Esther is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Culture
Image Source: Mike Vielhber
Cleveland Ohio’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is holding Hispanic Heritage Month events September 28 from noon to 4pm. The event includes music, dances and art. They are sponsored by Lakeland Community College and other Hispanic organizations.
History of Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month lasts from September 15th to October 15th. According to the National Museum of the American Latino, the celebration started as Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 under President Lyndon B. Johnson before Ronald Reagan spread it to a month in 1988.
History of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s tagline is “music connects us all.” Its goal is to partner with other organizations to promote cultural and economic diversity through music. It started as a nonprofit, the Rock and Roll Foundation founded by Ahmet Ertegun, R&B and Atlantic Records founder in 1983 according to Cleveland Historical. It officially opened a museum in Cleveland September 2nd, 1995.
G. Mudalige is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Technology & Innovation
Image Source : NASA
Spending more than a year in space can profoundly affect the human body. Prolonged exposure to microgravity causes muscles and bones to weaken. Muscles that support posture, such as those in the back and legs, atrophy by up to 30% over time, while astronauts can lose 1-2% of their bone mass every month, risking fractures and requiring years to recover post-mission. Astronauts try to combat this with daily exercise, but even with rigorous routines, it’s hard to maintain muscle and bone integrity.
Microgravity also alters the cardiovascular system, reducing blood circulation to the lower body and causing fluid buildup in the head, affecting vision and sometimes leading to permanent changes. Astronauts often experience swelling of brain ventricles and shifts in neural connectivity, influencing balance, motor functions, and possibly cognitive performance, especially during readjustment to Earth's gravity.
Space travel affects the gut microbiota, with changes in diet and environment leading to shifts in the bacteria and fungi in astronauts' bodies. The skin, exposed to different conditions, may become more sensitive, as seen in astronauts like Scott Kelly, who experienced rashes after his space mission. Exposure to space radiation is another significant concern, causing potential DNA damage, shortening telomeres (indicators of aging), and affecting gene expression related to bone, DNA repair, and the immune system.
These physiological changes highlight the challenges long-duration missions, like trips to Mars, pose for human health and the need for further research into countermeasures.
C. Janith is a Jadetimes news reporter covering science and geopolitics.
When Biden hosted the leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Group (QUAD) from India, Australia, and Japan in the US in 2021, they did not directly mention China. Still, the emphasis on “shared security and prosperity” was an unmistakable reference to a joint mechanism to counter Beijing’s influence in the Indo-Pacific, particularly.
Image Source: (Saul Loeb/Afp/Getty Images)
One would have expected the Biden administration to leave a legacy of a significantly functional mechanism producing collective security and prosperity at the end of its era in 2024. But, as it turns out, QUAD remains where it was in 2021: a club that hosts little more than tea parties to mean anything. The club, as the Indian Prime Minister remarked after the latest summit, is “here to stay”. The question, however, is: will it, or can it, turn into more than a club for occasional gatherings to talk about abstract geopolitics? It is quite unlikely. Donald Trump’s victory will dampen it even further. If Harris wins, she is unlikely to introduce any major changes from the Biden administration, for obvious reasons (she is currently part of the same administration!).
The Last Summit: What is new?
The last summit is, therefore, no different from the earlier ones insofar as it offers little more than a set of “commitments”, and occasional references to “unity”, “democracy” and certain joint ventures, such as Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI). Apparently a new initiative, MAITRI is backed by little to nothing actionable and concrete. It aims to equip partner countries with “tools” that they will use “to monitor and secure their waters, enforce their laws, and deter unlawful behavior”. Who will fund this initiative? What counts as “unlawful behaviour” and what exact action will be taken against those involved in any unlawful activity are some of the ‘black holes’ that need massive filling before this initiative can qualify to acquire any geostrategic significance. There are other concerns too.
While the joint statement mentions China several times, it does not mention Russia at all. Although it refers to Ukraine, the fact that it does not refer to Russia is due to the nature of Indian ties with Moscow. What does this mean for the future of QUAD? No references to any threats other than those emerging from, or associated with, China leave QUAD a club squarely and singularly focused on China. Is this an advantage or a disadvantage?
The China Factor
Being squarely anti-China means QUAD can never sell itself to the wider region as a framework of security. Had QUAD been a general framework of security, it could have attracted several other countries from the region. However, it is unable to do this because a large number of countries in the region do not wish to gang up against China due to the nature of their ties with Beijing. For instance, there is probably not a single example where a country from this region, which is not a QUAD member, ever endorsed anything QUAD said or did. In other words, QUAD operates in a disconnected regional space as an abstract idea rather than as a force to be reckoned with.
This is despite the fact that the latest QUAD summit categorically said China is “testing us”. Conversely, QUAD is “testing” China, but China’s advantage is that it does not have many real regional rivals. That includes India too.
Now, PM Modi thinks that QUAD is here to stay, but the exact purpose it will serve for him is far from clear to other QUAD members. Consider the bilateral trade volume, for instance. It has already reached US$118 billion in 2024. Despite so-called “tensions”, the overall trade grew by 1.5 per cent in terms of year-on-year growth. More significantly, QUAD downplays the role – and the possibility – of regional countries utilising bilateral channels for dispute resolution. Is QAUD the only mechanism that, for instance, PM Modi might depend upon in the wake of another border clash with China?
Bilateralism Trumps QUAD’s Multilateralism
Let’s see what both India and China have done in the past two years. Instead of relying on QUAD, New Delhi happens to have preferred meetings and regular interaction with China at the Corps Commander level. According to data shared by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, 21 meetings have been held until February 2024. None of these meetings either involved any third party, nor did New Delhi stress a multilateral approach for ‘effective’ dispute resolution. The Indian readout stressed the friendly and amicable nature of talks.
This is not the only mechanism. Since 2012, the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs has been another key bilateral avenue of dispute resolution, and it has remained relevant despite the border clashes. On August 29, the WMCC held its 31st meeting. The meeting’s aim was “to narrow down the differences and find early resolution of the outstanding issues”.
Now, the emphasis on narrowing down existing differences not only signals success, but also the willingness to remain nonviolent in their approaches to conflict resolution. Nonviolence directly implies the irrelevance of the securitised approach of the QUAD vis-à-vis China’s position in the Indo-Pacific.
There is, in simple words, a lesson for countries in the region. Many countries in Southeast Asia, for instance, have concerns about China’s dominance in the South and East China seas. Should they opt for a military approach considering that India, a much bigger military power than any country in Southeast Asia, is itself following dialogue and diplomacy to resolve disputes? The lesson, in other words, is to emphasise bilateral approach and talk directly to China.
All of these factors combine to produce the utter inability of QUAD to evolve, since its establishment in 2004, as a significant military or economic alliance. Much to Washington’s disappointment, it still does not have a regional mechanism to ‘contain’ China. Trump’s victory will dampen its prospects even further; while Harris will operate in the same framework as the one outlined by Biden and Harris herself.
