the hindu imp. news feb. 14th 2012

8/3/2019 The Hindu Imp. News Feb. 14th 2012

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A goal is a dream with a deadline.

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THE HINDU

Imp. News

Feb.14th

2012

Page 1

Blast rips through Israeli Embassy car in Delhi:

Monday's attempted assassination of an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi and Tel Aviv's reflexive

indictment of Tehran for the incident threatens to put India bang in the middle of escalating

tensions in West Asia and raises new fears about its vulnerability to international terrorism.

The diplomat, who was travelling on the back seat, sustained serious injuries as the blast ripped

through the vehicle's metal body. Her driver, Manoj Sharma, lost control of the car after the

explosion, and was injured when it crashed into a road divider. Delhi residents Manjeet Singhand Arun Sharma, who were driving behind the van, were also hurt.

Gilani charged with contempt:

Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday was formally charged with contempt

of court by the Supreme Court for refusing to follow its order to reopen corruption cases

against President Asif Ali Zardari. It appointed Attorney-General Anwar-ul Haq as the

prosecutor, thus creating a curious situation in which the government's main legal adviser will

be pitted against the Prime Minister.

Bench, said the Prime Minister had violated Article 204 of the Constitution by not writing to the

Swiss authorities to reopen money-laundering cases against Mr. Zardari as ordered by the

court. He had also violated Paragraph 178 of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)

implementation case.

Cardiac stem cells can restore heart muscles, says study:

Infusion of cardiac stem cells into persons who suffered heart attack recently can help to

regenerate their heart muscles, says a study published today, February 14, in The Lancet. Phase

I of the study was conducted on 17 patients, who received stems cells, and eight, who received

standard care (control group), at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles and JohnsHopkins Hospital, Baltimore. All of them had had heart attacks about a month before the study

began in May 2009. The stem cells were created from the patients' heart tissues.

Scar size

Visible improvements were seen in those who received infusion of stem cells, compared with

the control group at the end of six months and a year. While no change in the scar size was


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seen in the control group, there was more than 12 per cent reduction in the size at the end of

six months in the treatment group. The study thus challenges the conventional wisdom that

once established, cardiac scarring is permanent, and that, once lost, healthy heart muscle

cannot be restored.

EDITORIAL

Lessons from the Durban Conference:

India had gone to Durban with three predominant objectives. First, to secure the continuance

of the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period' is scheduled to end in 2012. Second, to

ensure that its particular concerns on equity, intellectual property rights and unilateral trade

measures, And third, to preserve the notion of differentiation' between developed and

developing countries, recognised through the principle of common but differentiated

responsibilities' (CBDR) in both the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

and the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.

India also failed in its bid to gain substantive recognition for the issues of intellectual property

rights and unilateral trade measures. Even on equity', the issue closest to its heart, all that it

managed to secure in the end is a workshop' on equitable access to sustainable development',

itself an ambiguous formulation, under a mandate that is now scheduled to expire. The

outcome of the Durban conference and India's failure to attain most of its stated objectives

should now raise serious questions about the wisdom of its negotiating strategy, and

especially its alliance management. It should also raise questions about the capacity that it has

brought to bear in these negotiations to date. At Durban, India fielded a delegation of 34

members, as opposed to 96 from the U.S., 101 from the EU, 228 from Brazil, 167 from China,

and even 102 from Bangladesh. And insiders well know what the teeth-to-tail ratio even withinthis small group is.

In a few months' time, in June 2012, the international community will reconvene in Brazil to

commemorate the 20th anniversary of the historic Rio Earth Summit. The developed world will

then no doubt try to use the precedent set at Durban to press for a more general erasure of the

principle of differentiation' within international environmental law itself. If this is an outcome

that India wishes to avoid, it needs to rapidly get its act together on this issue. Durban is a

wake-up call that it must not ignore.

Regulating hospitals is healthy:

The proposed enhancement of public health expenditure in India as a percentage of GDP during

the Twelfth Plan will deploy massive tax funds in a sector that is poorly regulated. If the

government accepts the recommendation of the High Level Expert Group of the Planning

Commission on Universal Health Coverage to increase government expenditure on health to 2.5

per cent of GDP from 1.2 per cent today, there will be an estimated five-fold increase in per

capita public spending. It is inevitable that private health infrastructure is tapped to provide


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UHC, at least in the short term, while the government-run system is improved qualitatively and

quantitatively. The Clinical Establishment Act, 2010 makes a beginning in this regard but it has a

long way to go as it requires ratification by States to be applicable, except in Arunachal Pradesh,

Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim and Union Territories which are already covered.

Benchmarking care is a standard requirement for hospitals and clinical facilities in thedeveloped world. India's efforts in this regard remain fragmented, with the National

Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers, the Indian Public Health Standards,

and the Clinical Establishment Act attempting to define standards. What the country needs is

one integrated standards and regulatory system, requiring compulsory registration and

regulation. The decision of the NABH to make surprise visits to hospitals to verify uniform

adherence to its standards is certainly welcome, but incremental approaches will not do. A

single empowered national standards body is needed, and the Planning Commission group has

a worthwhile recommendation on forming a national regulatory body.

Rally in Somalia for merger of al-Qaeda and al-Shabab:

Thousands of Somalis are gathering at a militant-organised demonstration in support of the

merger of the Somali militant group al-Shabab with al-Qaeda. Al-Shabab spokesman Ali

Mohamud Rage told those gathered at Monday's rally that the al-Shabab is happy with its

unification with al-Qaeda, a merger announced last week by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

Several hundred people gathered at the rally, including veiled women and armed, masked men.

Rage also said that an upcoming international conference in London on Somalia is being

organised to colonise Somalia.

Giving BRICS a non-western vision:

India is all set to host the Fourth BRICS Summit in March this year. The journey from

Yekaterinburg to New Delhi has demonstrated that the political will amongst member nations

to sustain this contemporary multilateral process is strong. It is amusing to be offered solutions

to poverty and inequality, bottom of the pyramid health models, low cost housing options,

education delivery, energy and water provision, et alby the wise men from organisations and

institutions of the Atlantic countries.

BRICS must create its own research and policy secretariat (for want of a better term) for

addressing specific issues such as trade and market reforms, urbanisation challenges, regional

crises responses, universal healthcare, food security and sustainable development (many of

these issues are being discussed year at the BRICS Academic Forum in March).

The OECD's stated mission is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social

well-being of people around the world. Although the BRICS nations account for a fourth of

global GDP and represent over 40 per cent of the total global population, none of them are

OECD members as yet; instead what they have is enhanced engagement with the OECD. The

BRICS nations have already created a viable platform for enhanced engagement with each


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other through the institutionalisation of the annual Leader's summit, preceded by an Academic

Forum of BRICS research institutions and a Financial Forum of development banks (and this

year, a newly instituted Economic Research Group will focus on specific economic issues). The

dominant discourses within each of the BRICS nations today are centred on non-traditional

security, which can be efficiently addressed through collective market based response

mechanisms.

BRICS must now move on from being a grouping of individual nations, discussing agendas, to

becoming a go-to institution for setting regional and global agendas. The essence and ethos

of such an institution must in turn, flow from the inorganic prism of stability, security and

growth for all. Stability from business cycles and financial governance failures, security from

traditional and non-traditional threats posed to humans and the environment, and unbiased

growth and prosperity are common aspirations for all BRICS nations, and they must be achieved

and delivered from within. The Fourth BRICS Academic Forum will attempt to address these

imperatives.

INTERNATIONAL

U.S. delivers strongest message yet to Sri Lanka:

The United States has despatched two senior officials to convey to Sri Lanka that it has to

deliver on its promise of conducting an inquiry into war crimes, or face international sanction.

The United States will support a very straightforward resolution that the government of Sri

Lanka has not yet done enough to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and

Reconciliation Committee, and comprehensively address the question of accountability, said

the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert O'Blake when asked ifthe U.S. will support a resolution in the forthcoming session of the UNHRC.

U.S. to step up Maldives watch:

The United States is stepping up its watch of the Maldives since it was caught off-guard after

the change of guard in the archipelago-nation. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and

Central Asia Robert O'Blake whose initial South Asia tour programme last week had only slotted

Colombo, squeezed in a Male visit to ascertain the situation.

Xi ready for tough dialogue with Washington:

Washington and Beijing prepared to reengage in a week-long bilateral tango on a tightrope as

Chinese Vice-President and presumptive leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping left for the United States

on Monday.

Mr. Xi's visit will be closely followed for insights into the man expected to lead China for the

next decade, as well as guide its relations with Washington amid growing tensions. In a pre-visit


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call with media, White House officials clearly indicated their appreciation of Mr. Xi's position.

Daniel Russel, Senior Director for Asian Affairs, said, Building a relationship with the official in

China who seems likely destined to be a central figure in the Chinese political system for years

to come obviously is important....

Greeks riot against austerity vote:

The rioting began on Sunday afternoon ahead of a landmark vote in Parliament on yet more

austerity measures. The drastic cuts debated in Parliament include axing one in five civil service

jobs over the next three years and slashing the minimum wage by more than a fifth.

Call for U.N. mission in Syria:

The European Union backed on Monday an Arab League call for a U.N. peacekeeping mission in

Syria and urged the U.N. Security Council to act in order to stop the violence there. As Syrian

troops pounded the protest hub of Homs again on Monday, Britain called for urgent

international talks on the Arab League proposal but cautioned that Western nations are unlikely

to contribute to the force. The EU's first goal is an immediate cessation of killings and

therefore we are very supportive of any initiative that can help achieve this objective, including

a stronger Arab presence on the ground in cooperation with the U.N. to achieve a ceasefire and

the end of violence, he said in a statement.

BUSINESS

India, Pakistan aim to double trade in 3 years:

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Monday undertook a historic visit toPakistan through the Wagah border with the commitment to double bilateral trade in the next

three years and remove trade barriers to share economic prosperity with its neighbour and

facilitate people to people exchange. India is committed to taking the economic and trade

relationship with Pakistan to a new level. I have come to Pakistan with an open mind and to

achieve substantial progress in our talks. We are working hard on opening the second gate and

an integrated customers' post (ICP) at the Wagah-Attari border and hope to finish the task by

April 30. The talks will help us in taking forward the process of peace and trade and we will

work towards deepening and diversifying the relationship,'' he told journalists at the Pakistan

side of the border.

Vodafone weighing options to bid for Cable & Wireless:

Global mobile communications major Vodafone Plc is evaluating the merits of a potential

acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide, a more than 150-year-old telecom entity that was

primarily set up to cater to the needs of the erstwhile British Empire. Both U.K. majors have a

good presence in India, where Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) first made its entry in 1872

as an under-sea cable firm by the name of Eastern Telegraph Company. In a statement,


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Vodafone on Monday said it was weighing the possibility of making an offer for CWW, though it

cautioned there was no certainty an offer would be made. An acquisition of CWW would help in

boosting Vodafone's bandwidth capacity for customers using internet.

WTO ruling unfair', says China-

Niu Qingbao, China's Consul-General in Mumbai, has defended his country's restrictions on

export of several industrial raw materials and termed the decision of the World Trade

Organization's Appellate Body against it unfair'. The U.S and several other countries, including

India, Mexico and Brazil, recently won their battle against China at the WTO on export of raw

materials. In a ruling, the WTO Appellate Body found China's restraints on export of industrial

raw materials, used as key components in steel, aluminium and chemicals industries, to be

inconsistent with China's WTO obligations.

Ecology is a big problem for developing countries such as China may not be a big problem for

western countries. For them (western countries) density of population is lower compared to

China and India. Damage to our environment will adversely affect future generations, he said.

India is one of the largest trading partners of China, and the country imports from India

chemicals, iron ore and cotton, while China exports to India home appliances, machinery and

electronics, he said. He said around 2,000 Chinese students were studying in Indian

universities against nearly 10,000 Indian students studying in universities of China. Many

Chinese students are interested in courses in information technology and medical sciences in

India. I think many more Chinese students want to study here (India), he said.

Page 04

Dutiful to daughters:

The German government is extending grant support to the project Meri Shakti, Meri Beti(My

Strength, My Daughter) being implemented by Delhi-based Centre for Social Research (CSR).

The project aims at curbing incidents of pre-natal sex selection in South West Delhi.

The financing agreement was signed by Germany's acting Ambassador to India, Cord Meier-

Klodt and Ranjana Kumari, Director of CSR.

Germany has allocated Rs. 52.8 lakh (approximately 80,000 euros) to the project for the period

from February 1 to December 31. Commenting on the support of the German Government, Dr.

Kumari said CSR has been working on the issue of sex selective abortions since 1987 through a

range of direct action programmes, education initiatives with local authoritative bodies and the

community at large and advocacy and lobbying campaigns at national and international levels.

The goal of the project is to generate understanding and awareness regarding the

implementation and impact of the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act


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1994 and prepare local stakeholders and community members for deeper engagement in

efforts to end pre-natal sex selection. The sensitisation of the community members and general

public will be done through walks against female foeticide, silent demonstrations, signature

campaigns and media workshops. A medical and social audit will also be conducted; its findings

will be submitted to the departments of Union Government dealing with the issue of

decreasing sex ratio.

Page 20

A triumphant comeback:

British soul diva Adele made a triumphant return to the stage at the Grammys on Sunday,

winning a clean sweep of six awards and a standing ovation in a show clouded by the death of

R&B artist Whitney Houston. The 23-year-old Londoner, who has been out of action since

October to undergo throat surgery, wowed a star-studded audience with a storming rendition

of her worldwide hit Rolling in the Deep. The tune won best song Grammy, to add to Adele's

haul of awards for best record, best album for her breakthrough 21, best short video, best

pop album and best pop artist she won in all six categories in which she was nominated.

A three-song tribute started with a close-harmony version of Surfer Girl by Maroon 5, and

then the falsetto strains of Wouldn't It Be Nice by Foster the People, against a backdrop of

multicolour surf boards. After a standing ovation, the Beach Boys themselves, all now in their

60s, took to the stage to play Good Vibrations, with the famously glum-looking Brian Wilson

almost smiling as he hit the high notes with his old bandmates.

The audience then watched a clip of Houston singing one of her greatest hits I Will Always

Love You, (a smash hit from her film The Bodyguard) and gave her a standing ovation. Later inthe show, singer Jennifer Hudson gripped the audience in silence with a classy rendition of the

song.Houston's family issued a statement before the show, saying: We are devastated by the

loss of our beloved Whitney. This is an unimaginable tragedy and we will miss her terribly.

the hindu imp. news feb. 14th 2012

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