Current Affairs tit bits of this week

1.India, Germany set to have collaboration in setting up power grids for renewable energy in India.
India and Germany are set to have collaboration in setting up power grids for renewable energy in India. An agreement to this effect will be signed during bilateral visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Germany beginning from tomorrow. This will be one of the important agreements to be signed by both the countries during the second round of intergovernmental consultations to be held in Berlin on April 11th.


Disclosing this to our AIR correspondent in an exclusive interview, Indian Ambassador in Germany Mrs Sujatha Singh said that the agreement will help to enhance solar and wind energy production in the country and in turn fulfils to meet the country’s energy requirements.

Stating that the renewable energy being produced in the country at present is off the grid, she said the agreement will help to evacuate renewable energy being produced now and connect it to the grid. She said an agreement on introduction of German language in 1000 schools across India will also be signed during the bilateral talks.

Sujatha Singh said the Prime minister will hold bilateral talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel on a whole range of issues with an aim to reinforce the strategic relationship between the two countries. She said the proposed Free Trade Agreement between India and the European Union will also come up for discussion. She exuded confidence that agreement will be completed soon.

She said during the visit, the Prime minister will bring to a close ‘Days of India in Germany”- a series of events being organised in Germany since last year to highlight India’s rapid strides on economic, cultural, technological and educational fronts. She said the prime minister will also meet the Indian community and interact with them on several bilateral issues. Admitting that the current global economic slowdown has hit trade between India and Germany of late, the Indian Ambassador termed it as a temporary phenomenon and hoped that the target in this respect will be realised soon.

2. National Regulatory Authority of India Meets International Standards for Vaccine Regulations: WHO 
The National Regulatory Authority of India (NRA) and affiliated institutions meet WHO published indicators for a functional vaccine regulatory system. AWHO-led team of international experts from eight countries came to this conclusion at the end of a comprehensive review from 10-14 December 2012.

“The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization in collaboration with WHO, has made exemplary efforts towards this achievement. The Government of India has decided to further strengthen the Central as well as the State Drugs Regulatory Systems during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) and looks forward to strengthening our collaboration with WHO towards this end,” said ShriGhulamNabi Azad, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.

“We welcome this positive development. It reaffirms faith in India’s regulatory system and also reiterate country’s strength for pharmaceutical sector. The effective regulatory oversight of vaccines is especially crucial for India which is a major vaccine producer and also supplier across the globe,” said Mr KeshavDesiraju, Secretary, Health& Family Welfare, Government of India.

India is a major vaccine producer that has 12 major vaccine manufacturing facilities. These vaccines are used for the national and international market (150 countries), which makes India a major vaccine supplier across the globe. In 2012, India had seven vaccine manufacturers producing 67 prequalified vaccines (dosage forms). Currently 16 vaccines are prequalified by WHO and exported through United Nations agencies. More than 70% of all measles vaccines used globally are produced in India.

“This is indeed a great achievement and we would like to congratulate the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and its affiliated institutions- Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO), Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, Immunization Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and other relevant institutions, engaged in the regulation, control and testing of vaccines,” said Dr Lahouari Belgharbi, WHO Team Leader for the NRA Assessment, Quality, Safety and Standards Team, Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals of the World Health Organization.

“WHO had scaled up its technical support to the Indian NRA over the past several months in the context of this assessment. The recent success is a culmination of intensive effort by CDSCO, in collaboration with WHO, to implement a roadmap to strengthen capacity for regulation of vaccines.

WHO will continue to support development of the NRA through technical advice, training and capacity building. We welcome this positive outcome. It shall go a long way in reaffirming the joint mutual strategic priority under the WHO’s new Country Cooperation Strategy with India (2012-17), of supporting an improved role of India in global health, including strengthening the pharmaceutical sector and drug regulatory capacity,” said Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India.

3. Exhaled breath is as unique for an individual as fingerprints

A recent study led by author Renato Zenobi of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich has revealed that: Exhaled breath is as unique for an individual as fingerprints.

Unique metabolites found in everyone’s exhaled breath can be used as a unique and non-invasive fingerprinting mechanism.
How it can be a helpful discovery?

• Doctors will be able to detect illnesses such as a lung infection to stomach cancer.
• Exhaled breath can be as useful to medical diagnosis as those found in urine or blood.
• Being non-invasive and the results are instantaneous, a breath test could also be used in anaesthesia or doping tests.
• Could be now used to check the appropriate dose for a patient undergoing an anaesthetic.