India had good reasons to abstain , but might have to revisit it’s stance if the conflict worsens

Thwarted at the UN Security Council in their resolution to condemn Russian aggression on Ukraine , the U.S. and European allies now plan to ensure a censure of Moscow’s actions at the UN General Assembly, where they already have the support of more than 80 countries . The Russian veto of resolution 8979 was a predetermined outcome : as a permanent UNSC member, Russia has vetoed UNSC resolutions earlier that were critical of its decision to send to send troops into Georgia (2008) , and Crimea (2014) , and could hardly have done otherwise . What was perhaps more disappointing for the western coalition was that it was unable to move India from its consistent position of abstention . China shifted from its support for Russia in the previous vote to abstention after the U.S. and Albania , the two “penholders ” of the resolution, agreed to drop the reference to chapter VII ( the authorisation of the use of force against Russian troops ). The coalition against Russia is making a political statement at the UN, but not setting much store on the global body’s effectiveness . Instead, the U.S. and the EU have adopted unilateral sanctions which they hope will cripple Russian president Vladimir Putin’s ability to sustain a longer assualt on Ukraine , and also excised the Russian economy from the international SWIFT transaction system. In addition, the U.S., Germany and other countries have announced weapon supplies for Ukrainian forces . However, in the absence of direct air power assistance and foreign troops , it is unlikely that Ukraine will be able to change the balance of power in the equation with Russia easily.

India’s abstention from the UNSC resolution too was perhaps a foregone conclusion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to take a call from Mr. Putin before the vote indicated that India would not take any stand against Russia . Apart from the India-Russia defence and strategic partnership , Russia is India’s most trusted P-5 ally when it comes to blocking intusive resolutions on Kashmir. In contrast, Mr. Modi only accepted the call from the Ukrainian president after the vote, and rather than offering the support , requested assistance for the safe exit of Indian students . While India’s hesitation to take a stand against Russia is understood, New Delhi must now consider whether it’s aspirations to be a “leading power” can be achieved without having a clear position on a conflict that threatens global security,even as the Modi government focuses solely on the well being of Indians amidst the peril faced by others . This will be especially true if the Russian military operation in Ukraine is prolonged, and the Government’s ambivalence is read as active support for aggressive transgressions by a more powerful neighbour over a weaker one , something India has protested in its own neighborhood.

Because of selection,both fruit fly(host) and bacterium (pathogen) evolve having the maximum fitness

The natural world is rife with pairs of antagonists . Plants and viruses ,insects and pathogens , bacteria and their phages , and so on. In these systems it is an interesting question to study how the resistance to a pathogen, in the case of the host , and virulence towards the host,in the case of a pathogen, evolve. Towards understanding this better , Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali researchers have taken up the system of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and a bacterial pathogen that affects the fruit fly, sometimes even causing death – Pseudomonas entomophilia – have been co- evolved to study the pathway of evolution taken by the system of antagonists . In this case , they find that being surrounded by enemies actualy makes the organism stronger , or fitter , to combat the enemy .

Co – evolving systems

How does one set up a co evolving system experimentally ? A population of flies are infected by the pathogen and the infection is allowed to take its course . Among the infected flies ,only those that survive the infection, namely the ones that have the best immune systems to combat the pathogen , are taken to breed the next generation. Similarly, bacteria are collected from the flies that die due to the infection. These are the bacteria that have the virulence sufficiently strong to cause death in the present population. These bacteria are taken to breed the and also infect the flies in the next generation. Thus , both the host (fruit fly) and the pathogen (bacteria) are selected for having the maximum fitness .

Four types

The methodology of the experiment is like this : Four types of populations were bred in the lab . One in which , as described above , the host and pathogen both co-evolved . The second was a population in which only the host was selected from the flies that did not die due to the infection. Every generation, infection was done from a stock of ancestral bacteria which was not evolving. The third and fourth were two types of control populations. This methodology allowed the researchers to compare the evolution process in hosts that were co-evolved against their pathogen and the hosts that were adapted against a static , non evolving pathogen. They found that the former category evolved higher survivorship against the co-evolved pathogen than the hosts that was adapted against a non -evolving , static pathogen . Further they also found that the co-evolved hosts showed higher survivorship with respect to ancestral , unevolved pathogens than their counterparts who have been pitted against static pathogens .

Russia’s pulling back some troops suggests it sees potential in Macron , Scholz proposals

Russia’s announcement that it is pulling back some troops from Ukraine’s borders is the strongest signal of de-escalation from Moscow. Russia has always maintained that it had no plans to attack Ukraine . But the massive troop mobilisation on the three flanks of Ukraine , which included combat aircraft , warships and S400 missile defence systems , had raised fears of war. Besides , the U.S’s warning that a Russian invasion could come “any day” and its decision to shut the American embassy in Kiev added to the frenzy . The Russian approach appeared to have been rooted in building military pressure around Ukraine to gain diplomatic leverage in talks with the west. In the last few weeks , European leaders , Hungary’s Viktor Orban , France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz , have visited Moscow. Of these, the diplomatic interventions by Mr. Macron , who called for respecting Russian security concerns and sought to revive the Minsk agreement on Ukraine’s civil strife , and Mr. Scholz , who said in Kiev that Ukraine’s entry into NATO was “not on the agenda right now”, were significant . Their talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin opened a diplomatic path towards de-escalation.

It is too early to say that the crisis is over. The complex issue is rooted in Russia’s security concerns & NATO’s expansionary open door policy with no quick solutions . But the suggestions from the talks Russia and the west have had point to a formula for peace . Russia’s three concerns are: one, it does not want neighbours Georgia and Ukraine to be members of NATO. Two, it wants NATO to roll back its military presence and drills from Eastern Europe and the Black sea. Three, it wants the Ukraine crisis—the civil conflict between Kiev and the Russia -backed separatists in Donbas -to be resolved through the Minsk process.

In conclusion the only thing is that The West and Russia should take that road aimed at finding a lasting solution to Europe’s most dangerous security crisis .

NASA’S new space telescope has captured its first starlight and even taken a selfie of its giant , gold mirror .

All 18 segments of the primary mirror on the James Webb space Telescope seem to be working properly a month and half into the mission , officials said on Friday.

The telescope’s FIRST TARGET WAS a bright star 258 light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. ” That was just a real wow moment ,” said Marshall PERRIN of the space telescope science institute in Baltimore.

Over the next few months , the hexagonal mirror segments will be aligned and focused as one ,allowing science observations to begin by the end of June . The $10 billion infrared observatory – considered the successor to the ageing Hubble Space Telescope – will seek light from the first stars and galaxies that formed in the universe nearly 14 billion years ago. It will also examine the atmospheres of alien worlds for for any possible signs of life.

NASA did not detect the crippling flaw in Hubble’s mirror until after its 1990 launch; more than three years passed before space walking astronauts were able to correct the telescope’s blurry vision .

While everything is looking good so far with Webb , engineers should be able to rule out any major mirror flaws by next month, Feinberg said.

Largest mirror

Webb’s 6.5 metre , gold-plated mirror is the largest ever launched into space. After 20 years with the project ,” it is just unbelievably satisfying ” to see everything working so well so far, said the University of Arizona’s Marcia Rieke, principal scientist for the infrared camera. Webb blasted off from South America in December and reached its designated perch 1.6 million Kilometres away last month.

Recently, the action of some pre-university colleges in Karnataka refusing entry to Muslim girl students wearing hijabs, or head scarves , has now become a national controversy. While the girls have been protesting against being denied access to education, the counter protests by a section of Hindu students wearing saffron shawls and turbans have led to a tense situation outside some campuses . The action of the college where the row broke out in Udipi is now being questioned in the Karnataka High Court. The court , by an interim order , has directed that students should not wear attire linked to any religion until it resolves the legal questions arising from the issue.

But the main question that rises among many other questions is that whether students can be kept out of educational institutions merely because they are wearing a piece of clothing indicating their religion.

While students are arguing in favour of their freedom , the Government is of the view that compelling a student to remove the head-scarf is not a violation of Article 25 .

Going by the Government’s stand, the issue can also be framed differently: whether the wearing of head scarves will have an adverse impact on law and order by pitting two communities against one another , and thereby , enable the government to prohibit religious attire in the interest of public order – one of the grounds on which a right under Article 25 can be curbed . The question whether educational institutions can bar religious attire as part of their power to prescribe uniforms for students is also linked to the constitutional question whether the ban on such attire will come within the power to restrict freedom of religion in the interest of public order , health and morality. Yet, another question is whether the denial of entry into schools amounts to violation of the students’ right to education under article 21A .

The Imperial College London has concluded the first study on 36 participants aged 18-29 years who were deliberately exposed to low dose of SARS-cOV-2 virus through the nose, and the various facets of infection were studied. All the volunteers had no previous infection or vaccination . In all, only 18 of the 36 participants became infected, and the viral load in these people increased steeply before peaking on day five post-exposure.

Virus was first detected in the throat but the viral load increased to significantly higher levels in the nose than in the throat. Viral shedding began within two days of infection and the viral load increased to high levels and remained detectable for as long as 12 days after exposure to the virus. The results are posted as a preprint server Research Square. Preprints are yet to be peer-reviewed.

“This paper is the first of a series of deep analyses that this unprecedented consortium will produce. The manufacture of a delta challenge agent is nearly complete,” imunologist Dr. Christopher Chiu from the Imperial College of London who led the team tweeted.

Since some participants continued to shed infectious virus even 12 days after virus introduction, and, on average, viable virus was detectable 10 days post-symptom onset advocated i many guidelines to minimise onward transmission,” they note.

Neutralising antibodies were generated in all infected participants 14 days post inoculation and further increased at 28 days.