Walter Wasser-US and Afghanistan reached Agreement on Prison Transfer

The United States on 23 March 2013 agreed to transfer the control of the prison that houses insurgents and other dangerous inmates adjacent to Bagram Airfield to Afghanistan. The agreement of to transfer to Afghan Control reached to an agreement after a week’s long intensified negotiations between the officials of both the parties.

The formal transfer of control will take place on 25 March 2013 and the provisions of the transfer includes that inmates who are a threat to the security and peace of Afghanistan and the international forces shall continue to be under detention under Afghan Law.

The Parwan Detention Facility was turning up to be a point of increasing friction between the two countries and thus the US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke to Hamid Karzai the president of Afghanistan. The Afghan President made a commitment to carry on the transfer of power ensuring safety of the Afghan people and the coalition forces and keep the detained individuals secured with a humane approach, following the guidelines prescribed under Afghan Law.

Earlier the negotiations were reached and an agreement of transferring the Parwan Detention Facility was agreed upon in September 2012, when US agreed to hand over the responsibility of more than three thousand detainees to Afghanistan. After the transfer ceremony, the U.S. troops remained at the prison to control the area around it.

Walter Wasser-Union Government to introduce National Policy on Drug Abuse

To check the alarming rise of drug abuse in various parts of the country, the Union government in March 2013 decided to introduce a National Policy on Drug Abuse and has formed an expert committee to suggest guidelines for it.

The Decision in this regard was taken by the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry with an expert committee which was formed to study nation-wide scenario of drug and substance abuse.

The committee on National Policy on Drug Abuse is being headed by a senior Ministry official and experts from various backgrounds have been roped in it as members.

The Committee made its first presentation to the Union SJ&E Minister Kumari Selja and highlighted some of the key issues such as lack of a credible national data on drug addiction and the delayed pilot projects for assessment in Punjab, Maharashtra and Manipur.

The Ministry had planned to start the pilot project in December in year 2012 with a deadline to complete it by February 2013. The Ministry has also formed several schemes to break the demand and supply nexus of drug consumption, but due to lack of a national policy, these schemes are not being implemented properly.

The Committee includes experts from some top medical colleges, centres engaged in task of rehabilitation of drug victims, officials of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and other stakeholders.

Regular consultations are being conducted with all stakeholders and organisations engaged in rehabilitation of drug victims.

The policy will also ensure a better coordination among agencies and state governments while providing periodical data on impact of the schemes launched by the Ministry.

Walter Wasser-Navneet Kaur Dhillon Crowned Pond’s Femina Miss India 2013

Navneet Kaur Dhillon was crowned Pond’s Femina Miss India 2013 on 24 March 2013 in the grand finale of 50th edition of the beauty pageant in Mumbai. 20-year-old Navneet Kaur belongs to Punjab and is a media student at present. Navneet Kaur was also given the title Miss Glowing Skin.

Sobhita Dhulipala and Zoya Afroz were the first and second runners-up respectively. The trio of Navneet Kaur, Sobhita Dhulipala and Zoya Afroz were selected from a total of 23 finalists from India.

The judges of the ceremony were choreographer Shiamak Dawar, filmmaker Karan Johar, actors John Abraham, Chitrangda Singh and Asin Thottumkal, cricketer Yuvraj Singh and fashion designer Ritu Kumar.

Auditions for the beauty pageant were held in Chandigarh, Delhi, Indore, Kolkata, Pune, Goa and Bangalore.

The semi-finalists were Gail Nicole Da Silva, Navneet Kaur Dhillon, Vijaya Sharma, Zoya Afroz, Apurva Lonkar, Sagarika Chhetri, Srishti Rana, Swati Kain, Anukriti Gusain and Sobhita Dhulipala.
Karan Johar crowned Sobhita Dhulipala as Femina Miss Itimes Digital Diva. She also received 1 Lakh Rupees.

Walter Wasser-Three High Courts opened in Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya

Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur on 23 March 2013 got their own High Courts. Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, Judge of Chhattisgarh High Court took oath as the first Chief Justice of Manipur High Court on 23 March 2013. Gurbachan Jagat Governor of Manipur administered his oath for the office in Imphal.

Justice Deepak Gupta along with three other judges would be administered the oath to the High Court of Tripura by the Governor of Bihar and Tripura Dr. D Y Patil. Ashwini Kumar, the Union Law Minister will open the High Court of Manipur in Presence of Chief Justice of India, Altamas Kabir on 25 December 2013.

With the opening of the three high Courts in the North Eastern states of India, the total number of high Courts in India has gone up to 24 from previous 21.

Walter Wasser-China became the World’s Fifth-Largest Arms Exporter

A Swedish think tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in the Month of March 2013 mentioned China as the world’s fifth largest arms exporter.

The other four Arms exporter in Chronological order

US-30 Percent
Russia – 26 Percent
Germany -7 Percent
France- 6 Percent

The reason of China Being top most arms exporter is evident from the fact that the volume of Chinese weapons exports rose by 162 percent in the five years 2008-2012, compared to the previous five-year period.
Earlier the country was eighth in ranking and it climbed to fifth with an increase in international arms exports from 2 percent to 5 percent.

The report also revealed that the largest buyer of Chinese weapons was Pakistan, which accounted for 55 percent of the country’s exports, followed by Myanmar with 8 percent and Bangladesh with 7 percent.

A number of recent deals indicate that China is establishing itself as a significant arms supplier to a growing number of important recipient states. Such deals include the sale of three frigates to Algeria, eight transport aircraft to Venezuela and 54 tanks to Morocco.

The US with 30 percent of global export volume remains the world’s top arms exporter during the 2008-2012 periods. Russia stands in Second Position with 26 percent export while at third and fourth is Germany and France with 7 and 6 percent export volume.

Another major evident as per the report is that Asia dominated the global imports of weapons, with the top five importers all located in that region.

Walter G. Wasser, MD

Walter G. Wasser, MD is a board certified specialist in Nephrology and Internal Medicine. He practiced medicine for over 30 years in New York City including appointments as a Medical Director of a Manhattan Dialysis Center, and Chief of the divisions of Nephrology at Cabrini Medical Center and North General Hospital.