India, Sri Lanka to strengthen cooperation to combat terrorism:
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi held talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa on 8 January during his state visit to India. The leaders discussed covering a range of key bilateral issues, including trade, defence and security, and the island nation`s Tamil population.
India-Sri Lanka ties:
♦ The two countries agree to deepen cooperation to combat terrorism.
♦ They discussed the joint projects in Sri Lanka apart from deepening trade, investment, and people-to-people ties.
♦ PM Modi reaffirmed that the new lines of credit (LoC) announced in 2019 will strengthen development cooperation between the two countries.
Astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth after spending 328 days on space:
NASA astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth on 6 February after spending 328 days on the International Space Station (ISS). She completed the longest ever single spaceflight by a woman. On 28 December 2019, she beat the previous record for a single spaceflight by a woman of 289 days which was set by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2016-17.
Koch`s Mission:
Koch is a 41-year-old Michigan-born engineer. She began her journey to space on 14 March 2019. She joined along with the European astronaut Luca Parmitano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov. She stayed on an 11-month mission.
Koch has performed various experiments including studying the effects of microgravity on combustion, Mizuna mustard greens, bioprinting, and kidney diseases. Also, Koch herself was a research subject to determine the long-term effects of spaceflight on the human body. Koch`s medical data will be used by NASA scientists as it is planning for a long-duration manned mission to Mars.
Note:
Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is the first woman to conduct a solo mission. Her spaceflight happened in 1963.
African Union Summit (Addis Ababa):
African Union Summit held in Ethiopia. Heads of state and government officials from across Africa gathered in the summit.
Theme:
The theme of the summit is "Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive conditions for Africa`s development".The focus of the summit was to end regional violence, including the conflicts in South Sudan and Libya.
The summit highlighted three challenges namely eradicating poverty, tackling the climate crisis and silencing guns in Africa.AU announced that it is to host two summits in May on conflict resolution and on implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Britain appoints Philip Barton as the High Commissioner to India:
Career diplomat Philip Barton has been appointed as the High Commissioner to India by the British government. He will succeed Dominic Asquith. The appointment will be effective from Spring 2020.
Philip Barton:
Philip Barton is a career diplomat. He studied economics and politics at Warwick University. He holds a Masters degree in economics from the London School of Economics.
He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1986. He served as the British High Commissioner to Pakistan from 2014 to 2016. Recently, he has served as the Acting Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. He was the Director-General, Consular and Security at FCO from April 2017 to January 2020.
Researchers found Pangolin as the host of CoronaVirus in China:
Chinese researchers who conducted the investigation on the animal origin of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China found that the endangered pangolin may be the reason for the outbreak. Scientists at the South China Agricultural University found the genome sequences of viruses in pangolins to be 99% identical to those on coronavirus patients. The scientists conducted tests on more than 1,000 samples from wild animals.
Pangolin:
Pangolins look more like reptiles. But these animals are mammals with a unique feature. Pangolins have large, protective keratin scales that cover their skin. Pangolins are the only known mammals with this feature. They use these scales for protection. If an enemy comes near it, the pangolin immediately curls into a tight ball shape. Only the scales will be visible to the enemy. It feeds on ants and termites. It is hunted and traded for their scales, meat, and other body parts. It is used as traditional medicines