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Antibiotic
overuse in India creates drug-resistant bacteria, kills thousands of
infants and poses serious risk to disease treatment
Science
and Technology >
Drug-Resistant Bacteria > Dec 4
A deadly epidemic related to
antibiotic overuse is killings thousands of newborns in India every
year. These infants are born with bacterial infections that are
resistant to most known antibiotics and as a result more than 58, 000
died last year. Nearly 8, 00000 newborns die annually in India and
reducing infant mortality rate is one of the most important public
health priorities at the moment. As such the rising cases of infant
deaths can prove to be a deterrent. Almost all hospitals report an
increase in cases of babies having multi-drug resistant infections.
Newborns have fragile immune systems making them more vulnerable to
such infections, leaving little time for doctors to find a drug that
works. But even adults are at risk. There are already evidences of
such resistant infections spreading overseas. Indeed, researchers
have already found “superbugs” carrying a genetic code first
identified in India — NDM1 (or New Delhi metallo-beta lactamase 1)
— around the world, including in France, Japan, Oman and the United
States. Health officials have warned for decades that overuse of
antibiotics will eventually render the drugs useless. Bacteria spread
easily in India, because half of Indians defecate outdoors, and much
of the sewage generated by those who do use toilets is untreated. As
a result, Indians have among the highest rates of bacterial
infections in the world and collectively take more antibiotics, which
are sold over the counter here, than any other country. These
drug-resistant bacteria are thriving in water, sewage, soil, animals,
communities, homes and in pregnant women’s bodies, which make it
extremely difficult to tackle. On top of it, government hospitals
which are a breeding ground of such infections make up for the
extreme unhygienic and unsanitary conditions with heavy reliance on
antibiotics.
Drug-resistant bacteria can
have a huge impact on treating diseases in India. For e.g. India has
the world’s largest number of Tuberculosis cases and as many as 10
percent of affected patients have resistant infections. Unless the
government makes drastic changes, Tuberculosis in India may soon
become untreatable. Awareness of the problem has begun to grow with
medical associations in India calling for efforts to reduce
unnecessary antibiotic use. However, there are fears that publicity
of such bacteria would adversely affect India’s extremely
profitable medical tourism industry.
Pro-India
Ashton Carter named new US Secretary of Defence
World
> US
Secretary of Defence > Dec 5
US President Barack Obama
has announced former Pentagon official Ashton Carter as his choice
for the post of Secretary of Defence. Carter, 60, was deputy defence
secretary from October 2011 to December 2013. Before he served as
deputy defense secretary, he was the Pentagon's technology and
weapons-buying chief for more than two years. Carter is also credited
with enhancing defence ties with India. Carter and then Indian
National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon were named point persons
to lead India-US Defense Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI).
Carter has bachelor's degrees in physics and medieval history from
Yale University and received his doctorate in theoretical physics
from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
Sushma
Swaraj demands Bhagvad Gita be declared as the national book, sparks
criticism
India
> Gita
Controversy > Dec 7
Minister of External
Affairs, Sushma Swaraj while speaking at the 'Gita Prerna Mahaotsav'
sparked off a huge controversy saying that the centre should declare
the 'Bhagvad Gita' ,the sacred book of the Hindus, as a “rashtriya
granth (national book)” and only a formal announcement remained in
this regard. She said that Gita has been already the status of
national scripture when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted a copy of
the holy book to American president Barack Obama during the former's
visit to the US. Reacting to Swaraj's remarks, TMC leader and West
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that India was a secular
country and only the Constitution was the "Holy Book" in a
democracy. The Congress called her statement frivolous. VHP President
who was also present at the event supported Sushma saying that the
government should immediately declare Gita as the national scripture.
CCI
allows Ranbaxy-Sun Pharmaceuticals deal
Corporate
> Sun-Ranbaxy > Dec 9
Sun Pharmaceuticals
acquisition of its rival drug firm Ranbaxy has been approved by the
Competition Commission of India. The acquisition would make Sun
Pharmaceuticals India's largest and the world's fifth largest
pharmaceutical company. However, the merger was given a go ahead
after asking Sun Pharmaceuticals to sell seven brands of the newly
merged company as it would have led to a monopoly.
Others
Hero
MotoCorp signs ace golfer Tiger Woods for record Rs. 250 crore
Corporate
> Hero
MotoCorp > Dec 4
Hero MotoCorp, the country's
biggest tow-wheeler company, announced that it had inked a four-year
endorsement deal with ace golfer Tiger Woods for a huge sum of Rs 250
crore. This is probably the biggest sports endorsement deal by any
Indian company. Till now Indian cricketers, who earn Rs. 4 – 10
crore per brand endorsement in a year, had been involved in the
biggest sports endorsement deals. With Wood’s global appeal, Hero
plans to have a worldwide presence and cement its position in
overseas markets.
Thousands
protest in New York as police officer goes scot-free
World
> Law
and Order > Dec 4
Thousands of New Yorkers
disrupted city traffic and participated in peaceful protests
throughout the city after a grand jury decided not to press charges
against a white police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of an
unarmed black man Eric Garner in July. The 43-year-old father of six
was accused of illegally selling cigarettes on a sidewalk when
Pantaleo put him in a chokehold from behind and tackled him with the
help of other officers. Police said he had resisted arrest. The
city's medical examiner had ruled the death a homicide. The encounter
captured on video that spread quickly over the internet fuelled a
debate about how the U.S. police used force, particularly against
minorities.
Shiv
Sena formally joins the BJP government
Politics
> Maharashtra > Dec 5
Ten ministers from the Shiv
Sena, five cabinet and five state ministers, were sworn-in to the BJP
government led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Ten BJP
ministers (five cabinet and five state) were also sworn-in during the
first expansion of the ministry, which took the final tally of the
ministers to thirty.
The move has revived the
twenty-five year old alliance between the two parties, which had
snapped before the Maharashtra assembly elections on a seat-sharing
dispute.
Russian
diamond producer Alrosa to enter into contract with Indian diamond
traders
India
> Diamond
Trade > Dec 5
Alrosa, a group of Russian
companies that leads the world in diamond production, may enter into
long-term contracts with Indian traders next week at the World
Diamond Conference in New Delhi that's due to be attended by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. If the
deal goes through, it will pave the way for Indian traders to get
direct access to rough diamonds from Russia, and cut out the
middlemen. The presence of middlemen adds to costs for diamond
manufacturers and jewellery makers and thereby, the end consumer.
Currently, most of the diamonds meant for cutting reach India through
trade hubs in Antwerp, Dubai, Tel Aviv, London, New York and Hong
Kong. Since India cuts and polishes 85% of the rough diamonds
produced in the world, such a deal with Russia would therefore make
for substantial savings. Russia exports 63% of its rough diamonds to
the European Union and only 16% to India. With the EU and West
imposing sanctions on Russia for incursions in Ukraine, Russia will
look to increase its share of exports in India as an alternative
trading partner to evade difficult situations if it arises in future.
Aligarh
Muslim University allows girl students to access the Maulana Azad
Library
India
> Aligarh
Muslim University > Dec 7
In a welcome change, the
Aligarh Muslim University has given permission to girl students of
Abdullah Women's College to access its hallowed Maulana Azad Library.
Since the 1960s, the university allowed all graduates to use the
Maulana Azad library, barring the 2,500-odd under-graduate women. The
AMU’s policy to bar women graduates from the main library came
under the spotlight after Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen Zameeruddin Shah
commented that if girls were allowed into the library, there will be
four times more boys. He also pointed out to a space constraint. His
comments drew widespread flak and criticism including a letter from
Education Minister Smriti Irani. In response to a PIL filed on the
issue, the Allahabad High Court called the University’s stand
arbitrary and in violation of the constitution and directed the
authorities to allow entry of girl students inside the library.
Swiss
ambassador says India can demand Swiss bank details only after
proving tax fraud
India
> Black Money > Dec 7
Switzerland's ambassador to
India Linus von Castelmur has said that Switzerland would not
entertain any 'fishing expedition' and Indian authorities cannot
demand names of account holders only on the basis of stolen lists of
account holders. Indian agencies must conduct their own independent
investigations and present at least a prima facie proof of tax
frauds. He, however, agreed that all the money deposited in Swiss
banks might not have always been taxed in the past, as Switzerland
was a major destination for several decades when money would flow in
from different sources. He said that Switzerland understood India’s
concerns and assured full support in cases where a tax fraud has been
proved.
India
among the countries with lowest survival rates for cancer in the
world
India
> Health > Dec 7
A study conducted by an
international team of doctors on patients from 67 countries over a
period of 15 years, has revealed that the survival rates for cancer
in India are quite low compared to advanced countries. Despite having
better treatment facilities, the survival rates are either stagnating
or increasing very slowly, the cause for this irony experts believe
is that many people do not have access to the treatments due to high
costs involved.
India
to have comprehensive climate legislation
India
>
Climate Legislation > Dec 8
Union minister of state for
environment Prakash Javadekar on Sunday said that India would have a
new comprehensive climate legislation in the next budget session of
Parliament. Mr. Javadekar said that the green climate fund must
become a reality since the whole world has now understood and
accepted the dangers of climate change. From 2012, it was expected to
start with $10 billion every year to reach $100 billion by 2020 and
then continue with $ 100 billion per year. But today it is just $9.7
billion. He also referred to India's targets for solar power and the
scaling up of solar energy from 20 gigawatt(GW) to100 GW by 2022 for
which an investment of $ 100 billion was made, a move intended to
reduce millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
US
Senate report condemns extreme forms of torture employed by the CIA
on detainees after 9/11
World
> US
CIA Interrogation Techniques > Dec 10
A landmark report by the US
Senate Intelligence Committee has condemned the CIA’s use of
enhanced interrogation techniques on its detainees. Many of the
interrogation techniques far surpassed techniques authorized by the
White House, CIA and Justice Department lawyers working for President
George W Bush who had authorized the CIA's "Rendition, Detention
and Interrogation" program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Bush ended many aspects of the programme before leaving office and
Obama promptly banned the so-called "enhanced interrogation
techniques," after assuming office in 2009. The committee’s
conclusion is that none of these extreme interrogation techniques
produced critical intelligence information that could not have been
obtained by non-coercive means. This conclusion is strongly disputed
by many intelligence and counter-terrorism officials. The CIA
continues to claim that coercive interrogations were crucial to
Bin-Laden’s capture but the senate report concludes that
information that led to Bin Laden’s capture came from a detainee
before the detainee was tortured.
The report has detailed
previously unknown findings. 26 of the detainees were wrongfully held
and CIA officers with histories of violence participated in the
torture. Torture techniques employed involved sleep deprivation for
over 180 hours, rectal hydration without medical necessity, threats
involving sexual assault on the detainee’s family members, extreme
waterboarding techniques and death of a detainee due to hypothermia
after being chained half-naked to a concrete floor.
Home
ministry urges states and UTs to ban Uber-like app-based cab
services; Uber under scanner worldwide for violating rules
India
> Crime > Dec 10
In the aftermath of the rape
of a 26-year old Delhi woman by a driver from Uber the US-based
online cab service, the home ministry has said that GPS devices
should be compulsorily installed in all public transport cabs. Home
Minister Rajnath Singh, warning of stricter regulations, has appealed
to all states and union territories to stop cab companies like Uber
from operating unless they register themselves and complete all the
required formalities. The appeal comes after a demand from Rajya
Sabha to ban all such app-based cab services. However, transport
minister Nitin Gadkari has said that it is too harsh to ban all such
cab services and said that proper steps need to be put in place to
ensure such incidents do not happen again.
Apart from the row in New
Delhi, Uber has come under the scanner for violating rules in the
American cities of Los Angeles and San Fransico and other parts of
the world such as Spain, Thailand, Holland and Germany. Uber has been
accused of putting consumers at risk by misleading the public about
the background checks of its drivers and its unwillingness to ensure
that correct fares are charged. In many places, Uber’s drivers
lacked registration, license and insurance needed to operate
commercial vehicles. The company has been fined and banned from
operation in cities around the world.
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