Gujarat best example of effective governance: USA

Washington: Identifying Gujarat as perhaps the best example of effective governance and impressive development in India, a Congressional report showered praise on the Chief Minister Narendra Modi and said that the state under him has become a key driver of national economic growth.

Gujarat, is followed by Bihar and its Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, for his governance and administrative skills, the latest report of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on India said.

"Perhaps India's best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat, where controversial Chief Minister Narendra Modi has streamlined economic processes, removing red tape and curtailing corruption in ways that have made the state a key driver of national economic growth," said the CRS report.

An independent and bipartisan wing of the US Congress, the CRS prepares periodic reports on issues of interest to the US lawmakers.

The 94-page report was released by the CRS for US lawmakers on September 1, a copy of which made public by the Federation of American Scientists.

"Seeking to overcome the taint of his alleged complicity in 2002 riots, Modi has overseen heavy investment in modern roads and power infrastructure, and annual growth of more than 11 per cent in recent years," the CRS said.

Gujarat, the CRS said, has attracted major international investors such as General Motors and Mitsubishi and with only five per cent of the country's population, the state now accounts for more than one-fifth of India's exports, it said.

The CRS mentions Bihar after Gujarat in good governance. "Another positive example in 2011 has been Bihar, one of India's poorest states, where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has won national attention through his considerable success in emphasising good governance over caste-based politics.

"He is credited with restoring law and order across much of the state, as well as overseeing infrastructure and educational improvements of direct benefit to common citizens projects," the report said.

"Kumar's Janata Dal (United) party, in alliance with the main national opposition BJP, won an overwhelming reelection majority in November 2010 state elections," the report said.

The examples set in by Chief Ministers Modi and Kumar may have inspired the popular leader of India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh.

"Chief Minister Mayawati, who is widely believed to maintain national political ambitions and was at the forefront of a nascent "Third Front" in 2009, has shifted her own focus much more toward infrastructure projects such as road-building and improving the state's poor energy grid," the report said.

The CRS also refers to the ongoing Telangana movement in Andhra Pradesh, and the new Trinamool-Congress rule in West Bengal.

As West Bengal's new Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee is faced with repairing one of India's poorest states.

PTI

Obama administration approves no-cost birth control, including ‘morning after’ pill

Pro-lifers are horrified at the announcement Monday that the Obama administration has approved a recommendation from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to guarantee full health insurance coverage for birth control, including the so-called “morning-after” pill, under the Affordable Care Act.

The new guidelines, which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) labeled “historic,” will require new health insurance plans to include women’s preventive services including FDA approved contraceptives, breast feeding support, and well-women visits — all without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or a deductible — beginning August 1, 2012.

“The Affordable Care Act helps stop health problems before they start,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a statement. “These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need.”

The Obama administration also released an amendment to the guidelines allowing religious organizations to opt out of providing the contraception services.

Still, pro-life advocacy groups virulently opposed the IOM recommendation. LifeNews is reporting that these organizations may push Congress to pass legislation to reduce harm which they believe will accompany the new guidelines.

“The real issue is not about ‘birth control’ as such but rather about specific contraceptives that can function as abortifacients, in particular, emergency contraceptives,” Jeanne Monahan, director of the Family Research Council’s Center for Human Dignity explained to LifeNews. “This isn’t a matter of opinion or political ideology.”

“The FDA approved label for Plan B suggests it can prevent implantation of an embryo. Moreover, the most recently approved EC, ‘ella,’ is chemically similar to RU-486 and it may destroy an embryo after it is already implanted,” she added.

Groups such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL were major advocates for the new directive.

“As someone who has worked on women’s rights for nearly 30 years, I can say that today’s news marks one of the biggest advances for women’s health in a generation,” Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America said in a statement when IOM released their recommendation.

“Currently, nearly one in three women finds it difficult to pay for birth control, and that’s why the United States has a far higher unintended-pregnancy rate than other industrialized countries. Making family-planning services available at no cost will help millions of women prevent unintended pregnancy and thereby reduce the need for abortion.”

US takes hardline on North Korea, South China Sea

Bali: Tentative steps by North and South Korea to repair relations are not enough to warrant a return to multination nuclear disarmament talks, the Obama administration said at an Asian security conference on Saturday, where it also took a tough line on resolving heightened tensions in the South China Sea.

Declaring the United States a "resident power" with vital strategic interests throughout the Asia-Pacific, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said North Korea must do more to improve ties with the South before Washington will consider resuming six-party talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to abandon nuclear weapons in return for concessions.

In addition, Hillary laid out specific guidelines for the peaceful settlement of competing territorial claims by China and its Southeast Asian neighbours in the South China Sea, where she said such disputes are threatening the peace and security that has driven the region's economic growth and prosperity.

Also on the agenda at Saturday's talks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali was Myanmar, which Hillary said has reached a "critical juncture”.

The new civilian government, which took over late last year after a half-century of military rule, needs to make "concrete, measurable progress" in bringing about democratic reforms if it wants to win the confidence of the international community.

That includes releasing more than 2,000 political prisoners and holding meaningful dialogue with its political opponents.

The meeting opened with a buzz, with South Korea's Foreign Minister, Kim Sung-hwan, and the North's Pak Ui Chun walking casually into the conference hall together.

A day before, their countries' top nuclear negotiators met for the first time since nuclear disarmament talks collapsed three years ago, opening the door for dialogue and a potential return, eventually, to more negotiations between the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia.

Hillary told diplomats from 26 other Asian and European countries that she was encouraged to see the change.

"But we remain firm that in order for six-party talks to resume, North Korea must take steps to improve North-South relations," she said. "North Korea continues to present a critical proliferation challenge to the international community and to threaten regional stability with its provocative actions."

Since the last round of talks, North Korea has conducted a second nuclear test and revealed a uranium enrichment facility that could give it another way to make atomic bombs. Recent North Korean threats against Seoul's conservative government include a vow to retaliate over South Korean soldiers' use of pictures of the ruling North Korean family for target practice.

Ahead of the conference, China and its Southeast Asian neighbours also agreed to a preliminary plan to resolve territorial disputes in the potentially resource-rich South China Sea.

China claims the sea — of tremendous strategic importance to everyone because one-third of the world's shipping transits through it — in its entirety. The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia loudly disagree.

There have been several flare-ups in the waterway in recent months, with Beijing usually accused of being the instigator.

Hillary urged all parties to show restraint and to comply with international law "and resolve their disputes through peaceful means”. It's vital, she said, that they work together.

As a starting point, the US wants all nations to map out their claims in terms consistent with customary international law, a senior US official said on condition he not be named, adding that many of the claims seem to be "exaggerated”.

North Korea's newly appointed envoy, Ri Yong Ho, meanwhile, said on Friday that he and his South Korean counterpart, Wi Sung-lac, agreed during their meeting to work together to quickly restart nuclear talks.

Wi, who described the talks as "productive" and "helpful”, confirmed the agreement and said he and Ri would continue their efforts.

North Korea stands to get badly needed aid and other concessions if it returns to the talks and has indicated in recent months that it may be ready.

North Korea's main ally, China, has been pressing for a speedy resumption of the talks. The US and other countries have held out, saying that meaningful North-South dialogue must occur first. A senior US official welcomed Friday's meeting but said it remains to be seen if the rapprochement is enough to warrant a return to the table.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy, said Hillary and the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea would meet in Bali on Saturday to assess the situation and plot a way forward. The official would not predict if a decision on resuming the six-party talks would be made at the meeting.

In a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Hillary affirmed "our mutual desire for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula" but offered no hint on whether the US would agree to resume the nuclear talks.

Yang, however, signalled China's intense interest in getting things back on track. "Anything we can do together to promote better atmosphere and good dialogue among the parties concerned and to work together to restart the six-party talks would be in the best interests of peace, stability and security of the region," he said.

The disarmament talks have been stalled since 2008, when North Korea walked out to protest international criticism of a prohibited long-range rocket launch. Tensions between the North and South have remained high ever since.

Obama's father weighed adoption: Book

Boston: US President Barack Obama's father had intended to put his unborn son up for adoption as the senior Obama tried to appease US immigration officials who raised concerns about him having two wives as well as his "playboy ways", a new book has revealed.

Details about Obama senior have emerged in a book by Boston Globe reporter Sally Jacobs.

Titled 'The Other Barack, The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama's Father,' the biography is slated for release next week.

"In the spring of 1961, President Obama's father revealed a plan for his unborn son that might have changed the course of American political history," Jacobs said in an article in the Boston Globe.

The elder Obama, who was at the time a sophomore at the University of Hawaii, had come under scrutiny by federal immigration officials who were concerned that he had more than one wife.

When questioned by the school's foreign student adviser, the 24-year-old Obama insisted that he had divorced his wife in his native Kenya.

Although his new wife, Ann Dunham, was five months pregnant with their child 'Barack Obama II', Obama declared that they intended to put their child up for adoption.

"Subject (Obama senior) got his USC (United States citizen) wife 'Hapai' (Hawaiian for pregnant) and although they were married they do not live together and Miss Dunham is making arrangements with the Salvation Army to give the baby away," according to a memo describing the conversation with Obama senior written by Lyle Dahling, an administrator in the Honolulu office of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The Salvation Army had operated nearly a dozen residential maternity homes throughout the US and made arrangements for adoption through local agencies.

Dunham, who died in 1995, was 18 years old when she gave birth to Barack Obama.

While neither Obama nor his wife put their baby up for adoption, it is unclear whether the young couple actually considered such a step, or the elder Obama made the story up in order to appease immigration officials who at the time were considering his request for an extension of his stay in the United States, Jacobs said.

"But his statement provides a unique glimpse into the relationship between the president’s parents and the fragility of his connection to the father whom he would little know," Jacobs added.

PTI

Muslim veil no excuse for discrimination: NZ PM

Wellington: New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Tuesday said Muslim women wearing veils should not face discrimination, after two Saudi women were reportedly ordered off buses due to their attire.

Saudi diplomats in New Zealand had raised concerns with the government after two separate incidents in Auckland where women were told to get off buses because they were wearing full-face veils, the Dominion Post reported.

In one case, a Saudi Arabian student was left crying on the street after the bus driver shouted "Out!" then shut the doors on her and drove off, the newspaper said.

Key said he was comfortable with women wearing veils, adding: "It doesn't offend me. It's part of people's beliefs."

He described New Zealand as a tolerant and inclusive society, saying he saw no need to ban Islamic veils in public, as France has done.

"I think where practical, and on both sides, people should respect others' culture and cultural beliefs," Key told reporters.

"There are practical reasons why sometimes a burqa won't be applicable -- banks for example, for security reasons from time to time they will enforce that.”

"But for the most part we are a multi-cultural society and we should respect other's cultural beliefs."

In April, France became the first country in Europe to apply a ban on the wearing of full-face coverings, including the Islamic niqab and the burqa.

The country's largest bus operator, NZ Bus, which was involved in both Auckland incidents, said two drivers had been sent on counselling programmes but were not dismissed because their actions were not religiously motivated.

"Both drivers... claim it's not religious... but they genuinely have a phobia of people wearing masks, hence why we have not dismissed them," NZ Bus general manager Jon Calder told the Dominion Post.

The Saudi Arabian consul-general in Auckland declined to comment.