Afghans elect their president tomorrow with Karzai as favorite

Kabul, 19 Aug 2009. - Afghanistan held tomorrow, Thursday, the second presidential election since the U.S. invasion and the fall late 2001 the Taliban regime, who have called for a boycott and today have become sowing campaign of violence with assault to a bank in Kabul and an assassination attempt in Kandahar.
According to the Afghan Interior Ministry, the assault to the bank was resolved with the death of three insurgents at the hands of police, three of whose officers had three wounded.
In addition, a district chief and a tribal leader died and another person was injured by an exploding bomb their vehicle in the southern province of Kandahar, said a police source told Efe.
During the campaign, the Taliban have stepped up attacks on both foreign forces as Afghan authorities, in an attempt to deter at 17 million Afghans called to the polls tomorrow to elect a president and members of provincial councils.
To counter the Taliban boycott and "ensure broad participation" elections, the Afghan government did not hesitate now, when we celebrate Independence Day, to adopt censorship by prohibiting the dissemination of news about "any incident of violence" during voting hours.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai (an ethnic Pashtun majority in the country), the favorites according to a survey by the American Institute IRI, which promises a second round of the Tajik Abdullah Abdullah, former foreign minister and former deputy commander of the Afghan who led the anti-Taliban resistance and was killed days before the 11-S, Ahmed Shah Massoud.
According to the poll, the big surprise of the elections could be given by the Hazara (Shia Muslim ethnic group located primarily in eastern Afghanistan) Ramazan Bashardost, who is running from a simple tent outside parliament and in the third figure of intent vote, ahead of former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani.
Of the 41 original candidates, two of them women, a dozen have gone to support Karzai, who at the last minute has also attracted the support of the Uzbek Rashid Dostum, a controversial leader of the northern Afghan accused of war crimes and betraying all his former partners.
With some 100,000 soldiers of NATO or U.S. committed to ensuring a safe environment for weeks leading vote-in special operations were carried out in the Taliban strongholds in the southern province of Helmand, security is the great challenge of this election.
Karzai seeks reelection to a subject people increasingly to higher levels of violence, more than 2,100 civilians killed in military action in 2008 - and it remains among the poorest in the world, with one third of the population (7.3 million) threatened by hunger, as reported today Oxfam.
Oxfam joined critical voices against the corruption that has characterized the mandate of Karzai, who has prevented aid gets to its rightful recipients, and demanded "major reforms" to the future government to prevent further squandering funds.
Opponents of Afghan President also questioned the policy of alliances and its collusion with various sectors to ensure power, particularly with the reviled Dostum but also with other Afghan leaders, including Mohammed Fahim and Ismail Khan.
The BBC helped yesterday, Tuesday, to suspicions of fraud to disseminate its own investigation found that attempts to sell hundreds of voter cards and purchasing support for certain candidates.
"There has been traditional fraud in Afghanistan and this year there will be audits to detect it. The Afghan election commission has international support and I know that your preparation for the elections, if not flawless, stays close, "said Efe Maria Espinosa, the observation mission of the EU.
Analysts point out that after almost eight years of effort in Afghanistan, the international community can not afford failed elections and is willing to be benevolent to the Afghan electoral process, which takes place without any census.
Bashardost said he did not doubt that it has done everything possible to encourage Karzai, with induction attempts to vote as the recent publication of the U.S. Institute survey that gives the victor.
Until September 3 will not be known the provisional results of the election, which shall be final 17. If you had to hold a second round, this would be in October

NGOs denounce Indian government indifference to defend their case against Novartis

New Delhi, 15 Jan 2007. - The trial pitting the Swiss drugmaker Novartis with the Indian government to prevent patenting a drug for leukemia was resumed today in Chennai (South) amid criticism from NGOs, who reported EFE disinterest of the Indian government to defend the case.
The sessions were resumed today in the High Court of Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and was preceded yesterday of new occurrences of several NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders, to require Novartis to withdraw its lawsuit against the Indian government .
In the room, "while Novartis was challenging the Indian Constitution, there was no government expert to refute their arguments, other than a local attorney who is conducting a serious defense," said Gopa Kumar EFE, the NGO Center for Trade and Development India (CDTI, an acronym in English).
For its part, the pharmaceutical company issued a statement that hailed the beginning of the new view as an opportunity to "gain clarity on the status of intellectual property and patents assurance" in India.
"The new view has started today, but the court only heard the arguments of the parties. Although it is impossible to predict what will happen, tomorrow will be important for the development of the case, "he told Reuters from Mumbai a company spokesman.
Novartis has claimed a section of Indian law prohibits the patenting of drugs that are not strictly innovations, a clause that the Government of New Delhi introduced years ago as a result of pressure from activist groups.
The drug for which the Swiss company decided to go to court is the "Glivec", a drug used to treat a type of leukemia and in India is manufactured as a generic.
According to the company, patents are crucial to create incentives for research and development of new and better medicines.
However, Novartis's request has raised strong opposition from organizations such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF), who have warned that if the court rules in favor of Swiss pharmaceutical giant, will be easier for other companies to obtain patents for drugs now made ​​generically and those who are treated many people in the Third World.
From Chennai, the spokesman was pessimistic CDTI for the development of the eye and said that it was "strange" absence of government representatives qualified to defend the law.
"If the government is still not properly defend this case will be patients who will lose," lamented the spokesman.
Kumar's view is similar to the executive director of Oxfam International, Jeremy Hobbs, who said yesterday in a statement that, if a victory for the company, many drugs will be patented "at prices unaffordable for poor people."
The NDTV television network picked up today for a man with leukemia in the northern region of Bihar, which pays 8,000 rupees (about 135 euros) per month for their treatment based on generic, a figure that contrasts with the 120,000 rupees (about 2,100 euros) per month would cost the drug from Novartis.
India, where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, is one of the few developing countries able to produce quality essential medicines, and these drugs are among the cheapest in the world.
A ruling in favor of Novartis would affect the price increase of about 9,000 drugs, according to NDTV.
In a statement, the company had tried to defend against the charges, ensuring that the "Glivec" is offered free to 99 percent of Indian patients who need it, while generic versions reach in India "a price about 4.5 times higher than the average annual salary. "