NASA to retire ISS in January 2031

NASA is planning to retire the International Space Station (ISS) in January 2031 and has laid out a detailed transition plan. The space agency is planning to open the ISS for commercial activities in its final decade of operational life. NASA plans to "deorbit" the ISS and crash it into the Pacific Ocean in January 2031. Before its retirement, NASA is looking forward to a decade of results from research and technology development aboard the space station.

NASA's Artemis 1 mission to Moon delayed till March

NASA's 'Artemis 1' mission, which aims to return humans to the Moon, has been delayed until March. The mission was scheduled for launch earlier in February. NASA informed that the 'Space Launch System' rocket and Orion spacecraft will not be rolled out for testing "no earlier than March 2022". NASA has added additional time to complete closeout activities inside the Vehicle Assembly building before rolling the integrated rocket and spacecraft out for the first time.

Australian Government announces billion-dollar package to protect Great Barrier Reef

A billion-dollar plan has been unveiled by the Australian Government to protect the Climate ravaged Great Barrier Reef. The plan aims to prevent the vast networks of corals from being removed from UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The plan has been announced months after narrowly avoiding the reef being placed on UNESCO’s in danger list. As per the recent study, bleaching had affected 98% of reefs since 1998, leaving just a fraction of untouched. People in Australia are also in favour of action to limit climate change after experiencing strings of global warming-worsened disasters.

Xiomara Castro first woman President of Honduras

Xiomara Castro became the first female president of Honduras on January 27, 2022. She is a former first lady of Honduras, as she is the wife of former President Manuel Zelaya who was deposed in a coup in 2009. Castro’s inauguration has brought an end to the 8-year rule of Juan Orlando Hernandez, a one-time US ally, who is currently facing charges of corruption in US courts.

NeoCoV Coronavirus: Wuhan scientists warn of deadlier COVID strain

Scientists in China's Wuhan laboratory have warned of a new strain of COVID-19, NeoCov that reportedly has a high transmission and mortality rate. The new strain of coronavirus is related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-coronavirus.

As per researchers, NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV, where one in three infected people die on an average and high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The study has been released in preprint and has not yet been peer-reviewed. It was published on the bioRxiv website.

NeoCoV: Symptoms, Severity, MERS-CoV relation

The studies show that the current COVID-19 vaccinations are inadequate to protect humans from any eventuality of the infections caused by these viruses. The paper adds that extensive mutations in the RBD regions of the SARS-CoV-2 variants may hold a latent potential to infect humans through further adaptation.

Bangladesh passes bill for Election Commission formation

The Bangladesh Parliament has passed a bill for the appointment of Election Commissioners and Chief Election Commissioner for the formation of the next Election Commission. The bill which was passed by the voice vote gives a legal shield to the appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners to form the EC. The tenure of the current Election Commission will end on February 14, 2022. The bill passed by the Parliament envisages a six-member search committee appointed by the President to recommend the names of the Election Commissioners and CEC. The opposition Bangladesh National Party, however, has criticized the bill for being passed in a hurry.

SpaceX Rocket Junk to crash into Moon in March: Experts

A chunk of a SpaceX rocket, which had blasted off seven years ago and was abandoned in space after completing its mission, is expected to crash into the Moon in March 2022. The rocket was launched in 2015 to put into orbit NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). The second stage of the rocket has been floating in space in a chaotic orbit, according to astronomers.

England ends face mask rules and COVID restrictions

England lifted the face mark rules and most of the COVID-19 restrictions on January 26, 2022. The move came after the British Government announced that its vaccine booster roll-out plan has successfully reduced serious illness and COVID-19 hospitalizations. Health officials in Britain have also been saying that they are planning a longer-term post-pandemic strategy that treats COVID-19 more like the flu. Earlier, the World Health Organisation had warned against the dangers of treating Coronavirus like the flu and dropping pandemic restrictions.

WHO Chief warns against the talk of endgame in COVID pandemic

The Chief of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that it is dangerous to assume that the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 will be the last one to emerge and that the world is in the endgame of the pandemic. He further added that the situation remains ideal for more COVID-19 variants to emerge. The Director-General of the UN Health Agency said that if the tools such as vaccines and testing are used in a comprehensive manner, it will be possible for the world to exit the acute phase of a pandemic. He also laid out an array of achievements and concerns in global health over issues such as reducing tobacco use, risks of climate change on human health, and fighting resistance to anti-microbial treatments. However, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that ending the acute phase of a pandemic must remain their collective priority.

Russia planning to install pro-Russian leader in Ukraine: UK

The UK foreign office informed on January 22, 2022 that it has information that the Russian government is planning to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine while it considers whether to invade and occupy the country. Former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev is reportedly being considered as a potential candidate for the role.