ASEAN-INDIA MINISTERIAL MEETING

• The ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting, an annual event, takes stock of the ASEAN-India partnership and deliberates on its future direction.
• India became a Sectoral Partner of ASEAN in 1992 and a Dialogue Partner in 1996. The relationship was upgraded in 2002 to the level of an Annual Summit Level Partnership.
• Venue of 10th ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers Meeting: Phnom Penh, Cambodi

AGENDA:

• China's aggressive posturing on the South China Sea
• Territorial dispute between China and southeastern countries, such as the Philippines and Vietnam

 IMPORTANCE OF MEETING:

• The 10th ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers Meeting is significant as India would be hosting a special ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in December to mark 20 years of the relationship and 10 years of the summit level partnership.

IMPORTANCE OF ASIA-PACIFIC REGION FOR INDIA:

•  Asia-Pacific region is India’s leading and fastest growing economic partner, vital for its economic security; it deeply impinges on some of its domestic concerns, especially in the Northeast and in the Andaman Sea.
• It is linked to India’s maritime and ecological security and enables a coordinated holistic response in dealing with natural disasters like the tsunami and even pandemics.
• Its space impacts India’s conventional and non-conventional security environment, including threats of terrorism, piracy, transnational crime and spread of weapons of mass destruction in undesirable hands. 

 THURST AREAS FOR INDIA’S LOOK EAST POLICY:

• A major thrust has to be on integrating economic structures and systems with those of the Asia-Pacific and working towards a Pan-Asian economic community.
• Priority will need to be accorded to creating and augmenting all- encompassing regional connectivity and networking stretching from Myanmar to the Pacific coast.
• Myanmar and Thailand are pivotal to our Look-East Policy. Both are members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Techno- Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
• China’s lengthening shadows and growing presence in neighborhood is best countered in this strategically important space through meaningful regional cooperation.
• Maritime security is likely to emerge as a key concern in the coming decades. India’s pivotal role in the Indian Ocean stretching up to the Pacific could contribute to ensuring freedom of the seas, peace, security from piracy.
• Asia-Pacific regional organizations like the East Asia Summit, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific, the Asian Development Bank, the ARF, the Track II Council for Security Cooperation in Asia-Pacific and other dialogue arrangements and the many ASEAN-driven regional forum of which India is a member provide an opportunity to engage with China in the regional context.

India enjoys excellent bilateral relations with almost all the countries of the Asia-Pacific, free of conflict or differences. For the first time in many decades, India is becoming integral to Asia-Pacific peace, progress, security and stability. It is increasingly being seen as one of the pillars of the emerging politico-security and economic architecture of this rapidly changing region on the threshold of a promising century. The commemorative India-ASEAN summit to mark 20 years of the completion of the Look-East Policy later in the year cannot be allowed to be just a milestone event. India will have to give direction and substance to the agenda and priorities for the next decade of partnership. ASEAN, from all accounts, is eager and receptive to deepening and enlarging its engagement with a potentially powerful India. 

PCS GS classes starting at patiala wef 28th july ( saturday) at 4 PM. Admission open till friday 5.00 PM. Optional subjects starting 10th Aug 2012.

Introductory lecture on "IAS/PCS - Preparation strategy " by Mr parveen Bansal in Patiala centre at 4.00 PM on 25th july(Wednesday). Call 9501114024. Address: 33, city centre market, Near 22 number phatak, Patiala. All are welcome

NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT 2012

•  VENUE: Seoul (South Korea)
•  PARTICIPANTS: Delegates from 53 countries and four international organizations, including US President Barack Obama and PM Manmohan Singh will take part in the two day summit from March 26.
•  AGENDA: Leaders will discuss the global threat posed by nuclear terrorism & measures required to prevent terrorists’ access to nuclear material & technology.
•  Manmohan Singh will also hold bilateral talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-buk.

WASHINTON SUMMIT:

•  The first Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington, D.C., April 12-13, 2010.
•  Forty-seven national delegations as well as the heads of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union attended the summit.
•  The summit concluded with a communiqué, which embraces the goal of securing all of the world’s vulnerable weapons-useable nuclear materials within four years, and a work plan, which identified existing international agreements and resources that are available to countries as they work to secure or eliminate their civilian stockpiles of this material.

THE WASHINGTON COMMUNIQUE:

•  Reaffirms the fundamental responsibility of states to maintain effective security of all nuclear materials and recognizes the need for cooperation in this area;
•  Recognizes that highly enriched uranium (HEU) and separated plutonium require special precautions and encourages the conversion of reactors from HEU to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel and minimization of use of HEU, where feasible;
•  Reaffirms the essential role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the international nuclear security framework and will work to ensure that it continues to have the appropriate structure, resources and expertise to carry out its activities;
•  Notes the positive contributions of mechanisms like the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, to build capacity among law enforcement, industry, and technical personnel;
•  Supports the implementation of strong nuclear security practices that will not infringe upon the rights of States to develop and utilize nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and technology and will facilitate international cooperation in the field of nuclear security.

 THE WASHINGTON WORK PLAN:

•  Support for Security Council Resolution 1540
•  Conversion of civilian facilities from HEU to non-weapons-useable materials
•  Research on new nuclear fuels
•  Detection methods and forensic technologies
•  Development of corporate and institutional cultures that prioritize nuclear security; education and training
•  Joint exercises among law enforcement and customs officials to enhance nuclear detection opportunities.

REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE RISAT-1 

• India has successfully launched its first indigenous 'spy satellite' RISAT-1 from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.
•  RISAT: Radar Imaging Satellite
• The rocket that delivered Risat-1 in the space is ISRO’s four stage PSLV's upgraded variant called PSLV-XL.
• The letters XL stand for extra large as the six strap-on motors hugging the rocket at the bottom can carry 12 tonnes of solid fuel as against the base version that has a fuel capacity of nine tonnes.

 ABOUT RISAT-1:

• India’s first satellite with indigenously developed synthetic aperture radar having all weather and day-night imaging capability.
• Weighing 1858 kg, RISAT-1 is the heaviest satellite ever launched by the PSLV.
• Its orbit period is 95.49 minutes. It will complete 14 orbits every day.

 APPLICATION:

• RISAT-1 will have applications in agriculture and in management of natural disasters like floods and cyclone.
• It can also be used for defence purposes.

REMOTE SENSING SATELLITES:

•  Remote sensing satellites send back pictures and other data for use.
• India has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions, from more than a metre ranging up to 500 metres, and is a major player in vending such data in the global market.
• The 11 satellites are TES, Resourcesat-1, Cartosat-1, 2, 2A and 2B, IMS-1, Risat-2, Oceansat-2, Resourcesat-2 and Megha-Tropiques.

Kala Azar

• India and the US have jointly started human trials of a new and powerful vaccine against kala azar.
• The LEISH-F3 + GLA-SE vaccine will be tested on healthy Indian adults in collaboration with the Banaras Hindu University later this year. The vaccine is a highly purified, recombinant and incorporates two fused parasite proteins and a powerful adjuvant to stimulate an immune response.

 What is Kala azar?

•  Also known as black fever- The infection causes visceral leishmaniasis that attacks liver and spleen, causing irregular bouts of fever and substantial weight loss. Kala azar tends to recur after every 15 years.

 Is it fatal?

• The disease is the second-largest parasitic killer in the world (after malaria), responsible for an estimated 500,000 cases each year worldwide. In developing countries, where patients generally have poor nutrition and compromised immune function, it is 100% fatal without treatment.

 Endemic areas in India:

•  Kala azar is endemic in 48 dists in Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, W Bengal. About 65.4 million people are at risk in these four states WHO's deadline to eliminate kalazar from Southeast Asia expires in 2016. Kala azar tends to recur after every 15 years.

 WHO deadline:

•  WHO's deadline to eliminate kalazar from Southeast Asia expires in 2016 

• India missed the National Health Policy target to eliminate kala azar by 2010, and has now set a new target to eliminate or reduce the number of cases to one per 10,000 people by 2015.
• Elimination means reducing number of cases to one per 10,000 people

Bio-piracy

• India has successfully foiled a bio-piracy bid by a Swiss multi-national firm to patent an age-old Indian home remedy - milk as a laxative.
• Nestec SA had filed a patent application at the European Patent Office (EPO) on May 12, 2009, claiming the usefulness of cow milk for the treatment of constipation and as a laxative to be its unique finding. 

 India’s response

• Cow milk is being used alone or in combination with other ingredients for treating constipation and as a laxative in traditional Indian medicine systems for hundreds of years. 
• The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Union health ministry's department of Ayush sent the EPO references of the remedy from several ancient Indian texts dated between 5th century and 20th century.
• This led to the applicant withdrawing its claim and patent application on January 24.

 Books used as evidence by India:

1. Astanga Hridaya (5th century),
2. Vangasena (12th century),
3. Rasendracintamanaih (16th century),
4. Siddhabhesajamanimala (19th century)
5. Khazaain-al-Advia (20th century).

 What is Bio-piracy?

• Biopiracy is a situation where indigenous knowledge of nature, originating with indigenous people, is exploited for commercial gain without permission from and with no compensation to the indigenous people themselves.

 What is Bio-prospecting?

• Bio-prospecting is an umbrella term describing the discovery of new and useful biological samples and mechanisms, typically in less-developed countries, either with or without the help of indigenous knowledge, and with or without compensation. In this way, bio-prospecting includes bio-piracy and also includes the search for previously unknown compounds in organisms that have never been used in traditional medicine.

 Bio-piracy problem in India:

• Till a decade ago, around 2,000 wrong patents regarding Indian medicine systems were being granted annually at international level due to lack of evidence provided by India.
• Ø  On an average, it takes five to seven years to oppose a granted patent at international level that may cost $0.2-$0.6 million. 

 Worldwide opposition to biological piracy' is rapidly building up as more and more groups and people become aware that big corporations are reaping massive profits from using the knowledge and biological resources of Third World communities. There is growing public outrage that these companies are being granted patents for products and technologies that make use of the genetic materials, plants and other biological resources that have long been identified, developed and used by farmers and indigenous peoples, mainly in countries of the South. Whilst the corporations stand to make huge revenues from this process, the local communities are unrewarded and in fact face the threat in future of having to buy the products of these companies at high prices.

PARTICIPATORY NOTES

•  Setting at rest the uncertainty about overseas investments, finance minister Pranab Mukhrjee has said those investing in stock markets through participatory notes (P-notes) will not have to pay tax in India, an assurance that pushed up the markets.

 What are Participatory Notes? 

•  Participatory notes (P-Notes) are derivative instruments issued by FIIs on Indian shares, but at a location outside of India.
• The investors, who buy P-Notes, deposit their funds in the US or European operations of the FII, which also operates in India. The FII then uses its proprietary account to buy stocks in India.
• Other types of P-Notes include equity-linked notes, capped return note, participatory return notes and investment notes. 

 Why do investors use P-Notes? 

• While one reason for using P-Notes is to keep the investor's name anonymous, some investors have used the instrument to save on transaction costs also. Such investors look for derivative solution to gain exposure in individual, or a basket of, stocks in the relevant market.
• Sometimes, investors enter the Indian markets in a small way using P-Notes, and when their positions become larger, they find it advantageous to shift over to a full-fledged FII structure. 

 What is the problem with the instrument? 

• It is difficult to establish the beneficial ownership or the identity of the ultimate investor, and hence cannot be taxed. It is feared that FIIs, which have to comply with know-your customer norms, know the identity of the investor to whom P-Notes are issued.
• Tax officials also fear that P-Notes are increasingly becoming a favourite among a host of Indian money launderers, who use the instrument to first take funds out of the country through the hawala route, and then get it back using P-Notes.