India and 10 other Asian countries were formally declared polio-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) Thursday. Apart from India the other countries which were given polio-free certificates were Bangladesh Bhutan North Korea Indonesia the Maldives Myanmar Nepal Sri Lanka Thailand and Timor-Leste. The certificates were handed over to the health ministers of these countries by WHO Regional Director (Southeast Asia) Poonam Khetrapal Singh at a ceremony. A country is declared polio-free by the WHO if no case is reported for three consecutive years. India reported the last polio case in January 2011.An independent panel of 11 experts in public