Lahore, Pakistan :- President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday became the first President to donate all his body organs, after signing a landmark bill to regulate transplant of human organs in the country. The President made the announcement of “donating his whole body” after his life, as he inked the document in a ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr, also attended among others by Federal Ministers and health experts.

President Zardari said he took the decision in light of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s philosophy of living for others. The President said Pakistan was singled out in the world community due to the notorious trade of organ transplant of body organs and urged the Parliament and the doctors to create awareness about the issue among the masses. He asked the doctor’s community to inform the government in case of any violation and help save precious lives.

“No law can be effective without people’s support,” the President said and sought the help of the masses in countering the illegal trade.
The law that now makes sale and unauthorised transplant of body organs punishable with up to 10 years in prison provides for a regulatory mechanism, including a high-level federal monitoring authority and evaluation committees, for the removal, storage and transplantation of human organs and tissues for therapeutic purposes.

The President said by using modern technology, Pakistan can be made a better place to live in and appreciated the political consensus evolved to make the legislation a success.

The bill states that any living donor, who is not less than 18 years of age, may voluntarily donate any organ or tissue of his body during his lifetime to another living person genetically and legally related. The other person must be a close blood relative of the donor and the donation of an organ or a part or tissue by a person for therapeutic purposes shall be regulated in the manner as may be prescribed.

The bill also provides for donation to be effective after death if a person aged at least 18 years, authorizes any medical institution or hospital approved by a 10-member monitory authority headed by the health minister and including heads of organizations of the medical profession and specialists.

It says transplants and removal of human organs shall only be carried out by recognized professionals after a written certification from an evaluation committee. The bill prescribes an imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine of up to one million rupees for those involved in the removal and human organs without the prescribed authority as well as their sale. Contravention of other provisions of the law will be punishable with up to three years of imprisonment or with a fine of up to Rs 300,000, or with both.
A medical practitioner convicted for unauthorized removal of human organs for transplant will also be liable to ‘appropriate action’ by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, including removal from its register for three years for the first offence and permanently for the subsequent offence.

The bill further states that any person, who is not less than 18 years of age, may donate any of his organs or tissues for transplantation before his death – after a written authorization duly signed and verified by the respective evaluation committee – and authorize any medical institution or hospital duly approved by the monitoring authority for this purpose.
The evaluation committee, to comprise of a surgical specialist, a medical specialist, a transplant specialist, a nephrologist and a neurophysician and local notables having a good record of social service, would be notified by the federal government soon after the passage of the bill.

The monitoring authority would be headed by the health minister and consist of the health secretary as secretary of the authority. Members of the authority would include the Pakistan Army surgeon general, the Transplantation Society of Pakistan president, the Pakistan Medical Research Council executive director, the Ophthalmological Society of Pakistan president, the Pakistan Medical Association of Pakistan president, the Pakistan Society of Gastroenterology president, a surgical transplant specialist and any other important medical specialists whom the government may nominate as members.

Anti-government protesters arrived in Bangkok on Saturday to prepare for what they called a “million-man march,” aiming to paralyse the capital and topple the government which they say is a front for unelected elites.
Buses and trucks, carrying protesters, heading for Bangkok from the countryside, reached the capital’s central street of Ratchadamnoen Klang on Saturday where they set up tents and a makeshift stage ahead of the main rally on Sunday.
Protesters said the government should dissolve the Parliament and call for fresh elections.
The “red-shirts” leaders said they would stay in Bangkok for at least seven days, aiming to force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call an election that Thaksin’s allies would be well placed to win.

Tamilnadu New Assembly Building, German architect GMP has won the provincial government of Tamil Nadu’s international invitation to tender for the design of the new state parliament building in Chennai. The project is due to be completed by 2010.

GMP is a united venture of Meinhard von Gerkan and Volkwin Marg, who have planned and realized buildings in almost all major cities in Germany. The duo is famous worldwide for their magnificent designs in countries like Russia and China.

The design of the parliament building takes account of the state’s cultural traditions as well as the urban context of the city of Chennai. With its highly visible dome, the design echoes the structural features of Dravidian temple complexes in south India.

The geometry of the complex’s structure is derived from the traditional, round chakra or mandala motif, consisting of circles of various sizes inscribed in 36 isosceles triangles. These basic shapes make up the geometrical structure of the entire design in both ground plan and elevation.

The internal plan features courtyard architecture with five round interior courts that are functionally differentiated, creating public, semi-public and also secure internal areas.

The spacious Citizens’ Forum on the south side of the building is created by the largest circle in the mandala. It is both the opening towards the city and the entrance area, with public functional areas.

The three other round courtyards in the interior of the building house the Assembly Hall, the Legislative Assembly Chamber and the Convention Hall.

The state parliament rests on a battered plinth and is landscaped all round. The glass dome over the Assembly Hall marks the seat of the Tamil parliament.

The uproar in the Indian parliament continued today, while the membership of some seven MPAs has been suspended for tearing copies of the Women’s Reservation bill on Monday in the Rajya Sabha, upper house of Indian parliament, when it was tabled in the House.
The bill seeks to provide 33 percent reservation to women in Parliament and state legislatures. Of those suspended 4 belonged to Samajwadi Party (SP) 2 to JUD and one an independent. The session has been adjourned till 2:00pm.
On the other hand, SP’s chief Mulayam Singh Yadav maintained that Congress government has not taken any of the ally parties in confidence regarding the bill. Meanwhile, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad, and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to demand amendments in the bill.

Prime Minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gilani will address the nation today evening at 7:00 PM to take the nation into confidence over the proposed constitutional amendments the government is going to introduce in the Parliament.
In his address, the PM will explain the nation of the progress of Parliament’s Constitutional Reforms Committee (CRC).
PM will address the nation on first Friday of every month on radio to take masses into confidence regarding the polices of the government. The reason for the radio address is that people who don’t afford TV can also hear his speech. American President Barrack Obama also addresses the American nation at the start of every month.

Try to avoid driving to India Gate this week.

A number of important events scheduled in the coming days around the area is likely to increase traffic flow considerably, which translates to sizeable traffic jams.

There’s the Hockey World Cup at the National Stadium from February 28 to March 13. And on February 25, India and Pakistan will hold secretary level talks at Hyderabad House.

And every day barring the weekend, Parliament is in session, with its regular VIP movements, which will keep our vehicles standing stock still till the VIP has passed by. Invariably there will be protest rallies too, clogging up traffic for long distances.

With the Railway Budget scheduled for Wednesday and the annual Budget for Friday, attendance in Parliament is likely to be higher than usual, and VIP movements will be more frequent.

“We will make adequate arrangements to smoothen traffic,” said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

Pakistan News: Admitting flaws in the incumbent government, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said, “ The country do not afford holdong of mid-term polls, adding that, all the outstanding issued would be resolved only if the democratic set up would be continued”.
Addressing a gathering at Aiwan-e-Iqbal, the PM said, “Beauty of democracy lies in difference of opinion, and the future of country depended on the continuation of democracy”. He maintained that all the political parties were united in the country and added that problems did not call for reversal of everything. He said politics was not a film industry where faces change, and added that same faces would come in forefront if the mid-term polls were held. The PM said that it is President’s constitutional right to address the parliament and added that it would be a great injustice to compare a dictator with a democratic government. He noted that reconciliatory politics was Benazir Bhutto’s vision.
He said that good governance meant that the judiciary should dispense justice to the masses and did not mean that the PM should deliver. He asserted that the provincial governments were as much accountable in this regard. The PM noted that terrorism topped all the big challenges facing the country. He hailed the army, saying that the armed forces are extending sacrifices to save future of the country.

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that his government was ready to discuss all issues, including the decision to initiate talks with Pakistan, in parliament.

“We are ready to discuss all issues in parliament,” he told reporters when asked about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) demand for explanation from the government in parliament on why it had decided on foreign secretary-level talks with Islamabad when alleged terrorism from across the border had not stopped.

Manmohan attended a meeting of leaders of political parties, convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, to discuss issues relating to the forthcoming budget session of parliament commencing from Monday.

President Pratibha Patil will address the joint sitting of both houses of parliament. Indian general budget for 2010-11 will be presented on February 26.

NEW YORK: Recent cyber attacks on Google and other American corporations have been traced to a top Chinese university as well as a school with ties to the Chinese miliary, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing people involved in the investigation.

Those people told the Times that the Chinese schools involved are Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School. They said the attacks may have started as early as April 2009 — earlier than previously thought.

According to the report, investigators believe there is evidence suggesting a link to a computer science class at the vocational school taught by a Ukrainian professor.

Google jolted U.S.-China ties with its Jan. 12 announcement that it had faced a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” in mid-December, allegedly from inside China.

More than 20 other companies were also targeted, though Google said a primary target was dissidents’ email accounts.

Jill Hazelbaker, Google’s director of corporate communications said that the company’s investigation is ongoing, but otherwise declined to comment.

The Chinese schools were not immediately available for comment, but the Times said they had not heard that American investigators had traced the Google attacks to their campuses.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka : Sri Lankan Opposition Coalition Splits, Sri Lanka’s grand opposition coalition has split just weeks after its defeated presidential candidate and former army chief was detained on allegations of sedition.
Opposition official Vijitha Herath says that the coalition broke up after its main partner United National Party decided to go it alone in the April 8 parliamentary poll.
The split is likely to further weaken the opposition prospects to stall President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s bid to control Parliament after his resounding presidential re-election last month.
Herath says other opposition parties plan to form a new front with Gen. Sarath Fonseka to face the election.