17.07.2008

• How can you buttress the argument that the NDA’s and Left’s objections to the nuclear deal are merely technical?
• They have been harping on the point that assured nuclear fuel supply in perpetuity gets a mention only in the preamble and not the operative part of the safeguards pact.
• The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties does not differentiate between the preamble and the operative part of such agreements. So it doesn’t make a big difference whether the assurance is in preamble or in the operative portion of the agreement.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• Wasn’t it just a couple of days ago that they became part of our lingo? Let’s know more about them. They are hogging the headlines for the wrong reasons. Read the piece about them in Discover It here.
• Lessons from Rwanda
• Want to know how community courts have made a world of difference to the carriage of justice in a country which witnessed mass genocides? Is there something for us to learn from that experience? In a very good article explaining about the conflict between Hutus and Tutsis, Prabhu Ghate ponders over the constraints that we face in learning from Rwanda.
• For a hundred days in 1994, the Hutu government of Rwanda orchestrated one of the most comprehensive genocides ever perpetrated. It handed out machetes and called on every Hutu to do his duty as a citizen. The minority Tutsis, about 15% of the population, as well as a large number of moderate Hutus, were wiped out or fled. Out of a population of about 10 million, about eight lakh persons died, many of them women and children who were massacred in churches where they had sought refuge. The international community stood by and let it happen. It was left to an invading army of Tutsi refugees from Uganda, led by Paul Kagame, to restore order.
• How did Paul Kagame restore order and bring about reconciliation between the two sections? The ID cards issued to the people simply show that they are Rwandans; not whether they are Hutus or Tutsis. Secondly, a national government was formed that included moderate Hutus. And finally community courts played the decisive role. For such a small country of 10 mn population, there are now about 170,000 judges in 10,000-odd locations around the country. All of the judges were trained and the justice system emphasised reconciliation rather than mere punishment.
• About 120,000 were in detention, and they were placing a huge strain on the prison, prosecutorial and judicial system. After much discussion, in 2001, Rwanda decided to rope in the assistance of the traditional community-based courts headed by village elders. At the lowest level, these courts require the participation of the entire village community, which is expected to arrive at the truth through an interactive process in which anyone can participate. Rwanda’s Gacaca (or “grass”) root courts constitute a unique innovation in dealing with the aftermaths of genocide and have attracted considerable interest.
• International liabilities and assets of banks in India
• Look at this graphic.
• Substantial progress in the fight against HIV infection
• Don’t be misled by the heading. We are far, far away from the day when people can take medication to get treated for AIDS with certainty.
• When HIV infects human body, two regions are identifiable. One is the changeable region and the other is the constant region. HIV’s strength lies in its ability to fool the body into making abundant antibodies to the changeable regions of HIV but not to its cellular attachment site. HIV needs at least one region that must remain constant to attach to cells. Immunologists call such regions super-antigens. Because of its clever behaviour, no HIV preventive vaccine that stimulates production of protective antibodies is available.
• Now it is reported that a University of Texas team led by Indian American Sudhir Paul has pinpointed the Achilles heel in the protective mechanism of HIV. The weak spot is hidden in the HIV envelope protein gp120. This protein is essential for HIV attachment to host cells, which initiate infection and eventually lead to AIDS. The Achilles heel, a tiny stretch of amino acids numbered 421-433 on gp120, is now under study as a target for therapeutic intervention.
• First reported in the early 1980s, HIV has spread across developing countries, infecting some 33 million people by 2007 according to a WHO report.
• Profession tax hike
• Profession tax is levied by state governments or local bodies on professions, trades, callings and employments. The power to levy the tax flows from the Article 276 of the constitution that also puts a cap on the amount of tax.
• Acceding to a long pending demand of the state governments, the Centre has decided to raise the ceiling on profession tax from Rs 2,500 to Rs 7,500 per annum.
• The Centre will now amend the Article 276 of the Constitution to raise the limit.