Indian-American record-making astronaut Sunita Williams along with her two other astronauts took off for her second space odyssey on a Russian Soyuz rocket. It took off successfully from a cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The other two members on board are Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Akihiko Hoshide. They are on a four-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS).

Sunita Williams:

• Born: September 19, 1965, in Euclid, Ohio
• Williams is American astronaut and United States Navy officer who holds the record for longest spaceflight by a woman.
• She was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and then joined Expedition 15.
• She holds the record of the longest space flight (195 days) among female space travelers
• She is of Slovenian descent from her mother’s side and Indian descent from her father’s which shows she is an Indian-Slovenian American.

Education:

• Bachelor of Science degree in Physical science from the United States Naval Academy
• Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology.

Her major space voyages:

• Williams took off to the International Space Station (ISS) with STS-116, aboard the shuttle Discovery, on December 9, 2006 to join the Expedition 14 crew.
• Williams became the first person to run the Boston Marathon from the space station on April 16, 2007
• Currently she is on a 4-month trip to the ISS

Jeev Milkha Singh won the Scottish Open golf title after a final round with Italy's Francesco Molinari.
This is his 4^th European Tour title.

Gujarat has rejected central govt’s ‘Jan Aushadhi’ model saying it has better self developed model of providing free treatments for segments of population.

Gujarat government currently runs a scheme to provide free medicines, and bears the entire cost of treatment for children below the age of 18 years at public hospitals.

The scheme is also extended for all below-poverty-line (BPL) families and also offers treatment at private institutions for BPL families up to a maximum limit of Rs 30,000. The state has been practicing the open tender procedure to procure drugs since a long time.

In Gujarat, Central Medical Stores Organization (CMSO) procures drugs through open tender, which are then analyzed by the state Food and Drugs Control Authority (FDCA) officials. Over 100 drugs are included in the list of essential medicines which include life saving drugs.

What is centre’s plan?

• The Centre is considering reviving its Jan Aushadhi scheme, and now plans to extend open tenders for the procurement of drugs for the Jan Aushadhi stores with the aim to boost the supply chain for these stores across the country. Presently, there are 117 Jan Aushadhi stores across India, and the department of pharmaceuticals plans to increase the number to 600 over the next two years, and further up to 3,000 by 2016. The Centre has plans to commercialize its Jan Aushadhi scheme by incorporating private sector pharma players to supply essential drugs.

An Indian youth delegation of students, young politicians, sportspeople and artists are on a visit to three Chinese cities. The trip is organized in the direction to bridge fallacies and communicate to China's next generation. But the trip marred with controversy as Chinese Embassy denied visa to a student from Arunachal Pradesh who was part of the group. The trip was also on the verge of postponement due to bureaucratic delays.

China has a history of a rigid policy of not providing visas to residents of Arunachal Pradesh, which it has claims on and refers to as “South Tibet.” In 2011, members of a karate team from the State who were travelling to China for a competition were issued stapled visas.

Two students from Jammu and Kashmir, who are also part of the delegation, received regular visas, which suggest a change in China's earlier stapled visa policy.

Despite differences running b/w the Army and DRDO, the two are trying cooperate in the development of world-class tank-killer missile.

What are the problems?

The problem with the DRDO’s anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), Nag (Hindi for cobra), is its range and weight. Currently, the Nag accurately hits its targets out to 4 km, the range that the army asks for. But in extreme heat, especially in summer afternoons in the desert, the missile cannot strike a target beyond 2.5 km. The seeker of the missile cannot work in high temperatures. The DRDO is trying to develop a seeker that can work through the hottest desert temperatures.

The Army is unhappy with the 40 kg weight of the missile. It has demanded for about 30-35 kg.

The Army is ready to buy 13 Nag carriers (NAMICA, being developed by BEL and L&T), and 443 Nag missiles in the current form. These will be positioned in regions of Punjab, where close-set villages, groves and electricity transmission cables do not allow visibility beyond 2.5 km. It will order larger consignment only after DRDO demonstrates better performance with an efficient Seeker.

What is the exigency of these missiles?

• The delay in the development of the missile is a disappointment to the army. Indian infantry formations is urgently looking for a capable ATGM to tackle Pakistani tank forces that now have potent Ukrainian T-80 and Chinese T-85 tanks.

How does the missile function?

• With the help of thermal imaging telescopes, the Nag missile pilots scan the battlefield for enemy tanks. After having set up an enemy tank, the Nag pilot locks the seeker onto it. Instantly, a digital snapshot of the target is taken, which funtions as a reference image. As the Nag heads towards the target, at 230 m/s, the seeker takes repeated snapshots of the target; each one is compared with the previous image. The deviations are translated into corrections to the Nag’s control fins, which automatically guide the missile onto the target. The missile is also called as “fire-and-forget” missile as it eases the pilot of the need to expose himself to enemy fire after launching the missile.

What are the other types of “Fire and Forget” missiles?

• Only a few countries carry these kinds of sophisticated missiles.

- FGM-148 Javelin is manufactured by American companies, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

- The Spike is built by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The Javelin and the Spike are lighter, “man-portable” missiles that can be carried by an infantry soldier, whereas, the Nag is heavier and more powerful missile that operates from vehicles and helicopters.