WhatsApp No. 88986-30000 · 2020-07-22 · The ban is another nail in the coffin of what then Prime...

https://youtu.be/vR4OP9EVhYY

https://prepmate.teachable.com/

For updates on WhatsApp, share your Name, City & Email ID on

WhatsApp No. 88986-30000

Website: www.prepmate.in Telegram Channel: @upscprepmate

Prepmate Cengage Books Preview:https://prepmate.in/books/ Youtube channel: PrepMateEdutech

1. U.K. to suspend extradition treaty with Hong Kong

Relevant for GS Prelims & Mains Paper II; IOBR

Suspend extradition treaty

Britain announced that it would suspend on immediate basis its extradition treaty with

Hong Kong in an escalation of a dispute with China over its introduction of a national

security law for the former British colony.

The ban is another nail in the coffin of what then Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015

cast as a “golden era” of ties with China, the world’s second-largest economy.

London has been dismayed by a crackdown in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule

in 1997, and the perception that China did not tell the whole truth over the COVID-19

outbreak.

Australia and Canada suspended extradition treaties with Hong Kong earlier this month.

Action against Huawei Last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies to be purged completely from Britain’s 5G network by the end of 2027. China

has accused Britain of pandering to the United States.

View on security law

Britain says the new security law breaches the guarantees of freedoms, including an

independent judiciary,that have helped keep Hong Kong one of the world’s most important trade and financial centres since 1997.

Officials in Hong Kong and Beijing have said the law is vital to plug gaps in national security

exposed by recent pro-democracy and anti-China protests. China has repeatedly told

Western powers to stop meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs.

Source: The Hindu

2. Oxford-AstraZeneca shot shows progress: What this means in fight to

find Covid-19 vaccine

Relevant for GS Prelims & Mains Paper III; Science & Technology

Results published on Monday of early human trials of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by the

University of Oxford and drugmaker AstraZeneca have shown promise. The results come

around a week after US biotech firm Moderna had released its own early trial data and at a

http://www.prepmate.in/

https://telegram.me/upscprepmate

https://prepmate.in/books/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXy_z-FjcG4CcCTYpn2DGhA





time when several firms are racing to find an effective vaccine against the coronavirus that

has killed over 600,000 globally.

How does the Oxford-AstroZeneca vaccine candidate work?

When someone is infected with the Covid-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2), the reason it spreads in

the body easily is because of the spikes on its surface. These spikes, known as the ‘spike protein’, allow the virus to penetrate cells and, thereafter, multiply.

The vaccine developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, which belongs to a category called non-

replicating viral vector vaccines, tries to build the body’s immunity against this spike protein. The idea is to create antibodies to fight this spiked surface so that the virus does

not even have the chance to penetrate the cells.

The vaccine uses a different virus — in this case, a weakened version of a common cold

virus (adenovirus) that infects chimpanzees — to carry just the code to make the spike

protein, like a Trojan horse. The adenovirus, genetically modified so that it cannot replicate

in humans, will enter the cell and release the code to make only the spike protein. The body’s immune system is expected to recognise the spike protein as a potentially harmful foreign substance, and starts building antibodies against it.

Once immunity is built, the antibodies will attack the real virus if it tries to infect the body.

What do the latest results mean?

The preliminary results from phase I/II trials of the vaccine, published in The Lancet,

offered some promise by showing the vaccine was not only safe, but also seemed to build

an immune response in the participants. For one, it was found that being injected with the

vaccine led to participants building neutralising antibodies. Another potential positive was

that it increased the number of T cells — a type of white blood cell that protects the body

from pathogens and cancer cells and works to actively destroy infected cells.

A single dose of the vaccine elicited an increase in antibodies specifically against the spike

protein by the first 28 days. Neutralising antibody responses were detected in 32 of 35

participants studied after a single dose, and in all nine participants assessed after they

were administered a second, booster dose.

The vaccine showed mild to moderate adverse reactions, including pain, feverish feelings,

chills, muscle aches, headaches and malaise. The effects were reduced using prophylactic

paracetamol, according to the study.

How significant is this?

While the results seem promising, it is important to remember this data is from early-stage

clinical trials. This data cannot give clarity on questions like how long the antibodies will

last in the body, an important factor in determining how effective the vaccine will be. This

will require data from larger, phase III trials, which are currently underway.









What happens next?

Globally, Oxford and AstraZeneca have already begun phase III trials in Brazil, targeting

5,000 volunteers. A similar trial in South Africa is also expected to be underway.

Meanwhile, Serum Institute of India, which has tied up with Oxford and AstraZeneca, plans to make “millions of doses” of the vaccine over the next three months, after it receives a

manufacturing licence. The firm is expected to manufacture the vaccine for low- and

middle-income countries.

However, Serum will have to conduct phase III trials in India before the vaccine can be

launched. So far, the firm has received permission to manufacture certain doses for testing purposes, said a senior government official. “We will be applying for the licensure trials to the Indian regulator in a week’s time. As soon as they grant us permission, we will begin with the trials for the vaccine in India,” said Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute.

How does this compare with Moderna’s vaccine results?

Moderna, the first firm to begin human trials for a Covid-19 vaccine candidate in

collaboration with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),

published early stage results last week for its vaccine, which uses a different technology

(mRNA). The data it released in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 14 showed

similar abilities to induce antibody and neutralising antibodies, as well as some T-cell

response. Moderna is expected to begin its phase III trials on July 27.

Given the differences in the way the data has been presented by Moderna and the

University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, some experts say it is difficult to provide a proper

comparison of the two at this stage.









Source: World Health Organisation, company press releases









Which are the other top contenders?

Over 160 potential vaccines are being studied globally, with 23 of them recognised by the

World Health Organization as candidates in human trials. The frontrunners include:

Inactivated

These are vaccines made by using particles of the Covid-19 virus that were killed, making

them unable to infect or replicate. Injecting particular doses of these particles serves to

build immunity by helping the body create antibodies against the dead virus.

Frontrunners: Sinovac, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products-Sinopharm, Beijing

Institute of Biological Products-Sinopharm, Bharat Biotech, Institute of Medical Biology

(Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences)

Non-replicating viral vector

This is the category the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine belongs to. It uses a weakened,

genetically modified version of a different virus to carry the Covid-19 spike protein.

Frontrunners: Oxford-AstroZeneca, CanSino Biological Inc-Beijing Institute of

Biotechnology, Gamaleya Research Institute

Protein subunit

This vaccine uses a part of the virus to build an immune response in a targeted fashion. In

this case, the part of the virus being targeted would be the spike protein.

Frontrunners: Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical-Institute of Microbiology

(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Novavax, Clover Biopharmaceuticals Inc-GSK-Dynavax,

Vaccine Pty Ltd-Medytox, University of Queensland-CSL-Seqirus

RNA

Such vaccines use the messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that tell cells what proteins to

build. The mRNA, in this case, is coded to tell the cells to recreate the spike protein. Once it is injected, the cells will use the mRNA’s instructions, creating copies of the spike protein, which in turn is expected to prompt the immune cells to create antibodies to fight it.

Frontrunners: Moderna-NIAID, BioNTech-Fosun Pharma-Pfizer, Imperial College London,

Curevac, PLA Academy of Military Sciences-Walvax Biotech

DNA

These vaccines use genetically engineered DNA molecules that, again, are coded with the

antigen against which the immune response is to be built.

Frontrunners: Inovio Pharmaceuticals-International Vaccine Institute, Osaka University-

AnGeS-Takara Bio, Zydus Cadila, Genexine Consortium.









Source: The Indian Express

3. The legacy of C S Seshadri, mathematician, researcher and educator

Relevant for GS Prelims

In life, the mathematician C S Seshadri was recognised around the world with awards

ranging from the Padma Bhushan and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in India to

fellowships with Royal Society fellowship and American Mathematical Society abroad. In

death, he has received tributes from the Prime Minister, the President and leaders in

science and mathematics.

From the huge body of his contributions to mathematical research and teaching, two stand

out. He founded the Chennai Mathematical Institute, which attracts talent from around the

world with its courses on mathematics, computer science and theoretical physics. The

other standout is his breakthrough research in algebraic geometry; there is a theorem and

a type of constant named after him.

Seshadri died on Friday, aged 88.

The Institute

In Chennai in the mid-1980s, Seshadri got an offer from the newly formed SPIC Science

Foundation to form a School of Mathematics. Seshadri was then at the Institute of

Mathematical Sciences, where he had launched a doctoral programme but was keen on a

programme that would combine high-level research with undergraduate teaching.

“Since it seemed to offer a more realistic path towards launching an undergraduate teaching programme, Seshadri made the radical decision to move to this private setting,” his long-time friend P S Thiagarajan told The Indian Express by email from California.

Thiagarajan is a theoretical computer scientist whom Seshadri had recruited at the

Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and whom he took along to build the new school. “I was delighted to join him on this adventure,” he said. Others who joined them were then PhD students Vikraman Balaji (mathematics) and Madhavan Mukund (computer science), both

now senior faculty members at the Chennai Mathematical Institute.

It began as a teaching programme with initial recognition from Bhoj Open University

(Madhya Pradesh). The curriculum centred on mathematics but included core computer

science courses. In 1998, the School of Mathematics was reorganised as the Chennai

Mathematical Institute, which went on to be recognised as a deemed university by the UGC

in 2006.

Today, CMI offers undergraduate education in mathematics and computer science, a

research programme in these subjects as well as theoretical physics, and an MSc









programme that includes data science. It plans to expand into quantum computing,

cryptography, computational biology and mathematical economics, Thiagarajan said.

“Without a doubt, CMI with its present stature and potential would not exist without the vision, leadership and monumental efforts of Seshadri,” Thiagarajan said. “His personality, a delightful mix of simplicity, lack of malice, love of life and uncompromising standards of

excellence, attracted the goodwill and support of all those who came into contact with him. This has contributed immeasurably to the founding and development of CMI.”

His research

Senior school students are familiar with graphs that plot straight lines from linear

equations in two variables; science stream students go on to work with higher-order

equations that describe two-dimensional shapes such as a circle or 3D shapes such as cube. Seshadri’s field of study was algebraic geometry, a core discipline in modern mathematics that investigates the geometry of solution-sets of such equations.

Applications of algebraic geometry arise in statistics, control theory, robotics, coding

theory, integer programming and theoretical physics. The Narasimhan-Seshadri theorem,

developed in 1965 with his friend M S Narasimhan, plays a central role in conformal field

theory and string theory.

Born in 1932 in Kanchipuram and educated in Chengleput (Tamil Nadu), Chennai and

Mumbai (he got his PhD from Bombay University), Seshadri made his major contributions

after he went to Paris in 1957. “At the time that he finished his doctoral work, the subject itself was undergoing a unique revolution,” said CMI’s Professor Balaji, one of the PhD students who had joined Seshadri in his move from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences

in the 1980s.

“Seshadri went to Paris in 1957 and very quickly entered the sanctum of this new temple of algebraic geometry. This provided a distinctively unifying perspective which connected it to all branches of mathematics at some level,” Balaji said.

It was in this setting that one should view Seshadri’s collaboration with Narasimhan, Balaji said. Its roots lay in the work of the French mathematician André Weil and were closely

linked to the work of Henri Poincaré. The Narasimhan-Seshadri theorem set up a

correspondence between two basic classes of objects, Balaji said.

“Setting up such correspondences was somewhat like the process of identifying a Rosetta stone for the deciphering of hieroglyphics. The two classes in the Narasimhan-Seshadri theorem were analogous to two of the lines in the Rosetta stone,” Balaji said. “A third line came up much later from the work of Simon Donaldson during the mid-1980s. Once this

was provided, many subtle and beautiful aspects of differential geometry, topology, mathematical physics and number theory got unravelled miraculously.”









It was from Seshadri’s work with Narasimhan that arose the concept of “Seshadri constants”.

After Paris

Seshadri returned to India in 1960 and joined Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,

where he helped establish a school of algebraic geometry. In 1984, he moved to the

Institute of Mathematical Sciences, where he recruited Thiagarajan who was then abroad.

From there would follow the Chennai Mathematical Institute.


4. Series of missions to Mars – why, when


On Sunday, the UAE launched the Arab world’s first mission to Mars. The launch of the spacecraft Amal (Hope) took place from the Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H-II A rocket.

The UAE launch marks the first of three missions being planned to Mars in the end of July.

China plans its first Mars probe, Tianwen-1 (formerly Huoxing 1), in the coming few days.

The US, the only country that has sent previous missions to Mars, plans its Perseverance

mission on July 30.

The end of July 2020 offers a launch window during which Earth and Mars will be aligned

at their closest points in two years, which means using less fuel to reach the planet. If a spacecraft is launched too early or too late, it will arrive in the planet’s orbit when the planet is not there.

Perseverance: hunt or life NASA’s rover Perseverance will look for signs of habitable conditions on Mars and

microbial life in its ancient past. Over its mission duration of one Martian year (687 Earth

days), it will collect Martian rock and sediment samples for analysis on Earth.

The rover is equipped with specialised equipment to collect data, analyse weather

conditions that can help plan for future human missions, and produce oxygen from the

carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere.

Perseverance is expected to touch down on Mars on February 18, 2021. NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars since 2012. It remains active although its targeted mission

life is over.

Hope: atmospheric data









Hope was developed by UAE scientists in the US, and its launch is the 45th for H-II A.

Carrying three instruments including a high-resolution camera and a spectrometer, the

spacecraft is on an orbital mission to collect data on Martian climate dynamics and help scientists understand why Mars’s atmosphere is decaying into space. Hope is the UAE’s fourth space mission and first interplanetary one. The previous three were all Earth-observation satellites.

Hope is scheduled to reach Mars’s orbit Mars in February 2021 and then start orbiting the planet. Its overall mission life is one Martian year.

Tianwen-1: Soil study China’s first Mars probe will launch on a Long March 5 Y-4 booster from Xichang, China. It

consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover and aims to study Martian topography and

geology and determine the composition of the surface material, climate and environment.

The orbiter is expected to reach the planet by early 2021 and will use high-resolution

cameras to search for a suitable landing site somewhere in the Utopia Planitia region. It

weighs around 240 kg and will carry cameras, a subsurface radar, a spectrometer, a

magnetometer, and atmospheric sensors.


5. New material called 'Proteus' is reportedly the world's first uncuttable

material










Every substance we know of is cuttable, even the diamonds—until now. Engineers have

developed a material they call "Proteus" that they claim is the first manufactured

uncuttable material.

The compound is made of porous aluminum and ceramic, so it is lighter than steel and yet

will withstand any grinder.

Researchers at Durham University in England and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute claim

that Proteus resists cutting by turning the cutting tools against themselves and dulling

them. The material is made up of an aluminum matrix (aluminum foam) embedded with

ceramic spheres. It is 15-percent less dense than steel making it ideal for applications like

lightweight armor.

As the cutting tool bites into the aluminum, it suffers extreme vibrations when it hits the

ceramic spheres. This resonance causes the tool to start bouncing, thus "dulling" its cutting

edge. Furthermore, as the ceramic is hit, fine dust particles fill in the matrix. The

interatomic forces between the grains increase proportionately to the amount of energy

applied, making the material even harder the faster the tool spins.

Potential Applications

Proteus is effective against angle grinders, drills, and other conventional cutting tools. It is

even effective against high-pressure water jet cutters. In this instance, the material works

differently in that the spheres' rounded surfaces disperse the water weakening the jet.

The researchers see possible applications in the safety and security sectors. Armored

vehicles could be stronger and lighter, or locks could prove invulnerable to cutting tools.

Ironically, it could also be used to make protective equipment for those who use cutting

tools.

Proteus is currently patent-pending, and the team is seeking manufacturing partners to

commercialize the material. If you are interested in the technical details, they have

published their research in Scientific Reports.

Source: https://www.techspot.com/news/86079-new-material-called-proteus

reportedly-world-first-uncuttable.html





https://www.prepmate.in/course-content-schedules/

WhatsApp No. 88986-30000 · 2020-07-22 · The ban is another nail in the coffin of what then Prime...

Documents

Transcript of WhatsApp No. 88986-30000 · 2020-07-22 · The ban is another nail in the coffin of what then Prime...