Azad expresses concern over spread of new diseases

Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister, Health and Family Welfare. Photo Courtesy: AFP

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday expressed concern over spread of new types of diseases, including swine flu, across the globe and said the government is leaving no stone unturned in tackling them.

Addressing a gathering at the "National Conference on Recent Development in Computing and its Applications in Jamia Hamdard, he said, "since there is no end to diseases, there will be no end to developing newer vaccines and medicines too."

He said, "swine flu has spread all over the world. I spend four to five hours with doctors everyday. I try to see where we are lacking behind and how much science is yet to achieve. It can be said that there is neither any limit to science nor diseases."

While drawing parallels with traffic in the city, the minister said, "The traffic is so huge that every second year we are considering bifurcating the existing lanes from two to four to six. This is even after introducing flyovers and metros

Gates hints US buildup in Afghanistan

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Photo Courtesy: AFP.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has left open the possibility of sending more forces to Afghanistan but warned of stretched military resources.

With about 132,000 troops in Iraq, Gates said there were constraints as to how many extra troops could be sent to Afghanistan at least until after Iraq's elections in January.

"I would say also that the availability of forces is still a challenge," he told a news conference on Thursday.

Referring to plans to reduce US troops in Iraq over the next year, Gates said that "until the more accelerated drawdown in Iraq begins after the elections there ... it will be a challenge for us."

The military also was limited by efforts to increase the time soldiers spend back at home between combat tours, he said.

The defence secretary's comments come amid intense speculation that the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, is preparing to make a case for more troops in the fight against the Taliban and allied insurgents.

President Barack Obama already ordered an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan ahead of the country's August 20 elections and the number of US forces is set to reach 68,000 before the end of the year.

There are also some 30,000 international troops under NATO command in Afghanistan.

Asked why US forces were not sent in earlier to southern Afghanistan, where thousands of Marines have deployed over the summer, Gates said: "The forces weren't available to send in until fairly recently. We got them in there as fast as we could."

Gates said he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, had told McChrystal that "we want him to ask for what he thinks he needs."

"And I think you have to allow your commanders that freedom," he said.

But he repeated his concerns about too big of a US military "footprint," saying it was important not to alienate Afghans who currently view the NATO-led coalition as "their partner."

"I just worry that we don't know what the size of the military presence might be that would begin to change that.

"And I think we need to move with considerable care in that respect and in close consultation with both our allies, but especially with the Afghans and the Afghan government," Gates said.

McChrystal, who is drafting an assessment of the Afghan war effort that is due to be submitted by early September, is under pressure to seize the initiative from the Islamist insurgents amid anxiety in Congress about an open-ended US mission.

Obama has sought to shift the focus to the Afghan mission but has had to balance competing demands from the commander in Iraq, amid warnings the situation there remains fragile.

Describing a "mixed picture" in Afghanistan, Gates said he could not predict how long US troops would have to stay, saying there were too many uncertainties.

"In some parts of Afghanistan, the Taliban have clearly established a presence," he said.

But Gates said the insurgents could be defeated "in a few years" while economic and civilian aid efforts represented a "decades-long enterprise."

General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same press conference that the military was looking closely at how to combat improvised explosives, which were the main cause of casualties among NATO-led troops.

"That's one area that we're going to have to focus in on," Cartwright said. Countering the explosives might require a change in tactics or "additional resources," he said. "We're going to have to take a serious look at that."

Civilian analysts who advised McChrystal last month on his assessment have called for moving troops out of fortified bases and having them mingle more with the local population in a bid to win the trust of Afghans.

McChrystal is also reportedly considering focusing more on securing cities and towns instead of devoting resources to manhunts for Taliban or al Qaida militants.

Gates acknowledged that McChrystal was considering shifting troops away from remote areas to population centers. "I suspect that may be something that's addressed in the general's assessment," he said

Gates hints US buildup in Afghanistan

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Photo Courtesy: AFP.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has left open the possibility of sending more forces to Afghanistan but warned of stretched military resources.

With about 132,000 troops in Iraq, Gates said there were constraints as to how many extra troops could be sent to Afghanistan at least until after Iraq's elections in January.

"I would say also that the availability of forces is still a challenge," he told a news conference on Thursday.

Referring to plans to reduce US troops in Iraq over the next year, Gates said that "until the more accelerated drawdown in Iraq begins after the elections there ... it will be a challenge for us."

The military also was limited by efforts to increase the time soldiers spend back at home between combat tours, he said.

The defence secretary's comments come amid intense speculation that the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, is preparing to make a case for more troops in the fight against the Taliban and allied insurgents.

President Barack Obama already ordered an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan ahead of the country's August 20 elections and the number of US forces is set to reach 68,000 before the end of the year.

There are also some 30,000 international troops under NATO command in Afghanistan.

Asked why US forces were not sent in earlier to southern Afghanistan, where thousands of Marines have deployed over the summer, Gates said: "The forces weren't available to send in until fairly recently. We got them in there as fast as we could."

Gates said he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, had told McChrystal that "we want him to ask for what he thinks he needs."

"And I think you have to allow your commanders that freedom," he said.

But he repeated his concerns about too big of a US military "footprint," saying it was important not to alienate Afghans who currently view the NATO-led coalition as "their partner."

"I just worry that we don't know what the size of the military presence might be that would begin to change that.

"And I think we need to move with considerable care in that respect and in close consultation with both our allies, but especially with the Afghans and the Afghan government," Gates said.

McChrystal, who is drafting an assessment of the Afghan war effort that is due to be submitted by early September, is under pressure to seize the initiative from the Islamist insurgents amid anxiety in Congress about an open-ended US mission.

Obama has sought to shift the focus to the Afghan mission but has had to balance competing demands from the commander in Iraq, amid warnings the situation there remains fragile.

Describing a "mixed picture" in Afghanistan, Gates said he could not predict how long US troops would have to stay, saying there were too many uncertainties.

"In some parts of Afghanistan, the Taliban have clearly established a presence," he said.

But Gates said the insurgents could be defeated "in a few years" while economic and civilian aid efforts represented a "decades-long enterprise."

General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same press conference that the military was looking closely at how to combat improvised explosives, which were the main cause of casualties among NATO-led troops.

"That's one area that we're going to have to focus in on," Cartwright said. Countering the explosives might require a change in tactics or "additional resources," he said. "We're going to have to take a serious look at that."

Civilian analysts who advised McChrystal last month on his assessment have called for moving troops out of fortified bases and having them mingle more with the local population in a bid to win the trust of Afghans.

McChrystal is also reportedly considering focusing more on securing cities and towns instead of devoting resources to manhunts for Taliban or al Qaida militants.

Gates acknowledged that McChrystal was considering shifting troops away from remote areas to population centers. "I suspect that may be something that's addressed in the general's assessment," he said

Pak asks militants to surrender arms

A Pakistani girl celebrates Pakistan's Independence Day in Karachi. Photo Courtesy: AP.

Reeling under terror onslaught, the Pakistan government appealed to militants to surrender their arms and "say goodbye to terrorism" on the occasion of the country's 63rd Independence Day on Friday.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the cases of those, who surrendered would be examined on an individual basis, with authorities deciding between "leniency" and prosecution.

"On August 14, my message for these terrorists is: let's start a new day, surrender your arms, come to the political or law enforcement authorities and say goodbye to terrorism," Malik told journalists after attending a ceremony at the Police Martyrs' Monument in Islamabad.

Referring to the reported killing of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud in a US drone attack in South Waziristan Agency earlier this month, he said the government is close to collecting material evidence of his death.

"The evidence may be (video) footage or DNA test. Most of the work on collecting such evidence has been completed and we will inform the nation about this soon," he said.

Confusion has surrounded the fate of Mehsud, with the government and the Taliban making claims and counter-claims about his death. However, Malik said circumstantial evidence, ground realities and certain reports from South Waziristan indicate that Mehsud is dead.

"If terrorists are claiming that Baitullah is alive, then (they should) present his voice or show his video if he is sick," Malik said in response to a question on the Taliban's claims that Mehsud is still alive.

He pointed out that Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq too had acknowledged that Mehsud had been killed. Members of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan who had issued threats to the state are now fighting each other over the wealth accumulated by the militants, he said.

Malik also said that Pakistan's parliament and provincial assemblies had condemned the US drone attacks and Islamabad had requested Washington to provide drone technology to Pakistan.

"We are quite capable of handling such technology. We have our experts and we have the capability," he said.

Replying to another question, he said Pakistan and Afghanistan should work jointly against terrorism. The issue of border management is being discussed with Afghan officials and this will help prevent terrorism, he added

Karzai 'leading' ahead of Afghan polls

Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Photo Courtesy: AP.

A new poll released on Friday shows President Hamid Karzai has a commanding lead over other candidates contesting next week's Afghan presidential election, but his main challenger has dramatically narrowed the gap.

Some 44 percent of those interviewed in July said they plan to vote for Karzai in Thursday's election, a rise of 13 percentage points compared to a poll conducted in May.

If no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers will face off in a run-off. That could lead to a coalition uniting around a single, more powerful candidate to try to defeat Karzai.

Karzai's main challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, has surged in popularity, the poll showed, with 26 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him. In the May poll only 7 percent supported him.

The poll, based on face-to-face interviews with 2,400 people, was conducted between July 16-26 and funded by the International Republican Institute, a non-governmental organization that receives funding from USAID, the US government aid arm.

The poll, which sought to strike a representative sample along ethnic and gender lines, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Some 56 percent believe Karzai has done a good job in leading the nation as it faces growing Taliban insurgency and uncertainty about its future. And despite Taliban threats, some 90 percent of those surveyed said they plan to vote.

The militants have said they will disrupt the election and called on the people to stay away from polling centers. Elections authorities have said that some 10 percent of nearly 7,000 polling centers will likely remain shut, most of them because of bad security.

Most of the country's most violent regions - the south and the east - are where the country's ethnic Pashtuns live. Karzai, himself a Pashtun, could see his returns lowered if insurgent violence keeps Afghans there from voting.

On Thursday, Karzai said he will offer government jobs to his chief rivals, an offer which was dismissed by Abdullah's camp. Karzai also ordered Afghan security forces to observe a cease-fire on election day

World faces growing health inequalities: WHO

An Afghan woman carries her child during a morning walk in Kabul. Photo Courtesy: AFP.

The world is facing bigger inequalities in health and access to medical care than 30 years ago, the World Health Organization said in two global reports launched in China on Friday.

A child born in a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, can expect to live 28 years less than another living just 13 kilometres (eight miles) away, while a girl in Lesotho is likely to live 42 years less than one in Japan, the WHO said at the launch of the reports in Beijing.

This year's World Health Report focused on the way primary health care is organised, financed and delivered in rich and poor countries around the world.

A second report, "Closing the Gap in a Generation," documents the results of a three-year investigation into health inequalities between and within countries, the WHO said in a statement.

"Inequalities in health outcomes and access to care are much greater today than they were in 1978," WHO representative in China Hans Troedsson said. "Genes do not explain any of this," the doctor added.

"Instead, the differences between -- and within -- countries result from the social environment where people are born, live, grow, work and age. It also depends on health systems that are put in place to manage illnesses."

Giving an example, the WHO pointed out that in Sweden, the risk of a woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is one in 17,400 while for mothers in Afghanistan, the odds are one in eight.

The WHO reports call for better understanding of the root causes of health inequalities and for action to improve daily living conditions.

They also urged policy makers to return to basics and focus on prevention. "Instead of relying on specialist care or biomedical interventions, we should focus more on prevention and strengthen primary level care," Troedsson said.

"Better use of existing preventive and primary care measures could reduce the global burden of disease significantly."

China recently announced an ambitious reform plan, drawn up with WHO help, that aims to provide basic medical care for all by 2020.

An initial three-year programme will see 850 billion yuan ($124 billion) invested from 2009 to 2011 to reform the unpopular current system which is seen as costly, badly funded and providing shoddy treatment.

"Everyone -- male or female, young or old, rich or poor -- should have access to health care that is fair, people-centred, affordable and efficient.

"But health systems will not naturally gravitate towards fairness and efficiency. Deliberate policy actions are needed," Troedsson said

PM addresses the nation on I-day

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Photo Courtesy: AP

Sending out a positive message on Independence Day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday called for a new era of cooperation and harmony and pledged all possible government assistance to farmers to deal with drought and stepped up efforts to control spiralling prices.

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the sixth consecutive year, Singh said the government would work for political stability and strengthening economy with an aim of marching towards "a golden future".

Asserting that the people had rejected sectarian politics and have "chosen a political arrangement which is secular", he called for "a new era of cooperation and harmony" and promised to take everyone along to create "an environment of consensus and cooperation".

"You have entrusted a big responsibility on us and we humbly accept that and will fulfil it", he said.

Talking about problems like drought, economic crisis and swine flu facing the country, he sought to allay concerns.

There was no need to panic in the face of swine flu and daily life should not be disrupted because of it, said 76- year-old Singh.

Referring to the impact of the global meltdown, Singh said the government would take all steps like tapping of more foreign investment and encouraging exports to meet the "greatest challenge" of restoring the growth rate to nine per cent.

He hoped the situation would improve in the next four months. "We expect that there will be an improvement in the situation by the end of this year," he said.

The Prime Minister asked businessmen and industrialists to join in the effort to tackle the difficult situation and fulfil their social obligation.

On the drought situation created by the deficient monsoon, he said the government would provide all possible assistance to farmers to deal with the situation.

In this context, he said the date for repayment of farmer’s bank loans has been postponed and additional support given to them for payment of interest on short term crop loans.

Warning hoarders and black-marketeers, Singh said the state governments have been asked to strictly implement the laws in this regard to crack down such elements.

Assuring the nation that there was an adequate stock of foodgrains, he said all efforts would be made to control rising prices of foodgrains, pulses and other goods of daily use.

"We want that no one in the country goes hungry," Singh said.

Afghan civilian deaths 'increase'

The report says the battlefield has increasingly moved to residential areas The number of civilians killed in the conflict in Afghanistan so far this year has risen by 24% compared with the same period last year, the UN says. More than 1,000 people were killed in the first six months of the year, according to a UN report. It blamed insurgents for using increasingly deadly modes of attack. It also said air strikes by government-allied forces were responsible. There has been widespread concern in Afghanistan about civilian death tolls. In June the US military acknowledged concerns about the civilian deaths. Gen Stanley MacChrystal, the new commander of US and Nato-led troops in Afghanistan said troops must make protecting Afghan civilians a priority. But, the UN warned more civilians may be killed as militants battle a major offensive by US forces ahead of key elections next month. Civilian targets The report says insurgents were responsible for more deaths than government-allied forces. There has been widespread concern about civilian death tolls But it noted that two-thirds of the deaths caused by government-allied forces came in air strikes. It said the rising death toll was partly due to the fact that militants were deliberately basing themselves in residential districts. The report also highlighted the increasingly sophisticated tactics used by insurgents. It said there had been a rise in co-ordinated attacks using suicide bombers and explosives to target government offices. In those attacks, civilians were always singled out and killed. In the most recent of these attacks, gunmen and suicide bombers targeted Gardez and Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan killing five people. Presidential elections The report also noted that militants increasingly bombed the cars of civilians who work with government or international troops. Civilian deaths rose every month this year compared with 2008, except for February. May was cited as the deadliest month for civilians with 261 killed. Elections are due to take place amid tight security on 20 August when President Hamid Karzai is hoping to secure a second term. In the past week alone there have been two attacks on Afghan election campaigns. On Tuesday a campaign manager for presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah was wounded when his vehicle was attacked in Laghman province. Two days earlier there was an assassination attempt on Mohammed Qasim Fahim, a running mate of Mr Karzai

'No rhyme or reason' for bank pay

Compensation for bank employees has become 'unmoored' Wall Street banks that were bailed out by the government gave executives bonuses regardless of performance, it has been suggested in a report. The report by New York Attorney Andrew Cuomo's office said there was "no clear rhyme or reason" for pay and it had been disconnected from performance. Controversially, Congress is seeking to give government a direct say in what bank bosses are compensated.Top US banks paid out huge bonuses despite gaining taxpayer bail-outs. "Compensation for bank employees has become unmoored from the banks' financial performance" said the report.The report - prepared over nine months - argues that some banks paid out larger bonuses than their profits, while simultaneously taking exceptional state emergency funds. Difficult year Ten banks were given money as part of the government's $700bn financial stimulus plan. In 2008 Goldman Sachs paid $4.8bn in bonuses, representing more than twice its income. Similarly Morgan Stanley awarded bonuses of $4.475bn while earning just $1.7bn. All the while a painful global recession - partly caused by bankers' excess - was depriving less fortunate citizens of their livelihoods. Robert Peston, BBC business editor Read Robert's blog The government provided both firms with $10bn, as part of the its wider Troubled Asset Relief Program (Tarp). Goldman recently reported a better-than-expected net profit of $3.44bn for the three months to June. Citigroup and Merrill Lynch paid bonuses of $5.33bn and $3.6bn respectively while seeing losses of more than $27m each, said the report. "Other banks, like State Street and Bank of New York Mellon, paid bonuses that were more in line with their net income, which is certainly what one would expect in a difficult year like 2008". The proposal in Congress has been opposed by many Republicans who think it gives the state too much control over private firms' pay. "The problem with executive compensation is essentially, from the systemic standpoint, that it gives perverse incentives" said Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. He said the lack of penalties meant "heads you win, tails you break even"

Three held over Baghdad robbery

All eight people killed were bank security guards, police say Three people have been detained in Iraq in connection with a bank robbery in Baghdad earlier this week, in which eight security guards were killed. The interior ministry said all the money stolen from the Rafidain bank had been recovered - about $7m (£4m) worth of Iraqi dinars in total. A tip-off had led police to a house near the bank in the Karrada area of the Iraqi capital, the ministry said. Police are still searching for a number of other suspects. Dawn raid Witness accounts and security camera footage led police to the house belonging to an Iraqi army soldier. Only his elderly parents were at home when the police arrived. Tuesday's robbery was one of the biggest Baghdad had ever seen. The gunmen stormed the bank at dawn, and fired at the security guards, before using dynamite to open the vault where the money was kept. Security officials said there are links between the armed insurgency and organised crime in Iraq. Questions have been raised about whether the robbers had help from an inside source.