16 - 22 October 2017-min

NEW DELHI TIMES 

R.N.I. No 53449/91 DL-SW-01/4124/17-19 (Monday/Tuesday same week) (Published Every Monday) New Delhi Page 12 Rs. 7.00 

16 - 22 October, 2017 Vol - 27 No. 37 Email : info@newdelhitimes.com Founder : Dr. Govind Narain Srivastava ISSN -2349-1221 

US “WANTS” to support fragile 

Pakistan 

A Case For Kurdistan 

David Kilgour 

Page 8 

Is Moldova drifting from EU 

towards Russia? 

NDT Special Bureau 

Page 3 

NDT US Bureau 

Page 2 

Organisms exhibiting the features of both 

plants and animals 

Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi 

Page 10 

Coexisting Peacefully 

Saudi-Russian relations travel a new 

trajectory 

On the decency of my fellow 

Canadians 

Dr. Pramila Srivastava 

Dr. Ankit Srivastava 

Tarek Fatah 

Page 9 

Page 3 

Page 2 

1 

twitter@NewDelhiTimes 

facebook.com/newdelhitimes 

www.NewDelhiTimes.com

2 

16 - 22 October, 2017 

I 

Editorial 


US “WANTS” to support fragile Pakistan 

◆◆ 

By NDT US Bureau 

@NewDelhiTimes 

info@newdelhitimes.com 

n his media briefing following the 

meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister 

Khawaja Asif on 4th October, the US 

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed 

concerns about the future of Pakistan’s 

government, stressing that Washington wanted 

a stable government in Islamabad. 

His comments regarding the stability of the 

government in Islamabad has alarmed many 

political pundits. 

This marks the first time a high placed US 

official has publicly addressed the political 

conflict in Islamabad, clearly backing the 

political setup (read Nawaz Sharif). 

However, he rounded up his assessment 

saying the meeting with Pakistan’s Foreign 

Minister had convinced him that the United 

States had a reliable partner in Pakistan. 

The US maintains that US-Pakistan relationship 

holds extraordinary importance in the region. 

When Washington rolled out the South Asia 

strategy, it discussed its regional context 

with Islamabad even though the latter has 

blamed Washington for continuing to view 

its relationship with Pakistan from the 

perspective of neighbouring Afghanistan, 

and ignoring Islamabad’s interests in 

the process. Directly addressing Pakistan’s 

concerns, Tillerson said, “It is not just about 

Afghanistan. This is about the importance of 

Pakistan, and Pakistan’s long-term stability 

as well. We have concerns about the future 

of Pakistan’s government too, in terms of 

them — we want their government to be 

stable. We want it to be peaceful. And many 

of the same issues they’re struggling with 

inside of Pakistan are our issues”. 

The Secretary of State spoke of the 

opportunity to strengthen the relationship 

at all levels - State Department, Defence 

Department, intelligence communities, 

economics and commerce. This is an obvious 

reference to Pak concerns since Trump’s 

announcement of new strategy for South 

Asia on August 21 that drove the US- 

Pakistan relationship almost to the brink 

of a break-up. As late as 4th October, the 

Photo Credit : Shutterstock 

US and Pakistan media reported that the 

Trump administration could strike Pakistan 

out of its list of major non-NATO allies and 

stop, or greatly reduce, its economic and 

military assistance to Islamabad. 

They also talked about the possibility 

of expanding the drone strikes inside 

Pakistan to target alleged terrorist safe 

havens. Secretary Rex Tillerson, however, 

reemphasised the need to engage with 

Pakistan rather than walking away from it 

for rebuilding a relationship that has been 

and continues to be mutually beneficial. 

He explained that the new US strategy 

for South Asia ‘really is a regional 

approach, and Pakistan is critical, I 

think, to the long-term stability of the 

region’. 

Tillerson said that Pakistan’s interests 

and concerns would be accommodated 

since its role was critical to President 

Trump’s South Asia Strategy and the 

future stability of Pakistan was an 

important element of the US strategy. 

The US - Pakistan relationship has now 

entered the corridor of uncertainty which 

is a concern for the whole region. 

While Pakistani Foreign Minister sought 

the support of the US in the face of 

an imminent threat to the government 

of his party, USA has quite rightly 

expressed their concern about the present 

government’s inability to control the 

political and financial crisis especially 

when both ex PM and finance minister 

are charged for money laundering and 

corrupt practices. 

Once again, two different statements and 

observers can draw their own conclusions. 

Who on earth will trust and support such a 

fragile government? 

On the decency of my fellow Canadians 

T 

◆◆ 

By Tarek Fatah 

Author & Columnist, Canada 

@TarekFatah 

tarek.fatah@gmail.com 

he intersection of Parliament and 

Carlton Streets in downtown Toronto 

is one of the most eclectic places in Canada 

to observe the people who make our country 

the envy of the world. 

Just to the south is the site of the original 

Regent Park housing project, home to some 

of the most economically-challenged of the 

city’s residents. 

To the east is Cabbagetown, once among 

the poorest parts of the city where today, 

century-old Victorian homes with $2 million 

price tags are interspersed with co-op 

housing, with streets lined by massive trees 

and a path to the petting zoo at Riverdale 

Farm. 

It’s a place where I often spend hours, 

watching pedestrians navigate the traffic, 

bumping into each other, with teens in torn 

jeans on skateboards giving the right of way 

to the elderly and infirm on their scooters, 

while tattooed, muscular working-class men 

share space with writers and academics. 

Excited dogs drag their owners behind them 

while women in niqabs rub shoulders with 

younger contemporaries in mini skirts and 

tops that suggest there has been a global 

strike in the textile industry. I often bring my 

friends there to sit on the edge of a flower 

island, taking in the essence of our “true 

north strong and free”. 

This is who we are. 

It was at this intersection that my wife and 

I were involved in an accident Sunday that 

made me realize the many stories about 

the essential decency of Canadians are not 

based on myth, but reality. 

My wife, Nargis Tapal, and I decided to walk 

over to the Carlton-Parliament area to lunch 

at Johnny G’s, then sit at my favourite spot 

in the flower garden to watch Canada go by. 

As we were crossing the street, I heard a 

scream behind me. 

In her rush to beat the traffic light, Nargis 

had tripped and fallen, face down in the 

middle of the road. As blood poured from 

her temple, I realized that because of my 

own disability, I could not bend over to help 

her. 

Time went into slow motion. The two of us 

were helpless, in the middle of a busy city 

street, my wife with her head, knees and 

wrists hurt, me unable to bend down to pick 

her up. 

But I didn’t have to. 

Within seconds close to a dozen people 

stopped traffic and helped Nargis to the 

sidewalk. There was a woman and her child, 

a senior with a puppy in his arms, a tattooed 

fellow who rushed to nearby stores to get 

paper tissues, a young man on a skateboard. 

Others held Nargis in their arms as she 

trembled with pain, blood flowing down her 

neck. 

A bald woman with rings in her nose and ears 

came with lavender-dipped wipes and gently 

cleaned off the blood, caressing Nargis’ hair 

and saying to her in soothing tones, “don’t 

worry honey, you are OK.” 

It was as if angels had descended from 

everywhere, coming to our aid. Someone 

hailed an Uber and asked the driver to 

take us to St. Michael’s Hospital, where 

Nargis received stitches to her face and 

care by a doctor and nurses that was beyond 

exemplary. 

Through this column I wish to thank the 

many people we did not know who came to 

our aid. 

They, and millions like them, make Canada 

the wonderful place it is. 

And Toronto, you are most definitely, 

“Toronto the Good”. 


16 - 22 October, 2017 3 

K 

M 

Editorial 

◆◆ 

By Dr. Ankit Srivastava 

Editor - in - Chief 

@AnkitNDT 

ankits@newdelhitimes.com 

oldova lies on the borderland between 

Russia and the European Union (EU). 

Although Western financial assistance and an 

increasing EU presence has been a constant 

feature in Moldova, yet in recent years, 

there is a perceptible shift in the Moldovan 

policy towards Russia, particularly since 

Igor Dodon won the country’s presidential 

elections held on November 13, 2016 and 

assumed the office on 23rd December 2016. 

One of the chief planks of Dodon’s electoral 

campaign was restoring Moldovan strategic 

partnership with Russia and a reconfiguration 

of the country’s relationship with the EU. 

Within a month of his election, he paid a 

visit to Russia from January 16-18, 2017 and 

his pronouncements during the Russian visit 

were a clear manifestation that Moldova has 

now turned from EU towards Russia. 

Dodan stated in Moscow that the freetrade 

and political association treaty 

concluded with the EU has done Moldova 

no good and signalled his intentions by 

sign a memorandum on cooperation with 

the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a 

Russia-led bloc of six former Soviet states. It 


Saudi-Russian relations travel a new trajectory 

ing of Saudi Arabia Salman bin 

Abdulaziz Al Saud arrived in Moscow 

on 4th October in the first ever visit by 

a Saudi monarch to Russia in an official 

capacity. This unprecedented, historic state 

visit in almost a century symbolised a 

rapprochement between the two foes. 

During the four-day visit, bilateral issues like 

defence industry cooperation, investments, 

global oil market glut and conflicts in Syria 

and North Africa were discussed. 

The Soviet Union was the first country 

to recognise the Kingdom of Hejaz and 

Nejd (Saudi state’s name until 1932) of 

King Abdulaziz by establishing diplomatic 

relations in 1926. In 1938, USSR executed 

its envoy to Riyadh who was close friend of 

the Saudi king. 

Saudi’s help to Afghan rebels fighting the 

Soviet invasion soured the relations further. 

The dissolution of the Soviet Union and 

formation of the Russian Federation in 1991 

improved matters to nosedive again during 

Syrian war as both supported rival sides. 

Crown Prince Salman’s visit to Moscow in 

2015 and early 2017 ensued a thaw as he 

worked on a $10bn investment in Russia from 

Saudi sovereign wealth fund. The current 

easing of tensions between the countries, 

despite conflicting regional interests, is 

largely due to his efforts. The November’s 

deal between OPEC and 10 other oilproducing 

countries including Russia to cut 

production to combat global oil glut and 

shore up crude prices led to alignment of 

Russian-Saudi interests. King and President 

Putin discussed oil production cuts ahead of 

the OPEC meeting in November. 

To coincide with King Salman’s visit, the 

Council of Saudi Chambers organized a 

networking meeting in Moscow for more 

than 100 Saudi and Russian business 

leaders. The massive delegation of the 

Saudi businessmen and government officials 

accompanying the king could set the tone 

for cooperation under the Saudi Vision 2030 

- Prince Mohammed’s brainchild for ending 

the kingdom’s dependence on oil. 

Both are keen to make up for the lost time. 

Saudis may expand food imports from 

Russia - the world’s biggest wheat exporter - 

and seek Russian nuclear power technologies 

as well. 

The ‘unique technologies’ in desalination 

and energy efficiency for air conditioning 

provide areas of synergy. Russia’s largest 

internet provider Yandex which beats 

Google in the Russian market by a large 

margin is already present in the Middle East 

and Turkey. 

The visit marks a turning point for 

the desired influx of Saudi investment 

into Russia. Saudi state oil firm Saudi 

Aramco signed a deal with Russian Direct 

Investment Fund (RDIF) and gas processing 

and petrochemicals company Sibur on joint 

projects in the area of oil refining. 

The two countries also agreed to cooperate 

in nuclear energy, agriculture, information 

technology; trade, investments and social 

development. The Saudi Public Investment 

Fund would launch its representative office 

in Russia. Both the economies complement 

each other with unlimited potential but the 

cooperation has its limits and differences 

persist over fundamental issues. Moreover, 

nascent economic ties are not strong 

enough to catapult the limited cooperation 

into a partnership or alliance. So any 

‘breakthrough’ agreement is ruled out but 

the relationship is now traversing through 

the best moments. 

The visit signals a shift in global affairs 

from a unipolar world towards a more 

regionalized approach for overcoming 

stereotyped perceptions. 

Alongside its strategic alliance with the 

US, Riyadh seeks better ties with Russia 

to counter the regional influence of its 

arch-rival and nemesis Iran and to preempt 

Russia’s too close a partnership with 

Tehran. That shifts Saudi foreign policy 

stance on Russia. From seeing Moscow 

as an unreliable partner it is now willing 

to cooperate at multiple levels - economic 

and political. Riyadh wants Moscow to 

guarantee seats for Saudi Arabia loyals in 

the future Syrian government, hence keeping 

a low profile while seeking intelligence and 

political cooperation with the Russians. 

Thankfully, pragmatic Moscow doesn’t see 

close US-Saudi relations as an obstacle. 

Geopolitical position, national interests 

and state of economy ordain Moscow to 

attract foreign investment and business. 

Saudi investment in Islamic banking could 

benefit large number of Muslims in Russia. 

Russians are angry over Saudi agreements 

usually stagnating at the MoU level only, but 

hope that King’s visit this time will end the 

era of non-committal agreements. 

Russia calls all actors to abandon geopolitical 

ambitions and lift sanctions against the 

Assad regime for recovery and restoration 

of stability and security of Syria and the 

Middle East. It appreciates Saudi Arabia’s 

role on Cairo Agreement for a full ceasefire 

in Eastern Ghouta. Aligning political goals 

in the region through trust is a long journey 

but Saudis confabulating on regional issues 

has certainly enhanced Russia’s profile in 

the Middle East. 

Fundamentalists blame the personal ambitions 

of the Saudi crown prince and financial 

interests of Russia as the driving force for 

the bonhomie. To them, the crown prince 

desperately needs foreign policy victory in 

Syria to compensate for stalemate in Yemen 

and Qatar. 

The relative normalisation of Russian- 

Saudi relations is the result of extreme 

pragmatism as now both value relations more, 

preferring pragmatic cooperation to ideological 

confrontation. 

Is Moldova drifting from EU towards Russia? 

◆◆ 

By NDT Special Bureau 



may be mentioned here that after Moldova 

signed the free trade and political association 

treaty with the EU, the latter had stated that 

Moldova may become a suitable candidate 

in the European integration project. From 

a geo-strategic perspective, the agreement 

was also viewed as an EU measure to check 

‘Russian aggression’ after Moscow annexed 


Crimea and backed up the separatists in 

Ukraine. The agreement between EU and the 

Moldova was done during the government 

of the three-party pro-European-Union 

coalition that has run the country since 2009. 

After the agreement was signed, Russia took 

a retaliatory measure by banning Moldovan 

fruits, vegetables, and meat. The Moldova 

parliamentary elections which were held 

later in 2014 saw a contest between the 

parties that wanted to pursue integration 

with Europe and those advocating closer 

ties with Russia. The pro- European parties 

- Democrat, Liberal, and Liberal Democrat 

parties took a combined 44 per cent- and 

formed a coalition government. However, 

the pro-European parties did not meet 

the expectations. There was very little 

improvement in the country’s economy and 

a corruption scandal pertaining to the theft 

of $1bn from Moldova’s banking system 

further undermined their popularity. The 

rising popularity of the pro-Moscow groups 

was visible in the June 2015 Municipal 

elections where several pro-Moscow candidates 

were elected as councillors and city mayors. 

The corruption scandal also resulted in Moldova 

witnessing three Prime Ministers within 

a span of one year. After Chiril Gaburici 

resigned in the wake of a criminal investigation 

into the falsification of his school diplomas, 

Valeriu Streleț became the Prime Minister. 

Valeriu Streleț however lost a vote of noconfidence 

after former Prime Minister 

Vlad Filat, the founder of the pro-European 

coalition was arrested in September 2015. 

In January 2016, Pavel Filip became Moldova’s 

third prime minister in the course of a 

year. Felip is known for his pro- European 

stance. After he assumed the office of Prime 

Minister, he stated that “this government is 

working hard to present our EU integration 

to the people as it is: a consistent, efficient 

process that will help us achieve stability 

and prosperity within the European family”, 

and that the EU brings in terms of increased 

stability, economic opportunity, and the fight 

against corruption.The conflicting stances of 

President Igor Dodov and Prime Minister 

Pavel Filip over Moldovan relations with 

Russia and EU means that Dodan has also 

been critical of former pro-EU governments 

for mismanaged EU funds, which, according 

to him, amounted to 782 million euros ($835 

million) between 2007 and 2015. 

Filip remarked that Dodon’s comments were 

populist and devoid of reality. Filp has also 

been critical of the agreements signed by 

Dodon with the Eurasian Economic Union 

(EAEU) and remarks that it is just a paper 

and an invalid document having no legal 

force. 

Dodon has clearly stated that he plans to 

cancel the Moldova-EU agreement if the 

Socialist Party will win the majority in the 

2018 Parliamentary elections. On the other 

hand, Democratic Party leader and influential 

oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuchas said that 

lawmakers would block any efforts to scrap 

the EU association agreement. Dodon was 

also critical of the proposal by the Moldovan 

Parliament to introduce a visa regime with 

Russia and called this a provocation. 

However, it is clear for sure that under 

the presidency of Igor Dodon, Moldova 

engagement with Russia will increase and 

the country will drift more towards Eurasia 

rather than EU. 


4 


World 

Zimbabwean vice 

president loses 

out in Cabinet 

reshuffle 

Z 

imbabwean President Robert Mugabe 

has sworn in new ministers, a day after 

a Cabinet reshuffle in which he stripped 

the justice ministry from a vice president 

accused of harboring presidential ambitions. 

The eight new ministers who took office on 

10th October include Happyton Bonyongwe, 

the former intelligence chief who is now 

justice minister. He replaced Vice President 

Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was once 

viewed a front-runner to succeed 93-yearold 

Mugabe but has been harshly criticized 

recently by the president and his wife for 

allegedly leading a faction angling for 

power. 

Mnangagwa, a close ally of Mugabe since 

the 1970s war for independence from white 

minority rule, became vice president in 

2014. He had held the justice portfolio since 

2013. 

Mugabe also appointed new finance and 

information ministers in this week’s reshuffle. 

Credit : Associated Press (AP) 

I 

www.NewDelhiTimes.com 

Photo Credit : AP Photo 

S 

omaliland’s National Electoral Commission 

has released the total number of 

registered Voters with Identification Cards 

to vote in the upcoming November election. 

The data which was released at a news 

conference on 10th October put the total 

number of registered and eligible voters in 

Somaliland at 704,089. 

Speaking to VOA Somali, NEC spokesman, 

Sa’id Ali Muse said the commission has 

completed the distribution and the cleaning 

up of voter registration identification cards 

and released the list to Somaland’s three 

political parties and the minister of interior. 

“Now, 704,089 took their voter registration 

cards and 169,242 who earlier registered to 

vote were not able to show up to take the 

voter registration cards because of the recent 

drought that hit the region, which created 

population movement,” said Muse. 

This election has suffered several delays, 

Somaliland’s presidential election was scheduled 

at one stage to happen last March, but 

drought, coupled with political disagreement 

among the political parties, caused that date 

to be rescheduled. 

Muse said all preparations have been 

made and political parties will began their 

campaigns soon. 

“We have made all preparations for the 

election to take place on time. 

From our side as the Electoral Commission, 

nothing remains,” he said, On November 

13, voters will cast their ballots at 1,642 


Iran warns of tough response if Trump scuttles nuclear deal 

ran warned of a tough response if 

President Donald Trump presses ahead 

with his threats to scuttle the landmark 2015 

nuclear deal. 

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif 

told lawmakers during a closed session of 

parliament that Iran “will never renegotiate” 

the deal brokered with the U.S. and five 

other world powers, the semi-official Fars 

news agency reported. 

The nuclear agreement required Iran to 

curb its nuclear program in exchange for 

the lifting of international sanctions. The 

state-run IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as 

saying Iran will offer a “tougher response” if 

the U.S. breaks the agreement. 

Trump is expected to decline this week 

to certify Iran’s compliance and refer the 

matter to Congress. He also is expected to 

target Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary 

Guard with new sanctions. On 10th October, 

the State Department offered $12 million 

for information leading to the location, 

arrest or conviction of two senior leaders 

of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese 

militant group. 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told 

a Cabinet meeting that Trump’s speech 

will make clear “which is the rebellious 

government, and which is the side that 

violates international rules.” If the U.S. 

backs out of the nuclear deal, “it won’t be 

Somaliland Elections on 

Track for November 

our failure at all, but a failure for the other 

side,” Rouhani said, according to state 

TV. He added that any effort to target the 

Revolutionary Guard would be a “double 

mistake.” 

Trump, who has called the nuclear agreement 

the “worst deal ever,” must recertify the 

measure by Oct. 15 because of unilateral 

conditions set by Congress. 

British Prime Minister Theresa May meanwhile 

urged the United States to extend the nuclear 

deal, saying it is “vitally important for 

regional security.” 

May’s office said she and Trump spoke on 

10th October and both sides agreed their 

teams would remain in contact ahead of 

Trump’s decision on the pact. 

The British government said on 11th October 

that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had 

called Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to 

underscore British support for the deal. 

Johnson said the agreement “was the 

culmination of 13 years of painstaking 

diplomacy and has increased security, both 

in the region and in the UK. It is these 

security implications that we continue to 

encourage the U.S. to consider.” 

The Foreign Office said Johnson also spoke 

to Zarif and will meet Ali Akhbar Salehi, 

Iran’s vice president and head of its nuclear 

polling stations in 21 constituencies across 

Somaliland. 

Candidates from the only three political 

parties vying for the election are, Muse 

Bihi of the incumbent Peace, Unity and 

Development party (Kulmiye), Faisal Ali 

Waraabe of the For Justice and Development 

party (UCID) and Abdirahman Mohamed 

Abdillahi “Irro” of the Wadani party. 

A breakaway, semi-desert territory on 

the coast of the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland 

declared its independence from the rest of 

Somalia in 1991, but is not recognized by 

the international community, leaving it in a 

legal limbo. 

Unlike, Southern Somalia, it has been 

enjoying a relative peace in which it has set 

up its own government institutions, written 

its own laws and constitution, and held 

credible elections. 

Since April 2003, two presidential elections, 

a parliamentary election and two local 

government elections have been held in 

Somaliland. 

In those elections, international observers 

praised Somaliland for bringing more 

democracy with less money and no international 

recognition. 

Last week, a high-level delegation of 

international partners visited Hargeisa to 

encourage all stake-holders to work together 

towards peaceful, inclusive and transparent 

elections. 

Credit : Voice of America (VOA) 

agency, in London on 11th October. 

China, France, Russia, Germany, Britain and 

the European Union all ratified the deal. 

On 10th October, Salehi warned Washington 

against undermining the 2015 deal, saying 

international nonproliferation efforts as 

well as Washington’s international standing 

would suffer as a result. 

Speaking at an international conference on 

enhancing nuclear safety in Rome, Salehi 

said that Washington’s recent “delusionary 

negative postures do not augur well” for 

keeping the deal intact. He said Iran 

didn’t want to see the deal unravel but 

Finance Minister 

Dijsselbloem 

to leave Dutch 

J 

politics 

eroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the 

19-country eurozone, is leaving Dutch 

politics after 12 years as a lawmaker and 

nearly five as the Netherlands’ finance 

minister. 

Dijsselbloem said in a letter published on 

11th October on his Labor Party’s website 

that he will leave Parliament later this month, 

but will complete his mandate, which ends 

in January, as chairman of the eurogroup. 

Dijsselbloem says he no longer has “the 

firepower” to remain in Parliament as part 

of the Labor Party’s opposition bloc for the 

coming four years. 

Dijsselbloem says in his letter that Labor, 

“paid the price” at the election for tough 

austerity measures he pushed through to 

help the Dutch economy recover from the 

financial crisis. 

The party slumped from 38 to nine seats in 

the 150-seat lower house of Parliament. 


that “much more is at stake for the 

entire international community than 

the national interests of Iran.” 

The U.S. administration has faced two 

90-day certification deadlines to state 

whether Iran is meeting the conditions 

needed to continue enjoying sanctions 

relief under the deal and has both times 

backed away from a showdown. 

But Trump more recently has said 

he does not expect to certify Iran’s 

compliance with the October deadline 

looming. 


Photo Credit : AP Photo


C 

World 

Report: China catching up to US in 

foreign aid flow 

hina is close to matching the United 

States as a source of official grants 

and loans to developing countries, but 

much of Beijing’s financing serves its own 

economic interests and yields scant benefits 

for recipients, a multinational group of 

researchers reported on 11th October. 

The research by AidData, a lab at the 

College of William & Mary in Virginia, is 

the most extensive effort yet to measure 

official financing by China, which releases 

few details of its aid flows. That has spurred 

concern about Beijing’s intentions as it 

tries to expand its global influence to match 

China’s status as the world’s second-largest 

economy. 

China gave or lent $354.4 billion in the 15 

years ending in 2014 in Africa, Asia and 

elsewhere, compared with $394.6 billion 

for the United States, according to AidData. 

It released a database of Chinese financing, 

assembled from thousands of sources of 

information, and a study on its impact by 

scholars from Harvard University, Germany’s 

Heidelberg University and William & Mary. 

“At the very top level, you could say the 

U.S. and China are now spending rivals 

when it comes to their financial transfers to 

other countries,” said AidData’s executive 

director, Bradley C. Parks. 

China’s secretiveness about its spending 

has fueled complaints its aid might prop up 

corrupt regimes or undercut environmental 

and human rights standards Western donors 

are trying to enforce. 

Attention to Chinese financing has increased 

as Beijing promotes its “Belt and Road 

Initiative,” a multibillion-dollar initiative to 

expand China’s trade links with Asia, Africa 

and the Middle East by building ports, roads 

and other facilities. 

About 23 percent of Chinese spending met 

the Organization for Economic Cooperation 

and Development’s definition of aid, or 

“official development assistance,” which 

requires at least 25 percent of a transfer to 

be a grant. By contrast, 93 percent of U.S. 

spending qualifies as aid. 

The bulk of Beijing’s financing appears to 

be export credits and other measures aimed 

at promoting Chinese exports or other goals, 

which produced little measurable growth 

in recipient economies, according to Parks. 

He said such “official finance” doesn’t 

count as development assistance but is part 

of the OECD’s broader definition of aid. 

“The lion’s share of the portfolio is really 

not delivering, at least on average, any 

significant economic growth benefits for its 

partner countries,” said Parks. 

That leaves Beijing room to have a positive 

impact by shifting spending to development 

assistance, he said. 

“There still is a lot of scope for them to learn 

and adapt,” said Parks. 

The portion of Chinese financing that 

qualifies as aid “substantially improves 

economic growth,” according to the report. 

It said results were comparable to the 

impact of U.S.- and other Western-financed 

projects. 


“I thought that was a pretty 

important finding and an 

encouraging one,” said Parks. 

The 5-year-old project used 

a computerized system to 

look for information from 

more than 15,000 sources 

including news reports, Chinese 

government offices, ministries 

of other countries and academic 

reports. Its data cover 4,304 

projects in 138 countries and 

territories. 

China doesn’t participate in global aid 

reporting systems. It released some figures 

in 2011 and 2014 but gave few details and 

none about individual countries. 

AidData released its first report in 2013 

focusing on Chinese financing to Africa. 

Parks said its data have been used by other 

scholars to launch more than 100 research 

projects. 

“AidData is the most comprehensive source 

of information on China’s lending for 

development projects,” said David Dollar, 

an economist at the Brookings Institution in 

Washington and former World Bank country 

director in Beijing, in an email. 

“The data show that China’s lending is 

indiscriminate with respect to governance. 

Some big borrowers have poor rule of law, 

such as Venezuela, Angola and Pakistan,” 

Dollar wrote. “The overall pattern of lending 

indicates that it is demand-driven by which 

countries want to borrow rather than by a 

Chinese master plan.” 

Parks said the data show more Chinese 

finance goes to countries that vote with 

Beijing at the United Nations. 

He said that “might not look good,” but a 

similar analysis of U.S. and other Western 

donors shows they act the same way. 

“In a sense, Beijing has taken a page out of 

the playbook of traditional Western donors,” 

said Parks. 

“That doesn’t comport with the ‘rogue 

donor’ narrative that China is somehow 

inferior or different.” 

Parks said the project didn’t try to 

measure whether Chinese aid undercuts 

environmental or other standards by giving 

an alternative to more stringent conditions 

on Western aid. 

But a separate study published this year by 

researcher Diego Hernandez of Heidelberg 

found the World Bank attached “significantly 

fewer conditions” to loans if recipients also 

had aid available from China. 

“New donors might be perceived as an 

attractive financial option to which the 

World Bank reacts by offering credits less 

restrictively in order to remain competitive,” 

wrote Hernandez. 



M 

Thai military leader 

promises elections in 

late 2018 

ore than three years after seizing power 

in a coup, the head of Thailand’s 

military government on 10th October promised 

elections in November next year. 

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told 

reporters that his government will give the 

exact election day in mid-2018. 

“Around June 2018, we will announce 

an election date,” he said. “And around 

November, we will hold the elections.” 

Thailand’s military seized power in 2014 

and has postponed several deadlines for 

elections, citing national security concerns 

and the need to pass new election laws. 

The junta has said it needs to reform 

Thailand’s political system to root out 

money politics, but the reforms are widely 

seen as an attempt to prevent a comeback by 

former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s 

political machine. 

Thaksin, a populist with strong support in 

the countryside, was ousted by the military 

in an earlier 2006 coup but his allies won 

subsequent elections. His younger sister, 

Yingluck Shinawatra, was prime minister 

when the military ousted the government 

in 2014, and recently fled Thailand to avoid 

a prison sentence for alleged negligence in 

overseeing a rice subsidy program. 

Prayuth said the junta will consider lifting 

a ban on political activities but not until 

after late October, when Thailand holds 

an elaborate five-day funeral for King 

Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died nearly a 

year ago. 

He warned political parties against campaigning 

and said any breaches could result in the ban 

on political activities being prolonged. 

“This month of October is a period of 

mourning for us so please let everything be 

well-ordered and peaceful for now,” Prayuth 

said. 



6 


T 

T 

Delhi/NCR News 

Protest at Jantar Mantar should be 

stopped : NGT 

◆◆By NDT Bureau 



he National Green Tribunal ordering 

the government to immediately evict 

the protestors from the historical place in 

Delhi ruled out that protestors will not be 

allowed at Jantar Mantar any longer as they 

lead to noise pollution for the people living 

near the premises. 

A bench headed by the NGT chairperson, 

Justice RS Rathore ordered the police and 

civic authorities to “immediately stop all the 

activities of the dharma, protest, agitations, 

assembling of people, public speeches, 

using of loud speakers, etc. at the Jantar 

Mantar road.” 

The green courts further directed the 

authorities to push the protest to Ramlila 

Maidan, 3km away from the protest zone. 

The road passing along the Jantar Mantar 

road had been the hub of protests since a long 

time after the protest from the Boat Club 

lawns were banned along both sides if the 

Rajpath road after a massive rally by former 

leader Mahendra Singh Tikait few years ago. 

The ground rule that the police had set was 




that the protestors comprising not more than 

5,000 people could be allowed at the Jantar 

Mantar road. While bigger protests of about 

50,000 people could be held at the Ramlila 

Maidan and anything beyond the limit was 

to shift to Burari on the outskirts of the city. 

The directions from the Green Court came 

‘Allow us to sell the purchased 

stock’: Firecracker traders 

pleads to SC 

he Supreme Court on October 11, 

witnessed a group of traders seeking 

modification in its order to ban the sale of 

firecrackers in Delhi-NCR till November 

1st. 

Keeping their modification plea before the 

bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, 

an urgent hearing on their petition. 

According to the lawyers representing the 

traders, the court’s order on October 9 would 

cause a huge loss to the traders. 

He also said that they should be allowed to 

sale the purchased stock. 

A bench compromising Justice Ranjan 

Gogoi, A.M. Sapre and Navin Sinha assured 

the counsel for traders that they will consult 

the judge who had passed the order and 

months after it asked the CPCB to keep a 

check on the sound levels and noise levels in 

the area arising from the protest zone. 

T 





Capital’s education 

infrastructure 

expands, 5695 

classrooms instated 

A 




total of 5,695 new classrooms were 

inaugurated, making it the biggest 

expansion of school infrastructure in the 

national capital. 

5,695 newly constructed classrooms in Delhi 

government schools across the city were 

inaugurated by AAP Ministers and MLAs. 

While Education Minister Manish Sisodia 

inaugurated the classrooms at Veer Udham 

Singh Sarvodya Kanya Vidyalya in Patparganj, 

the rest were inaugurated by AAP MLAs in 

their respective constituencies. 

Speaking at the inauguration of classrooms 

at a school in Patparganj, Deputy Chief 

Minister and Education Minister Manish 

Sisodia said another 2,500 to 3,000 classrooms 

would be ready by next month, completing 

the first phase of the project. 

The Green Court further concluded that such 

protests violated the Environmental Laws 

including Air (Prevention and Control of 

Pollution) Act, 1981. 

NGT raps Delhi 

In the second phase, another 10,000 

classrooms would be added in the next yearand-a-half, 

Mr. Sisodia said. 

government on report on 

rain water harvesting 

he National Green Tribunal (NGT) has 

reprimanded the Delhi government for 

not submitting a status report. 

In this report the government had to tell 

whether rainwater harvesting systems have 

Kumar, has given the Delhi Government 

the last chance to submit the report and if 

not obeying the order, it has also warned the 

Secretary concerned about the matter. 

The bench said, “Despite repeated orders, 

the status report has not been filed by the 

National Capital Territory of Delhi. 

The last chance to file a report is given within 

a week. The Tribunal had earlier instructed 

the Center and other public tribunals to 

advocate Deepak Chouhan representing the 

traders said that the licenses to sell crackers 

were revived pursuant to Supreme Court’s 

September 12 order permitting sale of 

firecrackers with restrictions. 

This made them procure firecrackers for sale 

during Diwali. 

The counsel also pleads the bench to grant 

thereafter it could be listed for hearing. 

The Supreme Court’s verdict is said to have 

impacted nearly 400 temporary firecracker 

license holders and 150 permanent ones. 

Immediate steps were taken to seal shops 

trading in crackers in conformity with the 

court’s directive to suspend licenses issued 

following the September order. 

been installed on government buildings, 

bridges and flyovers and whether the system 

is operational or not. 

A bench, headed by Justice Swatantra 


establish a rain water harvesting system in 

every project created by the government. 

These include flyovers, bridges or other 

government construction activities. 



Neighbourhood News 

Defying Odds, 

Laws, Rohingya 

Refugee Marries 

Bangladeshi 

A 

mid the crisis in the Rakhine state 

of Myanmar that has forced half a 

million Rohingya to flee across the border to 

Bangladesh, a refugee has found love with 

a local. 

But because of strict laws forbidding citizens 

of Bangladesh from marrying Rohingya, the 

couple is on the run. 

Bangladeshi Shoaib Hossain Jewel, 25, and 

his 18-year-old Rohingya bride Rafiza have 

been evading authorities since they were 

married a month ago, according to police 

from Jewel’s hometown of Singair. 

Rafiza, along with her parents, sought 

shelter in the home of a Muslim cleric in 

Singair, but following protocol authorities 

transferred them to central refugee camps in 

Cox’s Bazaar — 650 kilometers away. 

According to the Dhaka Tribune, Jewel 

followed Rafiza and searched multiple 

camps for her, finally succeeding and marrying 

her despite a 2014 law banning locals from 

marrying Rohingya, as the government feared 

refugees were marrying to gain Bangladeshi 

citizenship. 

But Jewel’s family supports his decision, 

saying it was made for love and not for 

citizenship. 

“If Bangladeshis can marry Christians and 

people of other religions, what’s wrong in 

my son’s marriage to a Rohingya?” Jewel’s 

father, Babul Hossain, told the French news 

agency, AFP. “He married a Muslim who 

took shelter in Bangladesh.” 

In recent weeks, more than a half-million 

Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar, 

where they face human rights violations and 

discrimination that a number of lawmakers 

and international organizations have qualified 

as ethnic cleansing. 

Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar security 

forces in late August. Since then, analysts 

and rights workers say the military has 

carried out a brutal crackdown, burning 

villages and killing women and children as 

they fled. 

Myanmar authorities say clashes have 

stopped, but the exodus continues daily, by 

the thousands into neighboring Bangladesh. 

Credit : Voice of America (VOA) 


G 

S 

ri Lanka police arrested three prominent 

opposition lawmakers, including the son 

of a former president, for leading a protest 

against government plans to privatize an 

airport that is named after the ex-strongman. 

Namal Rajapaksa, son of former President 

Mahinda Rajapaksa, was arrested on 10th 

October with two other lawmakers, police 

spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said. 

Police previously arrested 28 people following 

the protest. 

Opposition supporters clashed with police, 

who fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of 

demonstrators opposing the government’s 

plans to privatize Mattala Rajapaksa International 

Airport. 

The government has said the $210 million (US 

dollars) airport, funded by a Chinese loan, 

is a white elephant built during Rajapaksa’s 

regime and that it was considering selling 

shares to an Indian investor. 

The former president, who was ousted from 

power in 2015, opened the airport in March 

2013 in his hometown of Hambantota, about 

240 kilometers (150 miles) south of the 

capital of Colombo. 

Several airlines initially flew there, but 

most left due to the low demand, leaving it 

to become one of world’s emptiest airports. 

The facility has become a tourist attraction 

for visitors who can buy a ticket to see the 

installations inside. The government’s offer 


Attack on Shiites kills 5 in Pakistan; 3 

soldiers killed 

unmen ambushed a car with minority 

Shiite Muslims in the southwestern 

Pakistani city of Quetta, killing four of them 

and a passer-by, while a Taliban attack on 

a military vehicle in northwestern Pakistan 

left three soldiers dead. 

In the attack in Quetta, the capital of 

Baluchistan province, two other passersby 

were also wounded, according to local 

police chief Hidayat Ullah. 

No one immediately claimed responsibility 

for the attack, but Sunni extremists regularly 

target Shiites and have staged previous such 

attacks in Baluchistan and elsewhere in 

Pakistan. 

Recently, a suicide bomber targeted a Shiite 

shrine packed with worshippers in the remote 

village of Jhal Masgi in Baluchistan, killing 

24 people. Pakistan’s Islamic State affiliate 

claimed responsibility for that attack. IS and 

other Sunni extremist groups view Shiites 

as apostates and frequently target them in 

deadly attacks. 

The early morning attack that killed three 

soldiers in North Waziristan also wounded 

seven others, two intelligence officials 

said. The soldiers’ vehicle came under fire 

in the Dosali area on 9th October, said 

two intelligence officials, who spoke on 

condition of anonymity because they were 

not authorized to speak to the media. 

The officials told The Associated Press that 

militants who crossed the porous Afghan 

border and sneaked into Pakistan had carried 

out the attack. 

Maqbool Dawar, a commander of main 

militant group Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, 

claimed responsibility for the attack, 

claiming they killed a much higher number 

Sri Lanka police arrest 

opposition lawmakers 

over protest 

to sell the airport came after it signed an 

agreement in July to sell a 70 percent stake 

in a $1.5 billion port to China for 99 years 

in a bid to recover from the heavy burden 

of repaying a Chinese loan obtained to build 

the facility. 


of soldiers. 

Pakistan army has over the past months 

carried out a massive clean-up operation 

in North Waziristan, which once served as 

the main sanctuary for militants attacking 

Pakistani forces and Afghan and U.S.-led 

allied forces in Afghanistan. 

But despite the offensive, militants in the 

area are still able to conduct high-profile 

attacks. 


N 


Nepal to develop 

National Migration 

Health Policy 




epal’s Ministry of Health and International 

Organisation for Migration (IOM), UN 

migration agency held consultations on the 

development National Migration Health 

Policy to address migrant health issues on 

11th October. 

In a joint press statement, IOM said migration 

continues to grow in Nepal as migrants have 

played significant role in country’s economic 

development, face a range of issues at home 

and abroad. 

According to the Department of Foreign 

Employment, over half of the Nepalis households 

have at least one migrant family member 

living abroad or in Nepal as returnee. 

“We cannot achieve Sustainable Development 

Goal 3.8 on universal health coverage unless 

the health needs of migrants and refugees are 

met. This policy will provide an opportunity 

to promote a more coherent and integrated 

approach to heal, beyond the treatment 

of specific diseases for all populations, 

including migrants, irrespective of their 

legal and migratory status,” said IOM Nepal 

Chief of Mission Paul Norton. 

Nepal police aims to reduce the health 

vulnerabilities of the migrant workers in 

different stages of the migration cycle. 

They also protect the health of host 

communities from health threats related to 

migration. 

The project is funded by the IOM development 

fund. 


8 


W 

A 

Editorial 

◆◆ 

By David Kilgour 

Author & Lawyer 

ith a scattered population of 28-35 

million, indigenous Kurds are one of 

the largest ethno-cultural communities in 

the Middle East. They have long sought to 

create an independent national homeland 

as reluctant residents of adjacent regions of 

Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. 

Elsewhere, the world was transforming 

itself over more than a century from 

approximately 53 independent countries in 

1900 to about 193 today. In the Middle East 

alone, Arabs today have 22 states; Turks, 

Iranians and Jews each have one. 

Kurds have aspired to the creation of 

“Kurdistan” since the early 1900s. With 

the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World 

War One, Western allies provided for a 

Kurdish state in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres. 

◆◆ 

By Mark Parkinson 

@Mark_Parkinson 

markp.india@gmail.com 

markparkinson.wordpress.com 

s Seth Godin points out in the blog post 

link below – change is never going 

to come from those who signed up for the 

status quo, for certainty, for an environment 

within which getting everything right is the 

expected norm. 

Seth Godin Blog Post – In Search of 

Familiarity 

A Case For Kurdistan 

Unfortunately, when the boundaries of 

modern Turkey were established three 

years later, the promised Kurdish state had 

vanished. All attempts since to found one 

have been crushed. 

The oppression patterns in Turkey and Iraq 

are illustrative of the continuing obstacles to 

Kurdish independence in all five nations and 

led to the old saying, “Kurds have no friends 

but the mountains”. They comprise 15-20% 

of the Turkish population, but for generations 

Kurdish names and costumes were banned, 

the use of their language was restricted, and 

they were insultingly termed “Mountain 

Turks”. In 1978, Abdullah Acalan launched 

the PKK seeking an independent state within 


Turkey; the violence which began six years 

later saw more than 40,000 persons killed 

and hundreds of thousands displaced. 

In the 1990s, the PKK reduced its demand to 

greater cultural and political autonomy and 

a ceasefire resulted from 2012 until 2015. 

Hundreds have since died from Turkish 

military attacks on PKK camps in northern 

Iraq. 

Turkish President Recep Erdogan, seeking a 

Sunni-dominated Syria, struck at the Syrian 

Kurds’ Democratic Union Party (PYD). By 

disrupting logistics between the PKK in Iraq 

and the PYD in northern Syria, he weakened 

the most effective ground force fighting 

ISIS. Assisted by the U.S.-led coalition’s 

airstrikes, the Kurdish peshmerga soldiers 

nonetheless retook almost all Kurdish 

territory and protected not only Iraq’s 

infrastructure but also their own population 

and 1.6 million refugees seeking sanctuary 

with them. Recently, Erdogan is threatening 

military intervention, and asserts that 

blocking Kurdish independence is “a matter 

of survival” for Turkey. 

In Iraq, Kurds experienced their worst 

treatment during the decades of Baathist 

rule, when Saddam Hussein ethnically 

cleansed tens of thousands of them in the 

1970s. In the closing days of the Iran-Iraq 

War, his regime used poison gas to murder 

at least 3,200 Kurdish civilians, summarily 

executed men and boys, and sent entire 

villages to concentration camps. 

President George H.W. Bush’s no-fly 

zone in 1991 provided Iraqi Kurds some 

protection against Saddam and a measure of 

autonomy. They used the opening to develop 

institutions of self-government that stand 

out as beacons in the region today. Most 

Kurds are Sunni Muslims, though there 

are also Christians and Jews among them. 

They have deep historical ties to their land; 

culture sets them apart from neighbors. They 

are a functioning and largely-corruption free 

democracy. 

The successes of their peshmerga soldiers in 

confronting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, including 

heroic efforts to protect Yazidis facing 

genocide from ISIS, has enlarged both 

Kurdish determination and international 

Recruit the Restless 

gone so many years since Dr Ken Robinson 

spoke up in the first TED conference about 

what needed to change in education if we 

were to avoid short changing a generation of 

youngsters in their preparation for a vastly 

different world, yet we have really seen so 

very little change. 

In fact, when we see the obsessive zeal 

applied to the gathering and endless tweaking 

of data, we have to suspect that people 

have inadvertently set about entrenching 

and solidifying the existing ways of doing 

things. 


respect for them. They remain a key ally of 

the US-led coalition fighting ISIS; many lost 

their lives seeking to end the ISIS nightmare. 

On July 1, Kurdish president Masoud 

Barzani announced his intention to call 

a referendum on independence in part 

because Iraq has already been “effectively 

partitioned”. The referendum was held on 

September 25 with a turnout of about 78 per 

cent among five million eligible voters and 

about 93 percent of the votes cast in favor of 

independence. 

The Kurdistan Regional Government 

characterized it as binding, although it later 

said the result would only trigger the start 

of state building and negotiations with Iraq. 

The Kurdish people have more than earned 

their right to independence and the European 

empires, which drew the Middle East 

boundaries mostly to suit their own interests, 

are now mercifully gone. 

It is long overdue for the United States, 

Canada, and other democratic governments 

to stand with the Kurds instead of abandoning 

them again. American allies in the region, 

Europe and Asia are watching carefully. 

Kurdistan, moreover, would help all members 

of the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS to 

push back against Russia and perhaps even 

to be an effective regional counter to Iran’s 

proposed Shiite crescent from Sanaa to 

Beirut. 

David Kilgour, a lawyer by profession, 

served in Canada’s House of Commons for 

almost 27 years. In Jean Chretien’s Cabinet, 

he was secretary of state (Africa and Latin 

America) and secretary of state (Asia- 

Pacific). He is the author of several books 

and co-author with David Matas of “Bloody 

Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for 

Their Organs.” 

In fact, worse, it’s not enough to just recruit 

good people who believe that they are ‘safe 

hands’ to educate children. 

Not only will these people not initiate 

change, they will resist it by every means at 

their disposal. 

They’ll demand data and evidence in 

bucketloads. And, even when you produce 

evidence they’ll have to refute it, doubt it 

and ultimately fall back on, “my way has 

served well in the past.” 

This is almost certainly the reason why we’ve 

Too many have convinced themselves that 

the old way is perfect, provided we can just 

measure more, gather more data and carry 

out more assessment. 

Instead of humanising an education of 

curiosity, creativity and engagement with thew 

world around, we’ve sought incremental 

improvements in the existing systems by 

focusing on turning children in to so many 

data points to be graphed and mapped 

through to academic success. 

The curious, the challengers, the restless – 

they do show their faces in the education 

world, but too often in programmes like 

Teach for America, Teach for India, Teach 

for Malaysia. They stay for a couple of 

years, but too often see that they’re never 

really going to change the system, so treat 


it as an interesting experience before they 

head off to other fields where change is more 

accepted. We have to figure out how to get more 

restless people in to our profession, and then keep 

them here long enough to make a difference. 



Think - Tanks 

Coexisting Peacefully 

N 

N 

◆◆ 

By Dr. Pramila Srivastava 

@PramilaBK 

ps.a@iins.org 

o man is an island 

John Donne 

In this ever-changing world, there are always a 

few constants, one of them being that we can 

never exist just by ourselves. We humans 

are social animals and our behavior exactly 

shows that. All our lives we spend making 

connections, we actively seek love in our 

lives through many ways. But if we can’t 

live without people, why is there so much 

violence in this world. At our own individual 

level we fight with people, spend a lot of 

time hating other or a particular community. 

Hate is more commonly found in this world 

than love and living in peace takes a lot of 

work, both inward and outward. There are a 

few ways of doing so: 

Respect 

As a world we are slowly losing our hold 

on love, primarily because we have no 

respect for others, only judgment. Most 

of us have an idea of how the world and 

other people should be and we spend our 

entire lives disrespecting those who don’t 

make the cut. We want people to behave 

a certain and anything out of the norm 

is shunned. Terrorism is a horrific crime 

which has nothing to do with religion, the 

◆◆ 

By International Institute 

for Non - Aligned Studies 

@iinsNAM 

iins@iins.org 

on-Aligned Movement has long stood for 

the accord and harmony of developing 

countries as they continue their common 

journey in providing better lives to their 

people. Among other things that NAM has 

done for the improvement and upliftment 

of its member countries is its longstanding 

emphasis that the enjoyment of the highest 

attainable standard of health is among the 

most basic rights of every human being and 

each nation should be able to fulfill them. 

Through its annual ministerial meetings 

on health, NAM has served as a vital tool 

with which developing countries are able 

to coordinate their positions in further 

pursuing their efforts to strengthen coordinated 

global action on global health issues and 

to boost the ability of the World Health 

Organization(WHO) to deliver on and be 

more receptive to the needs of developing 

countries in the health sector. 

Recognizing the increasing outbreaks in 

the Member State nations demonstrates 

the urgency for a unified collaboration and 

assistance to bolster national efforts in order 

for all countries to develop strong, resilient, 

sufficiently funded and integrated health 

systems, including establishment of the 

core capacities of the International Health 

Regulations, and having the capacity for 

health-related emergency preparedness and 

progress that promotes universal, evenhanded 

access to health services and ensures 

terrorists are merely using it as an excuse to 

get their recruits etc, but if we start judging 

everybody in that faith based on the actions 

of a few, we are not being just. In all faiths, 

there are extremists; it doesn’t mirror the 

others in that faith. Practice love for your 

fellow humans not hate and that begins by 

respecting all faiths, religions, communities, 

castes, class, country etc. 

Moderation 

Being radical spreads thoughts and ideals 

rooted in poisonous beliefs like one’s own 

faith or community is better than the rest. In 

all things practice moderation, be it work or 

things you do for fun. Finding that balance 

is crucial for a happy life where we coexist 

with others peacefully. 

Being radical or extreme also leads to 

making hasty decisions and actions, which 

reflect how poorly we have thought things 

through. Riots and tragedies have been 

unleashed on this world because of the 

actions of a few radical people who had the 

power to influence others too. 

Be mindful 

This a recurrent thought in my work, because 

I truly believe that not being mindful leads 

to a ton of poor choices one of them being 

our behavior with others, if we thought 

things through, we would see the damage 

our narrow minded views, words and actions 

could do to others. Instead of just saying 

things without thinking or behaving in a 

Health sector in NAM Countries 

reasonable, quality service delivery. Non- 

Aligned Movement lays down several key 

guidelines for the better functioning of the 

health sectors in its member states. It also 

urges them to not only adopt them but 

efficiently incorporate them as a part of 

their daily routine to achieve much healthier 

results. 

1. Investments to build systems that are 

grounded in primary health care and 

universal health coverage and proficient 

in responding to varied and unforeseen 

challenges that could crop up in the future. 

2. Endorse ‘Universal Health Coverage’ to 

address affordability, enhance accessibility 

and avoid financial hardship for people who 

need healthcare, regardless of their ethnicity 

and socio-economic status. 

3. Acknowledge that the good health is 

determined by many aspects of development 

including poverty, education, sustainable 

energy, water and sanitation, and climate 

change (adaptation and mitigation) as much 

as by preventing and treating diseases and is 

largely dependent on affordable, accessible 

health care and medicines. 

4. Recognizing that progress in prevention 

and control of non-communicable diseases 

has been insufficient and highly uneven and 

increased efforts are essential. 

5. Stress on the WHO’s role in ensuring 

availability of affordable, quality, safe, 

efficacious medicines. 

thoughtless manner, lets all endeavor to be 

careful and mindful in all things especially 

our treatment of other people. We have no 

idea the power a hateful word can have at 

the wrong hands. 

Be Forgiving 

What do we do when others hurt us?, do 

we give it back to them and just pass on the 

hate or do we take a stand and say enough 

I am forgiving you, let the hate end here. 

Forgiveness is crucial to living with others, 

there will be times when someone hurts us 

or makes our life difficult, and by choosing 

to forgive we ensure our lives are happier. 

People do make mistakes, including us so 

lets give them a chance and hope they do the 

same when we slip up. 

6. Emphasizing the importance of sustained 

multi-sectoral, cost-effective and populationwide 

interventions in order to reduce 

impact of the risk factors of common 

non-communicable diseases through the 

implementation of, inter alia, national 

policies and plans as well as international 

agreements and strategies by involving 

all relevant stakeholders at all levels from 

across the globe. 

NAM Ministers of Health convene continuous 

meetings to keep tabs on work done, 

improvements and also to chalk out scope of 

further work that can be done to improve the 


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Subscription Form 

One of the biggest things we take for granted 

is that we know everything and hence why 

communicate. It is crucial to keep the lines 

of communication between people open, we 

shouldn’t assume that people belonging to a 

situation. These guidelines have aided the 

member states in achieving a much healthier 

environment which not only facilitates better 

health services and are easily accessible but 

also promote a healthy lifestyle which is not 

a far-fetched dream anymore. 

However, there are still concerns that loom 

over NAM countries given that much of the 

development in the health sector is urban, 

marginalizing the rural folks and their 

chance to develop at a similar pace. For this 

not only setting up of such facilities would 

suffice but the need to create awareness is 

also a key unit for the overall development 

of the states as a whole. 

Therefore, though health sectors in NAM 

countries have seen a considerable growth 

and development, there is still scope for 

betterment to bring about an all-round 

transformation for its people. 

(in arrangement with 

News from Non-Aligned World) 

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different faith or different gender orientation 

are what you think they are. 

Talk to people with compassion, find out 

their fears, joys and what makes them tick. 

It is difficult to go to a place of indifference 

from a place of compassion. 

So talk to everybody let not your ‘ideals’ 

and ‘values’ keep you back, give people the 

chance and you don’t know, you might just 

like them all. 


10 


L 

B 

Technology & Health 


Organisms exhibiting the features of both plants and animals 

www.NewDelhiTimes.com 

◆◆By Smt. Maneka 

Sanjay Gandhi 

@ManekaGandhiBJP 

ife is so complex. We think of all 

beings as animals or plants and this 

means a lot when you are vegetarian and 

determined not to hurt. 

What characterises a being as one or another. 

An animal must feed on other living things 

because it cannot obtain energy directly 

from sunlight. Animals have an embryo 

stage in their life cycle. The cell walls in 

animals are mostly soft and animals depend 

on skeletons or shells for strengthening and 

protecting. 

Plant cells get their strength from cellulose. 

These contain little green packages called 

chloroplasts. Chloroplasts use the energy of 

sunlight to produce the substances needed 

to make plant tissues, in a process called 

photosynthesis. Photosynthesis consumes 

carbon dioxide and produces oxygen. 

Simply said : 

Animals eat other animals or plants to get 

energy for their survival. They can move. 

Plants get energy for their survival from the 

sun. They cannot move. 

But there are beings that defy all the rules. 

Some are both plant and animal. Some 

animals look like plants. Others vary 

between being animals that turn into plants 

or vice versa ! The Venus flytrap, despite 

being a plant, feeds on insects—and its 




parts move faster than its animal prey. 

Many groups of animals do not move and 

stay attached to a surface for life, such as 

sponges, corals, mussels and barnacles. 

Corals are not plants. They are animals. 

The amazingly coloured sea anemone is not 

a flower. It is a close relative of corals and 

jellyfish. It spends its life attached to rocks 

on the sea bottom. or on coral reefs, waiting 

for fish to pass close enough to get ensnared 

in its venom-filled tentacles. 

There are over 1000 species of anemones. 

Their bodies are composed of an adhesive 

pedal disc, or foot, a cylindrical body, and 

an array of tentacles surrounding a central 

mouth. The tentacles fire a harpoon-like 

filament into their victim, injecting it with a 

paralyzing neurotoxin. The helpless prey is 

then guided into the mouth by the tentacles. 

They look so much like plants that even 

Aristotle, the ancient Greek who produced 

one of the world’s first systems for 

categorizing life, was puzzled by them and 

categorised them as zoophytes (“both animal 

and plant”.) However, they are animals 

because they can move (very slowly) and 

feed on other unsuspecting organisms that 

get trapped in their tentacles. Interestingly, 

components of their nervous system are the 

same as humans’, although their anatomy is 

very different. 

Likewise, sea sponges are hard shelled 

beings with countless tiny openings or holes 

visible on them. 5000 species of sponges 

grow in all different shapes, sizes, colours, 

and textures. These tiny pores let water flow 

freely in and out of the sponge, bringing in all 

the nutrients it needs, while simultaneously 

releasing waste. For a long time it was 

debated whether sea sponges should be 

classified as plants or animals. Eventually 

zoologists have classified them as simple 

multi-cellular, bottom-dwelling animals. 

There are also bizarre animals commonly 

called “sea lilies”. These are animals that 

look like plants and were thought to be fixed 

to the sea bottom by a stalk. Now it has been 

discovered that they use their feathery arms 

to crawl, dragging their stalks behind them. 

Algae are usually aquatic organisms that 

appear as a kind of growth, or slime, on top 

of bodies of water in a range of colours. 

Even though they look like plants, they don’t 

move and can photosynthesize, they are not 

plants as they have animal characteristics as 

well. Seaweeds are macro algae. 

They are divided into green, red or brown 

families. Kelp, which forms massive 

underwater forests reaching heights of 

80 mts, is a key ingredient in many Asian 

meals. Kelp is brown algae. 

A green algae, called Nori seaweed, is used 

in Japanese cuisine to wrap sushi and rice. 

Red Dulse is a snack in Ireland and Iceland 

that some claim tastes like bacon when fried. 

But in spite of their plant-like appearances 

and animal-like tastes, nori and dulse are red 

algae. Neither plant nor animal. Chondrus 

crispus, commonly known as carrageenan 

moss, is a red alga used in salad dressings and 

sauces, diet foods, meat and fish products, 

dairy items and baked goods, as is agar. 

Porphyra is a red alga used in soups, sushi 

or rice balls. In Belize, seaweed is mixed 

with milk, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon to 

make a beverage called “dulce”. Seaweed is 

an ingredient in toothpaste, cosmetics and 

paints. 

Mushrooms are often treated like vegetables, 

but fungi (which includes yeast and mould) 

are actually closer to animals than plants. 

Like plants, they do not move, but they also 

don’t perform photosynthesis. Instead, their 

source of molecules and energy are other 

organisms. 

Instead of “hunting” them like animals, 

they either grow on top of them (soil, trees, 

human feet) or on top of decaying dead 

organisms (dead bark, dead animals, bread). 

Due to their close evolutionary relationship 

to animals, eating a portabello mushroom in 

a bun is much closer to eating a hamburger 

than a soya substitute. Yeasts are used in 

bread and beer. 

Euglema is another commonly seen being, 

in pools of water that is neither plant nor 

animal. It is pear shaped, single celled and 

has a whip like tail which propels it through 

water establishing it as an animal. Yet, it has 

chloroplasts like a plant has. 

For Full Article : http://www. 

newdelhitimes.com/organismsexhibiting-the-features-of-both-plantsand-animals 

To join the animal welfare movement 

contact gandhim@nic.in, 

www.peopleforanimalsindia.org 

Breast Milk Foundation launched Amaara - The First Public Human Milk Bank 

in Bengaluru in association with Fortis La Femme 

reast Milk Foundation (BMF), a nonprofit 

organization in association with 

the Fortis La Femme (hospital for women 

& children), has launched Bengaluru’s 

first public Human Milk Bank, ‘’Amaara’’ 

on 10th October. The centre recognizes 

that breast milk is the best nutritional food 

source for infants and should be available to 

babies deprived of mother’s milk. 

Amaara is an initiative in line with the World 

Health Organization (WHO) Millennium 

Development Goals of reducing Infant 

Mortality rate. 

The WHO and the United Nations Children’s 

Fund (UNICEF) recommend that the best 

feed for a baby who cannot be breastfed, is 

milk expressed from own mother or from 

another healthy mother. 

Over the last year, Amaara has successfully 

collected milk from 66 donor mothers and 

delivered it to 206 vulnerable new born 

babies across more than 10-12 hospitals in 

Delhi/NCR. 

Anika Parashar, COO, Fortis La Femme said, 

“We at Fortis La Femme are overwhelmed 

with the successful launch of Amaara Human 

Milk Bank in our Bangalore Hospital after 

Delhi. We have pioneered a collection system 

in which a mother can express the milk in 

the comfort of her home, a carrier from the 

bank will collect the milk in specialized 

freezer boxes and transport it to the bank 

to be sent to a premature baby whenever 

needed. Amaara strengthens our promise 

to be a globally respected woman and child 

care provider known for exemplary clinical 

& holistic wellness care!’’ Dr. Raghuram 

Mallaiah, Director Neonatology, Fortis La 

Femme & Co-Founder Amaara said, “In 

India prematurity and low birth weight are 

the biggest contributors of neonatal/infant 

mortality. According to recent government 

surveys prematurity is one of the 10 most 

common causes of mortality in all age 

groups. Donor human milk goes a long way 

in helping save these very vulnerable babies 

in our society and thereby decrease infant 

mortality. 

We are proud to set up Bengaluru’s first 

public human milk bank at Fortis La Femme 

to create a better space for infants to thrive.” 

Dr. Ankit Srivastava, Co-Founder Amaara 

said, “I feel joyous to be able to extend 

the ‘Amaara’ family and lend a hand to the 

needful preemies in another city. 

The milk-bank is definitely making progress, 

and we are overwhelmed with the response 

received from the people and hospitals of 

Delhi/NCR, and hope to see the same in 

Bengaluru.” 

He further added “It makes me feel proud 

to be a part of such a remarkable peerless 

initiative and to be able to be assist and aid 

high risk newborns with the nurturing care 

that formula milk lacks to offer”. 

The milk bank was inaugurated and supported 

by Hon. Mr. Ryszard Czarnecki, Vice- 

President of the European Parliament, 

Brussels, Belgium. 

He is also a member of the European 

Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs 

and substitute for the Committee on 

Constitutional Affairs and a member of the 

Delegation for relations with the countries 

of South-East Europe.


Entertainment & Lifestyle 


D 

Hindi film industry bids 

adieu to Kundan Shah, 

passes away at 69 




irector Kundan Shah, who made cult 

cinema like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and 

Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, succumbed to a 

heart attack on 7th October. 

The National Award winner, passed away 

at his Bandra residence following a heartattack. 

direction at the Film and Television Institute 

of India in Pune and made his directorial 

debut with Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro in 1983. 

His debut movie didn’t become a box 

office success but he received his first and 

only National award- Indira Gandhi Award 

for best first film of a Director for the 

movie which later become one of the most 

celebrated comedies in the Indian cinema. 

He returned the award in 2015 during the 

student protest in his alma mater, FTII. 

T 

aylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Sam 

Smith are among the performers slated 

to take the stage during the iHeartRadio 

Jingle Ball tour that will hit certain cities 

during the holiday season. 

The Jingle Ball concert series, hosted by 

iHeartRadio stations across the nation, 

◆◆ 

By DLF Promenade 

Swift, Smith and Sheeran tapped for 

iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 

on Dec. 14. 

Not every performer will be at each tour 

stop, but Swift, Sheeran, Sam Smith and the 

Chainsmokers will be at both the New York 

and Los Angeles concerts. 

Other acts that will appear at select concerts 

The 69-year-old filmmaker, known for 

films like ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ (his debut 

film that achieved cult status), ‘Kabhi Haan 

Kabhi Naa’ and ‘Kya Kehna’, and TV shows 

like ‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi’ and ‘Nukkad’, was 

planning a sequel to his first social satire. 

Born on October 19, 1947, Shah studied 

In 1988, he directed Wagle ki Duniya, based 

on cartoonist RK Laxman’s character, the 


common man. He also directed movies like 

Kya Kehna (2000), starring Preity ZInta and 

Chandrachur Singh which became a hit. 

The Hindi film industry took to twitter to 

express its grief at the sudden passing of the 

filmmaker. 

will take place in New York, Los Angeles, 

Boston, Washington, Dallas and other major 

cities. The Los Angeles concert on Dec. 1 

will be shown nationally by the CW network 

include Demi Lovato, Charlie Puth, Kesha, 

Zedd, Niall Horan and Liam Payne. 



Andy Cohen to replace Kathy Griffin on 

CNN on New Year’s Eve 

NN says Anderson Cooper will co-host 

C its New Year’s Eve celebration teamed 

with Andy Cohen, host of Bravo’s “Watch 

What Happens Live.” 

The twosome will ring in 2018 from Times 

Square in New York on CNN’s “New Year’s 

Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy 

Cohen” on Sunday, December 31. 

Cohen replaces comedian Kathy Griffin, 

the previous co-host, who was dismissed 

by CNN last spring after posting a video of 

herself holding a mask styled to look like the 

severed head of President Donald Trump. A 

storm of outraged reaction forced Griffin to 

apologize for what she said was meant only 

as a spoof. 

Now in its 11th year, CNN’s New Year’s 

Eve show is a global celebration featuring 

contributions from CNN correspondents across 

the country and around the world. 




12 


Sports 

Contenders for IAAF Athlete of the Year 

Award – Part 2 

I 




n the second and final part of the 

article, New Delhi Times looks at the 

remaining 10 nominees (5Male Athletes 

and 5 Female Athletes) who have been 

nominated by the International Association 

for Athletics Federation (IAAF) for the 2017 

World Athlete of the Year Award. 

Male Athletes 

the world best time in the 300 metres. He 

is the only, sprinter in history to have run 

the 100 m in under 10 seconds, the 200 m 

in under 20 seconds and the 400 m in under 

44 second. 

Johannes Vetter (Germany): Johannes Vetter 

won the javelin throw gold at the 2017 World 

Champion in the 800, 1500, and 4X100m 

relay. 

Ekaterini Stefanidi (Greece): Stefanidi 

is the current World Outdoor, European 


Real Madrid gets 

Asian or New 

Zealand team in 

Club World Cup 

R 

eal Madrid will face an opponent 

from Asia or New Zealand in the Club 

World Cup semifinals. 

FIFA made the draw for the seven-team 

tournament for continental champions. It 

will be played Dec. 6-16 in the United Arab 

Luvo Manyonga (South Africa): Manyonga 

won the gold in the long jump event at the 

2017 IAAF London World Championship 

with a jump of 8.48m. He was the silver 

medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics 

Omar McLeod (Jamaica): Omar McLeod 

is the current Olympic as well as World 

Championship with a throw of 89.89m. In 

July 2017, he recorded a throw of 94.44m 

which places him second on the all-time list. 

Female Athletes 

Brittney Reese (USA): Reese is the current 

world outdoor as well as the indoor long 

Outdoor (2016) and Indoor pole vault event. 

She is also the reigning Olympic Champion. 

In 2017, she won the diamond league final 

for the second successive year. 

Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium): Thiam won 

the gold medal in the heptathlon at both 

the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2017 

Champion in the 110m hurdles. At 2016 Rio 

Olympics, McLeod clocked 13.05 sec to win 

the gold. At the 2017 World Championship, 

McLeod won the gold clocking 13.04 sec. 

Christian Taylor (USA) : Taylor is the 

current Olympic as the world triple jump 

World Championships. She also won the 

gold medal at the 2017 European indoor 

championship held at Belgrade. 

Anita Wlodarczyk (Poland): Considered as 

one of the greatest women hammer throwers 

of all time, Anita Wlodarczyk is the current 

Olympic as well as World Champion. 

Wlodarczyk has won two Olympic gold 


Emirates cities Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. 

Only four teams are known so far because 

the South American, Asian and African 

championships are at the semifinal stage. 

champion. At the 2017 World Championship, 

Taylor won his third championship gold, 

having previously won it at the 2011 and the 

2015 Championship. Taylor has a personal 

record of 18.21 m which ranks 2nd on the 

all-time triple jump list. 

Wayde van Niekerk (South Africa): Wayde 

van Niekerk is the current world record 

holder, world champion and Olympic 

champion in the 400 metres, and also holds 

jump champion. At the 2017 Championship, 

she won her 4th outdoor long jump gold 

adding to three indoor championship gold 

medals. 

Caster Semenya (South Africa): Semenya 

won the gold in the 800m at the 2017 World 

Championship and also the bronze in the 

1500m. She is also the reigning African 

medals and three World Championship 

gold medals. She is the 

first woman in history to 

throw the hammer over 

80 m and currently holds 

the women’s world record 

of 82.98 m. 

A three way voting 

process will determine 

the three men and three 

women finalists and they 

will be announced by the 

IAAF after 16th October 

2017. 

The Club World Cup opens with UAE league 

winner Al Jazira playing Oceania champion 

Auckland City. The winner will play Asia’s 

champion for the right to face Madrid. 

In the other half of the bracket, CONCACAF 

champion Pachuca plays Africa’s champion. 

The winner advances to meet the Copa 

Libertadores winner. 

European teams have won nine of the past 

10 titles. 


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Printer and Publisher: Dr. (Mrs.) Pramila Srivastava, on behalf of Dr. Ankur Srivastava, Printed at Sudhir Printers, 151, Desh Bandhu Gupta Market, Karol Bagh, Delhi - 110005, 

Published at A-2/59 Safdarjung Enclave New Delhi-110029. Ph.: 26102520, 26105846 Fax: 26196294 Email: info@newdelhitimes.com, Vol. 27, No. 37 Editor-in-chief : Dr. Ankit Srivastava

16 - 22 October 2017-min

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