Japan and India Conduct Joint Air Exercise

The SHINYUU Maitri-2018 is an ongoing bilateral air exercise between the Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) and the Indian Air Force. Based in the city of Agra in India, the exercise centres around joint Mobility/Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) on Transport aircraft. This joins a suite of recent military collaborations between the two countries which include the Dharma Guardian 2018 – a joint military exercise between the Indian Army and Japan Ground Self Defence Force that took place in Mizoram, India. Additionally, the Japan-India Maritime Exercise known as JIMEX was carried out in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

“Chemputer”: A Revolutionary Method in Drug Manufacturing

Innovative scientists at University of Glasgow, UK have developed a groundbreaking method to produce drug molecules. This new procedure uses downloadable blueprints to synthesise organic chemicals via a programmable ‘chemputer’, which is essentially a modular chemical-robot system. Remarkably, this is the first time synthesis of vital drug molecules has been achieved affordably using this chemputer. It relies on a universal, interoperable standard for creating and sharing chemical recipes. These chemical recipes, executed by a computer programme whimsically named the ‘chempiler’, tell the chemputer how to generate molecules on-demand, more economically and safely than previously achievable.

This revolutionary step in the digitisation of chemistry opens up opportunities for the universal assembly of complex molecules on demand and democratises the ability to discover and make new molecules via a simple software app and a modular chemputer. The chemputer system could potentially allow medical professionals in remote parts of the world to create life-saving drugs as needed.

International Conference on Bear Conservation

An International Conference on Bears is presently being organised in the city of Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Spearheaded by Wildlife SOS, a conservation non-profit organization, in collaboration with Bear Care Group from the US and Canada, the conference seeks to foster dialogue on bear care, wildlife conservation, and human-wildlife conflict mitigation.

Acute Flaccid Myelitis: A Growing Concern for Child Health

Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), a disease resembling polio and predominantly affecting children has come into public focus. Enteroviruses, a group that includes poliovirus and enterovirus A71, and West Nile virus are the primary cause of the disease in children. The concerns are particularly high in the United States, where over 100 cases of AFM have been confirmed in 2018 alone. Symptoms of AFM include muscle weakness, weak limbs, pain, and absent reflexes.