19 MARCH 2014

Ø  Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has lifted the ban on pain-killer and anti-pyretic drug Analgin and all formulations containing analgin. The drug can now be sold with a warning in India, but it is banned in most parts of the world.

Ø  The release for the first time of the classified Henderson Brooks 1962 war report, first reported by The Hindu on Monday, has been welcomed by scholars as a move that would enable a more transparent understanding of the India-China war and also prompt the government to rethink its long-held reluctance to declassify important historical documents. A 126-page section of the first volume of the Henderson Brooks report, which includes an operational review of India’s failure in the war with China, was made public by veteran Australian journalist Neville Maxwell.

Ø  Ludhiana and Kanpur are among the 10 most polluted cities in the world, says the World Health Organisation. According to a 2011 WHO report, Ludhiana made it to the fourth position along with Quetta in Pakistan. Kanpur made it to the ninth position. The most polluted city in the world is Ahvaz in Iran. The pollution is measured as the microgramme (mcg) concentration per cubic metre of air of particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometres (PM10), the Express Tribune reports.

Ø  The XLRI-Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, is all set to confer the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace on Arundhati Bhattacharya, the first woman chairperson of the State Bank of India.

Ø  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a treaty on Crimea’s accession to Russia after delivering a defiant speech defending his move and blasting the West for pursuing “containment” of Russia and flouting international law. President Vladimir Putin thanked India for taking a “restrained and objective” stand on Russia’s muscle flexing in Ukraine. Addressing a joint meeting of the Russian Parliament on Tuesday on the occasion of Crimea’s reunification with Russia Mr Putin singled out China and India as the countries that showed understanding for Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis.

Ø  Natco Pharma, on Tuesday, announced that it had received tentative approval from the U.S. health regulator to sell generic version of Roche’s Tamiflu, used to prevent and treat flu.