Timeframe: February 12th to February 18th, 2022
Contributors: Anika Bushra, Redwan Uz Zaman Reham and Farhan Uddin Ahmed.
To read the Bangla version, click here.
1. Politics
France, European allies announce military withdrawal from Mali
France and its allies in a European force have announced they will begin withdrawing troops from Mali after nearly 10 years of fighting armed unrest. France initially deployed troops against rebels in Mali in 2013 but the violence was never fully quelled, and now new fears have emerged of a rebel push to the Gulf of Guinea. On his part, French President Emmanuel Macron “completely” rejected the idea that France had failed its former colony, adding: “We cannot remain militarily engaged alongside de-facto authorities whose strategy and hidden aims we do not share.”
Source: Al-Jazeera
TMC sweeps West Bengal civic bodies’ polls
On election results announced on the 14th of February, the Trinamool Congress made a clean sweep in the civic polls to four municipal corporations in West Bengal — Bidhannagar, Siliguri, Chandernagore, and Asansol — as per data available on the State Election Commission’s website. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the people saying: “The election was held peacefully. The State Election Commission and administration played important roles to ensure people cast their votes. There was no trouble anywhere during polling.” Meanwhile, BJP yesterday moved Calcutta High Court demanding Central forces for the remaining Municipalities Polls in West Bengal, scheduled for 27th February. The matter will be likely be heard by the court today.
Source: The Indian Express
2. Economics & Business
For the first time, oil hits $100 a barrel
Fuel demand is increasing as economic activity over the world increases. But fears over the price of crude oil in the world market are getting closer. At the time, Brent crude is trading at about 95 a barrel.
In the wake of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the level of skepticism in international geopolitics is only growing. The concerned business community has expressed the fear that the supply of oil will be disrupted.
Source: ABC News
India’s retail inflation rises to 6.01 percent in January
India’s benchmark inflation rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 6.01 percent year-on-year in January 2022, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday indicated. The figure for January has clearly crossed the RBI comfort zone, although marginally.
Source: Economic Times
3. Science & Technology
HIV: The first woman in the world believed to be cured of the virus
A US patient is believed to be the third person in the world, and the first woman, to be cured of HIV.
The patient was being treated for leukemia when she received a stem cell transplant from someone with natural resistance to the Aids-causing virus.
The patient received a transplant of umbilical cord blood as part of her cancer treatment and has since not needed to take the anti-retroviral therapy required to treat HIV.
The case was part of a more extensive US study of people living with HIV who had received the same type of blood transplant to treat cancer and serious diseases. The potential of stem cell transplants was demonstrated in 2007 when Timothy Ray Brown was the first person to be “cured” of HIV. He had a transplant from a donor who was naturally resistant to HIV.
Since then, the feat has been repeated only twice with Adam Castillejo and now the New York patient.
The woman’s treatment involved umbilical cord blood, unlike the two previous known cases where patients had received adult stem cells as part of bone marrow transplants.
All HIV cure stories are genuinely remarkable and a cause for celebration – they prove that it can be done.
But this approach does not bring us closer to a cure for the 37 million people living with HIV, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Source: BBC
4. Environment
Drugs have dangerously polluted the world’s rivers
In a recent study, scientists found that pharmaceutical waste is polluting the rivers, which is detrimental to the environment and human health.
Researchers at the University of York discovered a high concentration of paracetamol, nicotine, caffeine, and drugs for epilepsy and diabetes in river water reported by BBC on Tuesday.
Source: The Guardian
Disclaimer: The information provided here is obtained solely from the third parties mentioned above. Youth Policy Forum (YPF) is not responsible for any misinformation or misrepresentation.