EDITORIAL : THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA

Expectations of change

 

THE first result of the 10th Sarawak state election was announced at 6.15pm on Saturday. By the end of the night, Barisan Nasional had won 55 seats to retain control of the state legislature with a comfortable three-quarters majority. Though the Democratic Action Party doubled its representation from six to 12 and Parti Keadilan Rakyat added two more to its single seat, these were not major surprises. The opposition inroads in Chinese and urban constituencies and among the middle class and young voters in the previous polls were signs that pointed to further electoral gains for the contesting parties this time around. The fact that issues such as the tenure in office of the incumbent chief minister and the effectiveness of Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP) in representing Chinese interests, which contributed to the drop in support for BN in 2006, were still potent campaign fodder was another portent of a potential swing towards the opposition.

In this most hard fought of Sarawak elections, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had campaigned tirelessly, galvanising voters and boosting the chances of the BN candidates. But there is no question that the issues were state issues and the concerns were local, from native customary rights land to the personalities of candidates. Though the state BN has a clear margin of victory and a strong mandate to govern, with the opposition emerging as an even stronger player in the state and willing no doubt to use its greater share of state seats to build support for the next general election, there is a great need to take stock.

Having suffered the biggest losses, SUPP, in particular, will need to rejuvenate and regroup. Otherwise, the oldest party in the state could suffer the misfortune of the Chinese-based parties in the peninsula, or that of Sarawak National Party, which used to be a core party, in government and in opposition, but which now looks to be on the road to oblivion. As much as the other component parties in BN have won all or most of the seats they contested, they, too, have to take note of the changes in voting patterns and the expectations for changes in governance. There is a need to develop new approaches beyond the politics of development to appeal to the more demanding, sophisticated, younger and urban voters. Above all, the loyalty of supporters in the BN strongholds in the rural hinterland should not be taken for granted. The promises of development must be delivered.

EDITORIAL : THE INDEPENDENT. ie, IRELAND

Seeds of reform fall on stony ground

EVERYTHING changes, gradually or suddenly. We have experienced a cataclysm and have barely got our heads above the flood waters. But in some respects it looks as if nothing has changed at all.

In February the general election produced a revolutionary result. In March our new Government took office with a promise of transparency and accountability.

Brendan Howlin became Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. He said, and repeated only a few days ago, that reform must happen from the top down. In future, most members of the Top-level Appointments Commission, including the chairperson, would be drawn from outside the public sector. A fair and competitive process would be designed to find the best person for the job.

The Government set up an "economic management council" composed of Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, Finance Minister Michael Noonan, and Mr Howlin. Clearly a good move. Every government should have an inner cabinet, and every government should speak with one clear voice.

Meanwhile, Mr Kenny needs a new secretary general for his own department, to replace Dermot McCarthy, who plans to retire shortly. A secretary general must also be found for Mr Howlin's department. And there will be a third (dubbed Second Secretary, but of equal rank) for the economic management council. He or she will report to the Tanaiste.

If this seems like a political device to enhance the Tanaiste's stature, we must wait and see how it works in practice. Of more immediate concern is the appointment of the three top civil servants.

And here, Mr Howlin's fine words appear to lose their meaning. There will be no trawl through the ranks of the civil service, much less outside it. The three appointments will all be internal. The successful candidates will be handpicked by leading politicians or bureaucrats or a combination of both. They will doubtless be admirable people, but they are unlikely to include any dynamic 30-year-olds bursting with ideas.

Is there no understanding at the very top that the defects of the administration contributed to the financial catastrophe? That civil servants helped politicians to implement disastrous policies? That if they issued warnings, these consisted of no more than whispers in ears? The entire culture of the bureaucracy is inimical to reform and accountability.

Changing that is as important as changing the political culture. And the magnitude of the crisis is no excuse for resisting change. There could not be a better time.

Money talks -- if only you can spare the cash

PERMANENT TSB, Ireland's largest mortgage lender, is expected to announce today that it will allow its tracker mortgage customers €10 for every €100 they overpay.

Other lenders will probably follow suit shortly. Since, proverbially, no such thing exists as a free lunch, the offer does not flow from philanthropic motives. If the scheme succeeds, the lenders stand to save themselves a substantial amount of money.

This rather odd situation arises from the relative cheapness of tracker mortgages at present. Lenders have to borrow money at much higher interest rates than those they charge on trackers, though not on other mortgages. At present the tracker mortgages, so far from making a profit for lenders, cost Permanent TSB about €400m a year.

Although the lenders will profit more from the scheme than the borrowers, that should not put off borrowers whose circumstances leave them in a position to benefit from it.

Paying off their debt in this way will suit people who save regularly. It will give them a far better return than investing money at rates as low as 2pc. But it is likely to be more profitable, and therefore more attractive, for individuals or couples approaching retirement than for a young couple who may never be able to borrow as cheaply again. The latter might do better to hang on to their trackers. But as in so much else, they would be wise to seek expert -- and independent -- advice.

EDITORIAL : THE AUSTRALIAN, AUSTRALIA

Gaddafi must be made to go

NATO should emulate Ronald Reagan's determination

If any doubt remained about the monstrous nature of Muammar Gaddafi's regime and why NATO must expedite his departure, reports of anti-personnel cluster bombs fired into residential areas in Misratah put an end to it. Correctly, Human Rights Watch, whose researchers have ascertained use of the bombs, has said few weapons are more lethal or indiscriminate in killing and maiming civilians. Munitions experts equate them to the evil of mustard gas and dum-dum bullets. The bombs scatter hundreds of smaller devices. Those that fail to explode immediately pose deadly hazards for years. Handicap International estimates 98 per cent of the bombs' victims are civilians, 28 per cent of them children.

Gaddafi's spokesman denied they were being used. But the regime's spin doctors have no credibility and as NATO considers its next moves the urgency of forcing Gaddafi out cannot be overstated. No solution will work as long as the dictator remains in place. Regime change may not have been part of the UN's Libya resolution, but it is a prerequisite for progress.

Last week's Doha meeting of Western, Arab and African allies called for Gaddafi to go and raised the prospect of providing seized Libyan funds to the rebels. There must be no delay in acting on this and in getting the US to participate more fully in the NATO offensive so concerted strikes can be launched to enforce the no-fly zone and also to target Gaddafi's ground installations. Only six of NATO's 28 members have joined the offensive. That is unfortunate, sending the wrong signals to the dictator. Twenty-five years ago Ronald Reagan bombed Gaddafi's Tripoli residence as swift retaliation for the attack by Libyan agents on US soldiers in a Berlin discotheque. Similar determination is needed now. Failure to dislodge Gaddafi would be disastrous, as would a protracted stalemate in which he was able to cling to power. Despots everywhere would take heart. The Arab Spring would be snuffed out.

The Obama administration is seeking possible asylum for Gaddafi in a country that has not signed the International Criminal Court protocols requiring them to hand over accused war criminals. That would be regrettable. After decades of atrocities, he is also likely to face indictment over the Lockerbie bombing. If ever a tyrant deserved his day in court before the ICC it is Gaddafi.

Taxpayers' cash down the drain

A RATIONAL, long-term approach to water supply is needed

Major studies released recently by the Productivity Commission and the National Water Commission explain what consumers know when they open their water bills -- prices are rising. Lack of long-term planning and hasty decision-making by governments in the midst of panic about urban supplies drying up after prolonged drought are to blame for the rises, especially the heavy investment in desalination plants to service capital cities. The bad news is that urban consumers will be paying for past negligence and mistakes for decades, with desalination plants in Melbourne and Perth alone likely to cost the public between $3.1 billion and $4.2bn over 20 years.

The Productivity Commission has set out a strong case for policy and administrative reform, but any gains for consumers would be modest in the short term. However, they are worth pursuing because their value would increase over time as new water supplies became needed. Governments and local authorities, which have resorted to rigid water restrictions in dry times, at high cost in terms of lost production, will be tempted to relegate the issue to the "too-hard basket", as they did for decades as the best sites for new dams around capital cities were being built out and urban populations expanded. The commission favours a different approach, arguing that water restrictions should be reserved for genuine emergencies and that consumers should be free to exercise choice in their water consumption behaviour through an efficient price mechanism. If so, water supplies would need to be boosted to meet increased demand.

The best time to investigate which options offer the greatest cost benefits, and avoid "picking winners" in haste as water shortages loom, is now, when dams are full. No one-size-fits-all solution will work everywhere and more progress is needed in capturing stormwater and recycling wastewater for industrial use. The commission also makes a good argument why, in light of new technology, governments should consider greater use of recycled wastewater for drinking as part of the mix. Opposition water spokesman Barnaby Joyce also makes a sensible point, advocating a committee to examine potential new dam sites. Postponing action will only make securing future supplies harder and costlier.

North Asian diplomacy poses big test for Gillard

FREE trade will be high on the Prime Minister's agenda

Julia Gillard faces one of her most important tests so far as Prime Minister when she visits Japan, China and South Korea from this week. The three nations are among our top four trading partners and Ms Gillard needs to stamp her authority on international relations to prevent herself being overshadowed on the world stage by her hyperactive Foreign Minister. After a shaky start in Belgium last year, where she admitted "foreign policy is not my passion", and becoming enmeshed in her amateurish push for a processing centre for asylum-seekers in East Timor, Ms Gillard gained ground with her impressive speech to the US congress last month marking the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance.

Her diplomatic challenges in north Asia, where Ms Gillard is not yet well known, will be more complex. Her vital free trade agenda offers her the opportunity to make her mark. Ms Gillard, commendably ignoring union opposition and the reservations of some in cabinet who should know better, has made multi-lateral trade pacts Australia's priority. But this visit should help in the pursuit of bilateral free trade agreements with all three nations, with negotiations with Seoul reportedly being the most advanced.

Carbon policy is also likely to be on the agenda, especially in China where emissions are tipped to double by 2030. If the world is to make progress in cutting carbon, China, which produces almost half the world's steel, must be a major player. Despite a heavy reliance on coal, China is investing in cleaner energy, including nuclear power, and is tipped to put a formal price on carbon, although no date has been set. Its trials of carbon trading in five provinces and three cities, including Shanghai and Beijing, should interest Ms Gillard.

It remains to be seen if she, like Kevin Rudd, raises concerns about human rights in China, where the Communist Party continues to suppress dissent. She should, because that difficult discussion should not be left solely to the US as China becomes increasingly powerful, economically and militarily. Although China was sometimes at odds with Australia during Mr Rudd's prime ministership, his realistic appreciation of China's ambitions serves Australia's national interest. So does deepening co-operation and encouraging China to become ever more integrated into the community of nations.

Unlike Mr Rudd, who was criticised for visiting China but not Japan on his first round-the-world trip as prime minister, Ms Gillard wisely put both on her itinerary. She will be especially welcome in Japan, Australia's closest ally in north Asia, given our support for recovery efforts following last month's earthquake and tsunami. Important discussions on security are scheduled for Japan, as well as for South Korea, where Ms Gillard will mark Anzac Day.

As Rowan Callick reports today, this trip will see Ms Gillard focusing on shifting power dynamics in the Asia-Pacific which will largely determine how Australia's relationships and national security play out over the next 30 to 50 years. After a strong performance when she visited Australia's greatest ally, the US, Ms Gillard must continue building an international profile in much the same way that John Howard, who was also initially new to international relations, gained confidence on the world stage. 

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY NATIONAL POST, CANADA

Make politicians pay their own way

When the Canadian Taxpayers Federation pulled its National Debt Clock in front of Parliament Hill last month, a formerly homeless man approached and stared in amazement. After a minute of staring at the massive, spinning clock, the man said, "I've lived on the street and it doesn't take a lot of money to live. What the hell are politicians doing?" Before leaving, he added, "These guys need to get a job!"

Sometimes it takes someone from outside of the political system to make sense of things, and even though he was standing in front of Parliament, a formerly homeless man who now makes his own way is about as far outside of the Ottawa bubble as one can be.

And he was half right. Even though politicians do have a job, they and their respective parties still receive a generous welfare payout at taxpayer expense. This takes three forms: a $2-per-vote subsidy, costing taxpayers approximately $68-million since the last election; a 50% to 60% refund of election expenses costing taxpayers approximately $26-million per election; and, generous tax credits encouraging donations to political parties worth tens of millions more (the total figure of course ebbs and flows with each campaign). Each of these is a form of political welfare. They should all be scrapped.

Soon after winning re-election in the fall of 2008, the Conservatives moved to scrap the most egregious of these -the $2-per-vote subsidy. While a good move for taxpayers and a moral victory for democratic reform, the opposition parties immediately viewed the move as an attempt to take away their free lunch. Such was their anger that they quickly cobbled together a coalition to replace the Tories.

We all know how that turned out; but while the Tories stayed, so also did the per-vote subsidy.

Elections cost anywhere between $300-to $400-million, but such is the price of democracy. But while taxpayers picking up the bill for Elections Canada to set up polling stations is fair, forcing them to pick up the bill for partisan campaigns is not. Some voters claim to dislike attack ads, but when they are forced to pay for them out of their own pockets, they are complicit. Eliminating political welfare would make such dilemmas easier: "Don't like attack ads? Don't donate!" Nothing would force the parties to clean up their act faster than going after their bottom line.

Similarly, some voters are fatigued with having a fourth election in seven years. But losing "confidence" in a government is not the only thing that triggers an election. Having a flush war chest replenished regularly by Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer makes frequent, unnecessary elections an almost riskfree proposition for the parties. The dollars keep rolling in like clockwork. While party coffers are replenished between elections with the per-vote subsidy, the 50% to 60% refund of campaign expenses means that parties are flush again and ready to fund the next election campaign almost as soon as the ballots are counted.

Even if both the per-vote subsidy and the 50% to 60% campaign expense refunds were eliminated, parties would have little reason to fear. With a maximum 75% tax credit inducing donors to contribute, any party that cannot attract cash is likely not taken seriously by its own supporters. By contrast, donating to charities that provide services to those in need only qualifies you for a maximum 29% tax credit.

Put another way, from a tax perspective you are three times better off donating to the separatist Bloc Québécois than you would be if you gave the exact same amount to the Red Cross.

During the course of this election, Canada's federal debt will increase by $3.3-billion. Canada's next government will have tough choices to make. If it is to get spending under control and eliminate the deficit, it will have to cut. The first place it should start is with its own political pogey.

The wrong way to decriminalize marijuana

Last Monday, for at least the third time in a dozen years, an Ontario court struck down provisions of Canada's marijuana laws. While we support the decriminalization of simple possession of marijuana for personal use, we would prefer to see such contentious social changes made by Parliament rather than by the courts. As was the case with same-sex marriage, such seismic shifts in Canada's traditional moral code garner more public support, more quickly, when made by Canadians' elected representatives rather than by appointed judges.

Pot smokers and judges should also drop the façade that their legal challenges and decisions deal only with medical marijuana use by sufferers of cancer, glaucoma, chronic pain and other conditions. It's obvious these court cases, while purportedly decided on the narrow issue of therapeutic toking, are in truth efforts to make marijuana more accessible to everyone.

For more than a dozen years, there has been a game going on between marijuana advocates and Ontario judges on one side, and Health Canada on the other. Advocates sue for easier access, allegedly only for people who need to smoke up to mitigate the nausea that results from chemotherapy and the like. When the courts order such access, Health Canada (not incorrectly) takes the ruling at face value and devises regulations about who may use pot medicinally and under what circumstances. They also specify how and when doctors may prescribe it. However, because such rules don't deal with activists' true goal -across-the-board pot legalization -the advocates are quickly back before the bar pleading for further expansions of the rights of medicinal weed consumers. This approach, however disingenuous, has worked. Just look at Monday's decision.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Donald Taliano granted Matthew Mernagh, a wellknown marijuana advocate who has been charged numerous times for possession or production of marijuana, a permanent stay of charges against him for having and using pot without a doctor-approved licence. Justice Taliano also gave Mr. Mernagh a "personal exemption" from criminal prosecution for the next 90 days so he may grow or buy pot freely while Ottawa revises its medical marijuana rules, as ordered by the judge.

If the court's desire were merely to ease bureaucratic delays for patients needing marijuana, it could have given Mr. Mernagh a federal licence to buy from a government-approved grower. Instead, it effectively upended Health Canada's marijuana protocols altogether, seemingly permitting Mr. Mernagh to grow his own pot without a licence or to buy from unlicensed (i.e. illegal) dealers. It is unlikely the court would have been so aggressive in fashioning a remedy in regard to any other drug.

At the heart of Mr. Mernagh's complaint was his failure to find a doctor prepared to sign his marijuana licence. In the absence of a prescriber, the court permitted him to take his treatment into his own hands. But what if Mr. Mernagh had been desirous of taking strong painkillers to treat his multiple conditions, yet could find no physician to write him a prescription? It's seem unlikely a judge would have created for him a Constitutional right to oxycontin or morphine, and given him permission to buy from a street dealer if no medical profession would supply his need.

So long as marijuana advocates want to legalize their drug using the backdoor excuse of medicinal need, they must consent to have doctors act as gatekeepers to their drug of choice. But that gatekeeping system -put in place a decade ago as a means to balance legitimate medical needs with marijuana's status as a generally illegal drug -has broken down thanks to an unstated alliance between activist judges and straight-up activists.

As noted above, we share their ultimate policy goal: Marijuana should be decriminalized, and possibly even legalized. But this is not the way to do it.

That is why it is preferable to be up front in the marijuana debate, and to settle the matter in the House of Commons rather than in the courts. Canadians are amongst the greatest per-capita consumers of marijuana in the Western world. A quarter or more of our adults have smoked it at least once. So it shouldn't be hard to find broad-based public support for decriminalization -by legislation rather than judgemade law.

The case for a strong coast guard

Canada's east and west coast waters are thinly defended at best. The Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River are rife with lawlessness that Canadian authorities lack the muscle to tackle. So where does the Harper government want to pour big bucks on defending our borders?

The far North. Voters should take a close look at the government's plan to purchase six to eight Arctic patrol vessels to defend Canadian sovereignty in the North.

It goes without saying that we Canadians get emotional about protecting our Arctic. But there are different ways of going about that. Unfortunately, spending more than $3-billion on a plan with four huge flaws isn't one of them.

- With all the gaps in Canada's capacity to defend its own territory, why focus on the far north, where attacks are least likely to come from? Forget all those government scare stories about Russians assaulting our air space. They're all bluster, and every sane military observer on the planet knows it.

-Any territorial disputes in the Arctic are going to be settled in the courts, not through the barrels of guns. An Arctic war? Forget it. Political leaders make foolish decisions from time to time, but very few are sociopaths -which is what you'd have to be to start a war in the Arctic.

- Wrong tools. Even if you give credence to the argument that flexing some military muscle would add to our credibility in the North, these patrol vessels would make us look silly, not strong. They won't break ice any thicker than what you'd hear clinking inside glasses at a cocktail party. They would be expensive summertime showpieces, to be sent south from September to July to patrol on our east and west coasts. Except they'll have trouble doing much pursuing -their top speed is expected to be 16 knots, slower than the fishing boats that ply those same waters. You need high speed to patrol effectively. These patrol vessels won't cut it.

- The plan envisions the Canadian navy operating these Arctic patrols. The navy hasn't broken ice since the 1950s, so its experience in icy waters is zilch. The Canadian Coast Guard has decades of experience breaking ice in the Arctic, which it does well when given the proper tools. Right now it doesn't have them. Canada's current icebreaking fleet is approaching antiquity.

A recent report of the Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans noted that "Canada's icebreaking fleet ... will not be adequate once shipping increases," something projected to occur due to warming global temperatures. If Canada is going to seriously patrol Arctic waters, it should listen to Michael Turner, former acting commissioner of the Coast Guard, who told the committee that since the new patrol vessels would be of hybrid design, they would be only semi-useful in their intended roles. Why should Canada purchase vessels unable to crush ice in the north and, thanks to their slow speed, capable of what Turner charitably termed only "limited capacity in open water."

If Canada is serious about Arctic sovereignty, we need genuine icebreakers. Our existing fleet is aging and none of the vessels match up to the six icebreakers the Russians employ to enforce sovereignty. The current government plan is to purchase just one new icebreaker. If we're serious about patrolling, we need three.

The government should forget about the patrol vessels, purchase three robust icebreakers, and man them with the people who have experience plying our coastal waters -the Canadian Coast Guard.

It is time that we armed Canada's coast guard. Using a vital chunk of the navy's budget for patrolling the Arctic in ineffective ships is not money well spent -particularly when the navy desperately needs money to replace its outdated destroyers with modern vessels capable of defending themselves (and other Canadian ships) from air attack. Unless replacements are ordered quickly, there is going to be a lengthy period where Canada will risk losing that vital military capability, as well as our ability to use our destroyers as flagships for international fleets -a skill set developed by the navy for decades, and one that has allowed us to punch above our weight on the high seas.

There are two coast guard unions. Each has expressed willingness to take on a constabulary capability. Arming the coast guard and giving them the proper equipment would be the smart way to go. Exaggerating the threat to our Great White North and ordering up the wrong kind of vessels to defend would not be smart at all.

 

EDITORIAL : THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA

The New Republican Landscape

Six months after voters sent Republicans in large numbers to Congress and many statehouses, it is possible to see the full landscape of destruction that their policies would cause — much of which has already begun. If it was not clear before, it is obvious now that the party is fully engaged in a project to dismantle the foundations of the New Deal and the Great Society, and to liberate business and the rich from the inconveniences of oversight and taxes.

At first it seemed that only a few freshmen and noisy followers of the Tea Party would support the new extremism. But on Friday, nearly unanimous House Republicans showed just how far their mainstream has been dragged to the right. They approved on strict party lines the most regressive social legislation in many decades, embodied in a blueprint by the budget chairman, Paul Ryan. The vote, from which only four Republicans (and all Democrats) dissented, would have been unimaginable just eight years ago to a Republican Party that added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare.

Mr. Ryan called the vote “our generation’s defining moment,” and indeed, nothing could more clearly define the choice that will face voters next year.

His bill would end the guarantee provided by Medicare and Medicaid to the elderly and the poor, which has been provided by the federal government with society’s clear assent since 1965. The elderly, in particular, would be cut adrift by Mr. Ryan. People now under 55 would be required to pay at least $6,400 more for health care when they qualified for Medicare, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Fully two-thirds of his $4.3 trillion in budget cuts would come from low-income programs.

In addition to making “entitlement” a dirty word, the Ryan bulldozer would go much further in knocking down government programs to achieve its goals. It would cut food stamps by $127 billion, or 20 percent, over the next 10 years, almost certainly increasing hunger among the poor. It would cut Pell grants for all 9.4 million student recipients next year, removing as many as one million of them from the program altogether. It would remove more than 100,000 low-income children from Head Start, and slash job-training programs for the unemployed desperate to learn new skills.

And it would do all that while preserving the Bush tax cuts for the rich, and even expanding them. Regulation of business and the environment would be sharply reduced.

The mania for blindly cutting has also spread to statehouses, many with new Republican governors and legislatures. Several states have cut their unemployment benefits below the standard 26 weeks. Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona has proposed removing 138,000 people from Medicaid. Many recession-battered states, including some led by Democrats, have been forced to cut other services because Republicans have made it so politically difficult to raise taxes. Education, mental health and juvenile justice funds have been particular targets.

In Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Maine and Florida, Republican governors have used the smokescreen of a poor economy to pursue a long-held conservative goal of destroying public and private unions. This has nothing to do with creating jobs, of course, and it has shocked many blue-collar voters who are suddenly second-guessing their support for Republicans last November. Several states are also adopting Arizona-style anti-immigrant laws.

President Obama, after staying in the shadows too long, is starting to illuminate the serious damage that Republicans are doing. Their vision, he said last week, “is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America.” Other Democrats are also beginning to stand up and reject these ideas, having been cowed for months by the electoral wave. Their newfound confidence will give voters a clearer view of this bare and pessimistic landscape.

A Victory for Cleaner Air, and the Law

The new settlement between the Environmental Protection Agency, other plaintiffs and the Tennessee Valley Authority resolving clean air violations at 11 T.V.A. coal-fired power plants is long overdue.

As a result, millions of Americans will someday breathe cleaner air. The settlement will also reduce emissions that have brought acid rain damage to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And it emphatically vindicates the Clean Air Act, which is now under assault from House Republicans.

Under the deal, the federally run authority will close 18 of its oldest and dirtiest coal-fired boilers in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, spend $3 billion to $5 billion over the next decade to install state-of-the-art pollution controls at about three dozen other units, and invest $350 million in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

The E.P.A. estimates that the agreement will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide by nearly 70 percent, preventing 1,200 to 3,000 premature deaths, 2,000 heart attacks and 21,000 asthma attacks annually. The retirement of older coal-fired plants combined with energy efficiencies will inevitably reduce the company’s emission of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

The T.V.A., founded during the Great Depression, has undeniably played an important role in providing electricity to poor parts of the country. But it has also been a major polluter, and a litigious one as well.

The authority agreed in a settlement three decades ago to reduce emissions and make substantial investments in emissions control systems. But further significant reductions have been hard to come by, partly because of friendly court decisions and partly because the George W. Bush administration declined to use its Clean Air Act authority to clean up older plants.

The settlement is a reminder of the value of that act, and the damage that would be done — to Americans’ health and the environment — if House Republicans succeed in their efforts to weaken it.

Hospitals Shouldn’t Make You Sicker 

A vigorous quality-improvement program at more than 150 Veterans Affairs hospitals has achieved remarkable results controlling infections over the past several years. It reduced the spread of one of the most deadly bacterial infections, known as MRSA, by 62 percent in intensive care units and 45 percent in other hospital units. If other hospitals could replicate the effort, thousands of patients might be saved from needless infections acquired after they entered the hospital.

A report on the V.A.’s accomplishment was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The agency used a “bundle” of measures, including screening all patients with nasal swabs and isolating those found infected with MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. All health care workers were urged to take special precautions to prevent spreading germs from those patients and to wash their hands carefully. And the V.A. sought to change its “institutional culture” so that all personnel felt responsible for controlling the bacterium.

The good news comes with a puzzling caveat: a carefully controlled study published in the same issue of the journal found that swabs and special protections like clean gloves and gowns and hand hygiene were “not effective” in reducing the transmission of MRSA or another virulent bacterium in 10 intensive care units at major medical centers. An editorial in the journal found no clear explanation for these drastically different results. The V.A. effort was clearly broader and possibly more rigorous.

The findings emerged just after the Obama administration announced a partnership with employers, health care providers and health plans to stop preventable errors, complications, accidents and infections. The administration plans to invest up to $1 billion to test models of safer care, promote safer practices, and support hospitals and organizations that collaborate to ensure patients are well cared for after they leave the hospital. If successful, this new effort could save 60,000 lives and up to $35 billion in health care costs over the next three years.

So Much for the Referees

Campaigns are delighted at the prospect of a record binge in political spending for next year’s elections. But their lawyers are scratching their heads in wonderment — and potential delight — that the Federal Election Commission has failed to rewrite regulations after the Supreme Court enabled unlimited corporate campaign spending.

Talk about an invitation to corruption, if not chaos, unless the commission suddenly gets its act together.

The commission has deadlocked along party lines on important questions about the supposedly independent nonprofit groups that spent so heavily with secret donors’ money in 2010. They will be even bigger and richer in 2012.

The three commission Democrats want to revise regulations to bring about clear disclosure of donors and to restrict contributions from foreign sources. That makes good sense to us. The three Republicans want only minimal changes to the rules. That would mean that corporations and unions could not only spend with no limits, the voters would never know who was behind the cash.

The commission has become borderline useless, since Republican appointees began blocking pretty much any major decision or action, including punishments for politicians found to have blatantly violated the law.

Because of the complex calendar and process, leading campaign lawyers from both parties predict that the commission is “extremely unlikely” to have updated rules in place by the 2012 elections, according to National Journal. Candidates and strategists who regularly cut corners could find a free-spending nirvana.

President Obama must demand something better. By the end of the month, five of the panel’s six seats will be open for new appointees. Party bosses traditionally name loyalists for the president’s consideration. Mr. Obama should name independent, nonpartisan experts, and the Senate should confirm them. More hacks at the F.E.C. will guarantee more paralysis and even more corruption.

    

EDITORIAL : THE GUARDIAN, UK

        

Elected mayors: Where Leicester leads

Will the prospect of being a hands-on mayor soon confer more political clout than the uncertain chance of a cabinet seat?

Amid the many elections due on 5 May – to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolved bodies, to local councils in much of England, plus the voting system referendum – do not overlook two other contests. In a month's time, voters in Leicester will elect a mayor, joining London and other cities with a directly elected chief. Since the Labour candidate in Leicester is the local MP Sir Peter Soulsby, the mayoral race has triggered a parliamentary byelection in Leicester South – also on 5 May.

These Leicester elections are of wider interest for two reasons. The first is that they mark the resumption, under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, of the previous Labour government's only intermittently successful enthusiasm for elected mayors. While some elected mayoralties – London pre-eminently – have been generally thought of as highly successful, others have not, or at least have failed to overcome the enduring opposition of their local government opponents. Stoke abolished its elected mayor three years ago, while Doncaster, after a bruising experience with two elected mayors, has begun a process which could end in abolition too. Over the past decade only about a third of more than 30 local referendums on whether to have elected mayors have resulted in a yes vote.

It is possible, nevertheless, that a tide may be turning in favour of elected mayors and that Leicester's decision, rather than Doncaster's, may be the shape of things to come. Under the localism bill, referendums on elected mayors are being targeted for May 2012 in a dozen of England's largest cities, including Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle. Yes votes in these cities could mark a decisive shift, which Labour, for all its efforts, failed to achieve. Ironically, local Labour opposition to the coalition could tip the scales. The attraction of fighting a city's corner with a high-profile leader in difficult times may outweigh even the most determined local enemies of change.

The Leicester race also says something about political careers. After the general election, Labour holds little power; its senior elected office-holder is currently the Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones. If he wins in Leicester, Sir Peter's choice of local power over national opposition may tempt others. Already, the former cabinet minister Bob Ainsworth has said he might run if Coventry votes to elect a mayor. In other big cities other MPs, not just Labour ones, may also decide that the prospect of being a hands-on mayor of Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester confers more clout than the uncertain chance of a cabinet seat. An earlier generation would have thought this a perverse set of priorities; but a new one may start to see things differently.

Afghanistan: No endgame in sight

The key to ending the conflict in Afghanistan may be for us to stop thinking of it as a unified state

Nearly two years ago David Miliband, then foreign secretary, addressed a meeting of Nato confident that the right strategy was being pursued in Afghanistan. They would not force the Taliban to surrender, nor would they convert them. But he went on: "By challenging the insurgency … by building legitimate governance … the Afghan government, with our support, can prevail." Today Mr Miliband, backbench MP, is less certain – on any of those three counts. Last week he said the Taliban's numbers were growing, quoting an Isaf estimate of 35,000 full-time fighters; he challenged the idea that law and order could be delivered by the forces of a central state; and as for legitimate governance, there were two views of Hamid Karzai – a man uniquely qualified to unite his people, or its weakest link, with electoral fraud, corruption, cronyism and caprice sapping the strength of the Afghan government. Mr Miliband did not commit himself, but said it was incontestable that the Taliban are outcompeting the government in too many areas, dispensing their own rough but incorrupt justice. So while the west has set a date for the end of the war in 2014, Mr Miliband concluded that no political strategy yet exists to end the conflict.

Nor is he the only voice to doubt the relentless focus on military operations. A taskforce headed by Lakhdar Brahimi, former UN special representative for Afghanistan, and Thomas Pickering, former US undersecretary of state, said the current policy of reintegration may peel away small units of the Taliban, but would never provide the political resolution that peace would require. That could only be done by a settlement which would allow representation of the Taliban in central and provincial governments; the determination of the proper role of Islamic law in regulating dress, behaviour and the administration of justice; the protection of women's rights; the incorporation of Taliban fighters into the security forces; the severance of their ties with al-Qaida; and a guaranteed withdrawal of foreign forces.

All this comes late in the day. The western intervention is now longer than the Soviet one. But three years from the date set for withdrawal, no political component to that deadline exists. Nor is there a unified view in Washington about how to achieve it. With the Taliban pushed as a major presence out of Helmand and Kandahar, self-congratulation and self-doubt fill the air in roughly equal portions. The surge of US troop numbers is at its peak, but everyone is bracing themselves for another year of ferocious bloodshed, as the Taliban merely switch tactics from roadside bombs to suicide bombings and softer targets. Instead of fighting its way to the negotiating table, the US troop surge may simply be sawing the legs off it.

There is no dearth of creative ideas for an end to this conflict. But Washington may not be as powerful as it thinks in the endgame. A former UN negotiator involved in the Geneva agreements on the Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Giandomenico Picco, said in a paper that we may have to abandon the idea of Afghanistan as a centrally governed nation state – a fallacy shared by the Soviets, the Taliban and the west. Its porous borders could only be guaranteed by a regional summit of the countries that effect them – Pakistan, India, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Everyone seems to have forgotten Riyadh's influence on Islamabad. And including Iran as a regional power in a forum, unconnected to the nuclear issue, could also be a way of breaking that deadlock.

US generals believe salvation lies in an Afghan National Security Force, 305,000 strong. They cling to the hope that an Afghan state will endure their departure. After decades of war, both remain untested assumptions. Nato could still avoid an ignominious exit, but as things stand the one staged by the Soviets, on whom history has poured such scorn, may end up being veritably ordered in comparison.

In praise of... Mike Leigh

The big mistake people make with Mike Leigh is to simplify him into caricature; he is much too various for that

The big mistake people make with Mike Leigh is to simplify him into caricature; he is much too various for that. He is the man who turned London into his own film set, so that to wander around the capital is to think of Naked, Happy-Go-Lucky, Secrets & Lies – yet he is a Salford boy. And of course his work is so distinctive in both focus and style that almost everybody knows what you mean by a "Mike Leigh film" – yet he famously creates his dramas through extensive improvisation and rehearsal. He is the angry socialist who sets conservative teeth on edge – yet his early and later work focus much more on the personal than the polemical. In short, Mike Leigh is a writer and director who zigs when you expect him to zag, who escapes easy pigeonholing by dint of squirming too much. Those who still think of Leigh as the poet laureate of anti-Thatcherism should catch the revival of his 1979 play Ecstasy, recently transferred to London's West End. Some of the classic Leigh elements are there: set in a bedsit in Kilburn, it features a fascinating argument about immigration and its impact on jobs (some things in Britain don't change). But the real theme of the play is loneliness: how people can be lonely even in others' company – and how they try to dress it up. It is not all bleak: the play studies a marriage seemingly sustained by booze – yet which somehow works. But most of all it is tender, with the central character, Jean, depicted as a gifted, interesting woman afloat on her own regret. It is not classic Leigh – but is another Leigh classic.

EDITORIAL : THE GLOBAL TIMES, CHINA

Confrontation under religious auspices

Recently, the Dalai Lama accused the central government over an incident at the Aba Gulden Temple in Sichuan. The Chinese police intervened to control lamas that had stirred up trouble. Last week, the US State Department echoed the Dalai Lama and declared that the current situation in the temple "does not meet internationally accepted standards of religious freedom and human rights."

Since the  "3.14 incident" in 2008 in Tibet, "religion" and "human rights"  have returned to the political fore in the spats over Tibet between the West and China. The reason lies in the existence of the Dalai clique, which has maintained some influence through Tibetan Buddhism in Tibetan areas and turned this influence into political confrontation.

Therefore, it is difficult to completely snuff out political stories in which some lamas cause trouble which the Chinese government attempts to stop while the Dalai clique and the West throw accusations. In order to maintain stability, China must develop a better capacity to handle these incidents.

Tibet's so-called "religious freedom" has long been politicized by the Dalai clique and the West. The so-called "religious freedom "and "human rights" are nothing but slogans to deceive people in Tibet and take over global opinion.

Religious affairs have also encountered friction, which is inevitable internationally. Each country handles religious friction very carefully, trying to avoid expanded social influence, especially when this can spill over into political events. US activists and US military troops overseas have desecrated the Koran many times, the impact of which has been suppressed by the US.

It is impossible for China to be free of religious problems. At first, we felt nervous when hearing a few religious people had caused trouble. But after such several incidents, society has adapted to it. Foreign intervention cannot influence the attitude of Chinese society.

The troublemakers and their foreign supporters must be aware that the involvement of religious people in secular politics is not welcome. They have destroyed local stability, which is against the wishes of local residents. So far, there has been no collective political unrest in minority areas with most of the population involved since 1949. In the "3.14" and "7.5" events, the real trouble-makers numbered but few.

Political confrontation with "religious freedom" as its disguise has no future in China. Of this, both the West and the Dalai clique are aware; however, troublemakers in China are often deceived. No Western country has supported "Tibet independence" in public and merely seek for Tibet to be in chaos, so that China can be contained.

Every problem in Tibet is caused by a few lamas, who have betrayed and stained the Buddhist concept of peace. However, they seem to have forgotten that they are still citizens of the People's Republic of China. The law will not make concessions to them.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

     

Help disaster victims find the jobs they want

The Yomiuri Shimbun

As one month has passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, moves to provide employment assistance to victims of the disaster are spreading nationwide.

Companies in the railway, video game, food, medicine and financial service sectors, among others, have come out with job offers for victims of the March 11 catastrophe. About 170 corporations have posted job offers with an online employment information service company. The Tokushima, Tottori and Kyoto prefectural governments are among those that have expressed readiness to temporarily employ people from disaster-stricken areas.

Although many of these job opportunities are only temporary, they are welcome and will encourage people affected by the terrible earthquake and tsunami.

Unfortunately, the number of job offers is still too few.

An estimated 800,000 people worked in the coastal regions of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures that were pummeled by the tsunami. It is not known how many people lost jobs because of the disaster, but more than 26,000 people had sought consultations about employment at local government offices in the three prefectures as of early April.

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Priority on firms in crisis areas

The government has just worked out an emergency package of measures to help disaster victims find jobs. The package centers on job creation in rebuilding projects, increased government subsidies for companies that keep workers on, and a new subsidy system for companies that hire disaster victims.

Priority should naturally be given to local companies in disaster-hit areas when awarding contracts for construction of temporary housing and debris removal. Special subsidies introduced after major disasters in the past to some extent effectively prevented companies from dismissing employees and withdrawing job offers extended to new graduates.

The tricky part will be creating a system that can match the needs of disaster victims with the available job openings. The government-envisioned employment assistance program cannot be effective as long as disaster victims are unable to find companies and jobs that meet their preferences.

The employment assistance package calls for the launch of "employment encouragement councils" centering on Hellowork job placement offices in every prefecture to provide job offer information to disaster victims.

However, this alone will not be enough.

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Find work for elderly

The government also should obtain employment information from national federations of agricultural and fisheries cooperatives, and urge Silver Human Resources Centers--which provide employment opportunities to retirees--to help find jobs for elderly disaster victims.

In addition, there should be venues where disaster victims can get advice on housing, job training and children's education. We also think the government should improve the system under which Hellowork officials visit evacuation shelters and related places to speak at length to victims about their employment wants.

The emergency package also eases employment-related regulations for disaster victims. This has made it easier for temporary employment placement companies to set up consultation areas at disaster shelters. Perhaps it would be a good idea if temp agencies and public-sector employment placement officials could both give consultations at the shelters.

We urge the government to make every possible effort to make it simpler for disaster victims to find jobs.

It will be some time before life returns to normal for victims of this disaster. Some will have to make tough choices about leaving familiar areas and taking up jobs they are unaccustomed to.

To minimize the number of disaster victims left with no option but to take up employment that does not meet their wishes, the government should provide them with broad, well thought-out employment assistance.

G-20 unified on coping with Japan risks

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Group of 20 countries have expressed their intent to jointly support Japan's reconstruction, underscoring the fact that the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake poses a new concern for the global economy.

The prolonged stagnation of the Japanese economy, which took a direct hit from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, could negatively impact the global economy. Each country shared a sense of crisis and placed high expectations on Japan's early reconstruction.

The two-day meeting of financial ministers and central bank governors from the leading advanced and emerging economies in which Japan, the United States, European countries and China participated, ended Friday in Washington after adopting a joint statement.

Among others things, the joint statement pointed out that a series of accidents at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant together with political unrest in some Middle East and North African countries have increased uncertainty over the global economy and energy prices.

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Slowdown unavoidable

The global economy has been growing at a rate of between 4 percent and 5 percent after overcoming the financial crisis. However, a slowdown of the Japanese economy is unavoidable for the time being. The future of the global economy hinges on whether Japan can rebuild its economy through early reconstruction after the March 11 disaster.

Oil prices have recently been surging. It is feared that further dependence on thermal power generation due to events in the Middle East and accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant may result in an even bigger surge in oil prices.

Concerns of the G-20 nations over the risks that Japan's crisis presents are seen behind their joint statement, which stipulates "solidarity with the Japanese people" and "our readiness to provide any needed cooperation."

In the joint statement, the G-20 countries also reaffirmed their cooperation in preventing disorderly movements of exchange rates. Although the yen jumped immediately after the March 11 earthquake and fell after Japan, the United States and European countries jointly intervened in the market, it remains unstable. Maintaining the yen's stability is vital.

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Economy remains resilient

The joint statement stressed the G-20 countries' recognition that the Japanese economy and financial sector are basically "resilient."

Japan needs to meet these expectations of the G-20 countries and clear away uncertainty about the global economy.

The government, first and foremost, should speed up compilation and Diet passage of the first fiscal 2011 supplementary budget, thereby setting a solid course toward post-disaster reconstruction.

It cannot be overlooked that movements are spreading among countries to impose import restrictions on Japanese farm and other products due to the accidents at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The government has properly called on each country to calmly respond to the matter. To prevent harmful rumors, Japan must quickly bring the situation at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control and continue to provide the world with accurate information.

The G-20 countries have made progress by agreeing on "indicative guidelines" with which they monitor each other's economies to correct imbalances of the global economy. We urge the G-20 countries to discuss details on the selection of countries to be monitored and ensure workable implementation of the guidelines.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

Sweet Poison

The death of a one-year old baby in Wellawaya as a result of drinking a 'soft drink' comes as a shock. Two more had been admitted to hospital after the consumption of the drink. Similar deaths have occurred just a month ago; soft drink poisoning.

As usual in this country no one had been pulled up. The authorities have placed the blame on hapless wayside vendors for keeping the soft drinks in the "hot sun."

Here we come to the pertinent question. Who is responsible? Obviously the soft drink manufacturers would say the obvious thing. Maybe they do use the approved ingredients, but how safe is the approved ingredient? Is it the manufacturer? The trader? Or the consumer (The parent)? The laissez-faire doctrine has a safe way out. Buyer beware. So did the authorities having also been quoted as saying, "trader kept the bottles in hot sun".

But we are ignoring some important issues here.

Sure enough, the traders should be regulated but has anybody questioned the ingredients that go into these heavily advertised gas and water mix? There are many things that go into the ingredients. But many are in codes--to be precise in a thing called E-Code. We wonder how many of our readers know what an E-Code is. Definitely it cannot be 'electronic code' to appear on food labels. It is a number system to identify artificial food additives. E apparently stands for Europe. In the first place we don't know if the manufacturer is honest to his label. Even then we do not know how many of the Sri Lankan consumers--particularly soft drink consumers--read through the label before drinking!

Nor do the situations of soft drink consumption be conducive for a read thru. So much for Consumer Safety.

Moving over most importantly, what is the regulation governing the inclusion of ingredients? In a tropical country, where sunlight and heat are abundant, how prudent is it to permit ingredients that break down into dangerous poisons when exposed to sunlight? Considering the massive market and turnover of soft drink bottles, is it possible to practically observe the storing instructions?

Look at this excerpt: This is regarding a VERY common preservative found in soft drinks. We would call it X. "X was never proven to be safe…Because X changes brain chemistry and breaks down into a witches’ brew of toxins and tumour agents …"According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), X may cause health concerns if consumed in excess. (Do we have a meter somewhere in our body?) X poisoning may cause neurological symptoms such as headaches, migraines, dizziness, confusion and impaired memory function. It may also cause seizures and tremors, extreme sleepiness, limb numbness, facial pain and restless legs.

This is worse: "Because, under heat and through metabolism, X breaks down into some very dangerous CHEMICALS, including FORMALDEHYDE. Think about cases of diet soda… sitting in a hot warehouse or a single can sitting in your hot car. It's already broken down into dangerous chemicals by the time you drink it.

 "Ask yourself, are you really going to take a drop of FORMALDEHYDE with every can. Formaldehyde will DENATURE your organs as you live. It doesn't leave your system." 

This is another: “Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid.

Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance". A Food Standards Agency (UK) survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale. A review of sodium benzoate by the World Health Organisation in 2000 concluded that it was safe, but it noted that the available science supporting its safety was "limited". A British researcher, whose work has been funded by a government research council, said (2007) tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration were out of date.

The problem is that we are so behind, that most of our agencies just follow the FDA or FSA (UK). We can't blame them either because of the technology gap. But the irony is that there are so many drugs that have been initially approved by the FDA sorts but which had been banned later. 

The government has to make a firm stand on this from the point of manufacturing to make the nation a healthier one.

Why not promote the good old thambili?

EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

Census criticism

THERE have been numerous complaints, particularly from Sindh, regarding the house-listing component of the nation`s sixth census, with critics saying that the exercise is not being conducted in a transparent manner. On Friday, Jam Madad Ali, leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, rejected the house-listing operation and called for conducting the census under the army`s watch. Jam Madad claimed census staff did not have access to parts of Karachi and Hyderabad as well as a few other areas of Sindh, while adding that there were too few enumerators and not enough time to complete the exercise. The opposition leader also complained of `political interference` in the exercise. Sindhi nationalist parties have also termed the house count as “casually planned and poorly implemented”. They have alleged that employees of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board and Karachi`s city government are being used as enumerators. Even Taj Haider — head of the PPP`s census monitoring committee — has cast doubts on the fairness of the house count in Karachi.

Since criticism is coming in from such varied sources, the state needs to address objections and investigate areas where there is credible evidence that irregularities may have occurred. All stakeholders need to be taken on board, or else the results of the exercise will remain disputed. As we have previously mentioned, an accurate house count will pave the way for an accurate head count, which is scheduled for later this year. However, everyone must realise that the census is an essential exercise and complaints of anomalies should not be used as an excuse to yet again scrap the whole process.

While it is true that the census is a technical exercise, it is also a fact that it is one with considerable political overtones and ramifications. There are genuine fears that misrepresentation will lead to changed constituencies as population numbers of certain areas could be artificially increased, while other areas could be overlooked. These fears need to be addressed as it is in everyone`s interest that the census continues and is a fair process. Though changed demographic realities cannot be wished away and all parties should accept these changes based on solid data, gerrymandering for political gain is totally unacceptable and needs to be checked. The world over censuses are major undertakings and some criticism will always remain about the way the process is conducted. Criticism is welcome as there is always room for improvement. In Pakistan`s case the state needs to lend an ear to genuine criticism and tackle areas where flagrant irregularities are said to be taking place.

Crackdown on protests

POLICE reportedly used batons and teargas in Karachi on Friday against traders protesting power outages. While in this case officials claimed that protesters had hurled stones at law-enforcement officers, there have been a series of recent incidents in which citizens demonstrating for various demands have suffered brutal treatment at the hands of the police. In late March, tenants claiming ownership rights of land in Khanewal were baton-charged and tear-gassed while marching to Lahore, and the injured reportedly included women and children. A few days earlier, lady health workers demanding regularisation of employment were baton-charged and tear-gassed while staging a sit-in near the Sindh-Punjab border, and violence was also used against their colleagues who later protested in Karachi about the crackdown. In February, police had used batons and water cannons against members of the Sindh education staff marching from the Karachi Press Club to the chief minister`s residence in protest against various conditions of employment.

It is clear that the general level of frustration among Pakistani citizens is rising, especially regarding their livelihoods. In addition to the demonstrations above, the Young Doctors` Association and members of Punjab`s provincial bureaucracy have staged significant protests recently. And if last year is anything to go by, loadshedding in the upcoming summer months may lead to frequent demonstrations. On a fundamental level, these incidents reflect citizens` belief that their grievances will only be heard if they protest or cause some level of disruption. However, the long-term solution lies in creating effective mechanisms through which citizens` complaints can be heard and addressed. Meanwhile, what can be changed in the short-term is the use of force and even large-scale arrests, which must not be taken lightly or resorted to easily. Too often it seems that police personnel are not trained or not willing to manage protests unless they can opt for violence. Until this culture of brutal crackdowns is overhauled from within the law-enforcement force, one fears there will be many more instances of police clashing with citizens who are simply trying to make their voices heard in a difficult economic climate.

Maternal health

AS reported on Thursday, a study by a trusted medical journal has shown that Pakistani women suffer the second highest number of stillbirths in the world. An even more alarming statistic is that they top the list in terms of stillbirth rate — 47 per 1,000 births, the highest of the 193 countries studied. According to a Pakistani doctor who helped author the report, this rate has only improved by six per cent since 1995. An important caveat is that data was not easily obtainable everywhere, so countries like Somalia and Afghanistan, for example, may have higher rates than the existing data shows. Even with that qualification, however, Pakistan`s rate — compared to 19 per 1,000 births globally — is an alarming comment on the quality of maternal health in the country.

These statistics point to a serious lack of access to prenatal care as well as trained medical practitioners and clean, well-equipped facilities at the time of childbirth. This need is especially dire in rural areas, where the time taken to reach these resources can result in serious complications. To address the issue, many more trained community midwives, if not nurses and doctors as well, would be needed in rural and in low-income urban areas, along with training centres and qualified faculty that can churn out midwives in adequate numbers. Such an effort would also require sufficient benefits for these workers; as recent complications with the otherwise successful lady health worker programme have shown, these employees must be provided with enough compensation and job security to motivate them to work under inhospitable conditions in some remote areas. While it remains true that the government is facing severe economic pressures, addressing the currently appalling state of healthcare for women should be near the top of any list of development priorities.

EDITORIAL : THE HINDU, INDIA

A lesson in justice for Chhattisgarh

In granting bail to Binayak Sen, the doctor who was convicted earlier this year by a trial court in Chhattisgarh, the Supreme Court has sent a clear message to the lower judiciary and law enforcement agencies throughout the country: the charge of sedition should not be bandied about lightly. Although the court passed only a one-line order, the observations made by Justices H.S. Bedi and C.K. Prasad during oral arguments on Friday add up to a scathing indictment of the weak case the Chhattisgarh government put up against the paediatrician and human rights activist. Their remarks also suggest the trial court did not apply its mind to the case. Justices Bedi and Prasad demolished two key parts of the prosecution's case during the bail hearing. First, they said the mere possession of Maoist literature did not make a person a Maoist. Secondly, and more crucially, they noted that since jailors supervised every meeting Dr. Sen had with Narayan Sanyal — the jailed Maoist leader whose messages he allegedly helped smuggle out — “the question of passing letters or documents does not arise.” If Chhattisgarh had a professional police force and well-functioning judiciary, these glaring weaknesses in the case against Dr. Sen would have been spotted at the very beginning of the legal process and the charges thrown out. Sadly, it has required the highest court in the country to lay this bare before the world.

In legal terms, Dr. Sen's appeal against his conviction will now continue at the Bilaspur High Court but the endgame, should that forum uphold the charge of sedition, is clear: going by its own observations, the Supreme Court is likely to acquit him eventually. Unfortunately, the Binayak Sen case is not the only Chhattisgarh-related matter involving blatant injustice to come to New Delhi. For the past two years, the Supreme Court has been considering a public interest litigation petition on the role of officially sponsored anti-Maoist vigilantes who have been responsible for the death and displacement of adivasis on a large scale. Though the Chhattisgarh government has repeatedly assured the court that the vigilante squads have been disbanded, it has dragged its feet on the registration of criminal cases and the provision of compensation for the victims of violence. Moreover, as the well-documented attack on innocent tribals in Tarmetla and other villages by the security forces last month demonstrates, vigilantism continues to exact a terrible human toll in the State. With the Raman Singh government refusing to accept responsibility for the appalling state of affairs in Dantewada, the one hope the adivasis of the region have for justice is with the Supreme Court.

Unlocking Mercury's secrets

After a voyage of nearly eight billion kilometres that took over six and a half years, the Messenger spacecraft has settled down to its task of scientifically surveying Earth's enigmatic sibling, the planet Mercury. Recently, the American space probe began sending back images of that far away world, the first to be taken from a spacecraft in orbit around it. It is now 37 years since the Mariner-10 probe, which too had been despatched by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration, provided images of that terra incognita as it thrice flew past the innermost planet in the Solar System. While the Mariner-10 could image less than half the planet, the Messenger (an acronym for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) will cover all of it with 75,000 high-resolution images and also send back data from a variety of onboard instruments. The first such image shows in great detail a 90-km-wide crater called ‘Debussy' located in the South Pole, an area that was never seen before. Protected by a shade from the Sun's scorching heat, the Messenger's science mission will last a year as time is measured on Earth. But that is equivalent to just two Mercury days because the planet takes 176 Earth days to complete one rotation. So, although the probe is circling the planet once every 12 hours, it will be able to view any place on the surface under similar lighting conditions only twice during its mission. By combining information from images taken from two different angles, the topography of the planet can be mapped.

Mercury, one of the four inner rocky planets like Earth, could hold the key to understanding the formation and evolution of the planets in the Solar System. It is the smallest and densest of these planets; has the oldest surface; and experiences the largest daily surface temperature variations. Aside from imaging the planet, the mission has been designed to provide answers to six key questions: the planet's density; its geologic history; the internal magnetic field; the materials at its poles; its exosphere; and the structure of its core. The answers to these questions will help unlock many scientific secrets. For instance, knowing the size and nature of Mercury's core will make it possible to decipher its high density and possession of an internal magnetic field that is akin to the Earth's. Diverse data from Mariner-10's flyby of Mercury provided insights into its unknown features and raised questions about the then-prevalent theories. The next year promises to be rich in planetary surprises, as vast amounts of data from the Messenger come flooding back.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

 

Middle East ferment

Change is in the air

Large swathes of the Middle East remain in ferment. The newest sign of that reality comes from Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad has assured Syrians that the emergency laws in place for nearly half a century will be lifted within a week. The gesture is not spontaneous but is a reaction to the gathering restiveness in the country. In Egypt, the move by the present rulers to detain and question deposed president Hosni Mubarak demonstrates the willingness of the authorities to heed popular demands for substantive progress to democracy. Egypt remains a work in progress.

But what will likely happen in Damascus and is happening in Cairo is quite different from how things have been turning out in Tripoli. A defiant Muammar Gaddafi fights on, despite some recent large profile defections from his camp. The feeling at this point is of a stalemate holding Libya in its grip, though in the end Gaddafi may not be able to withstand the forces, the West as well as the rebels, arrayed against him. In Bahrain, with assistance from the Saudis, the ruling classes have for now put the lid back on the boiling pot. But that may not be a good way of dealing with demands for a democratic opening. The Bahrainis' resort to force to quell popular demands is something the Algerians appear unwilling to emulate. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has just announced sweeping political reforms as a way of staving off a crisis threatening to bring his regime down. Speaking of reforms, Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh's offers of a compromise solution (minus his immediate resignation) have not impressed his detractors. It is a bizarre situation where the president and his people are engaged in a see-saw struggle for power.

Clearly, change is in the Middle Eastern air. The good news is that many of the long-entrenched authoritarian regimes appear to be acknowledging the need for change. It is only men like Gaddafi and Saleh who refuse to see reality for what it is. A pity.

Playing foul with the report?

Stop machinations, act on it

We cannot but express our serious concern about the controversy over the share market scam probe report, whose fate, going by the reports in several newspapers including this one, has become very uncertain. It seems there are very well orchestrated moves afoot to not only divert attention from the report but also to damn the report as well as the head of the probe committee by deliberately discrediting him and questioning the veracity of the findings.

There is every reason to feel concerned about the fate of the enquiry that has dealt with an important public interest matter and which has to do with the hard earned assets of hundreds and thousands of small investors. A concerted effort is afoot to both discredit the report and its principal author. Petty flaws are being exaggerated to look like big mistakes. Twisting a simple remark about how legal system works in democracy and giving it a completely opposite meaning, the chair of the enquiry body is being dragged into a controversy, with the aim of diluting the importance of the report. We strongly condemn these efforts which are being orchestrated by people likely to be exposed if the report is followed by government investigation.

Admittedly, the report names a large many influential persons and corporations against whom the findings have established prima facie evidence, and once the report is published the government would be obliged to investigate further and nail the culprits. One hopes that the government will not modulate its action on this factor. If that is the case the public cannot be faulted for thinking that there is lot at stake for the government in not publishing the report.

Soft pedaling on the matter or indeed putting the wraps on it will only discredit the government. It should publish the report immediately and proceed against the identified culprits as per law.