W O R L D

Talks in turmoil over Danish proposal
Copenhagen, December 9
The climate summit was thrown into turmoil on its second evening as developing countries came together to condemn a Danish draft of the final Copenhagen declaration. The existing UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol (KP) place the onus of mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) squarely upon industrialised countries, as almost all the GHG, mostly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere now has been put there by them.

Indian student stabbed in Australia
Melbourne, December 9
In yet another attack on Indian students in Australia, a 23-year-old youth was stabbed in the chest by unidentified assailants. The student, who was also a cabbie, was attacked and left to bleed on a Brunswick West street, the police said. The victim parked his taxi outside his girlfriend's home on Collier Crescent in the wee hours today and rang her to bring his dinner outside when someone approached his vehicle, The Age reported.

A woman raises her fist during an anti-corruption protest in Jakarta. Thousands of people gathered at rallies throughout Indonesia on Wednesday to demand government action to end widespread corruption among politicians, police and other public officials. — AP/PTI

NAB presents details of Zardari’s Swiss accounts
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday presented details of President Asif Ali Zardari’s Swiss accounts. The Sindh Advocate General also submitted a list of criminal cases against nearly 8,000 activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), including its top leadership who were pardoned under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Tougher UK visa rules for Indian IT workers
London, December 9 
Britain has tightened immigration rules from January for Indian IT professionals seeking to move to the UK under inter-company transfers.From next year, workers in this category will need to have 12 months experience instead of six months as at present with their employer before they can be transferred to the UK, official sources said. The immigration category will be closed as a route to permanent settlement in the UK. This means that IT professionals who come to the UK under inter-company transfer will not be allowed to settle here permanently even after the mandatory stay of five years.— PTI

Pak Army starts leaving Kohlu
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad
The Pakistan Army on Wednesday began withdrawing from the Kohlu area, believed to be the hub of ongoing low-key insurgency in Balochistan, it was officially announced here.

Talks in turmoil over Danish proposal

Copenhagen, December 9
The climate summit was thrown into turmoil on its second evening as developing countries came together to condemn a Danish draft of the final Copenhagen declaration.

The existing UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol (KP) place the onus of mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) squarely upon industrialised countries, as almost all the GHG, mostly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere now has been put there by them.

But in a significant departure from that, the Danish draft proposal asks developing countries, except the least developed countries, to "commit to nationally appropriate mitigation actions, including actions supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building."

Condemning the whole idea, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, Sudan's ambassador to the UN, said here that the Danish proposal "merges the UNFCCC and the KP and destroys both...It creates new sets of obligations for developing countries...it tries to have finance flows from South to North." Sudan is now the chair of the Group of 77 countries, which, together with China, negotiates climate treaties as a bloc on behalf of almost all developing countries.

The Danish proposal "tries to divide vulnerable and culpable countries in the developing world to preserve the economic supremacy of advanced countries," Di-Aping charged while addressing a press conference.

"It robs developing countries of their just, equitable and fair share of atmospheric space." India has also been quite upset with the Danish proposal, which was circulated Nov 27. Reacting to one point in the text that sets a date by which major developing countries would start reducing their GHG emissions, the so-called "peaking year", Environment Minister had threatened that India and other developing countries would walk out of the summit if any attempt was made to push this through.

Together with China, Brazil and South Africa, India had promptly cobbled together a counter-proposal, the so-called BASIC text.

The Danish government had seen the reaction to its proposal and had decided to disown it. Denmark's Environment Minister Connie Hedegaard had said Monday that it was not a proposal but a "discussion paper that had been withdrawn". The UNFCCC secretariat has also been at pains to point out that this was not a proposal submitted to it officially.

A member of the Indian government delegation said in a pre-summit meeting here last week, "numbered copies" of the Danish proposal had been circulated to some countries and then taken back after the meeting, a highly unusual move.

Di-Aping said G77 would not walk out of the summit over this issue. "However, we'll not sign an inequitable deal, we won't accept a deal that condemns 80 per cent of the world population to further suffering and injustice."

New climate-change index unveiled

Scientists on Wednesday unveiled a Dow Jones-style “climate-change index” aimed at showing in user-friendly form the perils posed by man-made global warming.

The index takes a basket of complex factors - carbon dioxide (CO2), temperature change, sea level and sea ice - and distils them into a single figure that is more easily understandable for the public, they said.

In 1980, the index stood at 34, its creators, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, said.

But from 1997, the barometer leapt suddenly, adding dozens of points each year as evidence of climate change accumulated. As of 2007, the index stood at 574. “We felt people outside global-change research are not clear about the scale of the changes scientists are witnessing,” said IGBP executive director Sybil Seitzinger, who presented the index on the sidelines of the summit.

Warming to displace 1 bn people

Climate change and environmental degradation will force as many as one billion people to migrate over the next four decades to southeast Asia, central America and parts of west Africa, world's leading migration agency has said.

A International Organisation for Migration (IOM) report, said between 25 million to 1 billion people could be displaced by climate change by 2050.

It also identified Afghanistan, Bangladesh, most of central America and parts of west Africa and southeast Asia as "future hotspots" where large numbers of people are expected to flee as a result of climate pressures.

However, it found that few of the "climate refugees" are able to leave their countries due to lack of the means and the ability to travel to wealthier places. — Agencies

Indian student stabbed in Australia

Melbourne, December 9
In yet another attack on Indian students in Australia, a 23-year-old youth was stabbed in the chest by unidentified assailants. The student, who was also a cabbie, was attacked and left to bleed on a Brunswick West street, the police said.

The victim parked his taxi outside his girlfriend's home on Collier Crescent in the wee hours today and rang her to bring his dinner outside when someone approached his vehicle, The Age reported.

His girlfriend heard the driver scream out over the phone as he was attacked, police officer Greg Johnson was quoted as saying by the paper. Police do not believe the attack was racially motivated or an attempted robbery as the man still had cash in his pocket and his mobile phone, the paper said.

Investigators are examining whether another car was involved. “That is certainly one of the lines of inquiry we'll be looking along, that it could be a road rage incident,” Johnson said. Paramedics were called to the scene just before 2 am and took the man to Royal Melbourne Hospital where he remains in a serious condition.

“The man had been stabbed in the upper body and first aid was being applied by police officers,” Lowell said adding “When we arrived police were helping stem the blood flow by applying pressure to his wound.”.

The police said officers were door-knocking the area and checking CCTV footage from inside the taxi. Since June this year, over 30 Indian youths have been attacked in various cities of Australia. — PTI 

NAB presents details of Zardari’s Swiss accounts
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday presented details of President Asif Ali Zardari’s Swiss accounts. The Sindh Advocate General also submitted a list of criminal cases against nearly 8,000 activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), including its top leadership who were pardoned under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

The court also raised questions over the safety of record of Swiss cases against President Zardari from the office of the government counsel in Geneva. It summoned the NAB chief to explain reports that these records have been secretly shifted to London under the supervision of Pakistani High Commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan. 

Pak Army starts leaving Kohlu