With the General Election to the Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, along with bye-elections in six states, scheduled to begin following the announcement on March 15, 2026, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued firm directives to ensure a seamless and voter-friendly experience across all polling stations.
The Commission has instructed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states and union territories to guarantee that each of the 2,18,807 polling stations is equipped with Assured Minimum Facilities (AMFs) and robust voter assistance mechanisms on poll day.
As part of the AMF framework, every polling station will be provided with drinking water, a waiting area with shade, a toilet with water facility, adequate lighting, a ramp with proper gradient for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) electors, a standard voting compartment, and clear signage. In a move to enhance comfort, CEOs have also been directed to place benches at regular intervals along queues, allowing electors to sit while awaiting their turn to vote.
To strengthen voter awareness, four uniform and standardized Voter Facilitation Posters (VFPs) will be prominently displayed at all polling stations. These posters will contain key information, including polling station details, the list of candidates, do’s and don’ts, approved identification documents, and the voting process.
Additionally, Voter Assistance Booths (VABs) will be established at every polling station location. Staffed by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and officials, these booths will assist electors in locating their polling booth number and serial number in the electoral roll. The VABs will feature prominent signage to ensure easy visibility as voters approach the premises.
In one of several initiatives aimed at voter convenience, a mobile phone deposit facility will be provided outside the entrance of each polling station. Voters can hand over their switched-off phones to a designated volunteer before entering, and collect them after casting their vote.
The Election Commission has reiterated that the provisioning of AMF and related accessibility measures is mandatory, and strict compliance will be monitored across all polling stations. All field functionaries have been directed to complete necessary works well in advance of poll dates to ensure a seamless and pleasant voting experience for every elector.
Union Minister of Coal & Mines, G. Kishan Reddy, alongside Minister of State for Coal & Mines, Satish Chandra Dubey, will launch the 7th Tranche of Auction of Critical and Strategic Mineral Blocks on March 23, 2026.
The initiative underscores the growing strategic importance of critical minerals, which are vital to the country’s economic development and mineral security. With the global shift toward clean energy and advanced technologies, demand for minerals such as lithium, graphite, rare earth elements (REE), tungsten, vanadium, and titanium has surged. Given their limited availability and concentrated geographical distribution, securing a resilient supply chain has become a national priority.
In a landmark move to address these challenges, the Government of India amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) on August 17, 2023, notifying 24 minerals as critical and strategic. The amendment empowers the Central Government to conduct auctions for Mining Leases and Composite Licences for these resources, with all revenue generated accruing to the respective State Governments.
To date, the Ministry of Mines has successfully concluded six tranches of auctions, resulting in 46 critical and strategic mineral blocks being auctioned—a testament to robust industry participation and growing investor confidence in India’s mineral sector.
The upcoming seventh tranche will offer 19 blocks across multiple states under both Mining Lease and Composite Licence categories. The blocks feature a diverse range of minerals essential for clean energy, advanced technologies, fertilizers, and strategic industries.
The auction framework has been progressively strengthened to enhance transparency, efficiency, and speedy operationalisation of mineral blocks. Recent regulatory reforms, including the Mineral (Auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2025, have streamlined post-auction processes such as the submission of performance security, upfront payments, and issuance of Letters of Intent. Further, the Mineral (Auction) Amendment Rules, 2026 have introduced the provision of Insurance Surety Bonds as an alternative to bank guarantees, offering greater flexibility to bidders.
The auction will be conducted online through a transparent two-stage ascending forward auction process, with the successful bidder selected on the basis of the highest percentage of the value of mineral dispatched quoted.
A new study from researchers at the University of São Paulo has shed light on a growing environmental concern: the presence of antibiotic residues in freshwater systems, and their impact on aquatic life and potentially human health.
The research, conducted in Brazil’s Piracicaba River basin, found traces of multiple commonly used antibiotics in water, sediments, and fish. Scientists also explored whether a floating aquatic plant, Salvinia auriculata, could help reduce this contamination. The findings suggest it can—but not without complications.
Pollution Builds Up in Dry Seasons
The team, led by Patrícia Alexandre Evangelista, monitored samples from a region near the Santa Maria da Serra dam, where pollutants from across the river basin tend to accumulate. The area receives runoff from urban sewage, agriculture, aquaculture, and livestock farming.
Twelve antibiotics, including tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, sulfonamides, and phenols, were tracked across both rainy and dry seasons. A clear pattern emerged: during the rainy season, most antibiotics were barely detectable, likely diluted by higher water volumes. In the dry season, however, concentrations rose significantly as water levels dropped and pollutants became more concentrated.
Sediments, rich in organic matter and minerals, acted as reservoirs for these compounds, storing them and potentially releasing them back into the environment over time.
Contaminated Fish Raise Health Concerns
One of the study’s most striking findings was the detection of chloramphenicol, a banned veterinary antibiotic, in lambari fish collected from local fishermen. The substance appeared only during the dry season, but at levels significant enough to raise concern.
Because this species is widely consumed in the region, researchers flagged a possible route of human exposure through food.
A Plant-Based Solution, With Limits
The study also tested whether Salvinia auriculata, a fast-growing floating plant often considered a nuisance, could help remove antibiotics from contaminated water.
In controlled experiments, the plant proved highly effective at absorbing enrofloxacin, eliminating more than 95% of it within days under certain conditions. Its performance was less impressive with chloramphenicol, removing only 30% to 45%, and over a longer period.
The antibiotics were found to accumulate mainly in the plant’s roots, suggesting that filtration and absorption at the root level play a key role.
A Complex Ecological Trade-Off
However, the picture is not straightforward. Even when the plant reduced antibiotic levels in the water, fish did not always benefit. In some cases, absorption rates in fish actually increased, possibly because the plant altered the chemical form of the antibiotics, making them easier for organisms to absorb.
Chloramphenicol, in particular, showed a strong tendency to persist in fish tissue, with a half-life exceeding 90 days. Enrofloxacin, by contrast, was eliminated more quickly and showed lower accumulation.
The study also examined genetic damage in fish. Chloramphenicol exposure led to increased DNA damage, but this effect was reduced when the plant was present, suggesting a possible protective role. No similar benefit was observed for enrofloxacin.
Not a Silver Bullet
Researchers caution against viewing Salvinia auriculata as a simple fix. While it can reduce antibiotic levels, it may also change how these substances behave in the ecosystem. There are additional concerns about how to safely dispose of contaminated plant biomass, which could otherwise reintroduce pollutants.
Still, the findings point to the potential of low-cost, nature-based solutions in regions where advanced water treatment technologies are not feasible.
Bigger Picture: A Growing Environmental Threat
The presence of antibiotics in rivers is more than just a local issue. It contributes to the broader global challenge of antimicrobial resistance, raising the risk of so-called “superbugs” emerging in natural environments.
As co-author Valdemar Luiz Tornisielo noted, the study underscores both the scale of human impact on ecosystems and the need for integrated solutions that consider not just pollutant removal, but long-term ecological effects.
In essence, the research reveals a problem that is measurable and widespread—and solutions that are promising, but far from simple.
NASA is set to broadcast the launch and arrival of a Russian cargo spacecraft carrying essential supplies to astronauts aboard the International Space Station, as part of routine resupply operations that keep the orbital lab running.
The uncrewed Progress 94 spacecraft, operated by Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, is scheduled to lift off on Sunday, March 22, at 7:59 a.m. EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The mission will ride aboard a Soyuz rocket and is loaded with nearly three tonnes of food, fuel, and other critical materials for the station’s crew.
NASA will begin live coverage of the launch at 7:30 a.m. EDT. The broadcast will be available on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s official YouTube channel, alongside other digital platforms.
Following a two-day journey in orbit, the spacecraft is expected to dock automatically with the space-facing port of the Poisk module at around 9:34 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 24. Live coverage of the rendezvous and docking is scheduled to start at 8:45 a.m.
Once attached, Progress 94 will remain at the station for roughly six months. During that time, it will serve both as a supply vessel and a storage unit for waste. At the end of its mission, it will detach and burn up upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, safely disposing of onboard trash.
The mission follows the departure of Progress 92, which undocked from the station on March 16 and disintegrated over the Pacific Ocean without incident.
The International Space Station has been continuously inhabited for over 25 years, serving as a hub for scientific research in microgravity. The platform continues to support studies that cannot be conducted on Earth, while also helping space agencies prepare for longer missions beyond low Earth orbit, including NASA’s Artemis programme aimed at returning humans to the Moon, and eventual crewed missions to Mars.
NASA is scheduled to host a media teleconference Friday at 6 p.m. EDT to outline the next phase of flight testing for its X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft, with the briefing set to follow the plane’s second test flight over California the same day.
The call will include NASA leadership, representatives from the agency’s Quesst mission, and officials from primary contractor Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. The X-59’s test pilots are also expected to participate, addressing questions about flight conditions and pre-flight preparation protocols.
The Quesst mission, short for Quiet SuperSonic Technology, is designed to gather data on how communities on the ground perceive sonic disturbances from supersonic flight, with the goal of informing potential regulatory changes to current restrictions on overland supersonic commercial travel in the United States. The X-59 is engineered to reduce the sonic boom typically associated with supersonic aircraft to what NASA describes as a quieter “sonic thump.”
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the advanced development division behind the aircraft’s construction, has been working alongside NASA on the program since the agency awarded the contract in 2018. The X-59 completed its first flight in March 2024 at Lockheed’s facility in Palmdale, California.
Full teleconference details and dial-in credentials are expected to be made available through NASA’s media channels ahead of the Friday briefing, which will be streamed on NASA’s YouTube channel. An instant replay will be available online.
Participants include:
Bob Pearce, associate administrator, NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, Washington
Cathy Bahm, project manager, Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
Peter Coen, Quesst mission integration manager, NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
Priyanka Chopra Jonas returned to the Academy Awards stage for the first time in a decade on Sunday, only to find herself at the center of a social media debate, not for anything she said, but for how she appeared to react when her co-presenter said it.
At the 98th Academy Awards, Priyanka Chopra Jonas took the stage alongside Spanish actor Javier Bardem to present the Best International Feature Film award, which went to Norway’s Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier. Before announcing the nominees, Bardem said, “No to war and Free Palestine,” while wearing a “No to War” pin on his tuxedo. His statement drew loud applause from inside the Dolby Theatre. Chopra Jonas stood beside him, nodded, and proceeded with the presentation. She has not publicly commented on the moment.
Clips of the exchange circulated rapidly across platforms, with users fixating on Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ expression during Bardem’s remarks. Interpretations ranged widely — some read discomfort into her body language, others pushed back against that characterization entirely. The disagreement itself became the story.
Indian content creator and political commentator Dhruv Rathee escalated the conversation days later when he posted a video on Instagram publicly criticizing Chopra Jonas, accusing her of maintaining “privileged neutrality” and suggesting that Bollywood figures are broadly reluctant to take moral stands on international human rights issues. Rathee also directed criticism at the wider Bollywood community, contrasting Indian celebrities with Hollywood stars who have more openly addressed the Gaza conflict. As of the time of publication, neither Chopra Jonas nor her representatives had issued a public response.
Attends Major Hollywood Events
The controversy arrived at a moment otherwise meant to mark a career milestone. Her 2026 appearance was her first time presenting at the Oscars since 2016, when she shared the stage with Liev Schreiber to present the Best Film Editing award. Over the years, Priyanka Chopra Jonas has established herself as one of the few Indian actors with a consistent presence at major Hollywood industry events. On the professional front, she was most recently seen in The Bluff, currently streaming on Prime Video, and is attached to SS Rajamouli’s upcoming production Varanasi, opposite Mahesh Babu.
The evening brought a separate wave of headlines as well. Reports emerged that Priyanka Chopra Jonas and husband Nick Jonas were forced to switch to a golf cart after their vehicle was denied clearance near the venue, and that the cart nearly tipped over on a sharp corner while they were en route to make her presentation slot on time.
A separate controversy resurfaced in the days following the ceremony when a 2017 video began recirculating online appearing to show the same two individuals approaching Priyanka Chopra Jonas for autographs on two separate occasions at LAX, prompting accusations that the encounters were staged for publicity. Neither Chopra Jonas nor her team addressed the claim.
Further noise was added when a fabricated tweet, falsely attributed to Indian actress Swara Bhasker, began spreading in connection with the Oscars moment. Bhasker denied authorship of the post on X, calling it fake and attributing it to politically motivated bad actors.
The backlash directed at Priyanka Chopra Jonas reflects a recurring tension in global celebrity culture, the expectation that high-profile figures take explicit positions on geopolitical conflicts, weighed against the professional and personal consequences of doing so. For South Asian stars navigating both Bollywood and Hollywood simultaneously, that calculus is often more complicated than the discourse around it tends to acknowledge.
A single Israeli airstrike on the world’s largest gas field has ignited a chain of retaliatory attacks across the Middle East, crippling energy infrastructure from Tehran to Doha and sending shockwaves to petrol pumps from Mumbai to Minneapolis.
The flames that erupted over Iran’s Bushehr Province on the night of March 18 were visible from fishing boats miles out in the Gulf. On shore, they signalled something far more consequential than a military strike: the opening of a new and terrifying chapter in the Middle East’s long war over energy.
Israeli jets had struck the South Pars gas field (the world’s largest, shared between Iran and Qatar) and the sprawling Asaluyeh processing hub on Iran’s southern coast. Within hours, Tehran’s military commanders promised not merely retaliation but systemic destruction. They kept that promise.
In the days that followed, drones and missiles rained down on refineries, liquefied natural gas plants, and export terminals across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The Gulf, the artery through which nearly a third of the world’s traded oil flows, was effectively at war with itself. “If strikes on Iran’s energy facilities happen again, further attacks on your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until it is completely destroyed,” said Ebrahim Zolfaqari, Iranian Military Spokesman.
KEY FIGURES AT A GLANCE
Gul oil and gas field up in flames / AI Generated
The Strike That Started It All
South Pars is not merely a gas field. Shared with Qatar, which calls its half the North Field, the reservoir holds enough natural gas to power civilisations for generations. Disrupting it was not simply a military calculation. It was an economic declaration of war.
Israel’s stated rationale was to sever a critical revenue artery for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to Israeli officials, the strike was coordinated with Washington, a claim that put the White House in a diplomatically delicate position. President Donald Trump subsequently said the United States “knew nothing” about the strikes, even as an Israeli official told CNN the two governments had acted in concert. Trump later ruled out further American-sanctioned attacks on Iranian energy sites, though the damage was already done.
The Asaluyeh processing hub took offline approximately 100 million cubic metres per day of gas processing capacity, roughly 14 per cent of South Pars output and close to 12 per cent of Iran’s total national gas production. Eyewitness videos showed the field ablaze in the night sky, an orange glow reflected in the waters of the Persian Gulf.
Iran’s response was swift, coordinated, and designed to demonstrate that the Islamic Republic could exact a symmetrical price. The Iranian military announced it had entered “a new stage in the war,” one in which energy facilities linked to the United States were legitimate targets.
Drone and missile strikes hit refineries in Riyadh, LNG plants in Kuwait and Qatar, and export terminals along the UAE coast. Missile debris alone, intercepted by air defences, forced the shutdown of Abu Dhabi’s massive Habshan gas complex. The Fujairah export terminal, through which significant volumes of oil bypass the Strait of Hormuz entirely, was struck repeatedly.
Bahrain declared force majeure after its Sitra refinery was hit. Iraq sharply curtailed output from its southern oilfields as a precautionary measure, even though no direct strikes landed on Iraqi soil.
Perhaps most significantly for the global energy market, an Iranian strike hit Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial city, the nerve centre of its LNG export operations.
“The attacks have knocked out a sixth of Qatar’s LNG export capacity, worth $20 billion a year. Repairs will take three to five years.”CEO, QatarEnergy, speaking to Reuters
Qatar accounts for roughly 20 per cent of global LNG supply. A sixth of that capacity gone overnight means dozens of energy-hungry nations, from Japan and South Korea to India and Germany, scrambling for alternative supply in a market with none readily available.
The violence did not spare Israel. Iranian forces struck oil facilities at the port of Haifa, Israel’s largest commercial harbour and a key energy terminal. Israeli media confirmed structural damage, though authorities reported no casualties. The symbolism was unmistakable: in this new phase of the conflict, no energy installation on either side is sacred.
Markets in Meltdown
Global energy markets reacted with a ferocity not seen since the early days of the Russia-Ukraine war. Middle East crude benchmarks hit record highs. In the United States, diesel crossed the $5-per-gallon mark, a politically charged threshold that sends inflationary pressure cascading through the entire economy. Gasoline reached its highest levels since late 2023.
In Asia, refiners from China to South Korea began cutting processing runs, unable to secure adequate feedstock at workable prices. Beijing and Seoul imposed export controls or price caps on refined products, prioritising domestic supply over export revenues. For India, which sources nearly 45 per cent of its crude from the Gulf, the disruption carries particular weight, both at the pump and at the policy table in New Delhi.
The insurance industry moved with unusual speed. Lloyd’s of London and major reinsurers imposed war-risk exclusions on Gulf energy infrastructure almost immediately. War-risk premiums for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint through which 21 million barrels of oil pass every day, multiplied tenfold within days.
The International Energy Agency took the extraordinary step of calling for the release of 400 million barrels from global strategic reserves, a scale of intervention that underscored just how severe the shock has been.
The strikes have laid bare two uncomfortable truths. First, that even the most sophisticated air defence systems, American, Israeli and Saudi alike, cannot fully protect the Gulf’s most critical and geographically exposed energy infrastructure. Second, that Iran retains a formidable capacity to impose costs on its adversaries and their regional allies, even as its own installations burn.
The world is watching a war fought not merely with missiles but with energy itself as both weapon and target. The question is no longer whether global supply chains will be disrupted. They already have been. The question is how long the disruption lasts, and whether diplomacy can find a foothold before another salvo makes that question moot.
(Disclaimer: The story has used AI assistance in images and online research but filed by reporter and vetted by human editor entirely.)
Iranian forces struck energy infrastructure across the Gulf on Thursday, triggering sharp movements in global oil and gas markets and widening a conflict that has now claimed more than 2,200 lives across four parties in 20 days. Brent crude, the international benchmark, surged past $116 a barrel while European gas prices rose more than 30 percent in a single session, as traders priced in the risk of prolonged supply disruption across the world’s most critical energy corridor.
The Trump administration responded on two fronts: a direct threat to destroy one of the world’s largest gas reserves if Iranian attacks on Qatari infrastructure continued, and a separate signal that Washington was prepared to release sanctioned Iranian oil to keep prices in check.
Energy and Market Impact
Brent crude closed above $116 a barrel on Thursday, a level not seen since the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, driven by Iranian attacks on Qatari LNG sites and widening threats to Gulf energy facilities. European gas prices climbed more than 30 percent in the same session.
The immediate trigger was “extensive” damage to Qatari LNG facilities, confirmed by state-owned QatarEnergy. Qatar supplies roughly one-fifth of the world’s LNG, making its export terminals among the most price-sensitive infrastructure in the global energy system. Any sustained outage there amplifies cost pressure across European importers still managing reduced Russian pipeline volumes.
Compounding market anxiety is Iran’s ongoing effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which passes a critical share of the world’s seaborne oil. The U.S. Navy has reported 20 commercial vessels targeted in or around the Strait since Iranian operations began, with seven fatalities and four crew members still unaccounted for.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated the administration was weighing a partial sanctions waiver to release approximately 140 million barrels of Iranian oil, described as roughly two weeks of supply, currently immobilised in and around the Strait. “We will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down,” Bessent told Fox News.
Iran and the Gulf States
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued advance evacuation warnings before launching strikes against what it described as “U.S.-linked” energy facilities across the Gulf. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait confirmed that drones struck three oil refineries. The UAE reported Iranian missiles directed at the Habshan gas facilities and the Bab oil field, both close to Abu Dhabi; Habshan was shut down after debris impacts, according to local officials.
Tehran framed the strikes as retaliation for Israeli attacks on Iranian coastal gas infrastructure connected to the South Pars field, carried out on Wednesday. South Pars is a joint Iranian-Qatari offshore reserve and Iran’s primary domestic gas source. President Trump warned publicly that the United States would “massively blow up” the South Pars Gas Field if Tehran continued targeting Qatari LNG sites, while distancing Washington from the preceding Israeli strikes.
Israel and Lebanon
Israel reported striking an Iranian military helicopter in Hamadan, in western Iran. In Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said operations in the south killed more than 20 Hezbollah fighters in the previous 24-hour period. Lebanese health authorities put the country’s total death toll at 968, as Israeli ground forces continued advancing north through southern Lebanon and conducting strikes on Hezbollah-linked districts of Beirut.
Air raid sirens sounded across Israel on multiple occasions Thursday. Iranian state media reported that nine medium-range ballistic missiles fitted with cluster warheads were fired at targets in central and northern Israel. Cluster munitions disperse dozens to hundreds of sub-munitions across a wide area, creating a broader pattern of damage than a single warhead but with less precision.
U.S. Policy Outline
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to specify a timeline for ending U.S. involvement when speaking to reporters Thursday, saying only that the military was “on plan” and “on target.” Hegseth addressed reports that the Pentagon had submitted a request to Congress for $200 billion in supplemental funding, saying: “It takes money to kill bad guys.”
Reuters, citing four unnamed U.S. officials, reported that the White House was actively considering deploying thousands of additional troops to the region. The U.S. has recorded 13 military fatalities since operations began in late February and a further 200 wounded.
On the diplomatic front, Treasury Secretary Bessent’s comments about sanctioned Iranian oil represented the clearest public signal yet that Washington is prepared to use economic tools, including partial sanctions relief, to manage energy market fallout, even as the military campaign continues.
Escalation Signals
Several indicators suggest the conflict is broadening rather than contracting. The expansion of Iranian strikes from the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf state energy facilities marks a geographic widening of Tehran’s targeting. The deployment of ballistic missiles with cluster warheads against Israeli population centres represents an escalation in weapons type. The Pentagon’s $200 billion supplemental funding request, if approved by Congress, would authorise sustained operations well beyond the current posture.
The sole de-escalatory signal on Thursday came from the economic track: Bessent’s sanctions-relief proposal, if implemented, would release Iranian oil into global markets without lifting pressure on Tehran politically. Whether that distinction holds under further military escalation remains uncertain.
According to scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder, the next generation of weight-loss therapies may be shaped with the help of an unexpected source namely the python blood.
Researchers did name a compound found in pythons, which was published in Nature Metabolism on March 19, that seems to naturally inhibit appetite but maintain the muscle and general metabolic well-being. The discovery may open the path to some weight-loss medications that do not have some of the side effects experienced with the existing drugs.
The study, which was carried out in partnership with the researchers at Stanford and Baylor universities, focuses on the way in which the pythons cope with the extreme feeding patterns. These snakes are able to eat enormous meals and then spend months and even longer without eating it without ill-effect on their organs and even muscle tissue.
The senior author of the research, Leslie Leinwand, remarked that the work was a feeling of learning through the extreme of nature: the scientific perspective. Animals such as pythons, according to her, are capable of doing biological things that mammals cannot, and this provides hints on medical innovation.
Pythons are also characterized by great metabolic plasticity. Once they have eaten, their bodies change dramatically: the size of their heart may grow by approximately 25 percent and their metabolism may kick into overdrive to digest food effectively.
In a bid to determine the cause of these changes, scientists examined blood samples of ball pythons and Burmese pythons after feeding cycles. They discovered over 200 metabolites that were highly increased after a meal.
A single compound, para-tyramine-O-sulfate (pTOS) was outstanding. Its levels increased in almost 1000 times following feeding.
Subsequent experiments, which were implemented along with Baylor researchers revealed that, when pTOS was given to mice, it worked on the appetite-controlling centre in the brain- the hypothalamus, resulting in weight loss. Notably, this has been achieved without inciting gastrointestinal distress, muscle wastage or energy deficiency.
Gut bacteria in snakes synthesize the compound which is not inherent to mice. It is found in humans at low concentrations, especially after meals, but has remained largely undetected, since most metabolic research is done on rodents.
The results are published when the use of drugs affecting the GLP-1 hormone like Ozempic and Wegovy is popular in weight loss management, but may cause side effects and may be quit in the first year.
According to Leinwand, the new discovered compound might be another course. She indicated that even the available GLP-1 medicines were nature-inspired, namely, a hormone present in Gila monster venom.
Based on the finding, the research group has started a start-up, Arkana Therapeutics, to examine how python-related metabolic compounds may be converted into medication.
In addition to the loss of weight, the scientists are also exploring wider applications. Sarcopenia or age-related muscle loss is a significant unresolved medical issue and no current effective treatments exist. The fact that the python can maintain muscle mass, even with many days of starvation, could be of considerable importance.
The researchers intend to explore more into the pTOS mechanism in human beings and examine other metabolites that were found in the study some of which rose by up to 500 to 800 percent following a meal.
The present findings, he said, are but the tip of the iceberg as there is much more to discover about nature-inspired metabolic therapies.
Accurate research indicates that the solution to that question of whether or not your brain is aging faster or slower may be in something as mundane as your sleep.
Scientists in the University of California, San Francisco and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, have discovered that subtle changes in how the brain puts up during sleep may be used to establish the risk of getting dementia many years before it occurs.
The study published on March 19 on JAMA Network Open applies machine learning to analyse brain waves captured by EEG on individuals at sleep. The findings indicate that there is an alarming pattern: the older a person is, based on such clues, the more prone to dementia.
Based on the findings every interval between 10 years during which the brain ages at a pace exceeding that of the body raises the chances of dementia by close to 40 percent. Conversely, people whose brain age is less than their real age are less likely to be in danger.
The study is based on the data of approximately 7,000 participants of the age between 40 and 94, none of whom had dementia in the beginning. They were followed up between 3.1/2 and seventeen years and in this time, about one thousand individuals contracted the condition.
Instead of using more traditional measures of sleep, including the overall duration of sleep or the duration of various sleep states, the researchers concentrated on more granular characteristics of brain-wave activity. Overall, the model analysed 13 micro-level features of EEG signals.
The authors claim that this method gives a more insight into the health of the brain. Conventional measures of sleep have never demonstrated significant relationships with dementia risks presumably due to the fact that they lack the complexity of the way the brain operates in sleep.
Yue Leng, the senior author, has indicated that sleep is a process that is extremely multidimensional in nature and broad indicators can fail to pick vital warning signs.
What the Brain Waves Reveal
Some of the brain-wave patterns that are associated with brain age are already known to play major roles in the cognitive process.
The slow rolling waves observed in the deep sleep (Delta waves) are linked to recovery and restoration. The spindles of sleep which are short periods of heightened activity are assumed to aid memory consolidation.
Sleep/en.wikipedia.org
Among other discoveries was the contribution of sharp spikes in brain activity which is referred to as kurtosis. These have been associated with reduced susceptibility to dementia and it can be concluded that some types of neural variability during sleep can be protective.
Notably, the correlation between an older age of the brain and dementia remained constant despite the broad-based consideration of other factors such as education, smoking status, body weight, physical activity, and the presence of other predisposing health conditions as well as genetic risk.
Toward Earlier Detection
Since EEG-based sleep monitoring is non-invasive researchers indicate that someday the results of the study can be applied to practical applications to screen early in life – possibly even outside the clinical environment using wearable devices.
The concept is simple sleep may provide a quantifiable, real-time measurement of brain aging.
An implication of the study is the broader implication, as well, which is that the enhancement of the sleep health can impact the aging of the brain. Past studies have revealed that therapeutic intervention of sleep disorders can have significant effects on the pattern of brain-wave.
Researchers, however, warn that this should not be seen as a problem-solving way. Change in lifestyle such as healthy weight and physical exercise especially in preventing a condition like sleep apnea may assist but there is no specific one-fit-all-purpose intervention that can reverse brain aging.
According to one of the authors of the study, there is no magic pill to the health of the brain yet, well, in any case.
Everything appears to get slower at 35,000 feet above ground, though the body does, as well. Even the most experienced traveller can get a sore back, tired and mentally exhausted because of hours in a tight seat. To combat such a contemporary issue of traveling, a very uncomplicated yet effective remedy is flying: Yoga for Air Travel – the 5-minute on-flight wellness system made with the intent of being very easy to follow.
An innovative project launched at Yoga Mahotsav 2026 by Shri Prataprao Jadhav, Hon. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ayush This is an innovative project where the timeless yoga can be practiced in the octant and convert your seat into a rejuvenation zone. The protocol was designed by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga to suit the needs of the modern frequent fliers – giving a fast, safe and efficient method to refresh oneself in the air.
Emphasizing the idea behind the project, Hon’ble Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ayush Shri Prataprao Jadhav, stated that yoga has an immense preventive health and well-being power. This in-flight yoga guideline is an indication of our desire to ensure that yoga is available in all environments including those at the 35,000 feet location so that people can remain active, relaxed, and balanced when people are on the move.
Why In-Flight Yoga Matters
Long-haul travel especially by air can cause a lot of immobility. This may cause muscle stiffness, lack of circulation, fatigue, jet lag and in some instances, more severe issues such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The necessity to have a basic wellness intervention is clear in a combination with travel stress and change of cabin pressure.
The 5-minute Yoga protocol will help with these challenges with the help of gentle movements, mindful breathing and short meditation, and will help to restore the balance in the body and mind.
Insisting on the scientific and preventive touch, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, the Secretary, the Ministry of Ayush, stressed that the practice of yoga in everyday life, even in rather limited conditions such as flights, may play an enormous role in enhancing circulation, alleviating stress, and maintaining the well-being. This is because such practical interventions simplify preventive healthcare and make it accessible.
Eating and Exercising at Your Desk
The protocol is easy and accessible and does not need any special equipment or can be conducted when one is seated. It is a smooth combination of physical mobility and breath awareness and mental relaxation:
Centring (15 seconds): Start with a silent awareness or intent to get yourself grounded.
Light Joint movements (45 seconds): rotations of shoulders, stretching of ankle, and any simple movements to enhance blood flow and lessen stiffness.
Seated Yoga Poses: Altered poses include Tadasana (Palm Tree Pose), seated Cat-Cow, spinal rotations, and mild movements involving the legs in order to relieve tension and posture.
Pranayama (Breathing Practices): Deep breathing, Anulom Vilom, Bhramari, and Sheetali to relax the nervous system and improve the flow of oxygen.
Meditation (30 seconds): A short break to re-focus the mind and help bring about relaxation.
Enhancing the greater picture of changing behaviour, Ms Monalisa Dash, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, stressed, “The initiative shows how yoga may be effectively applied in day-to-day circumstances. We want to establish a culture of wellness, which will accompany a person wherever he or she may go by encouraging so easy habit.
Small Practice, Big Impact
Within five minutes, this routine can:
Improve blood circulation
Decrease muscle stiffness and fatigue.
Ease stress and anxiety
Help in digestion and hydration awareness.
Help manage jet lag
Most importantly, it enables travellers to be in-charge of their well-being- even in-flight.
Wellness, Anywhere You Go
Yoga is beautiful because of its flexibility. It finds you at home, in the office, or at the altitude of the clouds. This in-flight procedure is an instructional notice that wellness does not need additional time or area–only purpose.
The next time you buckle in your seatbelt, take a moment to pay attention to yourself. It is better to stop and rest to reconnect with oneself sometimes, the best way to travel far.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has declared the program of the General Election to Legislative Assemblies in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections in 6 states recently where in the rules have been spelt out for the political parties and independent contestants.
ECI has made a requirement of all registered political party and any group of organization/ association or any contesting candidate/individual seeking to be pre-certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) on all political advertisements in the electronic media (e.g. TV, Radio, AV displays at public places, e-papers, bulk SMS/ voice messages) and social media.
Any individual or competing candidates may seek advertisement certification at District MCMC. A certification of such advertisements can be sought by all registered political parties with their respective head offices located in a State/UT by the State Level MCMC. The applications have to be submitted in accordance with the given timelines. The State level too constitutes an Appellate Committee headed by the CEO to listen to the appeals against the decision of District/State MCMC.
Without the prior certification of the MCMC, political parties/ candidates must not release any political adverts on internet based media/ websites such as social media websites.
MCMCs will also maintain a high alert on possible incidents of paid news in the media and act accordingly.
Moreover, the candidates must provide the information regarding their original social media profiles in their affidavit during nomination.
Section 77(1) of Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the guidelines of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India states that political parties are also required to present a statement of expenditure incurred on campaigning using internet including social media websites to the ECI within 75 days after completion of assembly elections.
This spending among other things shall involve payment to internet companies and websites to carry adverts and campaign related spending on content development and operational spending incurred to maintain their social media accounts.
To this effect, the representatives of the Social Media Platforms (SMPs), the CEOs, State Police Nodal Officers and state IT Nodal Officers of all poll-bound States/UT were held to sensitise them of the above provisions and to validate and ensure a timely action against reported cases of misinformation, disinformation and fake-news during elections on March 19, 2026.
The breakthrough that enabled a new form of unlocking past secrets using artificial intelligence (AI) was the first time an international research team utilized the code of an ancient board game and unlocked its secrets that have existed long before the new century.
The study of an engraved limestone object in the Roman Netherlands allowed the team to identify the probable game rules, depending on its specific markings.
A new study, which was published in the Antiquity journal, was directed by Maastricht University (The Netherlands) and Leiden University (The Netherlands) and contributed by Flinders University (South Australia), the Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and The Roman Museum and restoration studio Restaura in Heerlen.
The item, located in what is now Heerlen in the Netherlands, includes a design of bizarre crossing lines that for decades had bewildered archeologists.
Since majority of playing games in Roman world were drawn either in dust or in wood (where it was not likely to survive), this well-hewn limestone fragment provided a unique possibility of studying ancient rules.
The stone exhibits a pattern of geometric design and visible wear that are all conducive to sliding game pieces on its surface, a fact that highly suggests repeated play, and not an alternative use as to the stone, lead archaeologist, Dr Walter Crist, who is an archaeologist and ancient games expert.
In order to identify the type of game board the stone was and its functionality, the research team applied AI to run hundreds of potential rule sets, to identify which would generate identical patterns of wear on the object.
Can AI Recreate Simulated Play?
The fact that the carved lines are unevenly worn begs a major question regarding whether simulated play developed by AI can recreate the same pattern.
The researchers used the AI-driven play system Ludii to play two AI agents using the object as a board with rule sets of many of the board games in Europe recorded in the history, including haretavl of Scandinavia and gioco dell’orso of Italy.
Flinders University computer scientist Dr Matthew Stephenson states that it is possible to reconcile the historical and computational studies of games through the use of modern AI techniques.
The simulations were repeated, with the rules varied each time, to determine which movements would result in the same focused friction as in the original stone-surface, according to Dr Stephenson, of the Flinders College of Science and Engineering.
The simulations strongly indicated some form of strategy game called a blocking game. In the blocking games, the player attempts to put their opponent in check by denying them any movements instead of capturing the opponent.
Since there is very little written evidence of blocking games prior to the Middle Ages, the results indicate that blocking games may have a more ancient history than previously written up, whilst the work also proves the transformative power of AI in archeology.
Archaeological Approach
This is the first attempt, which employs AI-based simulated play along with the archaeological approach to recognize a board game, says Dr Crist.
It provides an archeologist with a way forward in study of ancient games not similar to those studied in surviving texts or art.
It was done at Maastricht University and as part of the Digital Ludeme Project in Europe which applied artificial intelligence to create more plausible reconstructions of ancient games both historically and mathematically.
The combination of archaeology, digital modelling and the history of cultures made the team give a better explanation of something that previously appeared to be inexplicable.
The success of this method of finding indicates that there are numerous other puzzling artefacts that could hold some concealed stories that can be uncovered by the use of modern technology, as per Dr Stephenson.
It demonstrates how AI can be used in our knowledge of materials that otherwise cannot be analyzed.
The unfolding drama in the Persian Gulf is just baffling the pundits around the world. Just yesterday, US President Donald Trump took to Truth Social and dropped a bombshell that should have every strategist in Washington squirming. “The United States knew nothing about this particular attack,” he wrote, referring to Israel’s audacious strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field.
“The country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen.” Iran, he added, retaliated “unjustifiably and unfairly” against Qatar’s LNG facilities. And then came the thunder: if Tehran hits Qatar again, America will “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen.
”This is not some routine tit-for-tat. South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas field, shared with Qatar’s North Dome, accounts for 70-75 per cent of Iran’s total gas production. It pumps out record volumes, over 727 million cubic metres a day at its peak, powering Iranian homes, industries and, crucially, the regime’s ability to fund its proxies.
Israel hit its processing plants at Asaluyeh on 18 March, knocking out phases that handle nearly 20 per cent of capacity in one surgical blow. Fires raged. Production halted. Oil prices promptly jumped over 5 per cent, Brent crossing $110 a barrel.
From Regime Change to Oil Depletion
Here’s the rub. The Iran war, which kicked off on February 28, with massive US-Israeli strikes that reportedly took out key Iranian leadership – was supposed to be under American management. Nuclear sites, missile batteries, command centres: that was the playbook. But Israel has quietly shifted the battlefield to Iran’s economic jugular. And Washington is left scrambling, publicly claiming ignorance while privately coordinating, then forced to issue threats that tie America’s hands deeper into the mess.
Trump’s own words expose the control slip. He insists Israel “violently lashed out” out of anger and has now been told “NO MORE ATTACKS” on South Pars unless Iran escalates on Qatar. Yet multiple American and Israeli sources confirm the strike was pre-cleared with the White House. The contradiction screams louder than any missile: even a staunchly pro-Israel president like Trump feels compelled to distance himself publicly. Why? Because the strike risked dragging America’s key Gulf ally, host to the massive Al Udeid airbase with 10,000 US troops and CENTCOM’s forward headquarters, straight into the line of fire.
Iran’s tit-for-tat expected?
Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards fired on Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG hub, the planet’s biggest liquefied natural gas export terminal, causing “extensive damage.” Saudi and UAE sites faced drone and missile barrages too. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of “uncontrollable consequences that could engulf the entire world.” The Guards vowed “powerful action” against Gulf energy infrastructure. Qatar expelled Iranian attaches. Global LNG markets trembled.
above, this is classic Israeli strategic genius at work, manipulating the superpower for a long-term benefit. Benjamin Netanyahu has never minced his words: not just degrade Iran’s nuclear and missile threat, but “eradicate the Iranian regime” and create conditions for the Iranian people to “cast off tyranny.” Hitting South Pars does precisely that. It chokes Iran’s domestic energy supply, spikes inflation, breeds public anger, and starves the cash flow that arms Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
Israel Achieves Strategic Depth
Meanwhile, America gets pulled in as the reluctant firefighter. US bases in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are now on high alert. Global oil and gas prices threaten inflation waves that hit every American wallet and, closer home, every Indian importer reliant on Gulf crude. Trump’s warning is no bluff; it commits US firepower directly. But notice the fine print: “with or without the help or consent of Israel.” Washington is now the enforcer cleaning up after Jerusalem’s move.
President Donald J. Trump attends the dignified transfer of six American heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in a refueling plane crash while serving our nation. 🇺🇸🙏
One cannot overlook the pattern. From Gaza to Lebanon to now Iran’s gas fields, Netanyahu has repeatedly pushed boundaries – Rafah operations despite Biden’s red lines, targeted killings that risked wider war. US aid keeps flowing: $3.3 billion in annual military financing, plus hundreds of millions more in wartime supplements, on top of the historic $300 billion-plus adjusted total. Israel enjoys the qualitative military edge and the political cover. Yet it operates with a free hand, knowing America’s strategic interests with stable Gulf allies, secure energy flows, containing China-Russia influence will compel Washington to backstop the fallout.
Israel’s calculation is cold and brilliant. By striking a field literally shared with Qatar, it ensured any Iranian reply would hit a US partner. Tehran takes the bait, Qatar screams, Trump threatens Armageddon on South Pars. Result? Iran’s economy bleeds further, Gulf states lean harder on America for protection, and Israel emerges as the region’s indispensable security guarantor. The tail is wagging the dog.
The South Pars episode proves the superpower no longer calls every shot. As Trump himself had to admit ignorance and then pledge massive retaliation, the control is slipping. For the rest of us watching from afar, whether in Delhi, Riyadh or Brussels, the lesson is stark. Alliances are tools, not chains. Israel has mastered turning its biggest patron into an unwitting co-author of its grand strategy.
The Middle East war is no longer contained, and America is paying the price both in terms of treasure, credibility and stability in the Gulf. The question now is whether Washington will finally reassert command, or not.
New research provided at the Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology shows that a shingles vaccine could provide important protection against heart complications that are life-threatening in individuals who already have a cardiovascular disease.
The researchers used a huge population of over 246,000 adults with atherosclerotic heart disease in the United States to carry out the study and discovered that individuals who had at least one dose of a shingles vaccine had significantly lower risks of serious cardiac events within one year than those who were never vaccinated.
It was found that vaccinated people had almost twice the risk to experience major adverse cardiac events – which consists of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular-related deaths. These results complement an emerging body of literature that the shingles vaccine has some other positive effects other than protection against viral infection.
The analysis was performed based on 2018 to 2025 health records with the TriNetX database and comparing two matched groups (more than 123,000 patients each) one of them vaccinated with Shingrix or Zostavax and the other one unvaccinated. The respondents were 50 and above and with very similar demographic and health characteristics.
The changes were intense within a follow-up period of one month to a year after vaccination. It was discovered that vaccinated patients were 46 percent lower than unvaccinated ones to suffer a significant cardiac event and 66 percent less prone to death of any cause. Heart attack risk was reduced by 32 percent and the risks of stroke and heart failure also decreased by 25 percent.
Found in High Risk Individuals
The protective effect was found to be particularly potent in people who were already at high cardiovascular risk, said the lead author Dr Robert Nguyen of the University of California, Riverside. He observed that the risk reduction is equal to significant lifestyle change like smoking cessation.
It is not new to medical experts that shingles is an inflammatory condition caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus and can result in development of blood clots that may cause cardiovascular complications. The vaccine can indirectly eliminate these risks by acting as a preventive measure towards infection.
U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now suggest the use of shingles vaccination to all adults above 50 years of age and to those younger with compromised immune systems. Although the vaccine is mainly meant to stop painful rashes and long-term nerve damage related to shingles, the new benefits on the cardiovascular system can reinforce the arguments in favor of increasing the coverage.
Within One Year of Vaccination
Nevertheless, scholars warned that the research was looking at the results within one year of vaccination. The impact of long-term effect may be wavering, though previous studies pointed out that protective benefits might last many years.
There were also other limitations that were appreciated in the study. People who vaccinate might be better placed to adopt healthier behaviours on the whole, which would somewhat affect the outcomes notwithstanding the ability to control socioeconomic and lifestyle differences.
Nevertheless, the size of the dataset and the agreement of the results of the research conducted on several outcomes give credibility to the conclusion that the shingles vaccination is linked to the significant decrease in cardiovascular risk.
The evidence emerges against the backdrop of more general campaigns against vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, with scientists highlighting the possibility of established vaccines having broader health utility than previously realized.
A massive national survey in Japan has found a massive gap in the routine care of chronic kidney disease (CKD), and one of the major metabolic complications used to remain undiagnosed by lack of testing.
The researchers under the leadership of Mai Tanaka have conducted the study using the data of the Japan Chronic Kidney Disease Database Extension and analyzed the clinical records of over 21 university hospitals in the period between 2014 and 2021. It targeted individuals with moderate CKD (stages 3a to 4) that already have high susceptibility to disease progression and complications.
The results indicate a glaring omission: a simple and cheap test such as serum bicarbonate, which is used to diagnose metabolic acidosis, was ordered less than 10% per year. Consequently, the condition, which, as known, deteriorates kidney outcomes and general health, seems to be considerably under-measured in the everyday care.
Metabolic acidosis is a condition that develops when the body retains too much acid in it because of a deteriorated renal strength. It has also been associated with muscle atrophy, bone mineral loss, insulin resistance with accelerated kidney disease, and an increased risk of dying. The clinical practice is to intervene in cases where the bicarbonate of the body is lower than 22 mEq/L.
Nevertheless, the Japanese statistics indicate that the burden of the condition is being hidden by the low level of testing. Although the general prevalence seemed to be low in the general population of CKD, a more detailed look at patients that indeed underwent a test showed a significantly different pattern. Almost half of them fit the criteria of metabolic acidosis, and the rates were getting higher as the kidney function declined.
Follow up care was limited even among the patients who depicted definite biochemical signs of the condition. It was determined by the study that a gap between detection and clinical response was significant, with only 8.6% actually diagnosed and only 7.5% actually treated.
Metabolic Acidosis Undetected
The results are similar to those reported in North America where individual studies of the U.S. and Canadian cohorts have also indicated that metabolic acidosis is commonly undiagnosed in CKD patients. In such researches, less than every five patients was given sodium bicarbonate treatment in spite of the facts that acid retention was associated with persistent damage to the kidney by inflammation and fibrosis.
According to experts, the problem is not about access or price, since bicarbonate testing is readily available, but it is more about the failure to integrate it into a normal monitoring practice. Current guidelines, such as those of nephrology societies, suggest routine evaluation and correction of metabolic complications in CKD but this is not done so consistently.
The paper highlights a larger issue of concern of health systems where there has been a progressive growth in cases of CKD worldwide due to aging, increased incidences of diabetes and hypertension. Researchers indicate that regular bicarbonate testing may be an intervention that is scalable and practical as a part of the regular care panel.
Early identification of metabolic acidosis would enable clinicians to start treatment, either the use of alkali therapy or diet change at a time that might allow it to delay disease onset and minimize complications.
The authors have come to the conclusion that there is not as much a problem with the rarity of the condition but its invisibility in existing practice. In the absence of regular testing, there is a high-risk chance that a high and manageable element of kidney disease can be ignored, which has long-term patient consequences.
In a significant international study, it has been observed that the health, life experience of fathers can have a significant effect on the pregnancy outcome and future well being of the children which argues the long held maternal-based approach to reproductive care.
The study, which was published in The Lancet and conducted by the team of scientists at the University of Southampton in collaboration with other international partners, claims that the prenatal health of men has long been disregarded despite its quantifiable effects on maternal health and child development.
Based on the evidence of biological, behavioural and social sciences, the study describes the ways in which the physical health of a father, his age, mental health, substance use and childhood experiences could influence the results of pregnancy. There are instances where scientists asserted that paternal factors can be as intense as -or even more so, than the conventional maternal.
Professor Keith Godfrey, a principal researcher of the study, indicated that the results represented a breakthrough in the comprehension of the role of parental health on the future generation. He mentioned that although the health of mothers is important, paying attention to it only leads to the neglect of a larger number of factors that trigger well before pregnancy.
The study presents a framework based on preconception health, in which the upbringing, education, environment of a man and exposure to stress can be influenced and impact on his health in reproductive years. The same factors, in their turn, can also affect the health behaviours of a partner, such as access to prenatal care, and have direct biological impact on the developing foetus.
Next Generation’s Health
Co-author Dr Danielle Schoenaker emphasized the inter relatedness of parental health by stating that there is a chain of influence that starts in life and continues to the next generation. The study indicates that the problems would be improved by considering these factors and thereby the health of children and their pregnancies would be better in a population.
Another issue that the researchers concern themselves with is the social implication of making women the main responsibility in the health of children. They say that this kind of practice enhances gender disparities and ignores the aspect of collective responsibility in child-rearing.
Jonathan Huang, the lead author, emphasized the bigger picture of the structural context, how historical inequalities, such as racism and colonial heritage, have caused disruption in family and community roles, especially among black and brown men. The study indicates that these disruptions have led to disparities in health outcomes and health care access.
The authors advocate culturally sensitive public health that involves more active inclusion of men in the reproductive health planning as well as initiatives of strengthening the family and community support systems.
The research concludes that the enhancement of the health of the boys and the young males should be regarded as an investment in the public health in the long term. According to researchers, policies, clinical practices and awareness campaigns should be modified to be more cognizant of an inclusive model of reproductive care one that views the father as more of an active rather than a passive participant of the pregnancy and child development process.
The authors do not underline the fact that maternal health is still the core, but represent their results as the appeal to more balanced approach when both parents are taken care of prior to, during and after pregnancy to ensure better results in the following generations.
Another investigation that forms the structure of massive craters on asteroid 16 Psyche is providing new perspectives on one of the most persistent mysteries of the Solar System, whether the metallic object is the open core of an unsuccessful planet or a complex of debris formed during numerous collisions.
The scientists in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona are the researchers who conducted the study, which was published in JGR Planets, and dedicated to the possibility of unlocking the inner composition of Psyche due to a large impact basin located near the north pole of the asteroid. The results will likely inform the interpretation of the data of the NASA Psyche space probe, which will visit the asteroid in the year 2029.
The largest known metal-rich asteroid is psyche, which is found in the prime asteroid belt separating mars and Jupiter and is one of the heaviest bodies found in the area. Its bizarre structure has been a long-standing puzzle to scientists, and rival theories have proposed that it might be the rocky and metallic inertia of an early planet, or of violent impact that caused the mixing of metals and rock over time.
To experiment with such situations, scientists ran high-speed crashes on a 3-D model of Psyche which was how a crater similar to 30 miles across and three miles deep was formed. The differing impact conditions and internal structures allowed the team to come up with predictions regarding the way various compositions would form the resulting crater and the surrounding debris.
According to the simulations, porosity, which is the empty space in the asteroid, is an important factor that affects the crater formation. This is different to solid planetary bodies, most asteroids are loose or fractured and thus can absorb impact energy in a different manner. Impacts in more porous structures will create deeper and steeper craters and less material ejected on the surface.
Asteroid layered metallic core
There were two main models of the interior of Psyche tested in the study: the asteroid is layered reaching a dense metallic core and thin rocky mantle, and the second one is that the metal and silicate materials are evenly intermingled. Although both scenarios could result in the measured crater sizes, each scenario created a different ejecta pattern and internal compression pattern.
These variations, according to researchers, may turn out to be important suggestions when there would be direct observations. Equipments in the Psyche spacecraft will capture the surface composition of the asteroid, gravity and magnetic field, an assessment of the difference in density that could have occurred due to impact in the past.
Scientists compare the research to the reconstruction of a process that has been abandoned long ago based on its remains. Through surface studies of craters and patterns of debris those studying them hope to be able to determine the internal composition of a body that might be able to tell us about the very earliest phases of planetary formation.
Origin of Psyche
The theory of the origin of Psyche has more far-reaching consequences in the field of planetary science. The discovery of the asteroid as an exposed core would give an opportunity to study processes that formed rocky planets such as Earth processes that are otherwise not reachable since planetary cores are buried deep within thick mantles.
Another theme addressed in the study is the increased importance of advanced simulations in space mission preparation. Predicting tests set in advance before the arrival of the spacecraft, researchers want to speed up the analysis of the information once the real-time stream of information arrives.
Psyche mission, which was initiated by Arizona State University and is supported by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and other organizations belongs to NASA Discovery Program. By the time the spacecraft arrives at its destination towards the end of this decade, scientists are hopeful that it will provide the first close-up view of a metallic world – and possibly end a two hundred plus century long debate.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi honored retiring Rajya Sabha members and said their experience in parliament was a lasting asset to the nation and advised young legislators to learn the lessons of their seniors.
In responding to the members who are leaving in the upper house, Modi stated that these events are beyond politics, but above all they show respect to serving the people. He commented that the parliamentary terms can end, yet the contribution of long-term leaders to the life of a country does not stop.
The Prime Minister said in politics, there are no full stops, that the experience and works of experienced lawmakers are also a part of a democratic process in the country.
Outlining the works of the old parliamentarians, Modi named several old members like H. D. Deve Gowda, Mallikarjun Kharge and Sharad Pawar as role models to be followed by the new members. He also stressed the need to commit itself to the duty of serving the people and that this commitment enhances the credibility of the institution.
The Prime Minister praised the behaviour of the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh Narayan Singh, in dealing with proceedings especially when situations are difficult and also keeping members of the opposite party in his trust.
Considering the changes in the way parliament operates, Modi noted that the emergence of twenty-four-seven media coverage has shifted the character of politicking. Nevertheless, he said that the traditions of wit, debate and intellectual exchange still prevail in the parliamentary culture.
He emphasized the importance of the session of turnover in the Rajya Sabha, where every three years, a third of the members retires, as a means of continuity, with new ideas coming in. This, he said, assists in sustaining institutional memory as well as reinforcing democratic performance.
Addressing the Rajya Sabha, which he referred to as an essential institution in the legislative process of India, Modi emphasized the role of the institution as a second opinion in legislation. He claimed that the bicameral form of governance enables more thorough questioning of decisions, which leads to more harmonious and sophisticated policy making.
The Prime Minister also reported that the retiring members were one of the members who served in the process of transferring the old building of Parliament to the new building to make a historical occasion in their careers.
He compared the Upper House to a great open university where members acquired experience about governance and national issues during their term in office. This is not just an experience that carries with it the contributions they make in Parliament but also prepares them to take further responsibility with the people even after leaving Parliament.
Ending his speech, Modi was sure that the members who are going will still have a significant role in the life of the people, whether in the formal political system or in the social work in general. He was appreciative of their efforts and he recognized their input in nation building.
In what is being described as one of the largest coordinated electoral deployments this decade, the Election Commission of India has mobilised over 25 lakh staff to superintend future Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
On March 15, the poll schedule was announced and it will include more than 17.4 crore eligible voters in the five States and the Union Territory, and by-elections in six other states. The magnitude of the deployment is about one election official in every 70 voters, which confirms the administrative nature of the exercise.
According to chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the wide presence is designed to make the elections violence-free and inducement-free and officials are instructed to remain completely impartial during the process.
It has close to 15 lakh polling staff and approximately 8.5 lakh security staff with 40,000 counting staff. Moreover, the Commission has sent approximately 49, 000 micro observers, 21, 000 sector officers and 15, 000 people specifically to monitor counting procedures.
On the ground level, there are more than 2.18 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who are the main contact with the voters. The Commission has also facilitated voter services by providing helplines and online services (ECINet application) to enable citizens file complaints or seek information online by the district/ returning officers.
In order to enhance the control, 1,111 central observers have been assigned to 832 Assembly constituencies. This set will consist of the general, the police and expenditure observers, who will be the field representatives of the Commission in keeping a check on the observance of the electoral norms. Majority of them are already in their respective constituencies.
These observers will be in close contact with the candidates, the political parties and the electorate and will provide a formal avenue of dealing with the grievances so that it can be addressed during the election period.
All the staff that will be deployed to do the election duties will work on behalf of the Commission as stipulated in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which in effect means that they will be subordinated to temporary deputation so that the same accountability can be maintained everywhere.
This mass mobilisation follows an increased concentration on securing clean electoral procedures and the Commission reaffirms its effort of restricting inducements and a level playing field.
As the various stages of polling will be involved in many states that are politically important, the administrative and logistic component implemented will be the determinant in the smooth running of the elections.
