16-05-2022 The Asian Independent

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12 16-05-2022 to 31-05-2022 NEWSwww.theasianindependent.co.ukPolitical philosophy of Imran KhanIn this article, I am going to makean attempt to look into Imran Khan'smindset and try to explain the deeprooted political psychology of his socalledanti-colonial rhetoric.Khan's politics represents the generalcrisis of Pakistan's failing economyand chaotic politics. They mark ofthe birth of the preconditions that arenecessary to bring about fundamentalchange in the social order of a givensociety. This situation can very easilyescalate and develop into a bloodyconflict between the state and its people.Generally, such change is a precursorto revolution or a counter revolutiondepending on the subjective consciousnessof the broader public.In Pakistan, the consciousness ofthe broader pubic is dominated byright wing religious/Islamic/jihadinarratives. This is because for the past40 years, the mindset of the broaderpublic has been engineered in a certainway through a vast network ofIslamic madrassas (seminaries),weekly sermons every Friday deliveredfrom the pulpit of the mosque,television dramas and talk shows,newspaper columns, and the mediumof cinema.There was no room left for theMarxist tradition to gain root as acounter political narrative in Pakistansince the Communist Party wasbanned in the 1950s. With the fall ofthe Soviet Union in 1990, any relicsof left wing intellectual debate werefurther diminished.In a recently released video of theformer Prime Minister, he said thatthe West never accepted him becausehe was a Pakistani. He continued toexplain that if one paints white stripsover a donkey it will not become azebra.This statement reminds one of thegreat French-Algerian psychiatristFrancis Fanon, who while posted inAlgeria with the French legion duringthe 1960s war of Algerian independence,had a chance to observe thedialectical relation between the modeof struggle of the colonial subject andthe oppressor.He noted that initially theoppressed try to assimilate into theculture and society of the oppressorbut then as the oppressed realises thathe/she is not treated as an equal, theoppressed regresses and finally endup in confronting the colonial masterin a bloody combat.Khan's confession, that he did tryto assimilate but that he failed to succeed,must be examined in the light ofFanon's observations in Algeria.According to Fanon, "in order toassimilate...the colonized subject hasto pawn some of his own intellectualpossessions".At the start of his political career,Khan was all about western valueswoven around a just judicial systemthat treated all citizens equally. Hepraised the social security system andused to give examples of British MPsand Prime Ministers being fined evenover trivial offences unlike inPakistan where the power remains themight and the petty thief is thrownbehind the bars.In his younger years, Khan went toAitchison college in Lahore whichwas still following etiquettes of theEnglish Raj. He also played the'Gentleman Game' of cricket. He wentto Oxford for higher studies. Khaneventually even married a high societysocialite Jemima Goldsmith,daughter of a businessman of Jewishdecent living in the UK.Nothing worked for Khan andaccording to him he felt that althoughhe "pawned some of his own intellectualpossession" by accepted westernvalues and mingled in higher circles,he was still not accepted as an"equal". Once this realisation set in,Khan regressed.He divorced his wife and marriedan apparently devout Muslim womanand began to replace is rhetoric aboutthe western justice system withIslamic justice system.In Fanon's terms this stage is thesecond stage of a colonial subject thatcan only be revealed after one hasexhausted all attempts to assimilate inthe "superior" culture of the oppressor.It is here that the oppressedreverts back to what Edward Saidcalls "the native begin to decolonizethe past". The native then creates animaginative appeal for the broaderpublic based on an imaginary past thatwas both glorious and just.This is why Khan is now talkingabout an imaginary exemplaryRiyassat-e-Medina (the State ofMedina) created by ProphetMuhammed some 1,500 years ago.Once the broader public is awakenedto the realisation that in order to gainrespect, justice and once the demagogueleader succeeds in energizingthe broader public, comes the finalstage that Fanon refers to as the combatstage when when the oppressedturns to violence against the oppressor.Khan has developed a false narrativewhich is based on the theory thatthe American government has conspired,through the Pakistan oppositionparties, to remove him frompower. Therefore, Imran.Continue Page 11Of smokes and mirror : Pakistan's flawed...For instance, its puritan diktats, which range from enforcementof dress codes to suspension of schooling for girlsbeyond sixth standard, has drawn the ire of people both withinAfghanistan and beyond. At the same time, Taliban's continuingdesignation as an internationally proscribed entity willcontinue to mar its prospects of gathering internationalmomentum in its favour, especially in view of its reluctance tobreak-off its links with terrorist outfits like the Al-Qaeda.Domestically, the Taliban's inability as well as its lack ofcapacity to administer the rule of law, provide services andcreate a sense of public order in a chaotic Afghanistan willonly expose the weaknesses of this group further. Reportedly,the rifts within the Taliban are only growing, which are boundto make the matters worse by pushing competing factions tostake claim at power in their own -- often violent -- ways. Assuch, the return of the Taliban in an almost bloodless overthrowof the previous government should not be misunderstoodas indication of the group's political victory.Far from it, the walkover by the Taliban demonstrated theinadequacies that plagued the political system of Afghanistanso much so that it could not sustain itself without external support.On balance then, the takeover of Afghanistan by theTaliban may not be as beneficial as the Pakistani deep statemight want it to be.Far from it, the Taliban's ascent has thrown up challengesfor Pakistan, including the potential of further damaging thelatter's relationship with the West. Moreover, the Taliban'sreturn to power as an Islamist force is expected to have dangerousspill-over effects that Pakistan can ill-afford. Hence,while the so-called victory of the Taliban may have delivereda sense of gratification to the powerful army-intelligencenexus of Pakistan in the short-term, it is entirely possible thatthe Frankenstein will turn on its creator sooner than later. Insome ways, it already has.Sri Lanka is not alone, several other countriesare facing an ECONOMIC MELTDOWNNew Delhi : Sri Lanka's economic crisistriggered by a debt default and acuteshortage of food and fuel leading to violencehas hit headlines but several othercountries -- Pakistan, Nepal, South Africa,Argentina, Ethiopia, Ghana, Peru amongothers with similar distress are also on thewatchlist. These countries are in the grip ofballooning debts, trade deficits and fallingforeign exchange reserves.The Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have pushed debt levelsfor many countries to alarming levels.Take the case of Nepal. The Himalayannation has been hit by a yawning tradedeficit due to growing imports. Nepal'strade deficit in the first eight months of itsfinancial year beginning on July 16 touched$9.5 billion, which is close to the entirebudgetary amount of the Nepalese government.But what has added to the problem isdrying remittances and depleting foreignexchange reserves. The picture in Pakistanis similar. Islamabad has already initiatedtalks with the International Monetary Fundfor a bailout package. Karachi based newspaperDawn in an editorial noted that anyfurther delay in the IMF agreement wouldnot only cause irreversible damage to theeconomy and also affect negotiations withSaudi Arabia and China for financial support."This situation is unsustainable," itsaid. "Most emerging and developing countriesare not just grappling with the economicfallout of the war, but also the scarringeffects of the pandemic crisis. Thisincludes job losses and learning losses --costs borne mostly by women and youngpeople," Kristalina Georgieva, IMF'sManaging Director said last month.Lessons from the current crisis:Global food and commodity prices aresoaring following the Russia-Ukraine war.Import bills for countries which rely onimports of fuel will surge at a time whenthe global economy was just starting torecuperate from the severe impact of theCovid-19 pandemic. Analysts said thatIndia, India--the third largest oil consumerin the world after the US and China importingmore than 80 per cent of its crude, mustremain "vigilant and cautious" in relationto government spendings."One of the key things for us is torefrain from carving out populist measuresespecially when commodity prices aresurging.. Populist measures in neighbouringSri Lanka and Pakistan have causedtheir economic downfall," an insider toldIndia Narrative."India must refrain from any such measures,especially now since the world economyis in the middle of an extremelyvolatile period," he said. Georgieva saidthat even with assistance, many policymakersface the difficult task of addressingrising debt. "This is why spending must becarefully prioritised -- on safety nets,health, and education -- and targeted to themost vulnerable," Georgieva said.
www.theasianindependent.co.ukNEWS16-05-2022 to 31-05-202213Study sheds new light on howgenes contribute to diabetesVax for rare, deadlymosquito-borne virusesshows promise in trialWashington : A vaccine for eastern equine encephalitisvirus (EEEV), western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV),and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) was foundto be safe, well-tolerated and induced a neutralising antibodyresponse in adult volunteers, according to newly publishedresults from a Phase 1 clinical trial.The vaccine candidate was developed by scientists at theUS National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases(NIAID) Vaccine Research Center (VRC), part of theNational Institutes of Health.EEEV, WEEV and VEEV are spread to humans throughthe bites of infected mosquitoes.Infections from these diseases in humans are rare but canlead to flu-like symptoms and, in some cases, severe neurologicaldamage or death.However, under certain laboratory conditions, the virusescan transmit through the air by aerosol droplets and causeinfection in humans and are therefore classified as prioritypathogens, potential biological agents that pose a risk tonational security and public health.NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, and team have highlightedthe possible utility of a vaccine for EEEV for people athigh occupational risk of contracting the disease, includingmembers of the military and laboratory workers.According to researchers, horses are also susceptible toinfection, but horses cannot transmit the viruses directly tohumans.The viruses have caused recurrent, small outbreaks inNorth, Central and South America, including an EEEV outbreakin 2019 in the northeastern United States that led to 38confirmed cases and 15 deaths.In the study appearing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases,VRC researchers designed a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccinecandidate (abbreviated WEVEE) that uses proteins fromthe outer shells of the EEE, WEE and VEE viruses to promptan immune response. VLPs do not contain the genetic materialthat the viruses need to replicate inside cells, so VLPscannot cause infection.For the Phase 1 clinical trial, 30 healthy adult volunteersages 18 to 50 years received varying doses of the WEVEEvaccine (6, 30 or 60 micrograms) by intramuscular injection.Participants then returned to receive the same dose as aboost eight weeks later. Some participants also received aformulation of the experimental vaccine that contained analum adjuvant added to increase immune responses.The team reported that the vaccine was safe, well-toleratedand induced durable immune responses against all threeviruses.The highest neutralising antibody response was observedin participants who received the 30-microgram dose withadjuvant. The authors note that the findings support furtherclinical evaluation of the vaccine candidate.NIAID has approved a commercialisation licence for theadvanced development of the WEVEE vaccine candidate tothe life sciences company Emergent BioSolutions inMaryland, US.New Delhi : Healthy adultswho eat a diverse diet, with atleast 8-10 grams of soluble fibresuch as grains, beans, lentils, nutsand some fruits and vegetablesdaily, have fewer antibioticresistantmicrobes in their guts,according to a study.Microbes that have resistanceto various commonly-usedantibiotics such as tetracyclineand aminoglycoside are a significantsource of risk for people worldwide,with the widely held expectationthat the problem of antimicrobial resistance(AMR) - the term that refers tobacteria, viruses, and fungi that areresistant to antibiotics - is likely toworsen throughout the coming decades.Antimicrobial resistance in people islargely based in their gut microbiome,where the microbes are known to carrygenetically encoded strategies to survivecontact with antibiotics."And the results lead directly to theidea that modifying the diet has thepotential to be a new weapon in thefight against antimicrobial resistance.And we're not talking about eatingsome exotic diet either, but a diverseHyderabad : A world-wide study,which included Indian scientists, ofdiverse populations has shed new lighton how genes contribute to Type 2 diabetes.The study, named DIAMANTE(DIAbetes Meta-ANalysis of Trans-Ethnic association studies), co-led byProf Andrew Morris of the University ofManchester, has been published inNature Genetics.The global prevalence of Type 2 diabetes,a familial disease with severemorbidity, has increased 4-fold over thelast 3 decades. Asia, especially India andChina, are major hubs of this spurt.It is thought that Indians are especiallyat risk of Type 2 diabetes because theyare centrally obese, or fat around theabdomen - indicative of fat around theirvisceral organs, and are more insulinresistant right from birth. This is in contrastto the Europeans who are overall fatin a generalised manner. Despite thisfact, the largest studies to understand thegenetic basis of Type 2 diabetes havemostly been conducted on populationsof European ancestry. Dr. Giriraj RChandak, Chief Scientist at CSIR -Centre for Cellular and MolecularBiology (CSIR - CCMB) and one of thelead investigators from India, highlightedthis study as a landmark event wherescientists from different parts of theworld put together their minds to understandsimilarities and differences ingenetic susceptibility to Type 2 diabetesin different populations. His group hadearlier provided evidence of greatergenetic heterogeneity in Indians comparedto Europeans, which compromisesthe ability to predict Type 2 diabetes riskin the Indian populations usingEuropean data.This recent study compared genomicDNA of 1.8 lakh people with Type 2 diabetesagainst 11.6 lakh normal subjectsfrom five ancestries - Europeans, EastAsians, South Asians, Africans, andHispanics, and identified large numberof genetic differences (SingleNucleotide Polymorphisms or SNPs)diet, adequate in fibre," said researchmolecular biologist Danielle Lemay atthe US Department of Agriculture'sAgricultural Research Service.In the study, published in the journalmBio, the researchers found that regularlyeating a diet with higher levels offibre and lower levels of protein, especiallyfrom beef and pork, was significantlycorrelated with lower levels ofantimicrobial resistance genes (ARG)among their gut microbes.Those with the lowest levels of ARGin their gut microbiomes also had agreater abundance of strict anaerobicmicrobes, which are bacteria that do notthrive when oxygen is present and are ahallmark of a healthy gut with lowbetween patients and the normal subjects."The study found population-specificdifferences in genetic susceptibility toType 2 diabetes. These results pave theway towards development of ancestryspecificgenetic risk score for risk predictionin different populations and hasimmense implications for Indians, whereevery sixth individual is a potential diabetic,"said Dr. Chandak."This study sets up the stage for furtherinvestigating the South Asian populationfor genetic susceptibility to Type 2Diabetes and extends the journey on thepath of precision medicine," CCMBDirector, Dr Vinay Nandicoori, said.High-fibre rich diet can helpfight antibiotic resistanceinflammation. Bacterialspecies in the familyClostridiaceae were the mostnumerous anaerobes found.But the amount of animalprotein in the diet was not atop predictor of high levels ofARG. The strongest evidencewas for the association ofhigher amounts of solublefibre in the diet with lower levelsof ARGs."Surprisingly, the most importantpredictor of low levels of ARG, evenmore than fibre, was the diversity of thediet. This suggests that we may want toeat from diverse sources of foods thattend to be higher in soluble fibre formaximum benefit," Lemay added.On the other hand, those people whohad the highest levels of ARG in theirgut microbiomes were found to havesignificantly less diverse gut microbiomescompared to groups with low andmedium levels of ARG."Our diets provide food for gutmicrobes. This all suggests that whatwe eat might be a solution to reduceantimicrobial resistance by modifyingthe gut microbiome," Lemay said.
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