Dual-Use Dilemma: AI and the Future of Protein Design

GIVEN current artificial intelligence (AI) generative and transformative tools, the potential to design proteins in a quick and easy way has increased the possibility of using such synthetic proteins as bio weapons. Concerned about this scenario, a group of scientists initiated a campaign advocating for the responsible and ethical application of protein design.In October 2023, David Baker of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington, USA, organised an AI safety summit to assess the risks associated with the malicious utilisation of designer proteins.

Establishing a Digital Surveillance and Censorship Regime

MODI government is systematically working to set up a surveillance and censorship framework for the digital domain, which seeks to undermine our fundamental rights of free speech and privacy. The genesis of many of these initiatives predated the Modi government.

Amended Water Act Permits Pollution by Corporates

THE government has secured the latest in a series of enactments seriously diluting earlier legislation on environmental issues, this time on water pollution. As has become customary with the Modi government, objections by the opposition were brushed aside, and there was virtually no discussion in either house of parliament.

India’s MIRV Missile: Double-Edged Gain

ON March 11, 2024 India successfully conducted its first test of a new Agni-V missile with Multiple Independently-targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology, together termed the “Divyastra (celestial weapon) Mission.” To those unfamiliar with the arcane world and terminology of nuclear weapons and missiles for their delivery, a MIRV missile carries on a single rocket several warheads, each of which can be programmed to travel in different directions at varying speeds to strike at multiple targets several hundreds of kilometers apart.

Kolkata Declaration: Scientific Temper in the Current Context

A Statement on Scientific Temper was drafted through an iterative process involving leading scientists and social scientists at the initiative of the All India Peoples Science Network. The following is an edited version of the Declaration signed by around 200 Scientists adopted at a Convention on Scientific Temper held at Kolkata on 28 February 2024.

Relevance of the National Science Day

THE National Science Day is celebrated on February 28 every year to commemorate the discovery of the Raman Effect by Nobel laureate C V Raman. The stated objective of celebrating National Science Day is to popularise science and technology and to promote a scientific temper among the general public. It encourages critical thinking, rational decision-making, and a spirit of inquiry, which are essential for societal progress.

Imposing African Cheetahs in the Banni Grasslands

IMPORTED African cheetahs, which are much in the news for various reasons, are soon to be introduced in the Banni Grasslands Reserve in Kachch district of Gujarat. The union government has decided to establish a cheetah conservation and breeding centre in Banni, for which the state government had prepared a proposal under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).This plan, recently announced by the union government, has raised a host of concerns.

Privatising Research in India

ON February 1, 2024 while presenting the interim budget 2024-25 in parliament, the union minister for finance and corporate affairs said the government proposed to create a corpus of one lakh crore rupees to boost private investment in sunrise technologies. It was to mark a golden era for our tech savvy youth with India showing solutions through innovation and entrepreneurship of its people.

Killing Welfare Algorithmically

SOME of the most prominent AI startups, tech companies, their executives, researchers and engineers would have us believe that artificial intelligence (AI) poses an existential risk to humanity and should be considered a societal risk on par with pandemics and nuclear wars.

Tapas Drone Project Scrapped

IN a shocking development earlier this month, the government made clear its de-funding of the Defence Research & Development Organisation’s (DRDO) mission-mode project to develop the advanced Tapas-BH 201 drone. The Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance (Tapas, also Sanskrit for heat) – Beyond Horizon unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was, according to reports till just a few months ago, nearing preparedness for the final round of field trials prior to certification and thence to production.

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