The New Nation - Internet Edition

Indian women face uphill health battle

AFP, New Delhi

Indian women have taken big steps in politics and the workforce but their health is still determined by class and caste, says a major study tracking their experiences over the last 30 years.

Food shortages and a declining government commitment to health care in the 1990s increased the "systemic inequities" for women throughout the country, said a copy of the report obtained by AFP.

Positive developments such as longer female life expectancy are negated by the fact that a woman's health "depends on where she is born and lives, and what class and caste she belongs to," says the study.

The report, the first ever comprehensive review of the welfare of women at a national level, was prepared over four years as part of a joint project between the UN Development Programme and the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It used a landmark 1975 report on the status of women to measure changes and map their "intellectual and material contribution" to society.

Urvashi Butalia, the director of Zubaan books, which is publishing the report in January, told AFP that it "balances gains and losses" on issues such as globalisation that have had both negative and positive impacts on India.

Although globalisation has increased poverty for some, Butalia said it has also created jobs in the service sector for lower- and middle-class women who would otherwise be unable to find work.

While women who find success in politics may face a backlash, enforced quotas at a local level have propelled them to otherwise unreachable heights, said Butalia.

The government perceives women more positively now than in the past, but there is still a "considerable gap" between policy and implementation, she added.

But in the areas of health and safety, Butalia said that "some things are indeed worse."

Women who report domestic violence under the 2006 Domestic Violence Act often find authorities are not properly trained to handle the subject, said the study.

A government survey released last year said almost 40 percent of married women suffered physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their partners.

Many women in poor and rural areas also face barriers to reproductive rights and lack access to basic health care.

Women in urban areas live three years longer than those in rural areas, and infant and child mortality rates and maternal mortality rates remain "unconscionably high," the report states.

And despite awareness campaigns and laws banning sex-selective abortions, such "anti-female biases" are prevalent among educated members of society who are under pressure to have smaller families, states the study.

India has only 927 females for every 1,000 males-far lower than the worldwide average of 1,050 females-because of gender-specific abortions.

Males are traditionally seen as breadwinners in Indian society and are expected to take care of ageing parents later in life.

In 1994, India introduced tough laws against tests to determine foetal gender for non-medical reasons, but the rules are widely flouted.

The joint project's goal is to "improve the quality of life and promote gender equality," UNDP gender analyst Meenakshi Kathel told AFP.

The report suggests monitoring how legislation functions on the ground by giving women a "proactive" role in its implementation.

"An attempt has been made to try and bring in women from the time when they were seen as beneficiaries of welfare," said Butalia.

US confirms 'bilateral charter’ with Georgia being negotiated

AFP, Ukraine

The United States confirmed Tuesday it was negotiating a "bilateral charter" with Georgia similar to the one it recently concluded with Ukraine, a move that risked more Russian ire, according to AFP.

"The United States and Georgia are discussing the text of a new bilateral charter that will outline our enhanced cooperation," the US State Department said in a statement.

The administration of President George W. Bush, which will hand power over to Barack Obama on January 20, hopes the charter will "help Georgia advance security, democratic, and market economic reforms to strengthen Georgia, bolster our partnership, and deepen Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration," the statement read.

The statement confirmed comments by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili who referred on Monday in Tbilisi to "a US-Georgian strategic partnership agreement."

Georgia's Rustavi-2 television reported that the accord was expected to be signed by the end of the year, and that Georgian officials would send a revised version with some amendments to Washington within the next few days.

Similar to the charter signed by the United States and Ukraine on December 19, the deal with Georgia could stoke US tensions with Russia.

Russia sent troops into Georgia, a staunch US ally, in August to repel what they said was a Georgian military attempt to retake South Ossetia, which had received extensive backing from Moscow for years.

Russian forces later withdrew to within the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow recognized as independent states.

A Russian probe on Tuesday alleged Georgia committed genocide during the August conflict. On Monday, Georgia accused Russia of seeking to hide "war crimes" after the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that it would pull its observers out of the country on January 1.

Washington and Kiev signed a strategic agreement that outlined "enhanced cooperation" between the two countries and called for a US diplomatic post in Crimea, a Russian-speaking area where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based.

The US also signed similar strategic partnerships with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1998, when the three countries were seeking to join NATO in the face of fierce opposition from Moscow.

Brazil buys 50 helicopters, 5 submarines from France

AFP, Rio De Janeiro

Brazil on Tuesday signed contracts worth 12 billion dollars to buy 50 military transport helicopters and five submarines from France.

The submarine deal involves the purchase of four conventionally powered Scorpene attack submarines, and the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine to be built with French cooperation. The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Rio de Janeiro.

A French official travelling with Sarkozy said the total value of the contracts was 8.6 billion euros (12 billion dollars) -- 6.7 billion euros for the submarines, and 1.9 billion euros for the helicopters.

The French government will pocket around six billion euros of that total, with the rest going to private defense firms involved in the contracts.

The contracts involve significant transfers of technology-a priority for Brazil, which wants to develop an advanced defense industry of its own-and concretize a strategic partnership accord inked by Sarkozy and Lula.

The French president told a news conference his decision to allow the technology transfer was a conscious choice "to help Brazil have a status as a military power in the service of peace."

Lula, at his side, said: "Today, France is closer to Brazil, Brazil is closer to France."

Brazil has said it is looking to use the submarines to patrol its territorial waters which have recently yielded discoveries of massive oil fields.

Brazilian engineers will be responsible for building the nuclear engine of the atomic-powered submarine along with Argentine colleagues, without help from France. The rest of the vessel will rely on French technology, however.

The conventional subs will be built in France, with participation from the Spanish company Navantia.

Brazil is to build a submarine base near Rio de Janeiro to house the vessels.

Final phase of elections in Indian Kashmir begin

AP, Srinagar

Hundreds of protesters chanting pro-independence slogans clashed with soldiers in the main city of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday, the last day of voting in state elections.

At least nine people were injured when troops fired tear gas shells and used bamboo batons to stop the protesters marching to the center of Srinagar, a police officer said on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.

Separatists have urged residents to protest and boycott the poll, saying the election will only strengthen India's hold on the Himalayan region. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where most people favor either independence or a merger with Pakistan. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both.

The elections, which began Nov. 17, were being held in seven phases. The results are expected to be announced on Dec. 28.

The staggered balloting allowed the government to deploy thousands of security forces in each area in a bid to prevent the deadly violence sparked by elections in 2002 and thwart separatist attempts to enforce the boycott.

Voting in earlier stages of the election was largely peaceful, with a higher-than-expected turnout of more than 60 percent, though scattered anti-India protests have continued throughout.

Nevertheless, voter turnout was low Wednesday morning in Srinagar, where authorities banned gatherings of more than five people to thwart possible anti-India protests, the police official said. Troops also sealed off neighborhoods with steel barricades and razor wire to prevent people from congregating.

Thousands of government troops wearing bulletproof jackets and carrying assault rifles patrolled the streets and guarded polling stations. Troops outnumbered voters outside the polling stations in several neighborhoods.

Some 1.6 million of the state's roughly 6.5 million eligible voters live in the areas voting Wednesday.

Police arrested three men Tuesday they say were planning suicide bombings during polling in Hindu-majority Jammu city. They said the three were Pakistanis, including one who was an active soldier.

A Pakistan military official said the man whom Indian police identified as Ghulam Farid had deserted the army in June 2006.

Relations between longtime rivals India and Pakistan have been especially tense since last month's shooting attacks in Mumbai, which killed at least 164 people. Indian authorities have blamed Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba.

India has urged Pakistan to crack down on Lashkar and other militants operating out of Pakistan.

Pakistan has arrested several senior members of the banned group and moved against a charity that India and others say is a front for Lashkar, but also urged India to provide further evidence.

Separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule. The uprising and a subsequent Indian crackdown have killed about 68,000 people, most of them civilians.

Gaza gunmen fire on Israel as tension mounts

AFP, Gaza City

Gaza gunmen resumed firing rockets into Israel overnight after the army killed three militants, raising tensions around the enclave after a two-day lull in violence, officials said on Wednesday.

The military wing of the Islamist Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip said in a statement it had fired more than two dozen mortar shells at three different targets inside the Israel overnight.

The volley was "to avenge the killing of three" members of Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades by the Israeli army late on Tuesday, it said. The army said it had fired at three militants planting explosives near the border fence.

The Islamic Jihad militant group said it had also fired seven rockets into Israel overnight.

In response, Israel said it would keep Gaza border crossings closed on Wednesday. The previous day it had said it would re-open them to allow aid shipments into the impoverished territory.

"Following the firing of mortars and rockets, the border crossings will remain closed," Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner told AFP.

The escalation in violence comes after a two-day lull in hostilities, as Hamas said it would consider renewing a six-month ceasefire with Israel that expired on Friday.

Sri Lanka says 20 rebels killed in fresh fighting

AFP, Colombo

Sri Lankan security forces killed at least 20 Tamil Tiger rebels who were defending their political capital of Kilinochchi in the island's north, the defence ministry said Wednesday.

Troops captured the village of Sinna Paranthan, northwest of Kilinochchi, from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the ministry said.

"Over 20 LTTE terrorists were killed and many injured during the confrontations," it said in a statement. "Troops have recovered five LTTE bodies."

The ministry said troops were consolidating their defences in the newly captured area, but did not say if there were casualties among government forces in Tuesday's fighting. The Tigers on Monday claimed that they killed more than 100 soldiers and had re-taken territory lost to advancing government forces.

Both sides are known to make exaggerated claims about casualties they have inflicted on each other, and independent verification is virtually impossible as journalists and aid workers are barred from the conflict area.

In January the Sri Lankan government pulled out of a 2002 Norwegian-brokered truce with the rebels, who have been fighting since 1972 for a state for ethnic minority Tamils separate from the majority Sinhalese

NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan

AP, Kabul

Militant fire has killed a NATO soldier in eastern Afghanistan where U.S. troops operate.

NATO said in a statement that the soldier was killed Wednesday by "enemy fire." It released no other details. Most of the troops that operate in eastern Afghanistan are American, but NATO refuses to release the nationalities of soldiers killed in Afghanistan or any other details surrounding their deaths.

This year has been the deadliest for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. Violence has spiked sharply over the last two years, and the U.S. is poised to deploy up to 30,000 additional troops into the country on top of the 32,000 it already has here.

Japan PM rejects snap election but meets defiance

AFP, Tokyo

Japan's beleaguered Prime Minister Taro Aso on Wednesday rejected calls for a snap election, pledging to focus on the economic crisis, but was immediately defied by a senior member of his own party.

Aso, who took office just three months ago, needs to hold an election by September next year, and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan has been pressing the premier to dissolve the lower house as soon as possible. "I'm well aware of talk about elections or a political realignment," Aso told a news conference as he presented his government's record budget.

"Now that we are in the midst of a once-in-a-century crisis, we are not in a position to talk about such things. I think it's impossible," he said.

Aso called on the opposition, which controls the less powerful upper house of parliament, to approve quickly his record 88.55 trillion yen (980 billion dollar) budget for fiscal 2009.

"What the public ask of the parliament, I believe, is whether it can protect the lives of people from this economic crisis. The will and the resolve of the parliament are being challenged," Aso said.

But shortly after his remarks, a ranking member of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) sided with the opposition in urging the premier to call elections.

Venezuela’s Chavez denies Iran-Syria weapons connection

AFP, Caracas

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday dismissed as fiction a report alleging that Iran is dodging UN sanctions by using Venezuelan aircraft to ship missile parts to Syria.

"The newspapers of the empire have begun to invent stories that I am sending weapons to Syria from Iran through our airline Conviasa," Chavez said in a speech at the Miraflores presidential palace. The charges are part of a "permanent aggression" campaign by the "empire," as Chavez often refers to the United States, against Venezuela, he said.

The Italian newspaper La Stampa, citing US and other Western intelligence agencies, reported Sunday that Iran is using Conviasa airplanes to fly computers and engine components to Syria for use in missiles.

Since March 2007, the state-owned Conviasa airline has operated weekly flights from Caracas to Damascus and Tehran.

The material comes from Iranian industrial group Shahid Bagheri, which was sanctioned by UN Security Council Resolution 1737 for involvement in Iran's ballistic missile program, according to La Stampa.

The resolution, adopted in December 2006, instructed all nations to "prevent the supply, sale or transfer" of all material or technology that could serve for Iran's nuclear enrichment program and the development of weapons to carry nuclear warheads.

Syria is a close ally of Iran in the Middle East, and both nations signed a military cooperation pact in June 2006.

Democratic Pakistan limps on without Bhutto

AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan returned to civilian rule shortly after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto a year ago, but the nascent democracy is now caught in a web of crises that is threatening its future, analysts say.

The government led by President Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower, came to power with significant public support, but many say he has not lived up to the promises made by their slain leader before her death in a suicide attack.

"He seems to have lost some of the popular goodwill because the government appears to be ineffective in addressing the problems that have hit the common people most," political analyst Hasan Askari told AFP.

Pakistan's troubles have worsened in the past 12 months with more than 50 suicide attacks killing civilians, severe economic woes for the government, and high food prices and regular power shortages hitting ordinary families hard.

At the same time, militancy in the lawless tribal areas and simmering tensions with India have been accompanied by political infighting between the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its former coalition partner.

A recent poll carried out by a US-based research group, the International Republican Institute (IRI), revealed that nearly nine out of 10 Pakistanis feel their country is headed in the wrong direction.

Zardari himself earned only a 19 percent approval rating, the survey showed.