Political parties in Bhutan can now collect funds

THIMPHU, Mar 21: Political parties in Bhutan can now start collecting funds after the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) fixed the ceiling on various fees and voluntary contributions.

Chief Election Commissioner Kunzang Wangdi told reporters that the ceilings were fixed "in order to ensure a level playing field among different political parties and enable all voters to join any party of their choice".

"Any political activity between now and July (till the formal registration of the parties with ECB) would be considered legitimate and interested people should get moving," he said.

The first general elections in the Himalayan kingdom will be held next year.

According to a report in state-run newspaper Kuensel, the ceiling on registration fee is fixed at Nu 3,000 per member, membership fee at Nu 5,000 annually for a member, and the voluntary contribution from a registered member at a maximum of Nu. 1,000,000 yearly per member.

Wangdi also expressed his concerns of the lack of active political activities. In a notification, he said any registered voter intending to form a political party must begin the process at the earliest.

He said interested registered voters should begin registering members, appointing office bearers, collecting fees and contributions, and establish its offices.

"They should even start drawing the charter in accordance with the Political Party Rules and Notification," he said. (PTI)

Thai PM visits violence-plagued south; violence continues

PATTANI, Mar 21: Thai Prime Minister Gen Surayud Chulanont visited the violence-plagued province of Pattani Wednesday and convened a meeting with agencies involved to respond to the insurgent unrest, as violence continued unabated in Narathiwat, where a soldier was shot dead by presumed insurgents.

The prime minister, accompanied by the interior minister met the Fourth Army commander and governors of the three southern border provinces.

A situation report, was presented to the prime minister by the Region 4 of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), noting that the number of attacks has dropped but had become more violent, with losses of life and property that are having a psychological impact on the general public.

"The government faces problems, including changes in working strategies, and a lack of funds and personnel," the prime minister.

Gen Surayud said he ordered the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre to improve the understanding between government officials and local residents, as the insurgents were trying to cause a rift between Buddhist and Muslim Thais.

The prime minister said the violence occurred at varied times and places, but it is not known specifically who is behind the attacks.

Forensic expert Porntip Rojanasunan, acting director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, in her capacity as adviser to the commission assessing the unrest, has also visited the violence-plagued provinces to gather evidence at crime scenes. (AGENCIES)

No military solution to Palestinian issue: Sinha

DUBAI, Mar 21: Observing that there can be no military solution to the middle-east crisis, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha has said both Israel and Palestine need to eschew violence and focus instead on creation of an independent Palestinian state within a "time-frame".

"India's support for the Palestinian cause is rooted in history. We believe that there can be no military solution to the Palestinian issue," Sinha said in a speech made in Doha on Monday at a conference on "Enriching the Middle East's Economic Future".

The former External Affairs minister called for the creation of a Palestinian state within a time-frame. "It is important for both sides, therefore, to eschew violence and fully cooperate with the international community to achieve the objective of the creation of a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine with in a reasonable time-frame living in peace with Israel, with both countries having secure and recognised borders".

On the importance of the Gulf countries for India, he said nearly 4.5 million Indians work in the region. "Of this, over 170,000 live in Qatar and constitute the largest community among foreigners in the state. The region provides 70 per cent of India's oil and gas needs. Our non-oil trade with this region is worth over USD 20 billion."

Sinha said, "India would like to see a stable, peaceful, prosperous, united and democratic Iraq. We were against a military solution from the beginning of this crisis. Subsequent developments have confirmed our worst apprehensions." (PTI)

Japanese doctors warned not to give Tamiflu to teenagers

TOKYO, Mar 21: Japanese doctors were warned today against prescribing Tamiflu to teenagers after several young patients taking the bird flu-fighting drug reportedly exhibited dangerous behaviour.

The Health Ministry had issued emergency instructions yesterday to a Japanese Tamiflu distributor, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., to warn doctors not to give the drug to teenagers, a Chugai official said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

Chugai began distributing warnings to doctors, hospitals and pharmacies across Japan today, the official said.

Concerns over Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, have spiked in Japan after a boy and a girl, both 14, fell to their deaths from their condominiums while taking the drug in separate incidents in February.

The US Food and Drug Administration has said it received more than 100 reports of delirium, hallucinations and other unusual psychiatric behaviour, mostly in Japanese children treated with Tamiflu, between Aug. 29, 2005, and July 6, 2006. The Japanese government has not released detailed figures.

The drug, manufactured by Swiss company Roche Holding AG, already carries warnings in Japan and the United States that such abnormal behaviour could occur.

A link between the drug and abnormal behaviour among young people has not been established, the company official said.

Two 12-year-old boys also taking Tamiflu both broke legs after jumping out of their houses in separate incidents in February and March, the official said. (AGENCIES)

Roche says no link between Tamiflu and psychiatric behaviour

GENEVA, Mar 21: Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG said there was no established causal link between its antiviral drug Tamiflu and psychiatric symptoms recently reported in Japan and the United States.

The company's announcement came yesterday as Japan's Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry issued an emergency instruction earlier in the day advising doctors against giving the drug to teenagers who are believed particularly susceptible to developing such symptoms.

Roche said in a statement that its clinical studies have shown similar rates of neurological and psychiatric events between pediatric influenza patients being treated with Tamiflu and those receiving no treatment.

It said "delirium and neuropsychiatric disorders" associated with influenza are "not uncommon" and occur in the US in approximately four out of every 100,000 influenza patients. It added that the incidence in Japan "is believed even higher."

"Roche is aware that a number of reports have been received in Japan of neuropsychiatric symptoms including delirium, with associated abnormal behaviour, and very rare cases of death in patients suffering from influenza who have also been taking the antiviral Tamiflu," it said.

Roche said Tamiflu has been used in over 45 million influenza patients worldwide, and that its "post marketing surveillance has confirmed that rates of neuropsychiatric events in patients taking Tamiflu occurred in around one in 37,000 patients."

Such events leading to death "are extremely rare, occurring in around one out of every 5 million influenza patients treated, it added. (AGENCIES)

Health care agency announces new safe water initiative...

NEW YORK, Mar 21: Leading humanitarian health care agency, International Aid, has announced a major safe water initiative that will help address the growing health crisis caused by lack of access to clean water in developing countries.

As the centerpiece of its safe water programme, the agency introduced a new, lightweight water filter that combines proven filtration technology, known as BioSand, with an innovative plastic design.

International Aid believes the simplicity and affordability of the new unit have the potential to make a dramatic impact on the global water crisis.

The agency announced its new initiative in advance of the United Nations' World Day for Water 2007, whose observance on March 22 will focus on water's critical importance to life and health.

International Aid is responding to a health crisis of enormous proportions: recent reports note that more than 10 million people -- half of them children and teens -- die annually from diseases due to unsafe drinking water; in developing countries, 70 per cent of poor people lack access to treated water.

International Aid's new Plastic BioSand Water Filter (TM) -- developed in collaboration with United States based Grand Rapids a leading provider of engineered plastics products and systems, involves a major design improvement to the traditional BioSand filter currently in use in more than 70 countries worldwide. (PTI)

International conference on Iraq

UNITED Nations, Mar 21: A major two-day international conference will be held next month to consider how to deal with the humanitarian crisis being faced by millions of Iraqis who have been displaced from their homes in the war-torn country.

The United Nations refugee agency, which is hosting the event, has invited all 192 member States, 65 international organisations and 60 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to participate in the conference.

"With displacement continuing at an estimated rate of upto 50,000 a month, the humanitarian needs are growing by the day and we need to do everything we can to try to get help to desperate people," UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Ron Redmond said yesterday.

The ministerial-level meeting, scheduled for April 17 and 18 in Geneva, "will examine the humanitarian dimensions of the displacement crisis, identify the enormous needs, and seek to forge a common international effort to address those needs, including through sharing the burden that's now being borne by neighbouring States," he said.

Approximately two million Iraqis live in neighbouring countries including Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey.

Besides 1.9 million are displaced within their country, "many in increasingly desperate conditions," Redmond said.

Many of them find their resources dwindling, and host communities are being strained by the influx of displaced people. (PTI)

UN treaty to preserve cultural expression comes into force...

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 21: A United Nations-backed international treaty to preserve the rich diversity of means of cultural expression across the world, including different languages, from the dangers of globalisation has entered into force.

The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural epressions, adopted by the General Conference of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in late 2005, became operative on Sunday, three months after it reached the required total of 30 ratifications.

India is among 35 countries which have so far ratified the treaty.

The pact is designed to not only protect existing cultural expressions but to "create the conditions for cultures to flourish and to freely interact in a mutually beneficial manner".

UNESCO has noted previously that half the world's languages are in danger of extinction and that many areas of cultural production, such as cinema, are dominated by only a handful of nations.

An international fund for cultural diversity will be set up under the Convention and the treaty stresses the importance of culture in spurring development and encouraging international solidarity.

It also reaffirms that "freedom of thought, expression and information, as well as diversity of the media, enable cultural expressions to flourish within societies". (PTI)

India seeks unified intl response to wipe out terrorism..

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 21: Observing that efforts to negotiate peace with extremists was not succeeding, India has sought a unified and robust international response to wipe out terrorism.

"Tolerating the spiral of violence is not an option," Indian representative Vikram Doraiswami told the 15-member Security Council as it considered the situation in Afghanistan yesterday.

The increasing trend of suicide bombings in Afghanistan, he said, reinforces the Indian view that the efforts to negotiate peace with extremists in the more troubled provinces were not succeeding.

Stressing that it is the responsibility of the international community, particularly States in the region, to help Afghanistan emerge from war, strife and privation, Doraiswami told the Council that consolidation of hard-won gains since the fall of "regressive" Taliban regime "must be a long-term strategic objective for all of us, not merely a tactical manoeuvre for the present".

While maintaining robust response to terrorism, he said, international community must simultaneously focus on the "most rapid possible" expansion of capacity in Afghanistan to deliver effective governance, development and the dividends of peace.

"The reason for this prioritisation is as simple as it is self evident: development, good governance and other symbols of democracy are based primarily on peace and stability," he pointed out. (PTI)

'Spiderman' stopped in second bid to conquer Twin Towers..

KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 21: Frenchman Robert Alain, nicknamed "Spiderman" for his exploits in climbing tall buildings using only his bare hands, has again failed to conquer the Petronas Twin Towers here.

His attempt, yesterday, came exactly ten years after his aborted first attempt on March 20, 1997.

This time, 45-year-old Alain was stopped on the 60th floor of Tower Two by firemen and the police for climbing without a permit. Clad in a yellow T-shirt and jeans, he began his climb Tuesday afternoon equipped with only some white powder to ensure a firm grip.

An eye witness saw a man climbing at the third floor but thought nothing of it as he thought he was just a cleaner.

"Later I realised something was amiss as the man was seen climbing every floor fast without any equipment except for a small bag attached to the waist," said Faizal Hanif who was sight-seeing in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, Jalan Hang Tuah Fire Department Assistant Suprintendent Christopher Chong said it received report of a man climbing the Twin Towers and dispatched 13 men.

"We were told that it was not a suicide bid. We took about 20 minutes to coerce Alain into stopping at the 60th floor."

"When we arrived he was at the 59th floor. He was not difficult to deal with as being a professional and knew he was committing an offence," Chong told reporters here yesterday.

Dang Wangi police chief ACP Mohamad Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman said, "Since he had no permit, we have to detain him for tresspassing under Section 448 of the Penal Code."

Alain flew the "Jalur Gemilang" before he was detained to the loud applause of the crowd. He was then whisked away to the Dang Wangi police station. (AGENCIES)

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