Tuesday, July 27, 2010

India cautions US over military aid to Pakistan

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India on Monday said the millions of dollars worth of US military assistance to Pakistan was "disproportionate" to Islamabad's needs and warned that it could be misused against India.

Defence Minister AK Antony told reporters in New Delhi that he had raised India's concerns during meetings with visiting US National Security Advisor James Jones and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, last week.

Antony pointed out that the arms supplies were "disproportionate to the war on terror" for which they being provided.

"We feel there is every possibility of diverting this sophisticated equipment against India," Antony said after a function in the Indian capital.

Antony said Delhi was worried about Pakistan misusing the assistance to build capacity against India and asked Washington to set up a mechanism to monitor the supplies.

US military supplies to Pakistan are estimated to be worth more than 300 million dollars annually, local news reports said. Among the supplies are F-16 combat jets, missiles, heavy artillery guns and helicopter gunships.

Including funding and training as well as equipment, US total support to Pakistani security forces was over 1 billion dollars in 2008, just over 2 billion dollars in 2009, and was projected to surpass that amount this year, according to the US Department of Defense website.

Pakistan is central in Washington's strategy in Afghanistan as well as tackling Taliban and al-Qaeda militants concentrated in the ragged terrain straddling the border between the two countries.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have had hostile relations and have gone to war three times since their 1947 independence from Britain. India and Pakistan has been repeatedly accusing fighting with each other of whom India is constantly blaming Pakistan of backing Islamist rebels and separatist militants who carry out deadly attacks in India.

Monday, July 19, 2010

UN Code to Halt Indiscriminate Drain of Health Workers

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a 'global code of practice' to stem the 'brain drain' of health-care workers from developing to high-income countries, which weakens health systems in the countries they quit.

Worldwide, there are around 60 million health workers. About two-thirds provide health services; the other one-third is management and support workers. Without them, prevention and treatment of disease and advances in health care cannot reach those in need.

Against this backdrop, WHO -- a directing and coordinating health authority of the United Nations system -- has drafted a Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, which is intended to achieve "an equitable balance of the interests of health workers, source countries and destination countries".

According to WHO, health-care workers, like workers in other sectors of the economy, tend to go where the working conditions are best. "Income is an important motivation for migration, but not the only one. Other reasons include: greater job satisfaction; career opportunities; the quality of management and governance; moving away from political instability, war, and the threat of violence in the workplace."

Brain drain is often stepwise. People tend to move from the poorest regions to richer cities within a country, and then to high-income countries. In most countries, there is also movement from the public to the private sector, particularly if there are considerable differences in income levels, states a WHO factsheet.

WHO points out that globalization has helped to trigger international migration. At the same time, demand for health workers has increased in high-income countries where not enough required personnel is being trained locally and where the existing workforce is ageing. Demand for health services is also increasing because of ageing populations and the rise of chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, especially in rural areas.

In a number of middle-income countries with good health education systems -- such as Fiji, Jamaica, Mauritius and the Philippines -- a significant proportion of students, especially in nursing schools, begin their education with the intention of migrating, usually in search of a better income. Some countries, notably the Philippines, are seeking to capitalize on the demand for imported health workers by deliberately training graduates for international careers.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Shale: A home remedy for India’s gas problem

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Taking a cue from the US, India is seriously looking at the unconventional shale gas, which, if successful, could mean a substantial improvement in the country’s energy outlook within the next few years.

The government is gearing up with policy guidelines for shale gas exploitation and auction shale gas blocks within the next two years, even as various E&P players are moving ahead with their pilot projects. ONGC has tied up with Schlumberger for a pilot project in Damodar valley at a capital cost of Rs 128 crore. Similarly, Oil India has initiated a project in Assam, while Reliance Industries is active in Cambay basin.

However, the project timelines are not short. ONGC, which has been researching shale gas in India since 2006, is expected to spend the next two years gathering geological data in its Damodar valley field, followed by drilling and resource estimation by 2013. In 2014 the company will be able to assess the feasibility and consider production from this pilot project.

While state-owned players are trying to source shale gas technologies from foreign players, Reliance Industries has chosen to learn the trade by working on live projects. RIL has agreed to invest over $3.1 billion in two separate deals over the next four years to garner 3,08,000 acres of shale in the US.

Shale is a common rock found across the world and the petroleum explorers are well aware of hydrocarbon deposits trapped in it for a long time. But its exploitation was considered impossible due to the solid nature of shale that prevented hydrocarbons to flow up. With development of newer drilling techniques in the past few years, it has become possible to tap this energy reserve.

The US is today witnessing excessive availability of natural gas, which is depressing its imports, increasing its inventories and pressurising prices.

A number of Indian sedimentary basins, including the hydrocarbon bearing ones — Cambay, Assam and Damodar — are bestowed with thick sequences of shale. Though not all shales are good candidates for shale gas exploration, substantial potential for gas from shale is expected from these basins.

ONGC informed that parameters like productive shale volumes, gas content, thermal maturity, type and amount of organic matter, lithology & extent, mineralogy and saturation, need to be assessed before shale formation can be considered promising.

While learning the technology to exploit these shale gas reserves is a key hurdle, lack of transporting and storage infrastructure for natural gas and policy framework are other impediments. The entire shale gas exploitation process also carries a number of environmental risks which need to be addressed for sustainable growth.

Although it is too early, India’s ability to successfully exploit shale gas could go a long way in supporting its future growth. A home-grown remedy to domestic energy needs could indeed be the key in sustaining economic growth and strengthen India’s position in global economics.

India and Pakistan in first substantive talks since Mumbai

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India and Pakistan next week take the first step in trying to revive a peace process broken off after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but no one is realistically expecting dramatic progress.

The meeting comes at a time when India has sent in the army to control weeks of violent anti-government protests in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, at the core of its dispute with Pakistan.

The July 15 talks between the foreign ministers could see them framing a new format to replace a broad 2004 peace process, known as the composite dialogue, which India suspended after the Mumbai attacks which it blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

That new format could free up the peace process from a political bind: India could not be seen as reviving the old peace process until Pakistan punished the planners of the Mumbai attack which killed 166 people, a demand Islamabad has yet to meet.

At the same time, both sides have been under pressure from Washington to reduce tension because their rivalry spills over into Afghanistan and complicates efforts to bring peace there.

Before the 2004 talks stalled, they came close to agreement under the composite dialogue on a maritime border dispute in the area of Sir Creek estuary and on the Siachen glacier in the Himalayas.

The Kashmir protests may only remain on the margins of next week's meeting between India and Pakistan because the damage from raking up the issue may outweigh the long-term benefits of fruitful talks.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

UP nod awaited to begin projects

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday the Centre had plans and projects for Uttar Pradesh but awaited approval from the state government for execution. Singh said his government would do all it could for the rapid industrialisation of the state and the city of Kanpur. He said the power crisis in the state was severe and detrimental to industrial growth.

The Centre, had finalised proposals for several major power projects in the state, two of them around Kanpur. Work will begin when the state government considers these proposals and gives approval

At IIT Kanpur, where he delivered the convocation address, Singh showed concern at the brain drain from India. He reminded students that they were morally bound to pay back the people of the country, which was still burdened with poverty, hunger and disease and advised not to give birth to these kinds of incidents like brain drain.

He gave importance to scientific innovations for sustainable development in agriculture, health care and energy. He said the IITs must collaborate with one another and the corporate sector for research.

Singh stressed higher education so that a pool of quality teachers could be developed. And he said the government was planning to set up a National Council for Higher Education and Research.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Omar says J&K needs political solution

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To douse spiraling anger, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah made his first visit to violent protest-hit Baramulla district on Monday amid security restrictions and curfew in most parts of Kashmir. He extended sympathy to those who lost lives and reiterated "that a political solution is required to address the Kashmir problem".

Addressing senior citizens, civil society and party workers in Baramulla, Abdullah said, "Time has come to go to the root of the problem in Kashmir and address it with all sincerity." After coming under fire from the media and the Centre for not reaching out to people in violence-affected areas, the chief minister has decided to hold meetings at tehsil-level to listen to affected people.The government is for the people and shall fight for their rights and address their issues.

Monday's meeting started with special prayers for those who have lost their lives. The Chief Minister appealed to the Union government that "while a dialogue has started between India and Pakistan at different levels, a political dialogue between the Centre and different shades of opinion within the state must also start in right earnest. He said the lines between the two countries (India and Pakistan) cannot be redrawn but they can be made irrelevant.

He urged the Centre to open the Uri-Muzafarabad road for all the people of Jammu & Kashmir living across the line of control. Abdullah said his government will work with the Union Government to strengthen the cross LoC trade and change it from a barter system to proper trade where the financial transactions actually happen through the banking system.

The chief minister said the democracy gives a right to opinion and expression. It is unfortunate that disturbances were affecting the education of the children, tourism, trade commerce and developmental activities.