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South Asian MPs for more Press freedom
UN council expansion can’t be unanimous, says India
Embryos cloned for stem cells
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Human embryo cloned in UK
Blair treated for back injury
Pak to decide on gas pipeline by year-end
US county sued on turban issue
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South Asian MPs for more Press freedom
Bhurban (Murree Hills), May 20 The issues of “cooperative security in South Asia” and the “right to know and independence of media” were discussed at two sessions at Bhurban, near the Murree hill resort, on the fifth day of the first-ever South Asian parliamentary conference organised by a regional organisation of journalists. The conference will conclude with the adoption of a declaration containing its positions on various issues discussed since Sunday, including economic cooperation, a proposal to create a regional parliament and a human rights code, and other recommendations to member countries of the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). In the debate on security cooperation, parliament members from both the ruling and opposition parties from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka spoke about perceived dangers from within and outside the region, including terrorism, domination, water disputes and natural disasters such as last December’s tsunami, and called for building trust and resolution of their disputes through dialogue. The discussion centred on two papers by a professor at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, C. Raja Mohan, and a Pakistani journalist, Ejaz Haider, both of whom later formulated consensus points to be included in the declaration of the conference hosted by the South Asian Free Media Association (Safma). Some of these are: current India-Pakistan peace progress welcomed but need stressed for the implementation of joint declarations of the two countries in letter and spirit; while a nuclear missile confrontation between India and Pakistan could affect the whole region, there was need to establish a comprehensive mechanism to eliminate all dangers of a nuclear war between them; since both India and Pakistan are willing to cooperate with them, the other five nuclear powers should engage the new nuclear powers on nuclear issues; armament modernisation by one country should not endanger another; as being done by India and Pakistan, all other countries of the region should engage in “sustained composite dialogues” to settle bilateral disputes. Other consensus points include multiple cooperation for regional security such as intelligence-sharing by security agencies, greater interaction between military establishments, an integrated management of water resources to safeguard rights of both upper and lower riparian countries, and cooperation with other regional groupings on trans-regional security issues.
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UN council expansion can’t be unanimous, says India
Washington, May 20 Saran, who met American officials in the context of forthcoming visits to Washington by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said, “India would be quite satisfied with decisions by two-thirds majority at the UN.” He said India did not have a “unifocal approach, looking solely at permanent membership”. “We are looking at this in the broader context of reform of the UN,” he said. He said he discussed UN reforms with American officials. “We are looking at a broad range of reforms. We have had an initial exchange of views (with the USA) on some of these issues,” he said. Making a strong case for India’s membership to the council, he said the country had a longstanding record at the UN in terms of peacekeeping and a very dynamic economy. He said the USA had not really given out what its own view was with regard of the Security Council. American officials had not conveyed to him what their position was likely to be on the right of veto for the new permanent members of the council, he said. — PTI |
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Embryos cloned for stem cells
Washington, May 20 The experiments mark a significant advance in therapeutic cloning, the fast-paced but controversial field that aims to make customised heart tissues for heart attack patients, nerves for patients with spinal cord injuries, and a host of other laboratory-grown spare parts genetically tailored to the patients who need them. The single previous claim that stem cells had been derived from a cloned human embryo, reported last year by the same team at Seoul National University's College of Veterinary Medicine, left some scientists doubting the results. By arrangement with the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post
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Human embryo cloned in UK
London, May 20 The stem cell research was carried out by Newcastle University and scientists hope the work would eventually lead to successful treatment for degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, or for paralysed victims of spinal injuries. Newcastle University team took eggs from 11 women, removed the genetic material and replaced it with DNA from embryonic stem cells. The UK research is published in Reproductive and BioMedicine Online.
— PTI |
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London, May 20 Blair was given an anti-inflammatory injection yesterday for back pain which he has been suffering for a few months. He was able to leave the Royal Free Hospital in north London following treatment and return to his country residence, Chequers, in Buckinghamshire. A Downing Street source said Blair hurt his back several weeks ago. “He thinks it was in the gym. He felt a lot of pain after one of his regular sessions and had to put up with it for quite a time.” — PTI
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Pak to decide on gas pipeline by year-end
Islamabad, May 20 "December 31 is the deadline for a decision on gas pipeline project," Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told the media here yesterday. Pakistan would decide by that date whether it would go ahead with the Iran-India gas pipeline or opt for either Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) pipeline or another pipeline from Qatar, he said.
— PTI |
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US county sued on turban issue
Houston, May 20 Harpal Singh Cheema, a Sikh, imprisoned since 1997 while awaiting a decision on his asylum application “feels debased and defiled” because he can’t wear a turban or “other religious head covering away from his bed”, according to the ACLU. “It is troubling that a person seeking refuge from persecution can not only be locked up for years on end but also be deprived of the religious freedom he expected in the USA,” said Robin Goldfaden of the ACLU.
— PTI |
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