NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

S CHEM ES
5 K G LPG CYL INDE R AND LPG P ORTAB ILIT Y S CHE ME Govt. has launched the 5-kg LPG cylinder scheme, on a pilot basis, in four metros (Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai), and inter-company LPG portability in 24 cities across the country. LPG portability scheme enables customers to choose or switch distributor of any of the three state-run oil marketing firms - Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum.Under the 5-kg cylinder scheme, a consumer has to register with the outlet, giving a copy of his/her voter ID card, driving license, PAN card, Aadhaar card or any official document as a proof of identity. With this scheme consumers could buy LPG cylinders without any proof of residence. It would benefit 35 per cent population, which is migratory in the country.

E DUCATION
R AS HT RIYA U CHCHAT AR S HIKS HA A B HIYAN (RUS A) This is a Centrally-sponsored scheme (CSS) for reforming the state higher education system, recently approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. The scheme will aim to improve access, equity, quality in the State higher education system and to incentivise the states to step up plan investments in higher education. It also seeks to correct regional imbalances in access to higher education through high quality institutions in rural and semi urban areas and improving access of students from rural areas to better quality institutions. The RUSA funding will be based on performance, incentivising well performing institutions and decisionmaking through clearly defined norms. No grants will be provided to private institutions. In order to be eligible for funding under RUSA, States will have to fulfill certain prerequisites which include creation of a State Higher Education Council, creation of accreditation agencies, and preparation of the State perspective plans.

H EALTH CARE
I NDIA
LAUNCHES ITS OWN

V ACC INE

India has launched its first indigenous vaccine against JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS (JE) to be manufactured in the public-private partnership mode between the Indian Council of Medical Research and Bharat Biotech. The Vero cell-derived purified inactivated JE vaccineJENVAC will provide increased immunogenicity and long-term protection. The JENVAC can be administered during an epidemic as it is a highly purified and inactivated vaccine. So far, India has been importing the vaccine from China. Vaccination is part of the governments National Programme for Prevention and Control of JE/AES. This national programme, being coordinated by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is now being implemented in 60 priority districts for a period of five years from 2012-13 to 2016-17. Interventions are focussed on Assam, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The National Institute of Virology also opened a unit in Gorakhpur.

JE usually affects children below 15 years of age but recent cases had been found of adults in Assam being diagnosed with the disease. The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes from pigs to humans. Symptoms include headaches, seizures and fever. Nineteen states, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, are hit by the disease.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Carbon emission tax on flights
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) 1 made the European Union to abandon plans to impose carbon tax on all flights entering its sky. Under the proposed EU scheme any flight entering its airspace would be taxed for the emissions spewed2 from the point of origin to the point of landing. The move displeased China, India and Russia the most. Both China and India ordered its carriers not to adhere to the EU directives. They took strong opposition to the unilateral move that not only raised questions about sovereignty over airspace but also broke the principles of common but differentiated responsibility under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. The ICAO assembly also approved the launch of a market and trading-based carbon dioxide emission reduction scheme by 2020. The agreement arrived at the ICAO's 38th General Assembly in Montreal. Greenhouse gas emissions from aviation account for 2% of the total annual emissions.

N ATIO NAL /I NTERNATION AL R E PORTS / S URVEYS IMF W ORLD G ROWTH F ORECAST FOR 2013-14
In its flagship World Economic Outlook report The International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth forecast because of slower growth in China, India, Brazil and other developing countries. The global economy would grow 2.9 per cent this year and 3.6 per cent in 2014. IMF also lowered its outlook for U.S. economic growth this year to 1.6 per cent and next year to 2.6 per cent. It also assumed the U.S. partial government shutdown would last only a short period. But it warned that failure to raise the U.S. governments borrowing limit near future could lead to a default on U.S. debt. IMF warned that the US would harm the world economy if it fails to raise its borrowing limit. . It would push up interest rates, disrupt global financial markets and possibly push the U.S economy back into recession. The IMF slashed its forecast for India's growth 1.8 percentage points to 3.8% this year and 1.1 percentage points to 5.1% in 2014. It reported that interest rates raised by RBI to stem the flow of money, has also slowed Indian growth.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency and regularity, as well as for aviation environmental protection. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 191 Member States.
2

Spew: to flow out quickly, or to make sth flow out quickly, in large amounts
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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
11 T H ASEAN-I NDIA S UMMIT
Brunei chaired the 11th India-ASEAN Summit. The summit was attended by heads of governments of the member states of ASEAN and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Indian government pledged to sign a pact with the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on services and investment by the end of 2013. The leaders welcomed India's 'Look East' policy and the decision to set up a separate mission for ASEAN and a full time resident Ambassador for the region. India expressed her willingness to sign an FTA with ASEAN on services and investment to boost their bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2015, from $76 billion last year. The nations took note of the enhancement and strengthening of co-operation on food security through the widening of food production base and exchange of expertise between ASEAN and India. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) have been taking initiatives to revitalise the ASEAN-India Business Council and to set up an ASEAN-India Trade and Investment Centre. ASEAN was preceded by an organisation called the Association of Southeast Asia, commonly called ASA, an alliance consisting of the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand that was formed in 1961. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a geo-political and economic organisation of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Its aims include accelerating economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.

INDIA

AND

AS EAN

India's Look East Policy was initiated in 1990s and since then, India's relationship with ASEAN remains one of the cornerstones of our foreign policy and the very foundation of our Look East Policy. India became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992, which was upgraded to full dialogue partnership in 1996. Since 2002, we have had annual Summits with ASEAN. ASEAN-India functional cooperation is diverse and includes cooperation across a range of sectors, such as trade, science & technology, agriculture, environment, human resource development, space science, new and renewable energy, information and communication technology, telecommunications, transport and infrastructure, tourism and culture, and health and pharmaceuticals. ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund to support implementation of the ASEAN-India Plan of Action 2010-15, which envisages cooperation in a range of sectors in the political, economic and socio-cultural spheres for deepening and intensifying ASEAN-India cooperation. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India organized the 2nd ASEAN-India Business Fair in 2012. Visa on arrival facility is extended to 7 ASEAN countries (Lao, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia and Philippines). GOI has started Youth Exchange Programmes, Media Exchange Programmes, and Special Training Courses

Major events:

for ASEAN Diplomats and Eminent Persons Lecture Series to promote people to people contact. Delhi Dialogue is an event held annually in New Delhi where leaders, opinion makers, diplomats, academia and think-tanks of India and ASEAN come together to discuss ways to intensify and broaden political, strategic, economic and civil society interaction between the two regions. Two other major events organized are the 2 nd ASEAN-India Car Rally and a Shipping Expedition of the sail training ship INS Sudarshini to ASEAN countries.

MISCELLANEOUS
E U ROPALIA
FESTI V AL

During his visit to Belgium, Indian president inaugurated The Europalia-India festival, a cultural extravaganza showcasing India's rich cultural heritage in Brussels. The event will present to Europe different aspects of Indian artistic diversity, with focus on seven themes - Body, Water, Indomania, India Tomorrow, Living Traditions, Bollywood and beyond, and the Diaspora . The event is being organised by Europalia International in partnership with the External Affairs Ministry, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and its partners. In the past, Europalia showcased BRICS members Brazil, China and Russia and other countries like Italy and Poland through similar events. Mr. Mukherjee has become first Indian President to visit Belgium.

A WARDS
N OBEL
PRIZE

M E DIC INE 3:- Two Americans, James Rothman and Randy Schekman, and Germany's Thomas Sudhof won the 2013 Nobel Prize for medicine or physiology for research into how the cell organises its transport system. Through their discoveries, Rothman, Schekman and Sudhof have revealed the exquisitely precise control system for the transport and delivery of cellular cargo. Phys ics:- The prize has been awarded to Peter Higgs (Britain) and Franois Englert (Belgium) for their work in the 1960's that led to the concept of the Higgs boson (God Particle) that explains how elementary matter attained the mass to form stars and planets, and proved a key feature of the standard model of particle physics. Chemistry:- Martin. Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel three U.S. scientists won the Nobel chemistry prize for pioneering work on computer programs that simulate complex chemical processes and have revolutionised research in areas from drugs to solar energy. Their work had effectively taken chemistry into cyberspace.

Medicine: is the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year. Prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel.
4

Note: Use of computational Chemistry by Pharmaceutical companies4 L IT E RAT URE :- Canadian writer Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for literature for her short stories that focus on the frailties of the human condition. She has become the 13th woman to win in the history of the coveted award. She is also the first Canadian to win the prestigious honour. Last year, the award went to Chinese novelist Mo Yan.

Presidential awards for class ical Tamil 5

The Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil were instituted to give the due recognition and honour to the distinguished scholars who have made outstanding contribution to Classical Tamil language and literature. The awards have been instituted by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil functioning under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Development. While the Tolkappiyar and Kural Pitam awardees were presented with a citation, shawl and a cash prize of Rs.5 lakh, the young scholar awardees received Rs. 1 lakh.

P ERSONALITI ES
R. R AJ ARAM AN
He is a Professor of Physics from the School of Physical Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University and has been chosen for the 2014 Leo Szilard Lectureship Award by The American Physical Society. He will share this award with M.V. Ramana of Princeton University. He has been chosen for the award for his outstanding contributions to promote global security issues, through critical analysis of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy programmes in India and associated risks in the subcontinent, and efforts to promote peace and nuclear security in South Asia through extensive engagements and writings. The Leo Szilard Lectureship Award was established to recognize outstanding accomplishments by physicists for the benefit of the society.
4

Use of computational Chemistry by Pharmaceutical companies: These days all pharmaceutical companies use computational chemistry to screen experimental compounds for potential as medicines before further testing them on animals or people. Scientists can now use computers to calculate how an experimental medicine will react with a particular target protein in the body by working out the interplay of atoms. Chemical reactions occur at lightning speed as electrons jump between atomic nuclei, making it virtually impossible to map every separate step in chemical processes involving large molecules like proteins.
5

Tolkappiyar Award for lifetime achievement:-Dr. Iravatham Mahadevan and Prof. Tamizhannal Periakaruppan for 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. Kural Pitam Award:-Given to Dr. Jaroslav Vacek and Dr. John Ralston Marr for 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. Kural Pitam Young scholar awards:-were conferred on Dr. T. Suresh, Dr. S. Kalpana, Dr. R. Chandrasekaran, Dr. Vaani Arivaalan and Dr. C. Muthamizhselvan for 2009-10. Dr. T. Sangayya, Dr. A. Jayakumar, Dr. A. Mani, Dr. S. Chidambaram and Dr. K. Sundarapandian received the awards for 2010-11. The awards were given to them for showing excellence and promise in teaching, research and publication in classical Tamil.
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S ANIA

MI RZA

Sania Mirza won the China Open trophy with Cara Black (Zimbabwean), defeating the challenge of Vera Dushevina (Russian) and Arantxa Parra Santonja (Spanish) in Beijing. Sania and Cara had already won Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

A RUNDHATI B HATTACHARY A
She has been elevated as the chairperson of the State Bank of India - the first woman chief of the country's largest bank - succeeding Pratap Chaudhuri.

O VADIA Y OSE F
Influential spiritual leader of Israel's Sephardic Jewish community and the ultra-Orthodox Shas party Ovadia Yosef has died recently.

I BNE A BBAS
He will be Pakistans new High Commissioner to India replacing Salman Bashir.

MS S WA MI NATHAN
Eminent agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan has been selected for the Indira Gandhi Award 6 for National Integration for the year 2012. M ALAL A Y OUS AF ZAI She is a Pakistani campaigner for girls education, received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 72013.

P LACES
L IBY A
AN D

S OMALI A

U.S. forces launched raids in Libya and Somalia and captured a top al Qaeda figure Anas al Liby wanted for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

Indira Gandhi Award: The Indian national congress instituted the Indira Gandhi award for national integration in 1985 to give recognition to outstanding contribution to this cause by distinguished individuals or institutions. The award carries a citation and cash award of 5 lakh rupees.
7

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament to honour individuals or organizations who dedicate their lives to the defence of human rights and freedoms, particularly the right to free expression.