“For 53 years since it was imposed in this region, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act has helped soldiers get away with murder...and everyone seems to be deciding on life and death,” says Imphal-based rights activist Babloo Loitongbam.Figures collated from the home departments and human rights organisations in the Northeast say counter-insurgency operations claimed at least 38,000 militants and civilians during the past five decades.But armed forces officials swear by the AFSPA. “This is like a bullet-proof vest for soldiers going to war. Any Act that ensures a certain kind of insulation for a soldier in a conflict situation is necessary. Even with the Act, we have allowed civil law to take over wherever we have crossed the line,” says Assam Rifles Director General Lt Gen K.S. Yadava.He claims greater social awareness and more representation of locals in the armed forces have helped reduce alleged human rights violation.“It (the Act) is doing nothing but promoting gun culture and war-mongering,” says Irom Sharmila Chanu, who has been on hunger strike since 2000 for the repealing of the Act.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Drinking tea ‘increases arthritis risk’
LONDON - Bad news for tea-lovers. Your favourite drink increases the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, says a new study.The finding is based on the study of more than 76,000 women. It showed that consuming tea raised the risk while drinking coffee had no impact.Researchers found that tea-lovers who enjoyed more than four cups a day had the highest risk - being 78 per cent more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those who drank none.But drinking any amount of tea increased the chance by 40 per cent, compared with people who never drank tea.Professor Christopher Collins, from Georgetown University Medical Centre in the US, said he was surprised by the result of the study.“We set out to determine whether tea or coffee consumption, or the method of preparation of the drinks was associated with an increased risk of (rheumatoid arthritis],” the Scotsman quoted him as saying.“It is surprising that we saw such differences in results between tea and coffee drinkers. This does make us wonder what it is in tea, or in the method of preparation of tea, that causes the significant increase in risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis,” he added.The findings were presented at the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome. (ANI)
