{DNN} Daily News Notes: 11th Dec, 2012

• ·         It is over 12 years since Irom Sharmila went on a fast for the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Manipur – an unprecedented protest staged by a single individual anywhere in the world. She has been awarded the Gwangju prize for Human Rights in 2007, a lifetime achievement award from the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize in 2010.
• ·         Minister for Health has informed that the report “Infant and Child Mortality in India”- Levels, Trends and Determinants published by UNICEF mentions that among India’s major states, six states namely Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south, Maharashtra in the West, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in the North and West Bengal in the Eastern part of India are likely to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG-4) target of U5MR (Under 5 Mortality Rate) below 39 by 2015. As per the above said report, impact of  key socio-economic determinants on Infant and Child mortality are as under: [1.] Infant mortality rate among children born to illiterate mothers has been consistently higher than those born to mothers with any education; [2.] Children born in scheduled caste and scheduled tribe families have a significantly higher risk of dying than others; [3.] All components of under-five mortality have an inverse association with economic status as measured by Standard of Living Index; [4.] Between 1981 and 2005, IMR and U5MR were consistently lower among children living in families who accessed drinking water from a safe source as compared to those who accessed drinking water from an unsafe source.
• ·         Minister for Health & Family Welfare has informed that Environment Ministry had notified Bio-medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules in 1998 (BMW Rules) to provide a regulatory framework for segregation, transportation, storage, treatment and disposal (either through on-site treatment facilities or through common bio-medical waste treatment facilities) of the bio-medical waste generated from 1,39,594 Health Care Facilities (HCFs) in the country. As per the Annual Report Information on Bio-medical Waste Management for the year 2010 received from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), about 355 tons of bio-medical waste per day were generated from HCFs.
• ·         Minister for Health informed that there is no such list of life saving drugs. The Government has, however, published a National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011. The objective of the NLEM is that the drugs included in it are adequate to meet the common contemporary health needs of the general population of the country. It is the general obligation of the health administrators to ensure abundant availability of these drugs in the country and promote rational use of medicines considering the three important aspects i.e. cost, safety and efficacy. The NLEM, 2011 consists of 348 medicines belonging to 27 therapeutic categories such as antineoplastic, anti-cancer, immunological, anti-infective Cardiovascular, ophthalmological preparations, Diuretics, anti-allergic etc.
• ·         Minister of State for Home Affairs informed that the Government has decided that the National Population Register (NPR) enrolment will continue as envisaged, but, if in the course of enrolment, a person indicates he/she is already enrolled for Aadhaar, the biometric data will not be captured by NPR. Instead the Aadhaar number/enrolment number will be recorded in NPR and the biometric data will be sourced from the UIDAI. The Government has approved ~Rs.6,600 crore for creation of NPR in the country and ~Rs.9000 crore for the Aadhaar project.
• ·         Minister of State for Home Affairs has informed that the Central Intelligence Agencies have no specific inputs indicating threat from Taliban. However, the available Intelligence inputs, indicate abiding interest of militant outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Indian Mujahidin (IM), Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) to carry out acts of terrorist violence in India. Further, he said that the Multi Agency Center (MAC) has been strengthened and re-organised to enable it to function on 24x7 bases for real time collation and sharing of intelligence with other intelligence agencies of the Center and State.
• ·         Environment Minister has informed that the Doha Climate Change Conference that concluded on 8th December, 2012 has resulted in three decisions (clubbed together as ‘Doha Climate Gateway’) aimed at advancing the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol (KP). The key questions for the Doha conference were: amending the Kyoto Protocol to implement the second commitment under the Protocol; successfully concluding the work of the Bali Action Plan (BAP); and planning the work under the Durban Platform (DP) for Enhanced Action which was agreed to at Durban last year. The Doha Conference has succeeded in carrying out amendments to the KP and have agreed to implement the targets over an 8 years period (2013-2020), thus making the second commitment period (CP2) of emission reduction by KP parties effective immediately beginning January 1, 2013. As per the agreement, only those KP parties that have agreed to take mandatory targets under the KP in the CP2 will be able to use the flexibility mechanisms such as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI). EU, the major KP Party will reduce its emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990. It has been agreed that the KP parties will revisit their targets in 2014 with a view to increasing their ambition. Further, the Minister informed that India has protected its interests fully in the conference and succeeded in bringing the three issues of Equity, Technology-related IPRs and the Unilateral Measures firmly back on the table which were the unresolved issues under the Bali Action Plan (BAP). At Doha, India also ensured that agriculture, being a sensitive sector of our economy, was prevented from being included in the mitigation work programme proposed to be launched at the global level. Further, she said that the Conference could not address the issues relating to financing commitments of developed countries, sectorial actions and the issue of compensation for loss and damage arising from climate change.
• ·         China's largest city Shanghai is set to follow capital Beijing to permit 72-hour visa free entry for transit tourists from 45 countries (including US, FR, JP, AU) but not for those from immediate neighborhood, including India and Pakistan. The same list, which is mostly confined to European countries, applies to Beijing also which officials hope significantly boost the market for Chinese products as most of the tourists may use it for quick marketing around. Shanghai already had a programme allowing visitors from 32 countries a 48-hour visa-free stay. In 2011, the number of foreign tourists visiting Shanghai reached 8.18 million, a 4 per cent drop from the previous year that saw the successful hosting of the 2010 World Expo. It is expected that in 2012 the number of inbound overseas travellers will rise to 8.25 million, a three per cent increase.
• ·         Asia will have surpassed North America and Europe combined in terms of global power by 2030 with China, India and Brazil becoming especially important to the global economy, according to a report "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds”.  Highlights of the report: [1.] In addition to China, India, and Brazil, regional players such as Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Turkey will become especially important to the global economy; [2.] Meanwhile, the economies of Europe, Japan, and Russia are likely to continue their slow relative declines; [3.] Despite their growing economic clout, developing countries will face their own challenges, especially in their efforts to continue the momentum behind their rapid economic growth; [4.] With slowing growth China faces the prospect of being trapped in middle-income status, with its per capita income not continuing to increase to the level of the world's advanced economies; [5.] India faces many of the same problems and traps accompanying rapid growth as China: large inequities between rural and urban sectors and within society; increasing constraints on resources such as water; and a need for greater investment in science and technology to continue to move its economy up the value chain; [6.] Insufficient natural resources - such as water and arable land - in many of the same countries that will have disproportionate levels of young men increase the risks of intrastate conflict breaking out, particularly in Sub-Saharan African and South and East Asian countries, including China and India; [7.] Three different baskets of risks could conspire to increase the chances of an outbreak of interstate conflict: changing calculations of key players- particularly China, India, and Russia; increasing contention over resource issues; and a wider spectrum of more accessible instruments of war; [8.] Afghanistan's and Pakistan's youth bulges are large-similar in size to those found in many African countries. When these youth bulges are combined with a slow-growing economy, they portend increased instability. India is in a better position, benefiting from higher growth, but it will still be challenged to find jobs for its large youth population. Inequality, lack of infrastructure, and education deficiencies are key weaknesses in India.
• ·         The Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee on Monday honoured the European Union with Peace Prize for 2012 in the presence of EU heads of state and government in Oslo. The Committee said the organisation had been given the award for transforming Europe from a continent plagued by war to a continent of peace. The prize was collected on behalf of the EU by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council; Martin Schulz, President of Parliament; and Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. Europe emerged from the ashes of World War II with leaders like Charles de Gaulle of France and Konrad Adenauer of Germany determined not to allow the continent to slip back into the barbarism of war. Starting as a six-nation cartel to pool coal and steel production in the 1950s, the European Union is now poised to welcome its 28th member state, Croatia.
• ·         Incumbent President John Dramani Mahama was declared the winner of Ghana’s presidential election, winning 50.7 per cent of the votes polled. Further, Ghanian officials have denied opposition claims of fraud, and international observers from organisations like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have said the elections were transparent and credible.
• ·         Lionel Messi broke German legend Gerd Mueller’s 40-year-old record for the most goals in a calendar year on Sunday, netting his 85th and 86th goals of 2012. Messi has also proven himself capable of rising to the occasion when the sport’s biggest prizes are on the line with three Champions League winners’ medals and five La Liga crowns to his name. He has also won the FIFA Club World Cup twice and is Barca’s leading scorer with 283 goals in all competitions. His next opportunity will arrive at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when — at the age of 26 — he should be in prime position to showcase his gifts on the game’s most prestigious stage.