Unicef says that of the 2.2 million HIV+ children in the world, an underwhelming 20,000 receive some form of treatment. The last Democrat to occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW wants to change that.

(IANS News) New York: Former US President Bill Clinton’s foundation has tied up with Indian pharmaceutical firm Cipla to provide medicines for 10,000 AIDS-affected children in 10 developing countries, Xinhua reports.

There is a huge need for such initiatives. Last year, half-a-million children died of AIDS.

The agreement with Cipla would enable supply of the AIDS drugs at less than half current market rates, Clinton told reporters Monday. His foundation will give $10 million for treatment of the children.

HIV/AIDS-stricken youngsters could be treated as early as next month; medicine has “already been ordered for children in China, the Dominican Republic, Lesotho, Rwanda, Mozambique and Tanzania”. The former President’s foundation has set a goal of treating 60,000 children by 2006. Continue reading →

For some reason, I end up covering the macabre “random death in India” beat for Sepia Mutiny. Here’s the latest one –

Up to 150 pilgrims drown in India Hundreds of wailing pilgrims have lined the banks of a holy river in central India and prayed for loved ones after more than 150 [previous pilgrims] either drowned or were missing when the gates of a nearby dam were opened. …The [first group of] pilgrims had gathered on the banks of Narmada a day ahead of the new moon, a period which is considered auspicious by Hindus as they feel bathing in the holy river at this time would wash away their sins. …officials at the Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation (NHDC), which operates the dam, said they were not aware of the Hindu fair downstream.

And wash away their sins it did.

For Ambaram Kakaria, it was too late. She sobbed as she performed the last rites over her 19-year-old nephew Babulal, who was due to be married soon. “I would have never allowed my nephew to come to this place had I known that I would be losing him forever,” she said. “I was planning to get him married in a couple of weeks.” …”We found the body of a woman with a one-year-old dead child in her arms,” police constable Ram Singh told Reuters.

Actually, I’m nowhere near as callous as this post makes me sound. It’s just a weird frustration where everytime I come across a headline like this, a little voice inside my head says “oh please, don’t say ‘in India’ ” and sure enough, it ends up being ‘in India.’

I suppose when you’ve got a billion people, an underdeveloped economy, a myth / superstition-fueled culture, and a (relatively) well-developed media, this sort of stuff percolates up moreso than, for ex., in China. But man, talk about wanting to bang your head into a wall. Continue reading →

Time Magazine released today its list of the world’s 100 most influential people, which includes Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in its assortment of “Leaders & Revolutionaries.” Bollywood, despite its growing popularity around the world, doesn’t show up anywhere on the list’s crew of “Artists & Entertainers.” Ann Coulter made it there though, which leads one to suspect that the selections are a tad American-centric. After all, the Third Reich hasn’t reemerged yet, so how much influence can Coulter possibly have outside of hard-up American reactionaries? Wipro’s Azim Premji and steel kingpin Lakshmi Mittal are also notably absent from the list’s club of “Builders & Titans,” which includes domestic diva Martha Stewart and rapper Jay-Z.

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Reading this story at thestar.com, I was reminded of two things. First, that old Bollywood song (to which I confess I don’t understand the lyrics) Mera naam chin-chin-chu that my parents must have played on long car rides. Secondly, I was reminded of the movie, Elf.

KUALA LUMPUR: He can speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka fluently, but Lim Meng Sain was born an Indian.

And this anomaly has sometimes put him in a tight spot.

The contractor was raised as a Chinese after his biological parents gave him up for adoption when he was an infant.

Now 25 years old, Meng Sain is a true product of the community he grew up in.

Oh, I’m sure this isn’t nearly as unique as it would seem, but I still thought it was a cute story, especially when compared to this earlier post about preconceived notions based upon skin color.

Once, while parking a truck behind his house recently, he was stopped by a police officer.

“The officer asked for my identity card and when I gave it to him, he took a good look and asked me if it was a fake,” he said.

“I’ve gotten used to all the puzzled stares. Maybe it’s just God’s way of testing me,” said Meng Sain, who was baptised a Catholic when he was 12.

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After decades of advocating Tibetan independence, India now accepts Chinese control of Tibet, much to the chagrin of thousands of Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala. [CSM]

I’m disappointed, but not at all surprised to hear this news. Like any newly popular teenager, India is kicking its penniless lover out of bed for a wealther swain. India has ended its support for a free Tibet, and is seriously cozying up to China. It’s getting increased commerce, a new border agreement, China’s acceptance of India’s invasion and annexation of Sikkim, and China’s tacit consent of how India treats its own domestic independence movements.

The kissy-face between India and China today is a substantial change from the four decades of frosty relations between the two countries. Why? It’s all about the benjamins, ‘natch:

India’s bilateral trade with China touched $13.6bn last year with the balance of trade reportedly favouring Delhi. The two sides were surprised with the growth in bilateral trade as it was a mere $1bn a decade ago. Experts say with this rate of growth, China may soon overtake the US as India’s largest trading partner. Indo-US trade stood at about $20bn in 2004. [BBC]

Bilateral investment is going up as well, and mainly in one direction:

Indian investments in China crossed $100m last year. On the other hand, China feels the Indian economy is not opening up to Chinese investments, which remain at a mere $20m. With the Indian side now favouring 100% foreign investment in the construction sector, Beijing hopes to increase its presence in India. [BBC]

With increased commerce comes … cheesy lines from politicians:

On a visit yesterday to India’s technology capital of Bangalore, Premier Wen urged Indian software companies to come to China and take advantage of his nation’s manufacturing capabilities. “Cooperation is just like two pagodas, one hardware and one software,” Wen said. “Combined, we [India and China] can take the leadership position in the world.” [CSM]

[Somebody please get Premier Wen some game! We’re dying here.]

Is this a good idea for India? Should it trust China even as it plans to build a jet fighter with Pakistan? How much does India in fact trust China? Well … Continue reading →

Remember how everybody in 7th grade would snicker in SexEd when the teacher would put a condom on a banana? Well, Indians are far thriftier than that. Instead of wasting a perfectly good condom on a banana, they use the condoms to weave a sari, and use just the banana as birth control. Well, kinda:

India’s western state of Maharashtra has told banana and sugar cane farmers they will not get water for irrigation if they have more than two children. The state’s water minister says the move will help curb the rising population and solve water shortages. The bill also requires all banana and sugar cane farmers, regardless of child numbers, to use drip or sprinkling systems of irrigation within five year or lose their supply. The bill is targeting the crops because of the large amount of water they require. The upper house of the state’s parliament has backed the bill and it will go to the lower house on Monday. If the bill is approved into law it will not apply to farmers who already have more than two children. Maharashtra is agriculturally one of India’s most advanced states but has suffered bad droughts … that have led to hundreds of farmers committing suicide. [Note: Quotes out of order from the original BBC article]

Would this have been half as funny if I had posted about sugar cane? Continue reading →