Effortless brilliance: on Djokovic's win at Australian Open

Djokovic beats an error-prone Nadal for a record-breaking seventh Australian Open title.

ovak Djokovic, at his absolute best, can make even the most fiercely competitive of draws appear enervated. From the start of 2015 to mid-2016, when he won five of the six Grand Slam events, he arguably played at a level unmatched in tennis history. With his merciless demolition of Rafael Nadal in Melbourne on Sunday, which gave the World No. 1 a men’s-record seventh Australian Open singles trophy, and his 15th Major overall taking him past American great Pete Sampras, he is on the cusp of repeating that golden run spread across 2015 and 2016. The Serb’s transformation, in just over six months, from a physically compromised and mentally withdrawn state to having a shot at sporting immortality, has been staggering. Against Nadal, he did not quite have to hit his peak; the World No.2, despite having looked the better player leading up to the final, never truly arrived, with his rhythm, timing and tactics all over the place. The 17-time Grand Slam champion seemed smitten by anxiety, a far cry from the 2018 Wimbledon semifinal when he fearlessly matched Djokovic shot for shot over five epic sets. But that is probably what the mask of invincibility does to opponents, something that Djokovic wears so effortlessly.

To be sure, Djokovic had lost in each of the three tournaments before the Australian Open — to rising youngsters in Karen Khachanov and Alexander Zverev, and the gritty Roberto Bautista Agut — suggesting a few cracks. But the manner of victory over Nadal, where he conceded a mere eight games and did not drop a set, a first in 25 finals for the Spaniard, proved that the 31-year-old had lost none of his astonishing powers of recovery. Nadal was on the path to recovery as well, playing only his first tournament since his injury-forced retirement in the U.S. Open semifinal last September. Following Roger Federer’s loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 20-year-old sensation from Greece, the tournament seemed open to further upsets, but the business end demonstrated that the elite can never be written off. As Nadal said after dismantling Tsitsipas in the semifinal, what fans can instead look forward to is an irresistible battle of the generations. On the women’s side, this clash has seemed heightened in recent years, and Naomi Osaka, with her gallant three-set win over Petra Kvitova in the final, firmly established herself as the next big thing. For the 21-year-old to back up her maiden title at the U.S. Open with a win in the very next slam is character-revealing. She is now the World No.1 and also the first Asian to get there. She has the temperament and the poise to go much further.

Clearer TV: on TRAI's order on broadcasting, cable services

New TRAI order provides for greater choice and transparency on pricing of channels.

The tariff order on broadcasting and cable services issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is set to become effective on February 1, giving the consumer the option to pay only for those channels she wants to watch. Under the scheme, there is also a maximum price for pay channels declared by the broadcaster, which is reported to TRAI, bringing about greater transparency. Each channel will be available on an a la carte basis. The effect is that the consumer’s subscription cost on a base package of 100 standard definition television channels is fixed in the form of a network capacity fee. And even within this group, there is freedom to choose channels, with a provision for appropriate revision for any pay channels. This is a welcome departure from a regime where combinations of free and pay channels were decided by distributors and broadcasters as bouquets that did not reflect actual demand for individual channels. Efforts to introduce a la carte choice were thwarted by pricing individual channels almost as high as the bouquets they were part of. Bouquets are enabled in the new scheme, but with the stipulation that at least 85% of the total price of all channels that form part of a bouquet be charged, removing the incentive to distort prices. Distributors including cable and DTH platforms, and advertisers, should welcome the order, which strengthens price discovery and eliminates inflated claims of the subscriber base.

Television in the conventional sense has changed in the era of the Internet, with the emergence of new distribution possibilities. Many broadcasters, including popular news channels, provide their content free on platforms such as YouTube and through mobile phone applications, reaching global audiences. Global Over the Top (OTT) providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have opened a new front and are competing for viewers who get advertisement-free programming streamed on subscription. TRAI has made clear that since broadcast licensing does not apply to such new technology platforms, these do not come under price regulation. In the fast-changing competitive landscape of home entertainment, conventional TV must now compete on the strength of transparent pricing and better programming for subscription revenue growth and viewer time that attracts advertising. Industry data show that there are about 197 million homes in India with a TV set, and 100 million more homes without one represent scope for growth. This can be achieved through regulatory schemes that empower broadcasters and subscribers alike. TRAI has done well to put up a calculator on its website to help consumers calculate bills under the new regime before signing up for a package with the operator. The broadcast industry must welcome a new era that promises to remove distribution bottlenecks and empower consumers with choice.

Stress and strain: on Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka JANUARY 30, 2019 00:02 IST UPDATED: JANUARY 29, 2019 22:55 IST

In politically charged Karnataka, words gather the power to unsettle those in authority..

No relationship is free of tense moments and conflicting emotions. But the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance in Karnataka seems to have more than its share of stress and strain. The pressures on the post-poll tie-up are from multiple points: the Opposition BJP that believes it was robbed of its mandate, and is looking to win over some of the MLAs of the Congress to topple the government; Congress members, especially those owing allegiance to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who argue that the chief ministership should not have been handed over to the junior partner, the JD(S); and the leadership of the JD(S) that tries to assert itself within the alliance and expand the party’s base at the Congress’s expense. With the Lok Sabha election approaching, the stakes are high for all. The JD(S) wants to ensure it gets a good share of the seats as part of the alliance; the Congress realises it will have to concede ground to the JD(S) to keep the BJP out of the political turf, and the BJP knows the importance of being in power at the time of polls. After days of high drama, when the BJP and the Congress herded their MLAs in resorts to protect them from poaching, the pressure point on the government is from Siddaramaiah loyalists. Congress MLA S.T. Somashekar, on being appointed as the chairperson of the Bangalore Development Authority, claimed the city had not seen any development under the coalition government. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy promptly offered to quit if his style of functioning was found to be unacceptable, forcing a rattled Congress leadership to rush to make amends. While Mr. Siddaramaiah signalled to his supporters and the party leadership he was not manoeuvring to be Chief Minister again, Mr. Somashekar apologised after KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao said he was at fault.

That a statement by one MLA can create such a storm speaks to the structural instability of the arrangement. The Congress and the JD(S) came together in a marriage of convenience; the JD(S) was allowed to head the government to prevent it from entering into a deal with the BJP. The only thing the Congress could offer the JD(S) that the BJP could not was the chief ministership. This was no gesture of magnanimity; only pragmatic deal-making. As negotiations on seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls begin, the strain is beginning to show. In these trying circumstances, the level of political discourse is also falling. While Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde made personal, derogatory comments about Mr. Rao, Mr. Siddaramaiah shouted at a party worker and grabbed the mike from her when she complained about the failure of officials to redress the grievances of her townspeople. In the surcharged atmosphere now, a remark is often enough of a spark to set off a ravaging fire.

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Malarial drug inhibits Zika virus growth, IIT Mandi team finds

The drug hydroxychloroquine or HCQ, was able to significantly reduce viral load in placental cells.

Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi have found a drug hydroxychloroquine or HCQ, that is already being used for treating malaria to be effective in inhibiting Zika virus growth and replication.

Also, the drug was able to significantly reduce viral load in placental cells. Zika virus is known to damage and kill the placental cells (which act as a barrier to protect the developing foetus from disease-causing organisms) leading to foetal infection. The drug might therefore help in preventing vertical transmission of Zika virus from the placenta to the foetus.

Since the HCQ drug is already approved for use in pregnancy, positive results in human trials will mean that it can be given to pregnant women infected with Zika to reduce the chances of vertical transmission. Some foetuses infected with Zika virus are born with a small head (microcephaly).

As the Zika virus protease structure is already available in the literature, a team led by Dr. Rajanish Giri from IIT Mandi identified the druggable site on the protease enzyme. The Zika protease enzyme is a good target for drug action as inhibition of the protease stops Zika virus growth. The team then screened FDA-approved drugs and identified five compounds based on their binding to the active site of the enzyme. The malarial drug HCQ was one of the five compounds selected.

Besides binding to the active site of the protease enzyme, the binding of the malarial drug to the active site was found to be stable. Based on these results, in vitro tests were carried out using purified viral enzyme to assess the ability of the drug to inhibit enzyme activity. “We found 92 microMolar of the drug was sufficient to inhibit the enzyme activity,” says Dr. Giri.

“Inhibiting the protease activity leads to stoppage of virus replication and survival. This will eventually result in reducing the viral load,” says Ankur Kumar from IIT Mandi and first author of a paper published in the journal ACS Omega.

In an earlier study, Prof. Indira U. Mysorekar from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Washington University School of Medicine, used the malarial drug in Zika-infected animals to test its effectiveness in reducing vertical transmission. The drug significantly reduced the viral load in the placenta and foetus of the mice.

“The HCQ drug acts on Zika virus through multiple mechanisms. We exploited the autophagy pathway to reduce the viral load in placental cells. The drug also inhibits the protease enzyme activity to limit its growth,” says Prof. Mysorekar, who is a co-author of the latest paper.

The placenta acts as a barrier and prevents any pathogens from reaching the foetus through a form of garbage recycling system that removes some components of cells, termed autophagy. When the placenta is infected with Zika virus, the autophagy gets ramped up thus allowing the virus to enter the foetus. But in the presence of the drug, the ramping up of autophagy is prevented thus inhibiting the virus from infecting the foetus. Through in vitroand mice studies, Prof. Mysorekar’s team had earlier shown how the drug prevents the Zika virus, which has infected the placental cells, from infecting the foetus.

Besides autophagy, the drug inhibits Zika infection of placental cells by binding to the enzyme. “The drug modulating the autophagy process is important in placental cells, while inhibiting the protease enzyme activity could help stop the growth and kill the virus in other sites of the body,” says Prof. Mysorekar.

The team will carry out more tests to determine the efficacy of the drug in humans. It is currently working to find the optimal dosage required to kill the virus in humans. Since the malarial drug is already approved for use in humans, pregnant women included, the team is planning to carry out trials on humans to assess the ability of the drug to reduce viral load and cut vertical transmission. “The HCQ drug is readily available, cheap and safe for use in pregnant women. So it should be used in humans if the trials provide encouraging results,” says Prof. Mysorekar.

A clean environment will be our best gift to posterity

We have already compromised a lot on the prospects of the future generation to live in a healthy environment.  LED CR oxfam report it that this is richest 10 person of Indian population 173 operates while Telegraph opening of the rich client and as the residence of the richest Indian veg aiming at the sky the poorest have of the Indian was struggling with me at 1% grow the trees in this backdrop of the glaring disparities that we have to read the baby Andreas CA CRO Centre for the international climate research recommend that Indian carbon dioxide emissions by the estimated 4. 6% 2017 decided belong to the turbulent shear for its economy India Amazon sale at 1. 82 nominal per capita..

Indian Pakistan prepare different kinds of war

New Delhi choice is conventional available Rawalpindi threatened in nuclear one.

On Thursday Pakistan announced successfully training lunch of the short range nuclear-capable NASR missile. it is no surprise that this launches full also closely on the Heels of the Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat announcement only by being the idea of integrated battle group I busy to launch a quick conventional assault on Pakistan I was your closed associated with his Indian Army cold start Doctrine that come about in this aftermath of the Welfare Corporation 2001 to 2002. Essentially this tassel is about fighting once very towards India is conventionally Supriya and wants to convenience wars with Pakistan within the conventional realm. Pakistan wants to keep the conflict either in the subcontinent ravilum where it enjoy the Monopoly in this diet and escalate it to the nucleus elam Veritas verity with India by passing a convent entirely. Indian Army evolved the cold start doctrine of Limited conventional well because it realised that Pakistan nuclear weapon could not allow for a full scape conventional war.

the Doctrine was never Androids to by the government of India but it provided Pakistan with any desk used to build missile with NASA to target Indian formation undertaking conventional Strike. Indias No1 responses to Chabbis Gara so that earlier in the cold started Vinay personalised or Army was not confident of fulling it off. general Rawat has now got the idea of front end sentence he is saying that I will be will be tested by may.

This undoubtedly enhance the credibility of cold start doctrine. Playing exactly to the script Pakistan is now flaunting Nasr.
the use of n a s r carries a number of the risk and does not guarantee success service deterrence is often in the advice remained as long as Indian leader continue to be determined by NASA it will continue to be effective.

Domino effect of e w s quotas

Reservation policy has become a clear tool for both mobilization.
Earlier this month the union government enacted a law to provide 10% reservation to economically weaker section of communities hit her toe not entitled to this benefit. that the Bharatiya Janata party has done this with the next Lok Sabha election in mind is beyond doubt. That most other parties did not use the move due to political consideration is also clear.

Whether or not the move passes the screen ATI of the supreme court will have to be seen.
What is already evident how far is the Domino effect this mob has had across the country. the Gujarat government has announced that benefit of e w s Kota Raj will not be given to those who have settled in the state after 1978.

the Andhra Pradesh government has said that it will come out half of the 10% e w s Kota for the Kapu sub caste.

Tejashree Jadhav from the Rashtriya Janata Dal HD Wonder That reservation be increased to 90%.
The pattern is clear reservation policy has become a useful for the boat mobilization other than a corrective mechanism for the backwardness due to historical discrimination. political parties have more than demonstrated that this kind of political has scant regard for the constitutional principle or judgement of the supreme court.

This is a dangerous trend. a functional democracy cannot outsource the responsibility of preserving basic constitutional proprietary to the Judiciary while political parties go around sub diverting it. this is not to say that reservation policy has to be cast in stone how are any big departure from such a policy should at least begin with a detailed assessment of facts.

last but not least is the concerned that implementing reservation is for more Complex than announcing it. As more and more categories of reservation or added search complexities about to increase. the announcement of reservation for a ws7 upper caste might have reduced the stigma which was attached with beneficiaries of reservation but it is likely to father 58 the political around the reservation.