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National-------AYUSH to be included in national health schemes.The Centre is planning to launch a special scheme for delivery of healthcare services in 100 out of 264 focus districts across the country where the health indicators are very low, by integrating allopathic and other Indian systems of medicine soon.

Under the scheme, joint teams of doctors of allopathy, Ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homoeopathy systems of medicine will visit villages frequently to bring about an improvement in the general health condition of people.

This was stated here on Monday by Mr. Anil Kumar, Secretary, Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), here on Monday while inaugurating a national workshop on Clinical Research Methodology in Unani Medicine'.

Modalities were being worked out to include AYUSH systems of medicine in all national health programmes within two years.

Bilateral-----

Anti-piracy surveillance to ensure safety of the Indian Ocean region and security ties were among the issues discussed between India and Seychelles in New Delhi.Both the countries also inked two pacts for the supply of Coastal Surveillance Radar Systems and Dornier Aircraft to the island nation. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his counterpart from Seychelles Jean-Paul Adam held comprehensive discussions on international, regional and bilateral issues and took stock of the current status of the ties between the countries.-------

Economic------

The Reserve Bank of India has decided to increase the bank rate to 9.5 per centwith immediate effect. RBI said in a notification that this increase should be viewed and understood as one-time technical adjustment to align the Bank Rate with the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate rather than a change in the monetary policy stance.

The Bank Rate, which is the standard rate at which the RBI buys or re-discountsbills of exchange or other commercial paper, is presently used as a penal rate,which the banks have to pay for their failure to meet the mandatory Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR).The Bank Rate, which has been increased to 9.50 per cent, was kept unchanged since April 2003.

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Cheaper food items pulled down overall inflation to a 26-month low of 6.55 per cent in January 2012. Headline inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index, WPI, had stood at 7.47 per cent in December 2011, and at 9.47 per cent in January 2011.

As per the official data released, today, food inflation stood at minus 0.52 per cent in January 2012, against 0.74 per cent in December 2011. Vegetables were cheaper by 43.13 per cent, and wheat cheaper by 3.48 per cent, on an annual basis

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. Potato prices fell 23.15 per cent, and onion prices dropped 75.57 per cent, year-on-year, in January. Prices of manufactured items, which have a weight of around 65 per cent in the WPI basket, rose 6.49 per cent in January 2012, as against 7.41 per cent in December 2011.-------------

Awards-----

India-born Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has been felicitated with the prestigiousNational Medals of Arts and Humanities award by US President Barrack Obama.

Sen has been given the award for his efforts to increase the understanding of fighting hunger and poverty. The Nobel laureate was given the award at a glittering function at White House in Washington.

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French black and white drama 'The Artist' won gold at the 65th British Film Academy Awards Sunday winning seven prizes including Best Picture, while Meryl Streep continued with her winning streak grabbing the best leading actress gong.

The film's star Jean Dujardin took home the Best Leading Actor award, leaving behind the likes of Hollywood bigwigs like Brad Pitt (Moneyball), George Clooney (The Descendants) and Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

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India-born music conductor Zubin Mehta has been honoured with Israel's first Presidential Awards of Distinction, the country's version of the French Legion of Honour or the Order of Canada.

The award is being bestowed upon those "who have made an outstanding contribution to the state of Israel or to humanity, through their talents, services, or in

any other form," a statement from the Israeli Presidency said.--------

Noted Hindi writer Professor Ramdarash Mishra has been selected for the 21st Vyas Samman for his poetry collection Aam Ke Patte . The collection was published in 2004.

The award, instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation, is given annually for an outstanding literary work in Hindi published during the past 10 years. The award carries a cash purse of Rs. 2.5 lakh.--------

Sports

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India's Saurabh Ghoshal has won the Windi-city Open Squash tournament in Chicago, United States.

In a thrilling match, top seed Ghoshal defeated Pakistan's Yassir Butt 11-8, 15-13, 10-12, 11-5.

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Former Australian first-class pacer Joe Dawes will take over as the Indian cricket team's bowling coach after Eric Simons' tenure comes to an end at the completion of the ongoing tour of Australia.-------

Persons---------

Noted urdu poet and Jnanpith awardee Akhlaq Mohammed Khan, who shot to fame forpenning ghazals in Bollywood classics like 'Umrao Jaan', passed away in Aligarhafter a protracted illness. He was 76.-------

Whitney Houston, the Grammy winning legendary singer-actress and heart throb ofthe 80's, whose once sparkling career was torn apart by drug abuse and personalproblems, was found dead at a hotel in Los Angeles.

-------S.V. Sangameswaran, former Deputy Director, Central Food and Technological Research Institute, Mysore, passed away here on Sunday. He was 87.--------