China bristles at Japan’s remarks on Doklam
- China has reacted sharply to Japanese Ambassador to India comments supporting India’s position on Doklam.
- However, India has refused to react to the comments that came as the first clear show of backing from a major power on the two-month long standoff at the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction.
Consistent position
- According to the Japanese Embassy in Delhi, the Ambassdor has made a statement “consistent with our position on the international rule of law”, when he advised all parties concerned with the Doklam standoff not to “resort to unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, and resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner”
- A Japanese embassy official told that the comments should be read as a reiteration of Japan’s traditional position on resolving disputes, and added that Japan welcomes External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s statement that the standoff should be ended through early dialogue
No data from China on Brahmaputra this year
India has not received hydrological data from China this year despite an agreement, the external affairs ministry said but maintained that it was "premature" to link it with the recent floods in some parts of the country.
The development comes in the backdrop of the ongoing standoff between Chinese and Indian troops in Dokalam in Sikkim sector.
There is an existing
mechanism named India China
Expert-Level mechanism started in 2006 to
share hydrological data during
the flood season for
Brahmaputra and Satluj
rivers. Under the MoUs, the
hydrological data is to be
shared between May 15 to
October 15 every year but
from May 15 till now, we
have no data from China
Cooperation Necessary
- The spokesperson hinted at the necessity for regional cooperation to control floods and explained that the responsibility of sharing data is with China as it hosts the points of origin of the Brahmaputra and Satluj
- He also noted that in view of floods in Bihar, India was closely coordinating with Nepal, both at Centre and state-level.
Northern States reel under swine flu
What is H1N1?
- H1N1 flu is also known as swine flu. It's called swine flu because in the past, the people who caught it had direct contact with pigs.
- In 2009, H1N1 was spreading fast around the world, so the World Health Organization called it a pandemic.
- When people who have it cough or sneeze, they spray tiny drops of the virus into the air.
- If you come in contact with these drops, touch a surface (like a doorknob or sink) where the drops landed, or touch something an infected person has recently touched, you can catch H1N1 swine flu.
- Its symptoms are pretty much the same as seasonal flu. They can include – Cough, Fever, Sore throat, Stuffy or runny nose, Body aches, Headache, Chills and Fatigue.
What is its geographical spread?
- The statistics of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project of the Health Department shows that there have been 233 confirmed cases of H1N1 this year till date, including 16 deaths.
- H1N1 has been on the rise in all south Indian States this year and doctors should necessarily follow the ABC guidelines and standard treatment protocols for H1N1 when treating patients with cold and fever.
What are ABC guidelines?
- The Centre has come up with exhaustive guidelines for the States to follow for combating the H1N1 outbreak.
- In Category A will be those who do not require testing for H1N1. Patients with mild fever, cough and sore throat, body ache, headache, nausea and diarrhoea will be put in Category A and can be monitored for 24-48 hours.
- These patients will be advised to stay at home and not mingle with the others. They will not need testing for H1N1 and no treatment with Oseltamivir.
- In Category B will be those who have all the symptoms mentioned in Category A, but have high-grade fever and are in the high-risk category; they will need treatment with Oseltamivir and will have to be confined at home.
- High-risk category includes children with mild illness, pregnant women, persons over 65, patients with lung, liver, heart, kidney, blood or neurological diseases or have been on long-term cortisone therapy.
- In Category C will be those who have all the signs and symptoms of Category A and B and depending on their health condition will have to be hospitalised.
What is the way ahead?
- The public should take care to seek professional care if mild influenza, cough, cold with fever or respiratory distress do not subside in a reasonable time.
- Pregnant women, children, elderly, and those with respiratory issues; co-morbidities such as diabetes, renal diseases, hypertension and cardiac issues; and immune-compromised conditions such as cancer or HIV should take special care as H1N1 has been known to cause high mortality among these groups.
- People with flu should stay home away from crowded public places.
Rajasthan govt. grants reservation for Gujjars
- Rajasthan has decided to increase reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from the present 21% to 26%.
- The Government has assured the Gujjar leaders that the revised OBC quota would be split to grant 5% reservation to the “Most Backward Classes”. The new category will include Gujjars and four other castes — Banjara, Gadia-Lohar, Raika and Gadaria.
- The decision will take the total reservation in the State to 54%, going beyond the Supreme Court-mandated 50% cap.
Two issues :
- A bill for conferring constituonal status on the National Commission on backward Classes commission
- S.C.judgement mandating 50 % Cap
‘Lack of diagnostic facilities forces doctors to do guesswork’
- It would be unfair to say that all the reported deaths occurred due to one reason alone — be it drop in oxygen level or anything else, says ICMR chief
- ICMR research shows that 40-60% of AES in this region is caused by scrub typhus infection
- There may be other risk factors in this region that make scrub typhus present as AES, which need to be explored.
- Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) is a syndrome and the causative agent of AES is known to vary with season and geographical location
- Of course, early diagnosis is key to controlling patient load and reducing mortality. But we have to understand that this disease itself presents with fever and scrub typhus is not easy to distinguish from any other fever, without good diagnostics. ICMR has provided a clinical algorithm to assist in early diagnosis.
NHRC issues notice on Rohingyas
NHRC observed that the refugees are no doubt foreign
nationals but they are
human beings and before taking a big step, the
Government of India has to
look into every aspect of the
situation.
NHRC highlighted the Supreme
Court’s decisions that
say the Right to Life and Personal
Liberty under Article
21 of the Constitution apply
to all, irrespective of their
citizenship
India has continued to recieve a large no. of Refugees from different countries.India is not a signatory
to the 1951 Convention
on Refugees and the
1967 Protocol
But India is s a signatory
to many United Nations
and world conventions on
human rights
Till today,
the country has evolved a
practical balance between
human and humanitarian
obligations on the one hand
and security and national interests
on the other
Who are Rohingyas?
- The Rohingya are an ethnic Muslim group in the majority Buddhist country
- They reside predominantly in Rakhine state and speak a Bengali dialect.
- They are not recognised by the Myanmar government as an official ethnic group and are therefore denied citizenship.
- While it is claimed that there were no Rohingyas in Myanmar before the British brought ‘Bengalis’ to Burma, there is sufficient evidence to show for the Rohingyas’ pre-existence.
- They are often said to be the world's most persecuted minority.
Setting agenda for next BRICS meet
- As the countdown for the September summit of the Brazil-Russia-India-ChinaSouth Africa (BRICS) grouping begins, scholars, academics and government officials have been brainstorming ways in which the emerging economies can set the global agenda, based on new rules of governance.
- Delegates to a BRICS seminar, organised by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the southeast city of Quanzhou, analysed and debated the Chinese model of development as the template for rapid growth, especially of the global South.
- The BRICS summit is being held in China’s coastal city of Xiamen on September 3-5. It highlights the theme — BRICS: stronger partnership for a brighter future
Former World Bank chief
economist Justin Lin Yifu
said at the seminar
that:
[i] Among nearly 200 developing
economies since
the end of the Second World
War, only two have
transitioned from low-income
to high-income economies,
with China possibly
emerging as the third by
2025.
[ii]He attributed the failure
to the avoidance of
either the middle-income or
the low-income trap and to
the pursuit of western mainstream
economic theories —
structuralism, and neoliberalism
[iii] A right balance between
the role of the market and
the state was required in order
to achieve breakthroughs
[iv]He highlighted that
the “secret of China’s success
is its use of both the invisible
hand and the visible
hand.”
[v]He added that technological
innovation and industrial
upgrading could
proceed smoothly, only
when the market and the
state played their complementary
roles
Four Comprehensives
- A China expert,focussed on the pursuit of ‘Four Comprehensives’ by Chinese leaders as an overarching framework to achieve rapid development goals. The ‘Four Comprehensives’ cover-
[ii]Reform
[iii]Rule
of law and
[iv]Party discipline,
- The brainstorming in was preceded by a conference earlier this month of the BRICS trade minister in Shanghai, which focussed on the continued relevance of globalisation.n. In the wake of protectionist sentiments in the U.S. and Europe, it underscored the need for a united stand of the emerging economies against protectionism, and backing for a multilateral trade system.
- In late July, a BRICS security meeting was held in Beijing, with discussions on global governance, anti-terrorism, the Internet, energy, national security and development.
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