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International Relations

Trade and Technology Council (TTC)

Recently, India and EU has announced to form Trade and Technology council.

About:

• India and the European Union (EU) announced the formation of three working groups under the ‘Trade and Technology Council’ that was set up to deepen strategic ties with the trade bloc.
• India and EU had in April last year agreed to establish a ‘Trade and Technology Council’, to tackle the challenges at the nexus of trade, trusted technology and security.
• Such a council is the first for India with any of its partners and second for the EU, following the first one it has set up with the United States (US).

Science and Technology

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy

According to a study, long-term response to autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells in relapsed or refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

About:

• A type of treatment in which a patient's T cells (a type of immune system cell) is changed in the laboratory so they will attack cancer cells.
• T cells are taken from a patient’s blood. Then the gene for a special receptor that binds to a certain protein on the patient’s cancer cells is added to the T cells in the laboratory.
• The special receptor is called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR).
• Large numbers of the CAR T cells are grown in the laboratory and given to the patient by infusion.
• Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy is used to treat certain blood cancers, and it is being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer.
• Also called CAR T-cell therapy.

Science and Technology

Bird flu

Recently, dead mink were discovered on a farm in Galicia in north-western Spain due to highly pathogenic avian flu virus H5N1 which can spread from mammal to mammal.

About:

• The pathogen that causes bird flu, or avian influenza, has been found in raccoons, foxes and seals, though these remain isolated cases.
• When the disease has spread to humans and other mammals via direct contact with excrement from infected birds or their carcasses.
• But the mink outbreak appears to be a rare case where mammals are transmitting the disease to each other rather than through direct contact with an infected bird.
• What are mink?
• Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets.
• There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the American mink and the European mink.

Miscellaneous

World’s brightest Student

Recently, a 13-year-old girl won the title of "world’s brightest" student selected among the students of 76 countries.

About:

• Natasha Perianayagam, an Indian-American, was named to the list compiled by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth in the United States.   
• She results in the verbal and quantitative sections of the test came up to the 90th percentile of an advanced standard-level performance, which put her up on the honours list.
• She lives in New Jersey and her parents belong to Chennai, India.