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Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Developing Cryo-electron Microscopy

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 has been awarded on Wednesday October 4, 2017 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences  to three biophysicists Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson, “for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution“. Cryo-electron microscopy is “a cool method for imaging the materials of life”, or for imaging molecules of life. Cryo-electron microscopy or Cool microscope technology revolutionises biochemistry, it simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules. The development allows scientists to visualize proteins and other biological molecules at the atomic level.

Jacques Dubochet, 75 born in Aigle, Switzerland a Swiss citizen, is a professor at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Joachim Frank, 77 born in Germany and now a U.S. citizen, is a Columbia University professor in New York. Richard Henderson, 72 born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Cambridge University, UK is Programme Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK.

A picture is a key to understanding. Scientific breakthroughs often build upon the successful visualisation of objects invisible to the human eye. However, biochemical maps have long been filled with blank spaces because the available technology has had difficulty generating images of much of life’s molecular machinery. Cryo-electron microscopy changes all of this. Researchers can now freeze biomolecules mid-movement and visualise processes they have never previously seen, which is decisive for both the basic understanding of life’s chemistry and for the development of pharmaceuticals.

Electron microscopes were long believed to be only suitable for imaging dead matter, because the powerful electron beam destroys biological material. But in 1990, Richard Henderson succeeded in using an electron microscope to generate a three-dimensional image of a protein at atomic resolution. This breakthrough proved the technology’s potential.

Joachim Frank made the technology generally applicable. Between 1975 and 1986 he developed an image processing method in which electron microscopes’ fuzzy two dimensional images are analysed and merged to reveal a sharp three-dimensional structure.

Jacques Dubochet added water to electron microscopy. Liquid water evaporates in the electron microscope’s vacuum, which makes the biomolecules collapse. In the early 1980s, Dubochet succeeded in vitrifying water – he cooled water so rapidly that it solidified in its liquid form around a biological sample, allowing the biomolecules to retain their natural shape even in a vacuum.

Following these discoveries, every nut and bolt of the electron microscope has been optimised. The desired atomic resolution was reached in 2013, and researchers can now routinely produce three-dimensional structures of biomolecules. In the past few years, scientific literature has been filled with images of everything from proteins that cause antibiotic resistance, to the surface of the Zika virus. Biochemistry is now facing an explosive development and is all set for an exciting future. U. S. Scientists used cryo-electron imaging to quickly determine the shape of Zika virus and have succeeded in getting details of the Zika virus’s surface, once it was identified as the cause of severe birth defects. The findings could help scientists eventually speed up research into vaccines and develop a vaccine for the virus. In January, Rossmann and his colleagues had announced that they had located the envelope proteins that enable Zika to meld with the host cells it infects, and according to Rossmann, the microscopy field is entering a period of “resolution revolution.” That is, scientists are scanning molecules in finer and finer detail.

To see the structure of molecules at ultrahigh resolution, scientists must hold molecules in place in their natural configuration. Other microscopic techniques, such as X-ray crystallography, are far more rigid than cryo-electron microscopy. The technique flash-freezes a sample to create a layer of ice like a pane of glass over a layer of liquid where the molecules can retain their natural shape.

Dubochet figured out how to cool water so quickly that crystals would not form in the early 1980s and first submitted for publication, “Discovery of water vitrification and development of cryo-electron microscopy”, it was rejected — the publishers did not believe water could be manipulated this way.

According to Frank, “Cryo-electron microscopy is about to completely transform structural biology,” as he created three-dimensional pictures from electron microscopes’ two-dimensional images. For him, he said, the “coolest molecule has always been the ribosome.” The ribosome, a cluster of RNA and protein, is tiny and hard to image. Its width is less than the wavelength of visible light. Cryo-electron microscopy allowed Frank and his colleagues to view the camera-shy particle.

Henderson had in 1990s shown that cryo-electron microscopy could be as detailed as X-ray crystallography when he made an atomic model of a member protein found in microorganisms.

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Nobel in Physics for finally Capturing Gravitational Waves

Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 has been awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy on Tuesday October 3, 2017 to Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne, three Americans members of the LIGO-Virgo detector collaboration, for their pioneering role in the detection of gravitational waves; “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves”. According to Nobel committee representative Göran K. Hansson in Stockholm, “This year’s prize is about a discovery that shook the world”. Albert Einstein predicted in his 1915 general theory of relativity that distortions in gravity would travel through space-time like a shock wave. It took nearly a century to confirm that these distortions exist, a feat that required huge contraptions in two locations to detect an ultra-tiny ripple in the fabric of space. One half of the prize went to Weiss born 1932 in Berlin, Germany and now a U.S. citizen, who is a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And the other half went jointly to Barish born 1936 in Omaha, NE, USA, a Nebraska native, and Thorne born 1940 in Logan, Utah, USA. Both work at the California Institute of Technology. LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, is a collaborative project with over one thousand researchers from more than twenty countries.

 

Gravitational waves spread at the speed of light, filling the universe, as Albert Einstein described in his general theory of relativity. They are always created when a mass accelerates, like when an ice-skater pirouettes or a pair of black holes rotates around each other. Einstein was convinced it would never be possible to measure them. The LIGO project’s achievement was using a pair of gigantic laser interferometers to measure a change thousands of times smaller than an atomic nucleus, as the gravitational wave passed the Earth.

Rainer Weiss had already analysed in the mid-1970s, the possible sources of background noise that would disturb measurements, and had also designed a detector, a laser-based interferometer, which would overcome this noise. Early on, both Kip Thorne and Rainer Weiss were firmly convinced that gravitational waves could be detected and bring about a revolution in our knowledge of the universe.

The universe’s gravitational waves were observed for the very first time On 14 September 2015. The waves, which were predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago, came from a collision between two black holes. It took 1.3 billion years for the waves to arrive at the LIGO detector in the USA. The signal was extremely weak when it reached Earth, but is already promising a revolution in astrophysics. Gravitational waves are an entirely new way of observing the most violent events in space and testing the limits of our knowledge.

So far all sorts of electromagnetic radiation and particles, such as cosmic rays or neutrinos, have been used to explore the universe. However, gravitational waves are direct testimony to disruptions in space time itself. This is something completely new and different, opening up unseen worlds. A wealth of discoveries awaits those who succeed in capturing the waves and interpreting their message.

INS Kiltan to Augment Navy’s Strike Capability

INS Kiltan, the latest indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette was commissioned into the force on Monday 16 October 2017 by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam; in presence of navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba; augmenting the Indian Navy’s strike capability in the Indian Ocean Region. It will boost force’s capability to detect and target hostile vessels and to provide protection to Indian warships. Defence Minister on the occasion said that, “INS Kiltan strengthens our defence system and will be a shining armour in our ‘Make in India’ programme as it is totally built here”.

  • INS Kiltan is the latest indigenous warship after Shivalik class, Kolkata class and sister ships INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt to have joined the Indian Navy’s arsenal wherein a plethora of weapons and sensors have been integrated to provide a Common Operational Picture (COP).
  • INS Kiltan has been designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house body, the Directorate of Naval Design and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata; and is the third of the four Kamorta-class corvettes being built under Project 28.
  • Kamorta-class corvettes are a class of anti-submarine warfare corvettes currently in service with the Indian Navy.
  • INS Kiltan hosts a predominantly indigenous cutting-edge weapons and sensors suite which includes heavyweight torpedoes, ASW rockets, 76 mm calibre Medium Range gun and two multi-barrel 30 mm guns as close-in-weapon system (CIWS) with dedicated fire control systems, missile decoy rockets (Chaff), advanced Electronic Support Measure system, most advanced bow mounted sonar and air surveillance radar Revathi
  • INS Kiltan spans 109 metres in length and 14 metres at the beam and is propelled by four diesel engines to achieve a speed of over 25 knots and has a displacement of 3,500 tonnes,
  • INS Kiltan is India’s first major warship to have a superstructure of carbon fibre composite material resulting in improved stealth features, lower top weight and maintenance costs.
  • INS Kiltan is 100 tonnes lighter than the previous corvettes.
  • INS Kiltan is also the first major warship to have undertaken sea trials of all major weapons and sensors as a pilot project prior to delivery by the shipyard to Indian Navy.
  • INS Kiltan in the future would also be installed with short range SAM system and carry an integral ASW helicopter. UNI ASH AE 1352.
  • INS Kiltan boasts of the proud legacy of the erstwhile Petya Class ship of same name ‘Kiltan (P79)’ built in the USSR, which had actively participated as Task Force Commander in ‘Operation Trident’ during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
  • The ship derives its name from one of the islands in Aminidivi group of the strategically located Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands.

Nobel Prize in Economics on Irrational Human Traits

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for 2017, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, has been won on Monday October 9, 2017 by Richard H. Thaler, born in 1945 in East Orange, New Jersey, USA, aged 72, a professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Chicago’s Business School, for “his contributions to behavioural economics”, upending the longstanding notion that individuals make rational decisions about their futures and finances and helping to develop policies intended to nudge people toward altering their choices.

  • Richard Thaler has challenged the standard economic assumption that people act in their best interests. He has challenged this assumption systematically, detailing how cognitive biases predictably lead consumers to poor decisions.
  • Thaler has used his insights to propose ways to help people save and save more for the retirement. He has helped to advance automatic enrolment in retirement-savings plans and automatic increases in contributions to these plans, a major shift in how Americans save money.
  • He also influenced public policy on smoking, organ donations.
  • Thaler said a takeaway from his research is ‘economic agents are humans and that economic models have to incorporate that’.
  • Richard H. Thaler won the Nobel Prize in economics for his research on how human traits affect individual decisions as well as financial markets.
  • He used psychological insights to explain why markets aren’t always efficient.

Thaler’s work has been particularly influential in finance, helping explain why markets may often over-react to dramatic news. Along with another recent Nobel laureate, Robert Shiller, Thaler has been one of the pioneers in the area of behavioural finance, helping us understand market phenomena that conventional economics could not explain well.

Richard Thaler got a Nobel Prize for saying that stupid things can happen in financial markets and he explained that, how people think about financial markets, helping found the field of behavioural finance. Today, billions of dollars are staked by fund managers who use his insights to try to profit from the biases he helped expose—and yet irrationality still hasn’t been arbitraged away.

Richard Thaler had described in a tweet on November 8, 2016 about India’s demonetisation as, “This is a policy I have long supported. First step toward cashless and good start on reducing corruption” but also remarked “damn” when it was brought to his notice that the government was introducing Rs 2,000 currency notes. However, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, who is also currently serving as Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School and whose name as per the news reports was nominated for the Nobel Prize, had recently stated that he was never in favour of demonetisation

According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Richard H. Thaler, co-author of the 2008 best-seller Nudge (Book by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler), has “built a bridge between the economic and psychological analyses of individual decision-making. By exploring the consequences of limited rationality, social preferences, and lack of self-control, he has shown how these human traits systematically affect individual decisions as well as market outcomes”. He has incorporated psychologically realistic assumptions into analysis of economic decision-making. His “nudge” theory suggests that small incentives can prod people into making certain decisions. His work has informed politicians looking for ways to influence voters and shape societies at a time when budget deficits limited their scope to spend. Thaler developed the theory of “mental accounting”, explaining how people make financial decisions by creating separate accounts in their minds, focusing on the narrow impact rather than the overall effect. His research on “fairness”, which showed how consumer concerns may stop firms from raising prices in periods of high demand, but not in times of rising costs, has also been influential. He shed light on how people succumb to short-term temptations, which is why many people fail to plan and save for old age.

Nobel in Medicine for Discovery of ‘clock genes’

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017 has been awarded by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, on Monday October 2, 2017 jointly to three Americans Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm; the Scientists elucidated how a life-form’s “inner clock” can fluctuate to optimize human behaviour and physiology. “Their discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the Earth’s revolutions.” Nobel Prize has been awarded since 1901 to scientists who have made the most important discoveries for the benefit of mankind.

Working with fruit flies, the scientists isolated a gene that is responsible for a protein that accumulates in the night but is degraded in the day. Misalignments in this clock may play a role in medical conditions and disorders, as well as the temporary disorientation of jet lag that travellers experience when crisscrossing time zones.

These scientists had been working on this since 1984 when Hall and Rosbash worked together at Brandeis and Young at Rockefeller University and the trio isolated the “period” gene, which controls the circadian rhythm of fruit flies. Hall and Rosbash then showed that the level of the protein encoded by this gene changes in a 24-hour cycle, going up during the day and down at night. They theorized that this protein blocked the activity of the period gene.

Young discovered in 1994, a second clock gene, “timeless” and figured out how, the protein would have to reach the genetic material in the cell nucleus, to have this effect. He showed that when the protein encoded by timeless bound to the protein made by the gene period, they were able to enter the cell nucleus. He further identified a third gene, “doubletime,” which appeared to control the frequency of the oscillations over a 24-hour period.

Rosbash, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, explained in the Institute’s Bulletin in 2014 that, “The circadian system has its tentacles around everything.” “It’s ticking away in almost every tissue in the human body.” It’s also in plants, including major food crops, the article noted, and appears to be tied to “disease susceptibility, growth rate, and fruit size.”

Young said that in the early days of their research many scientists thought of their work as a subset of neuroscience. They theorized that the brain may have a single, central clock controlling the cycles we’ve observed such as the rise and fall of our body temperature and blood pressure throughout the day. Now we know each living thing, including those without brains, may have many different clocks. Young stated that, “We learned we are truly rhythmic organisms.” Today, “it’s hard to find a cell that does not oscillate in response to these clocks.”

According to Erin O’Shea, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, people have observed for centuries that plants and animals change their behaviour in sync with the light present in the natural environment. And Hall, Rosbash and Young figured out is how this happens, “Genes make up the mechanics by which organisms can keep track of time and this allows them, just like your wristwatch, to coordinate their behaviour their sleep-wake cycle with the changes in the light-dark cycle”.

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The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet cited that the circadian clock anticipates and adapts our physiology to the different phases of the day. Researchers in the field of circadian biology, nicknamed as “chronobiology,” opine that the scientists’ work has had a major influence on their work in human health and medicine. Alzheimer’s, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), heart disease, obesity and diabetes and other metabolic issues are among the many conditions that appear to be linked to circadian rhythms being out of whack.

Erol Fikrig, a researcher at Yale University who is studying whether the timing of insect bites impacts our ability to fight off diseases like dengue fever or Lyme disease, explained that our immune system, too, “is influenced by circadian rhythm, which can alter our ability to fight infections.”

Amita Sehgal, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania, was a postdoctoral student in Young’s lab from 1988 to 1993 and worked on the clock genes. Her research these days involves looking at how sleep appears to be controlled by the circadian clock. Although we sleep at night, our need to sleep appears to be independent of the clock. “If you didn’t have a clock, you would still sleep, but it would be randomly distributed throughout the day,” she said.

Young said that one of the most important areas of study built on their work is what happens when the clock runs too fast or too slow. Most recently, scientists have discovered that one per cent of humans worldwide have a mutation in the clock genes that is associated with delayed sleep or being a night owl. He said many of these individuals show up at sleep clinics wondering what to do, and the work provides a target to work on. According to Young “That’s powerful information that can inform lots of future work in the development of therapies” and there’s also growing research, mostly in animals, that supports the idea that maintaining a more regular schedule, including eating and sleeping, may contribute to longevity.

Jeffrey C. Hall was born 1945 in New York, USA. He received his doctoral degree in 1971 at the University of Washington in Seattle and was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena from 1971 to 1973. He joined the faculty at Brandeis University in Waltham in 1974. In 2002, he became associated with University of Maine.

 

Michael Rosbash was born in 1944 in Kansas City, USA. He received his doctoral degree in 1970 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. During the following three years, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Since 1974, he has been on faculty at Brandeis University in Waltham, USA.

 

Michael W. Young was born in 1949 in Miami, USA. He received his doctoral degree at the University of Texas in Austin in 1975. Between 1975 and 1977, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University in Palo Alto. From 1978, he has been on faculty at the Rockefeller University in New York.

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons wins Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize 2017 has been awarded on Friday October 06, 2017 to International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the Geneva-based Nuclear disarmament campaign group for its efforts to rid the world of the atomic bomb, “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition on such weapons”.

  • ICAN comprises of more than 400 non-government organizations (NGOs) in a coalition one hundred countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty. It has for the past decade been sounding the alarm over the massive dangers posed by nuclear weapons and campaigning for a global ban.
  • ICAN secured a significant victory on July 07, 2017 when an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations voted to adopt the United Nations Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – a landmark international agreement that outlaws the ultimate weapons of mass destruction and establishes a pathway to their elimination.
  • But ICAN is not resting on its laurels with actual disarmament of the world’s nuclear arsenal likely still far off.
  • ICAN is a broad, inclusive campaign, informed by the need, urgency and feasibility of abolishing nuclear weapons, and focused on mobilizing civil society around the specific objective of negotiating a global nuclear weapon ban treaty. It has a steering group, staff team and partner organizations.
  • ICAN operates on a partnership model. Any organization that agrees with the ICAN’s aims and does not use or advocate violence may become an ICAN partner organization. Partners pledge to promote the objective of a nuclear weapon ban treaty and to identify publicly with the campaign.
  • ICAN was recognised by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for its Humanitarian Initiative based on the principle that the catastrophic, persistent effects of nuclear weapons on our health, societies and the environment must be at the centre of all public and diplomatic discussions about nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

The announcement came in the midst of tensions over North Korea’s Nuclear Tests and threats to detonate a hydrogen bomb, uncertainty over certification of Iran’s compliance with the 2015 accord that limits Iran’s nuclear program and at such a crucial stage; the Nobel committee has highlighted ICAN’s tireless non-proliferation efforts as nuclear-related crises swirl around North Korea and Iran, after a gap of around seventy two years of Atomic bombings of Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States during the final stage of World War II, on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. The United States had dropped the bombs with the consent of the United Kingdom as outlined in the Quebec Agreement. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.

This decision of Norwegian Nobel Committee has sent a strong message at a time when Mr. Trump has threatened to tear up a 2015 deal curbing Iran’s nuclear abilities. And the U.S. President last month alarmed delegates at the UN General Assembly by warning he may be forced to “totally destroy” North Korea because of its atomic weapons programme.

Norwegian Nobel committee president Berit Reiss-Andersen in announcing the prize in Oslo said that, “We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time. Some states are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and there is a real danger that more countries will try to procure nuclear weapons, as exemplified by North Korea.” However, she stressed that the committee’s decision wasn’t aimed at any particular world leader, adding: “We’re not kicking anyone’s leg with this prize.”

Chakmas and Hajongs to be Granted Citizenship

Chakmas and Hajongs are ethnic people, originally inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts of erstwhile East Pakistan which is now Bangladesh. They were systematically forced out of their country because of the Kaptai hydroelectric dam on the Karnaphuli River in the early 1960s as there was no rehabilitation and compensation. They also became victims of religious persecution in erstwhile East Pakistan and fled to India. Indian government decided in the mid September, 2017; that it would grant citizenship to Chakma and Hajong refugees living in the Northeast while ensuring that the rights of indigenous people are not diluted.

  • Chakmas are predominantly Buddhists and Hajongs are Hindus.
  • Chakmas and Hajongs entered India through present day Mizoram and Tripura in from 1964 to 1969 and around 14888 were settled in Arunachal.
  • They had initially crossed over to the then Lushai Hills district of Assam, now Mizoram. But fearing trouble between the Mizos and the Chakmas, the Assam government sent them to the Tirap division of North East Frontier Agency (NEFA, present-day Arunachal Pradesh), which was administered by the Ministry of External Affairs through the Assam governor.
  • More than one lakh Chakmas had been living long before the influx from erstwhile East Pakistan in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam, Tripura and West Bengal
  • Refugee are persons forced to flee their country because of persecution, war or violence.
  • Originally all Chakmas and Hajongs were treated as refugees, Government of India decided to grant them citizenship under Section 5(i)(a) of the Citizenship Act on the basis of a joint statement by the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh in 1972.
  • Arunachal Pradesh, which came into being in the year 1972 as a Union Territory, treating Chakmas as outsiders, opposed granting of Citizenship to them, although about 1,500 Chakmas already had their names in the state’s electoral rolls and names of about 3,200 Chakmas currently appear in Arunachal’s electoral rolls.
  • The issue of citizenship concerns only refugees, of whom there are only around 6000 alive, and their children born on or after July 1, 1987.
  • Arunachal Pradesh attained full statehood in 1987; by then All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) had already built a strong movement against settling Chakmas and Hajongs there.
  • As for later generations, a white paper published by the state government in1996 said their numbers had increased more than 300% from the original 14888 persons settled in 1964-69 to over 60000 in 1995.
  • According to the Supreme Court, all those born in India could invoke Section 5(i) (a) and apply for citizenship. In 2005, the Election Commission issued general guidelines to include the Chakmas and Hajongs in the state’s electoral rolls.
  • Though the AAPSU contested this, Gauhati High Court dismissed its plea in March 2013.
  • In September 2015, Supreme Court ruled in favour of citizenship to eligible Chakma and Hajong refugees and said they should not be discriminated against.

Strengthening India and Japan Relationship

India and Japan stress on strengthening all aspects of partnership during their 12th annual bilateral summit at Gandhinagar in Gujarat on September 13 & 14, 2017 commenced with a first ever such a grand 8 km road show of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, in an open-roof vehicle from Airport to Sabarmati Ashram; and the two countries have signed a host of agreements as under:

  • Ahmedabad–Mumbai Bullet Train 508-km, Rs. 1.1 lakh-crore project joint inauguration was the high point and India’s decision to partner with Japan for this project. According to Modi, humanity friendly and eco-friendly, bullet train project will take care of high speed, high growth and high-end technology and will usher in the next generation economic growth along the corridor between the two cities; and that New India has taken an important step towards fulfilling a big dream. The project is to become reality in all likelihood by India’s 75th Independence Day in 2022.
  • India Japan Act East Forum constituted to enhance Connectivity and promote infrastructure and other developmental projects in the North East region of India and countries adjoining the region in an efficient and effective manner, an offer India has also extended to Japan but denied to any other country.
  • “Toward a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific”, on cooperation in the region, indicate a much closer alignment between India and Japan in countering China’s influence in the South China Sea, its forays into the Indian Ocean, and investments in South Asia and Africa.
  • On Disaster Risk Management between Home Ministry of India and the Cabinet Office of Japan that aims to cooperate and collaborate in disaster risk reduction and to share experiences, knowledge and policies on disaster prevention.
  • In the field of Skills Development, to strengthen cooperation in Japanese language education in India.
  • To accelerate and facilitate Japanese Investments in India between the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
  • For Make in India in the Mandal Bechraj-Khoraj region between METI of Japan and Gujarat on cooperation in infrastructure development.
  • In Civil Aviation that envisages Indian and Japanese carriers mounting unlimited number of flights to the select cities of each other’s countries.
  • In Academics to strengthen the capacity of Research and effectiveness of dissemination of research findings between India’s Research and Information System (RIS) think-tank and Japan’s Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO).
  • In Science & Technology agreements:
  • To indentify and foster talented young scientist from both the countries to collaborate in theoretical Biology exchange programme between inter-disciplinary theoretical and mathematical sciences (ITHEMS), RIKEN and National Centres for Biological Sciences (Simons-NCBS).
  • To conduct joint research and establish an international centre named as ‘DBT-AIST International Centre for Translational & Environmental Research (DAICENTER)’ at National Institute of Advanced Industrial Sciences & Technology (AIST), Japan; and Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
  • To promote research collaboration between DBT Research Institutes and AIST in the field of Life Science and Biotechnology.
  • To further cooperation in Science & Technology, including research into Stem-Cells for making bone-marrow transplants more accessible. Japanese scientist Shinya Yamahanka was a co-recipient of Nobel Prize for medicine for discovering ways to reprogram mature stem cells. Through this programme, Indian scientists will be part of a global network that shares research into and knowledge of these aspects of stem cell technology.
  • In Sports:
    • To facilitate and deepen international education cooperation and exchanges between Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education and Nippon Sports Science University.
    • To strengthen strategic collaboration, joint research programme and exchanges between Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education and University of Tsukuba.
    • To strengthen strategic collaboration, joint research programme and exchanges between Sports Authority of India and University of Tsukuba.
  • ‘Cool EMS’ service through which fresh food can be sent from Japan to India in cool boxes for Japanese expatriates in India between India Post and Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also dwelt on international issues and had consensus on ways of ensuring peace in the Indo-Pacific region. Both the countries agreed to Japanese concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests and also sought accountability of all who helped the hermit kingdom in acquiring the capabilities.

In the joint statement, both nations have expressed a ‘zero tolerance’ resolve against terrorism that referenced China’s veto on the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief being put on the list of UN-designated terrorists also. Both agreed to enhance cooperation to tackle terror groups such as Al Qaeda and Pak-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. They also called upon all countries to work towards rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and financing channels and halting cross-border movement of terrorists. The two Prime Ministers also called for Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of terrorist attacks including those of the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai and the 2016 terrorist attack in Pathankot.

The Japanese PM also referred to the Malabar trilateral naval exercise saying the India-Japan-US cooperation will be strengthened further. India and Japan are boosting ties at a time when China has become more active in the Indo-Pacific region. Both the leaders also focussed on maritime security during their talks. Economic cooperation was also stressed apart from defence and strategic relations.

PM Modi said that Japan is India’s third largest investor which is a big marker in terms of economic ties. Prime Minister Abe said Japanese companies have limitless scope in India. However, while Japan is India’s largest donor and the third largest provider of FDI, bilateral trade has steadily declined since 2013, and is down to $13.61 billion in 2016-17 from $14.51 billion the year before. The contrast with India-China trade, at $71 billion a year, and Japan-China trade, at $279 billion, is stark.

The bilateral talks in Gujarat have clearly established the India-Japan ties are not confined to the bilateral or regional sphere but cover the global ambit and have the potential to change the world for the better at a rapid bullet train pace.

Brahmaputra Biodiversity and Biology Boat

Brahmaputra Biodiversity and Biology Boat (B4), a laboratory on boat is proposed to be established on the Brahmaputra River by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India in collaboration with Ministry of DONER (Development of North Eastern Region) to study the changes caused by dams, climate change, human interventions and the eventual effects it has on the river eco-system. Despite supporting considerable biodiversity, the Brahmaputra has not been studied as extensively as the Amazon, as stated by Secretary, Department of Biotechnology K. Vijay Raghavan on Wednesday, September 21, 2017.  This initial research is likely to start by December 2017 and is tentatively planned to cover the region from Pasighat, Dibrigargh, Neemati, Tejpur and Guwahati in the State of Assam.

  • B4 will be set up on a large barge on the River Brahmaputra, with several satellite boats capable of venturing into the shallower and narrower parts of the river and lifting samples for research.
  • These boats will be well-equipped laboratory with powerful research mechanism for analysis of all components of the entire ecosystem of the River and surroundings.
  • There would also be Mobile Labs that would run along the tributaries of the Brahmaputra to feed in data to the B4.
  • For a river of the size and diversity of the Brahmaputra, there is very little research done to understand its hydrology, water quality and biodiversity.
  • The project will constantly monitor the impact of various environmental and anthropological factors that affect the River and conduct research to mitigate the effects.
  • IIT Guwahati as the nodal agency has developed work plan for interdisciplinary focus that will also aim at a thorough study of freshwater resources of North East India.
  • The integrated approach is aimed to combine data, science and judgement that can impact policy.
  • The large boat with the permanent lab will be spread over two floors and will go up and down the River. One floor will be dedicated to Scientists, while the other floor will be accessible to residents of the area to learn about the eco-system.
  • B4 will link to all the local research institutions along the River Brahmaputra, as well as national and international laboratories.
  • B4 will have a teaching laboratory for school/college of students.
  • B4 will be capable of analyzing soil, water, animal life etc.

Majuli, the first island district of India, was once 1200 square kilometres but due to excessive erosion has since shrunk to under 500 square kilometres. The government of India plans to safeguard this fast-eroding Asia’s largest riverine Majuli Island, using research carried out on floating ‘B4’ boat labs along the Brahmaputra River. Majuli is also known for being the seat of Assam’s Vaishnava monasteries. The most common factors which cause soil erosion on Majuli Island are water and wind movements. Water flowing to ground carries away soil with it. During rain the soil particles, weathered rock and other organic materials are detached by rain. These soil particles are carried away by the running water. To protect it, local people are also trying to plant trees. The trees act as flood barriers. Over 25 villages have been washed away in the past 25 years. If no steps are taken, Majuli may not exist 20 years from now.

In order to give focused attention to the North Eastern Region, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences has provided hands-on leadership in implementing various biotech initiatives in North Eastern Region (NER) and a North Eastern Region Biotechnology Programme Management Cell (NER-BPMC) has been established. The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region is responsible for matters relating to planning, execution and monitoring of development schemes and projects in. Its vision is to accelerate the pace of socioeconomic development of the Region so that it may enjoy growth parity with the rest of the country.

China into a Full Blown Economic Crisis

China could be into a full blown Economic Crisis by early 2018 or so, due to the speed and size of buildup in debt that it encouraged rescuing the economy after Great Recession, i.e., the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-08. The country has since then become addicted to borrowing as its debt has exploded from $6 trillion to $28 trillion, and its ratio to GDP is up from 140% to 260% which has afflicted the country with serious asset bubbles. China’s 2015 stock market dip was a portent of things to come; followed by falling house prices for a while and reserves have depleted. China faces following challenges:

  • China has yet to tackle the asset bubbles caused due to financial crisis.
  • China’s manufacturing and export dependent economy crumpled in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
  • China, to sustain a minimum annual growth rate of 8 per cent unleashed what economists have called the greatest example of monetary easing in history — an enormous wave of easy loans channeled through the state-owned banking system.
  • Chinese economy was saved in the short term by the government’s decision to open the credit floodgates, but that has resulted in an economy addicted to borrowing and afflicted with serious asset bubbles.
  • China has gone on a spending spree, borrowing money to build cities, create manufacturing giants and nurture financial markets — money that helped drive the economic powerhouse in recent past. But the debt-fueled binge now threatens to sap growth in the world’s second largest economy.
  • China’s economy has become reliant on a property boom: every attempt to tighten creates worries about GDP and renewed easing – worse, consumers ramp up property buying in the face of attempts to discourage them.
  • China has added mountains of debt but still lacks much of basic social security and institutional infrastructure.
  • China has reached the demographic problem that one child policy has delivered a rapidly aging population with no easy reversal. Smaller productivity gains and the sheer math of diminishing returns mean that China has to borrow more money to achieve less growth.
  • China’s savings and investments are not up to the desired levels. Quality is crucial. China has saved and invested in overpriced, poorly designed assets including overpriced foreign assets. Sooner or later that will come home to roost.
  • There is lack of transparency and accountability. Outsiders cannot be certain of the real figures but even insiders are misleading each other.

 

The ultimate test will come when Beijing eventually attempts to wean the country off this debt dependence. Historically, bonds and equities have moved in opposite directions. Today, both are at all-time highs. Not because this makes economic sense, but because the tidal wave of central bank money has to be put somewhere.

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