for welding, nitrogen is unquestionably used as an inert gas in metals, and food processing and oxygen is required for steel production. The residual gases exist in minute amounts and are generally not extracted. In large scale, ASUs or air separation units, Krypton, Xenon, and Neon is often extracted in tiny amounts. 

The cryogenic air separation process exploits the different boiling condensing points of the air components to facilitate the separation through distillation at cryogenic temperatures. 

The main elements of air possess the below-mentioned boiling and condensing points at atmospheric pressure:

Ø  Nitrogen (320.4° F)

Ø  Oxygen (297.3° F)

Ø  Argon (302.5° F)

Air is a simple and abundant mixture, hence distilling and liquefying air contributes to a process to separate Argon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen. All worldwide ASUs function through this process. 

Components of a Basic ASU

§  Main Air Compressor or MAC

The job of MAC is to compress atmospheric air, mostly to 60 to 90 PSIG, and deliver it to the central system. Electric motors drive these compressors. The inbuilt Interstage coolers remove heat generated in each particular stage of compression, which is mostly of 2 to 3. 

§  Front End Clean Up

The modern ASUs consist of a Prepurifier Unit (PPU) that eliminates moisture, Carbon dioxide, and most of the hydrocarbons. CO2 and moisture need to be removed to prevent the forming of ice and dry ice that can form later. A Prepurifier Unit typically constitutes a chiller for cooling the air till 40-55F, also a condensate separator for removing water and vessels that are filled with mole sieve and desiccant material to absorb the contaminants while the air passes through. One of the beds is always in line with the process, and the one is regenerated using the heated waste Nitrogen to eliminate the accumulated waste. The beds switch automatically every 5 to 8 hours. The air flowing through PPU is CO2 free and contains little moisture. Some older, preceding ASUs facilitate reversing of the heat exchangers for accomplishing the front end clean up. The systems precisely include exclusive heat exchangers made from cryogen to chill down the CO2 and moisture, thus letting the clean air to flow towards the process of distillation. The heat exchanger passes are swapped every 3 to 10 minutes through an array of check and butterfly valves. While one pass removes the contaminant waste, the other one gets regenerated by the growing waste gases. The removal of the CO2 and moisture through the reversing of the heat exchangers is practical both in operating and capital costs.

§  Coldbox

This component has inbuilt distillation columns, heat exchangers made from cryogen, piping, and connected valves. Because most parts of the system are cold, they are reinforced inside of the coldbox and sheathed in insulation. The Coldbox can be of cylindrical or rectangular shape and are generally tall, can be than 200 feet in height depending on the Argon system type and capacity. 

Latest Coldboxes are constituted using perlite insulation that makes it easy and light to remove and install, as and when required. Older coldboxes are mostly filled with Rockwool that is packed by hand as fourteen pounds per cubic foot. This made them time-consuming and tedious to install or remove.

§  Expander

Most ASUs except for some consist of expanders. Expanders supply with the required iciness to the distillation column systems. Waste Nitrogen, air or Nitrogen is fuelled to expander that turns the wheel and transfers energy to the generator, compressor oil brake. The energy transfer cools the gas down. With the continuation of the process, the expanders outlet temperature gradually reaches the design temperature level, while the column system gets cooled down.

§  Liquid Argon Systems

The Liquid Argon Systems are commonly 2 types. Generally, plants are not equipped with Argon separation equipments. In those cases, Argon is exited from the ASUs with the wasted gases. The first kind uses a coarse Argon column, which concentrates Argon at 2 to 3% of Oxygen content from the 88-92% of the low-pressure oxygen column. The coarse Argon is heated and then merged with hydrogen before entering the catalytic reactor. It is where the O2 and H2 combine to form water. The wet form of Argon is dried and cooled again to the level of cryogenic temperatures. Next to this, the N2 and H2 are removed in the distillation and separator column, distinctively.

The Cryogenic Argon system is solely dependable on distillation to start with the purification. The columns are more than 200 feet tall, to fit in the large volume of trays for separating Argon from O2. Most of the new plants employ Cryogenic Argon System for avoiding the usage of Hydrogen and Argon compressor in the procedure. The drawback to this is the recovery time becomes for achieving purity after it starts up over and again within the next 48 hours. 

Setting up of an Air Separation Unit

Scope of Work

This is the standard procedure followed by Air Separation Units for the production of liquid nitrogen, liquid argon, and liquid oxygen. The unit consists of centrifugal air compressors, fixed absorption purification beds, packed with molecular sieves for removal of carbon dioxide, and water moisture. 

The 3 liquefied elements are composed for cryogenic storage. The description of the startup procedure is as follows:

Ø  The cooling water from the compressor intercoolers gets circulated throughout all the coolers.

Ø  The air absorption purification unit is prepared by separating the absorption bed that was to be initially used for the start-up procedure. The block valves are setup for allowing the purification procedure to take place on one bed while the other bed is regenerated. 

Ø  The central air compressor is manually flipped over while the main starter of the electrical motor is disengaged. This permits the compressor shaft to rotate freely. The vent valve for discharge gets entirely opened along with the interstage drain valves.

Ø  When there is confirmation of the instrumentation to be in working order, and the electrical switch to the motor starter of the compressor is unlocked, the circuit gets activated. All of the lubrication systems get confirmed.

Ø  The HP column’s expansion valves are split open along with the expansion valve of the low-pressure column.

Ø  The manual rotation of the expander valve is done to ensure the procedure operates freely, and the inlet air valves is shut tight while the outlet air block valve gets opened. When all the instrumentation seems to be working normally, and the electrical switch of the expander’s motor-generator gets unlocked, the circuit is activated. The lubrication systems also start working at the same time.

Ø  The initiation of the air compressor is done by turning on the electrical starter to the compressor’s motor. The unit is then allowed to blow the air through the interstage drains and the discharge vent. After the confirmation of the proper functioning of the compressor and that there are no issues with instruments and lubrication, the drains are slowly closed in series one-by-one in the order of increasing stages. The last to be gradually closed is the discharge vent valve, and the compressor’s discharge enters the adsorption purification system, while the speed of the entire of the discharge system boosts up to operating pressure. The pressure of the discharge is kept at the operating level employing the expansion valve on the HP column.

Ø  After the normal operation of the air compressor is ensured and feeding of the purification system and the HP column is in a steady, controlled state, the turboexpander is placed on stream by gently opening the valve of the suction block. The throttling of the expansion valve of HP column regulates the compressor discharge pressure steadily to be at the operating level. After checking the steady running of the turboexpander and the gradual decrease of the discharge temperature, most of the discharge is sent to the expander by smothering the HP column expansion valve. This is done for speeding up the cooling down and increasing build-up of coarse oxygen liquid level within the HP column.

Ø  The above step goes on until the liquid level of the HP column reaches the maximum design level, and the LP column expansion is slowly opened for allowing the crude oxygen generating from the HP column to chill down the LP column. The procedure is continued until there is a built-up liquid level at the sump of the LP pressure column. During this time the feed to the turboexpander is decreased while slowly opening the HP expansion valve. Routine Purity samples are taken during this time for confirming the established stream purities – especially the purities of pure oxygen.

Ø  After establishing the purities from the argon side column, it is put on steam by opening the feed valve off of the LP column towards the argon column. 

Ø  The ongoing streaming of the purity samples is continued and the empty adsorption bed is regenerated during this time. The regeneration process can be commenced as soon as there is 99% waste nitrogen in the column.

Ø  Once liquid levels get controlled and design stream purities are instituted and held to a fixed level, the transfer of the products, oxygen, nitrogen and argon are transferred on to their distinctive storage tanks.

Importance of Cryogenic Air Separation

The cutting edge technology of cryogenic air separating process possesses the capability to produce bulk quantities of the products ranging from a moderate to a high purity level, in comparison to the non-cryogenic systems. They are made up of membrane technologies with pressure swing absorption that is utilized at the lower end of the production scale for low purities. Also, Cryogenic ASUs control the bulk production of industrial gases. They are electricity-intensive, which means large capacities of air volumes are being crammed to high pressures through electric motor driven compressors. As a result, fast but significant price fluctuations in electricity are caused by the current deregulation of electricity markets. The process economics of powerful manufacturing processes can be enhanced by the frequent adjustment of the process outputs with respect to the price changes in electricity. 

The operational process can be further improved by the advanced control and automation of the plant. The application of advanced control has been incorporated in the few last decades. The first utilization of the computer-assisted control system in an air separation unit was employed in the early 1970s. Since those days, this proficient procedure has been used to improve the efficiency, productivity, and utility of an air separation plant. 

Conclusion

 After more than two decades, enterprises have successfully dealt with a large number of technical issues related to manufacturing and equipment design through the improvement of old techniques and equipment, independent research, and technology introduction. This technology has helped to increase efficiency and production to the capacity that each ASUs in Indian steel industries produce nearly 1100 tonnes each day. The huge investments and Joint Ventures to open Air Separation units have increased tenfold. With the setting up of advanced ASU establishments, India can finally take pride and boast about her budding industrial manufacturing and gas industry taking off and reaching new heights.

Martha Gellhorn, daring War Correspondent and Writer

Martha Gellhorn was an American journalist and novelist and one of the first few female correspondents of the 20th century. With her sensitivity and power of prose, she reported virtually on every major world conflict that took place in her career that includes the Spanish Civil War, the Vietnam War, and World War II. More so than garnering praise for her fiction and prose writing, she is often remembered as being the ex-wife of the American novelist Ernest Hemingway. Amassing a career span of sixty years, Gellhorn, "a cocky, raspy-voiced, chain-smoking maverick," refused just to be referenced as a footnote in Hemingway's life, and lived a life that was as much world-spanning and thrilling as her ex-husband's. With her fearless drive and extraordinary determination, she did not let anyone stand in her way once she committed herself to her cause for the common good. Her last few years were grief-stricken and painful. To this day, she is considered one of the eminent personalities who pioneered war reporting, especially for women all over the world. The Martha Gellhorn Prize for journalism is awarded to journalists with remarkable work in their fields.

Childhood & Early Life

• Gellhorn was born on November 8, 1908, at St. Louis, Missouri, to Dr. George and Edna Fischel Gellhorn. 
• Her father was a gynecologist and also a professor of medicine at Washington University. Her mother was a social reformer, an influential civic leader, and a suffragist. 
• She was the third child and the only daughter. Her brother Walter was an accomplished professor of law at Columbia University, and her younger brother Alfred was an acclaimed oncologist and the dean at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. 
• Martha graduated from the John Burroughs School in St. Louis. She attended Bryn Mawr College that was several miles outside of Pennsylvania. In 1927, she left without graduation, to pursue her journalism career. 

Career

• She started working for the 'New Republic', a dynamic, political magazine and then for a newspaper, namely The 'Albany Times Union' in Albany, New York, as a crime reporter. She returned to St. Louis after knowing about her parents being worried. 
• In Paris, she started working for the United Press Bureau and became an activist in the pacifist movement. She wrote about all these experiences in her book 'What Mad Pursuit' (1934). 
• Harry Hopkins, a top official in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, read the novel. Thoroughly impressed by her writing, he then hired her to travel the country and write about the effects of the Great Depression. Gellhorn traveled majorly around the United States to prepare a report on the impacts of the Depression. She made her first stop at Gastonia, North Carolina. It was mainly around this time that she forged a lifelong friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
• In 1936, Gellhorn met legendary American novelist Ernest Hemingway. From there, they traveled together to Spain, where she reported extensively on the rise of fascism and the Spanish Civil War. She went to Madrid in the spring of 1937, only carrying a single knapsack and $50, to report on the war for 'Collier's Weekly'.
• She later reported on the rising power of Adolf Hitler from Germany. The outbreak of World War II happened, and she penned down these events in the novel 'A Stricken Field' (1940). She then covered the war from England, Burma, Hong Kong, Finland, and Singapore. With the absence of official press credentials overlooking the Normandy landings, she possibly hid in a hospital ship bathroom, and after arrival, impersonated a stretcher bearer.
• After covering the war, she went on to work for the 'Atlantic Monthly'. She covered the Arab-Israel conflicts and the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s. She continued working, covering the civil wars in Central America through her 70th birthday in 1979. Approaching 80, she still determinately reported on the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, finally taking retirement from journalism as the 1990s began.

Major Works

• 'The Trouble I've Seen' (1936), a collection of short stories that depicted the Depression Era
• 'A Stricken Field' (1940), a novel set in Czechoslovakia describing the outbreak and moral barbarity of war
• 'The View From the Ground' (1989), presents her six decades of experience in the field of war journalism

Awards & Achievements

• She was the only woman at Normandy on D-Day on June 6, 1944.
• She was definitely among the first to report from Dachau concentration camp after U.S. troops liberated it on April 29, 1945.

Personal life and Legacy

• Her first significant relationship was with Bertrand de Jouvenel, a French economist. She was 22 years old at that time. It lasted from 1930 till 1934. 
• In 1936, she met Ernest Hemingway in Key West, Florida. They got married in 1940. Gellhorn had a bitter experience being continually cited as Hemingway's third wife. She always expressed her discontent at the reference. Their marriage was a tumultuous one that eventually ended in divorce.
• While still being married to Hemingway, she had an affair with U.S. paratrooper Major General James M. Gavin. 
• In 1949, Gellhorn adopted a boy, Sandy. After spending a brief time together, Sandy was left in the care of her relatives in Englewood, New Jersey. Their relationship eventually became embittered.
• After becoming wholly blind and battling with liver and ovarian cancer in the later stages of her life, she committed suicide on February 15, 1998. 
• She transformed war reporting, and her defiance continues to inspire countless female journalists who have followed in her footsteps on the battlefield.
• In 1999, Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism was instituted in her memory.

Trivia

· She had homes created in 19 diverse locales.

Cause of Death: Suicide.

Personality: Ambitious, Dynamic.

Character Traits: Argumentative.

Challenges Faced: Divorce, Exile.

Why is Nepal a mecca for Hiking and Trekking Enthusiasts?

Keywords used: Top 5 Best treks in Nepal, Top 5 treks in Nepal, trekking in Nepal, best treks in Nepal, trek in Nepal, treks in Nepal, trekking destinations in Nepal

It would not be called a recently discovered fact that out of the fourteen tallest mountains of the world, Nepal has been home to the eight of them soaring within its province. 

The terrain of the Nepalese Himalayas offers stunning trekking routes, each with their exquisite features that even rating one particular route to be the best trek in Nepal would be rather unfair. The choice rather depends on factors like level of difficulty, budget, number of days, and the particular time of the year that you will be able to spend on the trek. To make this task easy for you, let’s take a look at the top 5 best treks in Nepal based on popularity, price, scenery, and culture.

1. Everest Base Camp Trek

The Everest Base Camp Trek is the ideal option for people who wants to savor the breathtaking close-up views of the World’s highest Mount Everest standing at a height of 8848 meters. The journey starts from and also ends at the Tenzing Hillary Airport, via Lukla and takes a roundabout of two and a half to three weeks to complete. Along with offering spectacular views of the World’s tallest mountain, this experience of trekking in Nepal also provides views of other incredible peaks such as the Kongdi RI Himal and Thamserku peak.

As you trek down the glorious path of the legendary mountaineers, you will pass through the roaring Dudhkoshi River, serene Imjatse valley, and also get a close view of the Sherpa’s lifestyles who are known for their incredible physical endurance and climbing skills. Also, you will feel blessed accompanied by the Buddhist prayer flags and the Buddhist 

monasteries spread throughout the trail.

Overview

Maximum Elevation: 5,600 m, Kala Patthar

Days: 17 to 19 days

Difficulty Level: Medium to High

Remoteness Level: Not that remote (Undertaken by the highest number of trekkers each year)

Ideal Season: October to November and March to May

2. Annapurna Circuit Trek

This is one of the most renowned treks in Nepal. The trail passes through a culturally rich and diverse terrain of the Annapurna region, offering mesmerizing views of Annapurna, Manaslu, Lantang Himal, Dhaulagiri, and Macchupucchre. 

The expedition starts from the Annapurna Sanctuary Gate. In comparison to the other trekking destinations in Nepal, the Annapurna Circuit Base Camp Trek is demanding as it requires a lot more physical endurance, for it is incredibly steep, offering very less flat topography to climb upon easily.

Despite Annapurna being crowned as the riskiest and difficult mountains to climb upon, it is still one of the best treks in Nepal, offering awe-inspiring natural beauty from jungle to lush valleys to high alpine and arid peaks. When you will reach your destination at ABC Camp and view the radiating peak of Annapurna illuminated by the bright sun rays, all of the tiresomeness and fatigue will make this experience a worthwhile one. 

Overview

Maximum Elevation: 5,416 m, Thorong La Pass

Days: 14 days

Difficulty Level: Moderate to Advanced

Remoteness Level: Not remote

Ideal Season: October to November and March to May

3. Manaslu Circuit Trek

The Manaslu Mountain Trek circles the Manaslu Mountain, the eighth highest peak in Nepal and is considered to be one of the most difficult but also one of the most worthwhile treks in Nepal. Located on the Nepal-Tibet border, the journey towards this peak offers amazing panoramas starting from the epic sceneries of the forests to the views of the clouds touching the rocky landscapes. Trailing down this trek, you will reach the highest elevation at the Larkya Pass accompanied by other challenging mountain passes. The trail is adorned by Tibetan-style villages and diverse cultures of age-old Buddhist monasteries and is secluded, remote with enriched topography. No wonder Manaslu Circuit Trek is considered among the best treks in Nepal.  

Restrictions:

This trekking journey demands to be accompanied by at least two trekkers, particularly by a Nepali porter or guide. Also, there are restricted areas that require permits to trek upon. 

Overview

Maximum Elevation: 5115m at Larkya Pass

Days: 15 days

Difficulty Level: Hard

Remoteness Level: Remote

Ideal Season: October to November and March to May

4. Lang Tang valley Trek

Langtang valley located in the North towards Tibet, should be the perfect destination for trek if you are short on time as the whole journey takes about just 10 days. The Langtang Valley Trek is known for its diverse culture and vegetation beginning from the wonderful forests to alpine pastures and yak fields surrounding a Buddhist monastery, Kyangjin Gompa. You will be rewarded with splendid, unobstructed views of Langtang Ri, the panoramic views of Annapurnas, and also Makalu once you accomplish the Tserko Peak at an elevation of 4,984 m.

5. Upper Mustang Trek

This trek demands around two weeks to complete. Mustang is known as Nepal’s concealed paradise, which is like hidden behind the Himalayan ranges situated below the Tibetan boundary. The trekking journey starts from Jomsom and enters into the treeless desert zone. While on the trek route, you will be offered with astonishing views of Annapurna, Nilgiri, Dhaulagiri, and the other Himalayas. Huge barley fields, small huts, and houses painted white, Buddhist prayer flags and old Gompas add to the beauty of the place. 

Conclusion

These treks have made the country a Mecca for hiking and trekking enthusiasts from around the globe. Being the popular trekking destinations that there is, it can be wondered without a doubt that some of these popular trails can become very crowded in the peak months with thousands of trekkers venturing into treks like the EBC trek, that gets overbooked within the course of just few short months in the autumn. If you are planning for a trekking expedition, then these are the top 5 treks in Nepal are the best options to choose from in this former Himalayan kingdom.

AI Insights for Human Intelligence

‘Artificial Intelligence is a lot more like Human Intelligence with pretty sophisticated and modern Pattern Recognition Models’

iMerit Solutions Architect & Medical Director Sina Bari, MD talks Medical Artificial Intelligence and its sophisticated pattern recognition models during the AI Med conference held in Dana Point, California between 13th and 15th December 2018. According to him, a lot of times AI can seem like magic to people belonging from a non-technical background. Artificial Intelligence is actually a lot of Human Intelligence, with some sophisticated and amazing pattern recognition models to create statistically predictive models. People who are disadvantaged create a curriculum that is to their understanding. That is actually the foundation that transfers very specific but complex tasks which can be done in much larger scales, you might find it challenging to do otherwise. 

Think about what we could do with an X-ray, we are multi planning our navigation in 3D imaging, and able to segment different parts of the neurovascular culture, we are able to identify different parts of or different cell types within a bone marrow, so it is a pretty complex work. And in that way, we are helping take a medical AI from an R&D space to commercialization because the human intelligence that we need for the medical AI to work, is equally distributed around the world but the opportunity to it is not. Research has focused on tasks where the AI demonstrates its performance with more accuracy in comparison to a human doctor. Generally, these tasks have well-structured inputs and a binary output that is easily validated. For classifying suspicious skin warts and lesions, the input is a digital photograph and the output is a simple binary classification: malignant or benign. Researches then have to decide and demonstrate the specificity and supersensitivity of AI more than the dermatologists when classifying the previously unseen photographs of biopsy-validated lesions. We are here to institute AI as supporting human intelligence, not replacing them. The consultations will be led by human doctors as patients will be more trusting towards them. It will be especially and ideally a support system to a large population to situations where human expertise is a scarce resource.

What is AI in Medicine?

The term AI in medicine signifies the application of Artificial Intelligence technology or AI automated processes in the treatment and diagnosis of patients requiring care. There are a number of background processes that need to be taken care of before starting with the diagnosis and treatment of the patient such as

• Data gathering through patients interviews and test results
• Analyzing of those results
• Employing data from multiple resources to conclude upon an accurate diagnosis
• Determining a suitable treatment method
• Administering the selected treatment method
• Patient monitoring
• Follow-up, aftercare appointments, etc.

The reference of the increased application of AI in medicine means that all of the abovementioned processes will be automated and completed quickly.

Based on a study from 2016, desk work and data entry take up a lot of time from physicians and medical doctor's schedule leaving them less time to communicate and engage with patients. This is what Steven Stack meant by when he said, “what many physicians are feeling—data entry and administrative tasks are cutting into the doctor-patient time that is central to medicine and a primary reason many of us became physicians.”

The push, therefore, is not to excessively over-automate the medical and health care fields, but to deliberately and sensibly identify those areas where automation could free up time and effort. The goal is a balance between the effective use of technology and AI and the human strengths and judgment of trained medical professionals.

How is artificial intelligence used in medicine?

There is already an incredible amount of technology and automation in play in medicine, whether we realize it or not - medical records are digitized, appointments can be scheduled online, patients can check in to health centers or clinics using their phones or computers. As technology usage has increased in all areas of life, so too has it quietly changed the ways in which we seek medical care.

• Decision support systems - When given a set of symptoms, DXplain comes up with a list of possible diagnoses
• Laboratory information systems - Germwatcher is designed to detect, track and investigate infections in hospitalised patients
• Robotic surgical systems - The da Vinci robotic surgical system, with robotic arms, precise movement and magnetised vision, allows doctors to precision surgery that wouldn’t be possible with an entirely manual approach
• Therapy - AI Therapy is an online course for people struggling with social anxiety
• Reducing human error - Babylon is an online application where patients in the UK can book appointments and routine tests, plus consult with a doctor online, check for symptoms, get advice, monitor their health and order test kits.

The potential for increased AI usage in medicine is not just in a reduction of manual tasks and the freeing up of physician’s time, increasing efficiency and productivity - it also presents the opportunity for us to move towards more ‘precision medicine’.

What does the future of doctors go from here?

As more studies are published and discussions had around the future of AI and automation, distinct sides to the argument do emerge, particularly when it comes to something like medicine. The general consensus is that while routine tasks and data collection/entry can and perhaps should be taken on by machines, there will always be a need for the human element of the doctor’s role, in things technology cannot provide - judgement, creativity, and empathy, for example.

This was disputed however in 2016 by Richard and Daniel Susskind, who argued in an article for HBR that, within decades, traditional professions including medicine will be dismantled, “leaving most, but not all, professionals to be replaced by less-expert people, new types of expert, and high-performing systems.”

Even the Susskind’s research, however, doesn’t suggest that the role of ‘doctor’ will completely disappear - more that it will change. Writing for Stat News, Jack Stockert points out that whilst the use of AI on its own may increase efficiency, pairing with AI also improves human performance. He states, “this hybrid model of humans and machines working together presents a scalable automation paradigm for medicine, one that creates new tasks and roles for essential medical and technology professionals, increasing the capabilities of the entire field as we move forward.”

In conclusion, then, whilst it’s unlikely that machines will replace or eradicate the need for human doctors any time soon, those already in or considering a medical profession should be willing to adapt, learn and grow alongside technological advancements. Bryan Vartabedian, a pediatric gastroenterologist practicing in The Woodlands sums it up as: “I think my profession is headed to evolution, not extinction.”

Manto Ke Afsane

Saadat Hasan Manto was an Indo-Pakistani playwright, author, and novelist who was known for his non-conventional writing style. His creations are magical words to the ardent readers of the Urdu language. In his short-lived life of 42 years, he has produced over 22 collections of short stories, three collections of essays, five series of radio plays, two groups of personal sketches, a novel, and also a chunk of film scripts. His finest of short stories were held in high regard that not only brought him success but also put him behind bars.. He was a man who dared to talk about societal issues and hard truths that no one dared to do and created awareness regarding them through his words and creations. He was painfully affected by the partition of India and vehemently opposed it. Most of his short stories and plays are based on the atrocities and molestation faced by the countrymen, especially by women and children in the days preceding the fateful announcement of the partition. His graphic and realistic portrayal of societal issues cemented his reputation to being one of the finest Urdu writers of the 20th century. 

**Childhood & Early Life

Sadat Hasan Manto was born on 11 May 1912, in a Muslim family, in Paproudi village of Samrala, in the Ludhiana district of the Punjab, to Sardar Begum and Ghulam Hasan Manto.His father was a judge in the local court

**Career

In 1933, , Mantocame across Abdul Bari Alig, a polemic writer, and scholar in Amritsar that changed his life forever. Abdul Bari Alig’s mentorship advocated Manto to know his true self and bring out his inner talent. Abdul encouraged him to read French and Russian literature. From there on, Manto was inspired by writers such as Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, Victor Hugo and Anton.

It was only within the matter of a month that Manto produced his first-ever Urdu translation, Victor Hugo’s ‘The Last Day of a Condemned Man’. The Urdu Book Stall, Lahore published it as ‘Sarguzasht-e-Aseer’ (A Prisoner's Story). Doing so, he realized his inclination, and then on started working in Masawat, a publishing house based in Ludhiana. 

From 1934, he started attending Aligarh Muslim University that took his life in a new direction. Following that, he joined the Indian Progressive Writers Association (IPWA). He met with the writer Ali Safdar Jafri who bolstered his interest in literature and acclaimed his writing. 

He wrote his second story, ‘Inqlaab Pasand’, which was published in the Aligarh Magazine in March 1935. 

In 1934, he came to Bombay and started writing for magazines, newspapers, and scripts for the then Hindi film industry. He resided in Foras Lane, in the very centre of Bombay’s red light district of Kamathipura. His surroundings profoundly impacted his writings. 

In early 1940, he accepted the job offer of writing for Urdu service in All India Radio. This was a golden period in his career, as it was proved to be quite rewarding to him. It was during this  time, that he composed over four collections of radio plays, ‘Teen Auratein’ (Three Women), ‘Janaze’ (Funerals), ‘Manto Ke Drame’ (Manto’s Dramas) and ‘Aao’(Come).

Alongside, he also continued with his composition of short stories and completed his next collection, ‘Dhuan ( Smoke), followed by the title ‘Manto Ke Afsane’ and his first topical essay collection, ‘Manto Ke Mazamin’. 

Meanwhile, due to difference of opinion with the director of the All India Radio, poet N.M. Rashid, he resigned from his job and returned to Bombay in 1942 and again resumed his work with the film industry. He wrote screenplay for films such as ‘Chal Chal Re Naujawan’, ‘Mirza Ghalib’, ‘Shikari’ and ‘Aatth Din’. 

Some of his notable short stories that were composed during this phase were ‘Bu’, ‘Dhuan’ printed in ‘Quami Jang, Bombay in February of 1945. 

He stayed in Bombay till the partition of India in 1947. In January 1948, he moved to Lahore, Pakistan, with his wife and children against his intentions, as the brutality of partition and communal riots forcedhim to do so.

After arriving in Lahore, he connected with prominent intellectuals like Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Ahmad Rahi, Nasir Kazmi and Faiz ahmad Faiz. They used to sit down together in the iconic ‘Pak Tea House’, and engage themselves in passionate literary debates and political arguments. 

In 1950, Manto wrote a series of essays, entitled “Letters to Uncle Sam’, where he expressed his concerns on local and global issues.He predicted of a future as depicted in one of the essays, when literature, poetry, art and music, every form of expression would become censored. 

**Controversy

Saadat Hasan Manto was accused of obscenity in Pakistan and India. He faced the trial

three times in India before 1947 (under the section 292 of the Indian Penal Code) for ‘Kali Shalwar’, ‘Dhuan’ and ‘Bu’ and three times in Pakistan after 1947 (under the Pakistan Penal Code) for ‘Upar Neeche Darmiyaan’, ‘Thanda Gosht’ and Khol Do. However, he was not convicted and was fined in one case only. It validated the fact that Manto always believed in portraying the inhuman and barbaric scenario of his times with a political bite and black humour rather than painting a pretty and polite picture. On his charges of obscenity, he declared the statement, “I am not a pornographer but a story writer,". 

**Major Works

Toba Tek Singh’ (1955) published in Urdu, narrates the story of inmates residing in a Lahore asylum, who are to be shipped to India, following the partition of 1947. The story is a heart-wrenching satire on the relationship existing between Indis and Pakistan.

Thanda Gosht’ (1950) is a compelling short story that depicted a brutal picture of the 1947 communal riots. The story is about the Sikh Man who is stabbed by his mistress during sex when he admits to raping the corpse of a Muslim girl. Hence, it is synonymous with the title, which means ‘cold flesh’. Manto underwent a trial in criminal court for this story.

**Family & Personal Life

In 1936, Sadat Hasan Manto’s parents arranged his marriage to Safia Deen, later changed to Safia Manto. He penned down an essay entitled ‘Meri Shaadi’(My Wedding) dedicated to his marriage. 

Safia gave birth to a son, Arif, who died in his infancy. The death of their newborn son, pained Safia and Saadat to the very core. 

Thereafter they had three daughters, Nusrat Manto, NIghat Manto and Nuzhat Manto.  

He became increasingly addicted to alcohol in his later years, which ultimately led to cirrhosis of the liver. He passed away on 18 January 1955 due to multiple organ failure, in Lahore, Pakistan, at the mere age of 42 years. He was survived by his three daughters and his wife Safia. 

**Legacy

The Government of Pakistan posthumously awarded Manto Nishan-e-Imtiaz on 14 August 2012.

On January 2005, Manto’s 50th dealth anniversary, his face was commemorated on Pakistani Postage Stamp.

Danish Iqbal’s portrayed the distinguished writer in a whole new light through his play ‘Ek Kutte Ki Kahani’, on the eve of his birth centenary.

Two films entitled ‘Manto’ has been made based on his life, one in 2015 by Pakistani director Sarmad Khoosat and a Bollywood film in 2018, by Nandita Das and starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

**Trivia

His favorite dish was Gaajar Ka Halwa (An Indian dessert made of grated carrots).

He liked to write with Sheaffer pens.

He preferred wearing Gold embroidered shoes most of the time.

Bombay was his revered destination.

He preferred to complete a story entirely in one sitting. Just a few months before his death, Manto wrote his epitaph, which would have been read as, “Here lies buried Saadat Hasan Manto in whose bosom are enshrined all the secrets and art of short story writing. Buried under mounds of earth, even now he is contemplating whether he is a greater short story writer or God.” It was never imprinted on his tombstone later on. 

Back to Life: A Dark Comedy with a Soul

Miri Matteson sits staring at the bored expression of her parole officer Janice as she starts reading from a form: “if you are feeling depressed or have a crippling feeling of deep hopelessness …” Janice then pauses for a moment to flip the page, continuing, “…it’s normal.” Miri, with her bare face, gives a wan smile and then nods. Back to Life starts with 30-something Miri returning to her hometown after serving 18 years in prison. But this series, like many others, never shows parades of flashbacks, as it focuses on Miri getting a second chance in starting her life from scratch over again-if she will ultimately achieve to do so bearing the societal interferences. 

Back to Life is an ace comedy-drama that weaves relatable jokes on naturally woven, delicate relationships, family, and jobs into a plot that is multilayered ad well-written. It premiered on BBC One on 15 April, 2019. The series will be launched in the US on 10 November 2019, on Showtime.

Back to Life Cast: Who is in it?

Back to life consists of a cast of intriguing and offbeat characters, all living with secrets and vulnerabilities of their own. Daisy Haggard, who has also co-written the series, stars as the protagonist, Miri Matteson, an ex-convict who returns to her childhood home, the place of the crime. She attempts to forge her adult life anew with an optimistic approach despite receiving hostility from her community and continually getting reminded of her past through her surroundings. Geraldine James, known for enacting Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes movies, plays the role of Caroline Matteson, Miri’s sexually frustrated mother. She appears to be brittle and uptight, who cares about the perception of the community more so than the well-being of her own daughter. Her anger and frustration often lead to her acting out in many self-destructive ways. Richard Durden, known from the TV show, Silent Witness, plays Miri’s reserved father, Oscar Matteson. He, like most constricted British men of his generation, finds Miri’s arrival as unsettling. He seems more concerned about recycling and saving the environment than saving his own marriage. 

Jo Martin, known from The Long Song, appears as Janice, Miri’s over-sharing parole officer with no verbal filter. A distressed bureaucrat, she stamps over all of Miri’s pleadings even when she reaches out for help. Christine Bottomley plays the role of ex-best friend Mandy, who was close to the victim. Her close relationship can help explain the reason why she never contacted or visited Miri in prison. She is one of the people who seek out to re-establish her connection with Miri upon her coming back home, but Miri feels undeniably hesitant to give it another chance. Jamie Michie, known from his character Steelshanks in Game of Thrones, plays Dom, Miri’s first love. Adeel Akhtar plays her next-door neighbor Billy, with whom she forms a friendship. Liam Williams appears in the role of the chip shop owner, Nathan. 

Back to Life Plot: What is it about?

Written by Daisy Haggard and Laura Solon, Back to Life tells the story of a woman’s struggle to reintegrate back into her community in Hythe, Kent, following an 18-year stint in prison being charged with the murder of her best friend. It follows the story from there on as to how she rebuilds her life after committing a crime so severe that she had to serve a sentence for nearly two decades, depleting most of her teen and adulthood. 

The first episode starts with Miri trying to mend the fences within her home, looking for a job and reconnecting with her childhood love, Dom. The gravity of her crime gets revealed quite early to the viewers, evidenced by the hostility with which the people of her hometown greet her, the abusive graffiti painted on the wall of her parent’s garden, and her job applications getting rejected with insults and offensive language (“You can clean offices in hell, you sick bitch”) being hurled at her. 

There is also a mystery surrounding the event of that fateful night that gets further complicated by the appearance of a strange Scandinavian man. He informs of apparently opening the case and starting with a reinvestigation. The viewers get convinced of a further truth that is getting masked with the playing out of her mother’s affair with a man in Hythe. In the midst of all this, Miri befriends her next-door neighbor Billy (Adeel Akhtar), who is taking care of his mentally ill aunt. The approaching presence of Mandy (Christine Bottomley), her ex best-friend, makes her uneasy and claustrophobic as it reminds her of the night the murder was committed. 

And then there are the magnificent visits from Miri’s self-interested probation officer Janice (Jo Martin), who does pay heed to any of the concerns and distresses of her client, but instead pays more attention to the refreshments provided (“Your biscuit game is strong!”). Season 1 ends with Miri agreeing to meet the mysterious Scandinavian man to further know about the truth behind her crime. Determined to move on, she decides to take the matters in her own hands and confronts everyone at a community meeting. The meeting gets disrupted due to her confrontation with many secrets and lies coming to light, ending the series in a cliffhanger.

Back to Life Season 2: When will it premiere?

Back to Life Season 1 consisted of six episodes that were released as a boxset on BBC iPlayer on 15 April 2019. It aired on BBC One from 15th to 20th April 2019. Each of the episodes had a running time of 23 to 25 minutes. When asked with the possibility of Season 2, Haggard responded that she would love to do a second season as they “know where to go with the story,” but nothing has been confirmed as of yet. 

Back to Life Season 1 trailer

While the production team informs the viewers of the show being renewed for a second season, you can watch the season 1 on BBC iPlayer’s official website page. Here is the trailer:

Paul Dano joins as The Riddler and there will be blood

The Batman faces another new villain.

Just a few days ago, the news of Zoe Kravitz joining the cast as Catwoman was confirmed, and now another villain joins in the mix. It is learned that Paul Dano has been confirmed to play The Riddler in director Matt Reeves' upcoming The Batman Movie.

The Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood actor will be facing against Robert Pattinson playing Batman, in this very noirish take on the DC story. Dano was cast after Jonah Hill failed to agree on a deal with Warner Bros. Hill was in talks to be either playing The Penguin or The Riddler, and it was still in negotiations as to which role he was going to portray. There is still no clear reasons found behind Hill passing up the role, leading to the production house going on a different approach to replace him.

Dano's acting debut started from 2000 release The Newcomers. He has played significant roles in films such as There Will Be Blood, Looper and 12 Years a Slave. In The Batman, he will star as Edward Nashton/Nygma, aka The Riddler. This will be the very first major comic book role for Dano, who has typically worked with prestigious art-house material films. He is characteristically different from Jim Carrey, who played the role against Tommy Lee Jones's Batman in Joel Schumacher's 1995 adaptation Batman Forever. It will be fascinating to see him translating this role on the screen, which is purportedly going to be a serious and dark tale following from the Christopher Nolan glory days.

The Riddler made his debut in the Detective Comics #140 in October 1948 issue and has been a staple perpetrator in the Rogue Villains Gallery of Batman ever since. The film will depict the tale of Edward Nashton before he took on the villainous persona as the Riddler.

"What's exciting about Batman is how it relates to now and also how personal it can be," Reeves said this earlier this year. The character is envisioned to be a far cry from the bright green catsuit-wearing portrayal of Carrey. Anticipations are that Reeves will be taking a more grounded and factual approach with the character and the film, more so like Nolan's films that were opposed diametrically from the brightly-colored, splashy camp of Joel Schumacher's creation.

The cast also comprises of Jefferey Wright as Commissioner Gordon. Gary Oldman enacted the role in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy.

Warner Bros. has announced to release The Batman in theatres on June 25, 2021.