W O R L D

‘Afghanistan harder than Iraq’
Washington, September 28
US President Barack Obama believes that Afghanistan has been a harder terrain than Iraq for US troops and policymakers, but argues that a pull-out from the war-torn country will not make the world any better. Obama, who inherited the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan said Afghanistan has been "very hard stuff" but insisted that the US has not yet failed in that country, if not succeeded.

Taliban ‘making’ peace overtures
Kabul, September 28
The commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan said on Tuesday that the Taliban are approaching the Afghan government and foreign forces about laying down arms after almost nine years of insurgency.

Performers hold mock rose of sharons, the national flower of South Korea, during a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of military operations to recover the capital from communist forces during the 1950-53 Korean War and the 62nd anniversary of South Korea's Armed Forces Day in Seoul on Tuesday. — AP/PTI

One million AIDS patients in India have no access to treatment
Geneva, September 28
Over one million HIV/AIDS patients in India are without access to the much-needed anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment, a new international report said today, suggesting that India should consider issuing compulsory licencing for increasing availability of drugs.

One gets life term for Vienna gurdwara attack
Vienna, September 28
An Indian Sikh was jailed for life by a Vienna court today in connection with an attack last year on a gurdwara in which a guru died. The 35-year-old man was accused of murder and two counts of attempted murder. His lawyer immediately said he would appeal. Four of his five accomplices aged between 29 and 46 received jail terms of 17-18 years for complicity in murder and wounding, while the fifth was given a six-month sentence. Sant Rama Nand, 57, and another guru, Sant Niranjan Dass, 68, were visiting from India when they were attacked as they gave a sermon at the temple in Vienna on May 24, 2009.

Academy Award-nominated actress Gloria Stuart, who played the older Rose in the 1997 Oscar winning film 'Titanic', is shown in this November 3, 2003, photograph. Stuart died on Sunday night at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 100. — Reuters

Canadian varsity honours Kalam with doctorate
Toronto, September 28
Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, an aeronautical scientist, has been conferred an honorary doctorate in engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada for his humanitarian and visionary approach.

‘Ex-girlfriend behind Pak plane bomb hoax’
London, September 28
A terror alarm that diverted and grounded a homeward PIA flight to Stockholm might have been sounded by a spurned lover, seeking revenge on her ex-boyfriend who was onboard, on his way to wed in Karachi.

Gunmen kidnap schoolchildren in Nigeria
Abuja, September 28
Gunmen have hijacked a school-bus with 15-children onboard in a south-eastern state in Nigeria today demanded a ransom of $130,000 for their release, a police official has said.

‘Afghanistan harder than Iraq’

Washington, September 28
US President Barack Obama believes that Afghanistan has been a harder terrain than Iraq for US troops and policymakers, but argues that a pull-out from the war-torn country will not make the world any better.

Obama, who inherited the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan said Afghanistan has been "very hard stuff" but insisted that the US has not yet failed in that country, if not succeeded. "I knew it was hard a year ago, and I suspect a year from now, I will conclude that it's still hard, and it's messy. Number two, when you tick off these metrics that have quote-unquote 'failed' - well, they haven't failed yet. They haven't succeeded yet," he said.

He said the US troops had succeeded in creating a line of security around Kandahar, but "there's no doubt that Kandahar is not yet a secure place any more than Mosul or Fallujah were secure in certain phases of the Iraq War".

In an interview to the Rolling Stone magazine, Obama said success has been seen in recruiting and training Afghan security forces, though the overall objective of making the country completely secure was still distant.

"I will also agree that Afghanistan is harder than Iraq. This is the second-poorest country in the world. You've got no tradition of a civil service or bureaucracy that is effective countrywide," he said.

Arguing that the allies have been very successful in taking out the middle ranks of the Taliban, he said, however, pulling out was not a viable option at present.

"I don't know anybody who has examined the region who thinks that if we completely pulled out of Afghanistan, the Karzai regime collapsed, Kabul was overrun once again by the Taliban, and Sharia law was imposed throughout the country, that we would be safer, or the Afghan people would be better off, or Pakistan would be better off, or India would be better off, or that we would see a reduction in potential terrorist attacks around the world. You can't make that argument," he said.

Obama said his administration had examined every option including having a smaller footprint in Afghanistan, and would chose the option that is best for the country. — PTI

Taliban ‘making’ peace overtures

One million AIDS patients in India have no access to treatment

Geneva, September 28
Over one million HIV/AIDS patients in India are without access to the much-needed anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment, a new international report said today, suggesting that India should consider issuing compulsory licencing for increasing availability of drugs.

The joint report issued by the World Health Organisation, UNAIDS, and UNICEF said India had made progress in scaling up access over the years, but said given its robust generic drug industry it could have done better.

“India has done well in scaling up access to the ARV therapy over the last seven years,” says a senior WHO official, suggesting there is still a huge gap to address.

The universal gap between those needing urgent ARV treatment for HIV/AIDS the world over and those unable to have any access climbed to over 15 million people and there is an urgent need for funds to the tune of $10 billion, says Rifat Atun, a senior official of the Global Fund which is the main provider of assistance to countries afflicted with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

India now ranks third in scaling up access, after South Africa and Kenya during the last five years. However, it needs to cross some distance for ensuring universal access for all its HIV/AIDS patients.

Around 3,20,074 have received ARV therapy in India at the end of last year as compared to 2,34,581 patients to the previous year. Between 1.1 and 1.4 million HIV/AIDS patients have no access for ARV therapy in India.

Given the number of health professionals and the state of the art generic drug industry in India, the performance on the HIV/AIDS front could be far better in comparison with other low-income countries in Southern Africa, say analysts.

India must consider issuing compulsory licenses for ensuring free access to second and third-line treatment for HIV/AIDS patients whose number is steadily climbing.

Compulsory licencing enables a national government to revoke a licence issued to a patent holder and thereby, allow other parties to produce and sell a patented product for non-commercial purposes.

Several industrialised nations resorted to compulsory licensing to enable their national health departments to procure medicines at low prices so as to provide free of cost in government hospitals.

India is yet issue a compulsory license despite its rising HIV/AIDS patients who now need second and third-line treatment.

In 2006, Thailand issued compulsory licence for the production of patented drugs for its HIV-infected population. Later, Brazil also issued compulsory licence for the production of patent-drugs produced by an American pharmaceutical company despite enormous pressure from the US. “Ultimately, the decision to issue a compulsory license depends on the national government,” says Mariangela Simao, a senior UNAIDS official.

Unless there are liberal aid commitments from rich countries to tackle HIV/AIDS on a war footing, the number of patients suffering from this deadly disease is expected to climb up over 15 million people by the end of this year, the three agencies suggested.

The latest report by the WHO, UNAIDS, and UNICEF indicates that significant progress has been made in several low and middle income countries in scaling up access to over 5 million people at the end of last year. — PTI

One gets life term for Vienna gurdwara attack

Vienna, September 28
An Indian Sikh was jailed for life by a Vienna court today in connection with an attack last year on a gurdwara in which a guru died.

The 35-year-old man was accused of murder and two counts of attempted murder. His lawyer immediately said he would appeal. Four of his five accomplices aged between 29 and 46 received jail terms of 17-18 years for complicity in murder and wounding, while the fifth was given a six-month sentence. Sant Rama Nand, 57, and another guru, Sant Niranjan Dass, 68, were visiting from India when they were attacked as they gave a sermon at the temple in Vienna on May 24, 2009.

Nand died and Dass was wounded after being hit by two bullets in the abdomen and the hip, while another 16 persons were also injured in a melee as worshippers tried to subdue the attackers. The assailants used a gun and knives in the attack, which sparked riots in India's Punjab state. Before the ruling the main accused told the court he remembered nothing about the attack. He had been seriously wounded in the head after the attack and psychiatrists said his memory lapses were credible. The temple at Pelzgasse, where the attack occurred, said it had received threats from another Viennese Sikh temple in connection with the visit by the two Indian gurus.

Opened in December 2005, it has protested the caste system that remains popular among some Sikhs and has been accused of not strictly following Sikh traditions. — AFP

Canadian varsity honours Kalam with doctorate

‘Ex-girlfriend behind Pak plane bomb hoax’

London, September 28
A terror alarm that diverted and grounded a homeward PIA flight to Stockholm might have been sounded by a spurned lover, seeking revenge on her ex-boyfriend who was onboard, on his way to wed in Karachi.

A 28-year old Canadian of Pakistani-origin was briefly detained after the plane carrying 273 passengers, including three hapless Indians, made an emergency landing at Arlanda following a call alerting security agencies that the man was carrying explosives.

The passengers faced a long haul at the Stockholm airport as the Swedish police pulled out the youth and searched the aircraft for hours for the explosives.

The Canadian man was briefly arrested in connection with the allegations but then released without charge after no explosives were found aboard the plane, flying from Toronto to Karachi.

While, the plane was let off the unfortunate man faced another long ordeal. Though he was cleared to go home to get married he failed to find an airliner to take him back.

By the time he was cleared to fly back home, word about the alleged terror plot had spread and the airliners refused to take him as passenger, a Swiss newspaper said.

The report said the girl who is still to be identified was unhappy with their separation, a Swedish newspaper reported today. — PTI

Gunmen kidnap schoolchildren in Nigeria

Abuja, September 28
Gunmen have hijacked a school-bus with 15-children onboard in a south-eastern state in Nigeria today demanded a ransom of $130,000 for their release, a police official has said.

“The children numbering 15 were abducted in Abia state on Monday and the kidnappers are demanding for a ransom of 20 million naira ($130,000),” the Abia State police spokesman said.

Kidnappings in the region have become widespread in recent times with ransom demanded by the abductors before the victims are set free. — PTI