The revolt of 1857 

• The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Company's army in the garrison town of Meerut, 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Delhi.
  
• It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions chiefly in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, though incidents of revolt also occurred farther north and east.
  
• Its name is contested, and it is variously described as the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of Independence.
  

• One of the main reasons for the revolt was that the British East India Company also started meddling with India’s political and financial system
  
• Underlying grievances over British taxation and recent land annexations by the British East Indian Company (BEIC) were ignited by the sepoy mutineers.
  
• An uprising in several sepoy companies of the Bengal army was sparked by the issue of new gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield rifle February, 1857. The cartridges were rumoured to have been made from cow and sow fat.
  
• Loading the Enfield required tearing open the greased cartridge with one's teeth. This would have insulted both Hindu and Muslim religious practices; cows were considered holy by Hindus, while pigs were considered unclean by Muslims.
  
• The old aristocracy, both Muslim and Hindu, who were seeing their power steadily eroded by the BEIC, also rebelled against British rule.
  

• At Delhi, the nominal and symbolic; leadership belonged to the Emperor Bahadur Shah, but the real command lay with a Court of Soldiers headed by General Bakht Khan who had led the revolt of the Bareilly troops and brought them to Delhi.
  
• At Kanpur, the Revolt was led by Nana Sahib, the adopted son of Baji Rao II, the last Peshwa. Nana Sahib expelled the English from Kanpur with the help of the sepoys and proclaimed himself the Peshwa. At the same time, he acknowledged Bahadur Shah as the Emperor of India and declared himself to be his Governor.
  
• The revolt at Lucknow was led by the Begum of Avadh who had proclaimed her young son, Birjis Kadr, as the Nawab of Avadh.
  
• The Rani of Jhansi joined the rebels when the British refused to acknowledge her right to adopt an heir to the Jhansi gaddi (throne) annexed her state, and threatened to treat her as an instigator of the rebellion of the sepoys at Jhansi.
  
• Kunwar Singh, a ruined and discontented zamindar of Jagdishpur near Arrah, was the chief organizer of the Revolt in Bihar.
  

• The Revolt was suppressed. Sheer courage could not win against a powerful and determined enemy who planned its every step.
  
• The rebels were dealt an early blow when the British captured Delhi on 20 September 1857 after prolonged and bitter fighting.
  
• The aged Emperor Bahadur Shah was taken prisoner. The Royal Princes were captured and butchered on the spot. The Emperor was tried and exiled to Rangoon where he died in 1862.
  
• The Rani Jhansi had died on the field of battle earlier on 17 June 1858. By 1859, Kunwar Singh, Bakht Khan, Khan Bahadur Khan of Bareilly, Rao Sahib brother of Nana Sahib, and Maulavi Ahmadullah were all dead, while the Begum of Avadh was compelled to hide in Nepal.
  
• John Lawrence, Outram, Havelock, Neil, Campbell, and Hugh Rose were some of the British commanders who earned military fame in the course of the revolt.
  
  
  

Flying foxes in Australia exposed to zoonotic viruses 

• In the case of Australian bat lyssavirus, humans and other animals need to be bitten or scratched by a carrier. The risks posed by Hendra virus are extremely low with only seven cases in humans, all of whom had been in contact with infected horses, never directly from bats.
  
• Grey-headed flying foxes are essential ecosystem service providers contributing to large-scale pollination and seed dispersal and are a nationally threatened species," Dr Boardman said.
  
• They have this extraordinary ability to be infected with viruses but don't show any ill effects, except for one virus; the Australian bat lyssavirus.
  
• The research on the local population has also revealed that Hendra virus levels were significantly higher in pregnant females; results that align with findings interstate.
  

• They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in the tropics and subtropics of Asia, Australia, East Africa, and some oceanic islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
  
• They locate resources with their keen sense of smell. Most, but not all, are nocturnal. They navigate with keen eyesight, as they cannot echolocate.
  
• They have long life spans and low reproductive outputs, with females of most species producing only one offspring per year.
  
• They are ecologically beneficial by assisting in the regeneration of forests via seed dispersal. They benefit ecosystems and human interests by pollinating plants.
  

Hot and humid weather may not stop Coronavirus

• The study looked at 144 geopolitical areas -- states and provinces in Australia, the US and Canada as well as various countries around the world - and a total of more than 3, 75,600 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
  
• China, Italy, Iran and South Korea were excluded because the virus was either waning in the case of China or in full disease outbreak at the time of the analysis in others.
  
• To estimate epidemic growth, researchers compared the number of cases on March 27 with cases on March 20, and determined the influence of latitude, temperature, humidity, school closures, restrictions on mass gatherings and social distancing measured during the exposure period of March 7 to 13.
  
• They found little or no association between latitude or temperature with epidemic growth of COVID-19 and a weak association between humidity and reduced transmission. 
  
• The researchers did find that public health measures, including school closures, social distancing and restrictions of large gatherings, have been effective.
  
• The authors noted several study limitations, such as differences in testing practices, the inability to estimate actual rates of COVID-19 and compliance with social distancing.
  
• When deciding how to lift restrictions, governments and public health authorities should carefully weigh the impact of these measures against potential economic and mental health harm and benefits.
  

Vanishing of the moon 

• Almost a millennium ago, sudden turbulence was experienced on the surface of the earth. Giant clouds of particles rich in sulphur flowed through the stratosphere which turned the skies dark for months, maybe even years before they ultimately fell down to the earth.
  
• The event has been confirmed to have happened as a number of researchers through the years have drilled ice cores and collected samples and found samples of trapped sulphur aerosols which form due to volcanic eruptions.
  
• Ice can preserve evidence of volcanism over incredibly long timescales, but pinpointing the precise date of an event that shows up in the layers of an ice core is still tricky business.
  
• The findings in the recent study do not qualify to become concrete evidence for the moon going dark for months in 1100, but it does give away some evidence about the same.
  
• Researchers looked into medieval records which described dark lunar eclipses during that time. In one of the reports, it was stated that the lunar eclipses were affected due to the volcanic activity. 
  
• In addition to witness accounts, the researchers also looked at tree ring evidence, which suggests 1109 CE was an exceptionally cold year (about 1 degree Celsius cooler in the Northern Hemisphere), based on significantly thinner tree rings.
  
• Lunar phenomenons have been recorded evidence since centuries. The history of lunar eclipses have currently showcased the history of the earth accurately and is reportedly being used to do so yet again.
  
• It is not sure whether the reason behind the moon going dark for months had anything to do with the volcanic ashes and sulphur in the atmosphere, but the study has reportedly made many scientists around the world curious about the history of the moon in relation to the Earth. 
  

Inactivated PiCoVacc vaccine found effective in animal study 

• For the animal trial, four different doses of the vaccine mixed with an adjuvant were administered on days zero and seven. The control group was administered a sham vaccine.
  
• Researchers note that the vaccine was able to quickly induce RBD-specific immunoglobulin G (Ig G) in vaccinated mice.
  
• About half of spike protein-induced antibody response came from RBD-specific IgG, suggesting RBD is the dominant immunogen.
  
• Incidentally, RBD-specific IgG was found to be the dominant immunogen in the blood of recovered COVID-19 patients. Similar results were seen in Wistar rats too.
  
• Four monkeys were administered either a medium or high dose of the vaccine on day zero, seven and 14. S-specific IgG and neutralising antibodies were produced during the second week after vaccination in monkeys that received medium and high dose.
  
• On day 21 after the first dose of the vaccine, the monkeys were exposed to coronavirus given through intratracheal route.
  
• While the controls had a huge viral load from the day of challenge and even developed severe pneumonia, the vaccinated animals were largely protected. Viral loads decreased significantly in all vaccinated macaques.
  
• Compared with the controls, the vaccinated monkeys did not develop fever or weight loss. Blood parameters too remained normal and histopathological evaluations of various organs, including lung, heart, spleen, liver, kidney and brain did not show any pathology.