Sunday, january 8th , 2012

HEADLINES

• Door open for Congress to quit : Mamta
• Sukram who claimed that he is in coma surrenders
• 10^th Pravasi bharatiya Divas off to a vibrant start in Jaipur

NATIONAL NEWS

• Health a key pillar of India – US cooperation
  • Health is one of the key areas of cooperation between India and US with several bilateral agreements in the area of science and technology said the US consul general in a symposium on Pancreas
  • Pancreas is especially one area which is a key area of collaboration especially with a project underway in US to develop artificial pancreas at the Mayo clinic headed by two Indian doctors.

• India – German trade set to increase
  • The trade between India and Germany was 15 billion euros in the year 2010 which was 20 percent more than 2009.
  • The target for 2012 was 20 billion euros.
  • From september 2011 to november 2012 is the year of Germany in India
    
    
• Krishna to take stock of IDP project in Sri Lanka
  • The Indian cabinet has approved for the reconstruction and repair of $ 260 million US dollars worth houses numbering around 49,000 for internally displaced persons(IDPs) in northern and eastern provinces and for Indian origin tamils in Sri lanka under grant assistance from Sri Lanka.
  • The project has been redrawn after a series of delays, false starts and slip shod trial and error experimentation at the Indian and Sri Lankan captial
  • This project will be implemented in the owner driven model : beneficiaries can build their own houses and the money will be reimbursed directly in to their bank account from the Indian high commission.
  • For those who cannot build their own houses(numbering 6000) the construction agencies will take up the project.
  • The contentious issue of selection of beneficiaries has been settled down with the drawing up of a fool proof transparent norm based project on clearly defined and objective criteria. The selection list is a public document and open to challenge.
  • A project steering committee is also in place co chaired by the Indian high commissioner and the sri lankan minister for economic development.
    
    
• Study points at medicinal value for vechur cow
  • The vechur cow , acknowledged by the guiness book of world records as the smallest in the world, has been confirmed of having medicinal properties after a research of its milk.
  • This finding could give a boost to the rearing of vechur cows which has been accepted traditionally as a critical breed by the FAO, implying that it was rare and facing extinction.
  • The lactoferrin gene of the cow was sequenced and expressed for the first time. The gene sequence analysis show mutations. It confirmed the presence of Arginine position, Arginine being an amino acid with therapeutic functions like wound healing, cell proliferation, cell signalling, and management of cardio vascular diseases.
  • This variety is mostly found in central Kerala and is an indigenous variety of Kerala.
    
    
• India to send 15 member millitary team to China
  • India has sent a truncated 15 member team to china after Beijing objected to an IAF official Mohonto Panging from Arunachal Pradesh.
  • The main sticking point for India is the issue of Stapled visa for Arunachal pradesh and Kashmir regions or some times non issuance of the same.