THE Students’ Federation of India (SFI) secured a significant victory in the Kannur University college union elections, winning 45 out of the 65 college unions spread across Kasaragod, Kannur and Wayanad districts. In the second phase of the election held in Kannur University, SFI achieved complete victory in all the five departmental centres where the elections were held.SFI also won has a landslide victory in the college union elections in Calicut University. SFI won in 102 out of the 171 colleges where elections were held on an organisational basis.

THE Assam state committee of the CPI(M) welcomed the verdict by a five-member constitution bench of the Supreme Court, which, after a long judicial process, declared Section 6(A) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 as constitutionally valid.Clause 6(A) was inserted into the Citizenship Act, 1955 by the parliament after the Assam Accord was signed on August 15, 1985. This clause set March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for detecting illegal foreigners in Assam. Opposing this, some organisations from Assam filed petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of Clause 6(A).

IN February 2024, two years into the war in Ukraine and five months into the Israeli genocide in Palestine, the European Union released data on the mood of the European public. In terms of Ukraine, large majorities continued to support the provision of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and to welcome Ukrainian refugees. But increasingly, there was growing scepticism about the enormous tranches of funds going toward the Ukrainian armed forces to prolong the war and about the increased military spending in their own countries due to pressure from the United States.

ANY insurgent group, even one with a secessionist agenda, cannot be completely defeated through military means alone; a peace agreement between the state and the leadership of the insurgent outfit is essential. In this regard, the tripartite Peace Accord signed on September 4, 2024, between the ministry of home affairs, the government of Tripura, and the leaders of the NLFT-ATTF is a significant step forward.

ON October 7, US scientists Victor Ambros of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Gary Ruvkun of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of microRNAs, or miRNAs, as key regulators of gene expression, which is a novel physiological mechanism. So far no confirmed applications have emerged from this discovery, despite considerable potential and research.Every cell contains DNA molecules that house genetic information in the chromosomes.