Business and Economy

• In the largest ever tranche, India will offer 55 oil blocks, mostly offshore, covering 300000 square kilometers for exploration. From 1999, India has offered 90 such product-sharing contracts in 4 lots as part of its New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). As part of the country's effort to boost domestic production of oil, this offer includes deep exploration blocks off Krishna & Godavari basins and near the Andaman Islands. In the last 4 years, Private sector companies have made 32 significant hydrocarbon discoveries. India imports 76% of its oil requirements and its rapid economic growth has increased energy demands and consequently increasing the need for more oil.

• The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and Sri Lanka Council for Agricultural Research Policy (SLCARP) announced a collaborative program to accelerate agricultural research and education. The program includes long-term training of Sri Lankan scientists, deputation of ICAR scientists as consultants in Sri Lanka, collaborative research project and exchange of germplasm between the two countries. Research will focus on hybrid seed production technology in onion, sunflower, and chili, tissue culture virus based cleaning in citrus, development and testing of potato varieties, coconut mite control, developing technologies to enhance storability of onions, identification of micro agro processing areas for rural areas, etc. As part of this program, 62 participants from Sri Lanka will attend short-term program and 37 in long-term programs. Thirteen Indian scientists will sojourn in Sri Lanka.

• Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong told Indian President that his country is considering a special economic zone (SEZ) in India that would help boost Foreign Direct Investment. The visiting Indian President and his counterpart said that the two countries would work towards creating an Asian economic community and explore potential for cooperation in science and technology (S&T). These measures will help India realize its goal of achieving USD 30 billion trade with ASEAN nations in the next few years.

Environment, Health and Education

• Scientists from Britain, India, South Africa, and Namibia published a study in the journal Plos Biology offering a way to cure cattle without killing 3 kinds of Asian vultures. The prevalent use of the drug Diclofenac to treat sick cattle killed Oriental White-Backed, Long-Billed, and Slender-Billed vultures. When these birds fed on recently dead cattle, this drug caused kidney damage, increased serum uric acid concentrations resulting in gout, which invariably killed the birds. The scientists offered Meloxicam as an alternate drug citing experiences in Namibia where vultures showed no signs of being affected. Asian vulture population plummeted by 97% the last 15 years. In a belated move, the Government recently banned the offending drug and is desperately looking for ways to improve the population of this species. 

• The Indian Council for Medical Research said that it would start testing of Ayurvedic, Unani, and Sidhha drugs on animals. The move comes after a communist party member, in support of disaffected labor, alleged that a popular yoga and Ayurvedic teacher/practitioner is using human bones in the drugs that he manufactures. Following this allegation, the Union Health Ministry had issued a statement that Ayurvedic drugs will be tested for content. However, the latest move is to determine the quantity of heavy metals that is present in samples of various products and not for its DNA makeup as originally planned. In December 2004, The Journal of American Medical Association published a study that showed the presence of heavy metals in some Ayurvedic drugs. While heavy metals are used in Ayurvedic "Basmams" they are processed so the metals are reduced to their oxide and sulphide form through the use of some very specific ancient procedures. The Health Ministry has not revealed the objective, sampling technique, study methodology, and analytical processes they plan to use. This is the most elaborate attempt made to regulate 9000 Ayurvedic companies that produce and sell drugs worth USD 14.2 billion. While allopathic drugs are "regulated" they hardly carry any information. These traditional medicines are expected to carry a label that contains nutritional, ingredient, and usage instructions. 

• The University Grants Commission inaugurated an experimental Educenter text and video supplementary content to students on a 24X7 basis. The joint venture involving the Inter-University Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics (IUCAA) and Hewlett Packard (HP) will be available to all colleges for a nominal Rs.10000. A vast network of colleges is expected to participate. HP provided the equipment and software services to hold the content in a database and deliver the video on demand (VoD).

• Editorial: Regulate Ship Breaking Business

Terrorism, Defense and Security

• In a video address released through Arabian television news channel Al Jazeera, Al Qaeda second in command Ayman al Zawahiri called US President George Bush a "butcher." He claimed that the CIA directed unmanned drone missile attack on a village in Pakistan killed innocent civilians. Confirming the truce offer by al Qaeda, he invited Bush to become a Muslim and be pardoned for "all that is past." A White House spokesman said that the al Qaeda "leadership is clearly on the run and under a lot of pressure." The US attack in Pakistan was meant to kill al Zawahiri as a result of a tip off from CIA "assets" (spies) with Pakistan's spy organization Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). This is the first time there is confirmation that he was not among those killed; no one really knows who was killed in that incident.