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Over 2 ,000 dele~ates to attend annual diaspora meet

Over 2,000 non- resident lndians (NRJs) and people of lnclian origin (PlOs) frorn all ac ross the wor.ld attending the 12th eclition of di e annual cliaspora meet currently on in New Delhi.

The focus of the three-day event this year is on engaging the youdi diaspora in clifferem sectors.

" The event is expected to open new horizons of a strong network of young ove rseas Incliaos tO contribute to Inclia's engagement with youth in all sectors," :rvHnister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said.

The event is organised every year Jan 7-9 by the ministry of overseas Indian affa irs to mark the return of i'v1a.hacma Gandhi to Inclia from South Africa. This is an effort to connect with die nearly 25 million lnclian cliaspora living across d1e g lobe.

The 11 d1 edition of the annual convention was held in Kochi in partnership with the Kerala government.

Malaysian Minister of Natural Resource and Enviro(ll11ent Damk Seri G Palan ivel is the chief guest.

According to Ravi, the purpose of the annual event c.tlled "Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) " i s co have a meaningful interaction with overseas Inclians in order to address their issues and concerns.

Several states as well as the central government also p itching for investments frorn lnclian d iaspora participating at the rneet. 26

Chief ministers of clifferent states incl uding Gujarat Chief Minister Narenclra Mocli, Kerala Chief 1viin.ister Oommen Chandy, Harya.na Chi ef Minister Bhupinder Singh Hoocla, Goa Chief Minister Manohan Pa11:i.kar and Himacl,al Chief :Minister Virbhadra Sing h are scheduled co address the meet and seek investments for their respective states.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry (FICCI) is coorclinating and ma nagi ng the evenr, while the federal ministry of sports and youd1 affairs i s the partner ministry.

There will be a concurrent exhibition with participation frorn the state governments, corporates, financial institutions and nongovernment o rganisations at rhe event.

AAP's anti - graft promise difficult goa l to achieve:

American schola r

The AAP's promise to sweep away corruption from the Indian political system is a "difficul t" goal to achieve, says American political scientist John EcheverriGem. F ighting corruption needs stronger legislative cools, and just b y forming a government in Delhi, rbeAam Aadmi Party snot likely to reduce corruption, he said. Echeverri-Gent, associate professor at University of Virg in ia, presented his v iews abom dose association of the economy, business and die lnclian political system during a session "The Economy, Business and India's 2014 Parliamentary Elections" i n New Delhi.

"Everyone has this question - will the broom of AAP sweep corrnp tio n from di.is nation? In all likelihood, AAP, by forming a government, is not like.ly to reduce corruption," said d1ewelJ known public policy professor to a discerning auclience.

"They might do less d1ao what we are hoping. It is because until A.AP plays a big role in the (national) legislature, such goals are difficult to achieve," Echeverri- Gent added

He was quick to clarify diat his statement was based on his observations till now. "A.AP has surprised all of us by making a bacl,•door entry and heading straight to the front row. But how it performs in die general elections i s something to watch out for. Though, I personally feel d1ey won't win more man 50 seats," he added.

Ecbeverci- Geut's expertise and understanclin g about India's fragmented politics comes from his well- researched books The State and the Poor: Pt1blic Polity a11d Pofitict1I Develop111ent in .India ,md the United States, and EconoJJ1ic Rifo,w in Three Giants: US Foreign Policy and the USSR, China ,md llldia, which he c.o-eclited

His presentation was a gist of a new book, Polities of Markets: Political Econo1t{Y of fodia'.r F.inanciai Market De1;elop111e11t in Co111parative Persperti11e, he is currently working on.

Hearing bis obse r vations was author and political commentator Surjit S. Bhalla, who has authored books like Devaluing to P,-osperi(-)1 : Nfis"iig11ed Cflrremies ,md Th eir GrmJJth Comeq11e11ce.r and I!l1"gine There's ]Vo

Co1mhy: Poverty Tneq11aliry and Growth in the Era of Globalis,1tion.

While Bhalla agreed with most of the vis i ting professor's argrnuents, be strongly felt the 2014 elections will be no less d1an a "mega election".

"The middJe class has become sizabl e in India and hence they would come out and vote fo r parties w ith good economic governance. lf you have observed, parties with good performance have been getting great respon se from people," said Bhalla.

"So, this will be an election fought on economic policies and not on social or political po licies," he added, sa,ing parties doing much on di e economic front will win.

With the AAP annorn1cing it will c o n test the Lok Sabha polls from 20 states, these political scientists felt t he trend of "multiparty" and "fragmented system" will continue to cloud Indian politica.l scene

''It i s bard to believe the AAP will roll out ocher poli tical parties in a day and take over," said Bhalla.

While Echev erri- Gent felt the media was too obsessed widi die AAP phenomena, he felt the trend of multi -fragmented - party system was here to stay in India for a longer

Fighting cancer with plant molecules : Indian scientists

show the way

What do tea, turmeric and broccoli have in comm on? A lot, when it come~ to a n arsenal of certain chemicals found in d1em, called phytocheniicals, that can be harnessed to combat cancer therapy sideeffecrs in synergy with conventional anticancer drugs.

Chemotherapy is fraught with sideeffecrs. ow Indian sciemisrs have show n how certain namraliy-occmring plant chemicals when used in combination with routine cancer drugs actually lower the dosage of the medicatio n, thereby minimising the after-effects.

Moreover, phytocbemicals (plant chem icals) may increase the efficiency of the drugs, s aid l'vladhrnnita Roy, head of the Environmental Carcinogenesis and Toxicolog)' Deparm1ent at Chirtaranjan National Cancer lastimte (CNCl ) in Kolkata, who led the smdy.

"Our data suggest that treatment of cells wid1 these ph)'tochemicals in conjunction witl1 chemod1erapemic drugs resul ted in the same extent of cell killing at a much lower concentration of the drug," Roy told IANS

Some examples of the plane-derived chemicals include cw:cuJnin found in nu:meric, polyphenol s found in tea - both !:,>reen and black - and isothiocyanates diar are common in cauliflowers, cabbages, broccoli and brussels sprouts, among others.

These agencs, in tandem w id1 anti-cance r drugs, Roy explained, reduce the levels of certain proteins (called mmour markers) wbich are elevated in cancer. This, in turn, sensitises die deacliy cancer cells to opt for suic ide - a process called apoptosis.

Besides fighti ng cancer, there is another side to d1ese nanu:al mol ecules: Phytochemicals can also play a key role in cancer prevention.

Wirb arsenic in gronndwarer posing a " big problem'' in West Ben gal, prolonged exposure to d1e toxic substance may lead to cancer by damaging the DNA he reditary molecule.

Curcrnnin has been shown to be particularly beneficial in this aspect.

" These phycochemi cals showed their efficiency to counter D r A damage caused by arsenic. Tbis DNA damage initiates the process o f cancer development; therefore reduction of such damage may pa~re a way to cancer prevention. Apart from this, phycochemicals also p lay a role in repair of DNA damage. We conducted a fie ld study where clltcumin has been found ro be of great value in combating d1e problem with arsenic ar d1e genetic level," said Roy

This forthers the fact tbar the traditional Indian diet, encompassing a w ide range of vegetables, fruit and spices, scores over the Western approach co diet, said cancer scientist Sukta Das, member of the Cancer foundation of 1ndia.

Anod1er facet of these phytochemicals is tha t they are non- toxic to the human body,

According co CNCI director Jaydip Biswas, since the treatment proto cols for cancer are not only expensive bm also cause severe side-effects, "plant derived products with anti-cancer potential may come to the rescue. They may improve d1e efficacy of chemotherapy and radiod1erapy"

The next step of d1e preliminary study, said Biswas, would be to go for "furd1er c linical research" which is necessary to ''prove rhe role of phycochemicals. Once established it will o pen a new avenue (for cancer preventio n and treatn1ent)n

Priyanka attends Congress meeting, triggers talk of bigge r role

Pciyanka Vadrn, sister of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, attended a meeting of senior parry leaders at his house in early Januar y, triggering speculation of her greater involvement in the parry ahead of d1e general elections.

The meeting at Rahul Gandhi's 12 Tughlak Lane residence was held as the party is making preparations for the All India Congress Committee (A ICC) meeting later this month.

There is speculation tliat Rahul ~ndhi could be declared d1e party's prime ministerial candidate at the meeting.

Parry sources said seve ral members o f the Congress election coordination committee, including parry president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Al1med Patel, union minister Jai.ram Ramesh, general secretaries Madhusudan Mistry and Janardan Dwivedi and media department incharge Ajay :M aken, were also present at the meeting.

It was not clear if Rahu l Gandhi was present.

Looking after the constituencies of her brother (Amed1i) and mother (Rae Bareli), Priyanka Vadra, who is considered charismatic by the parry rank and file, is a year you nger to her brother and will turn 42 o nJan 12.

Her presence at d1e meeting created a buzz in party circles, wid1 many speculating whether she would take an active r <>le in the campaign for me Lok Sabha e lections to be held in April-May.

The parry, however, down - pl ayed Priyan ka's presence at the meeting. Dwivedi told reporters that Pri yan ka Vadra was a member of an important political fanul y

"Even if she is nor seen taking part in active politics, she is an active member o f the Indian National Congress," he said.

"She has her own views on political issues and tall{s to party workers from time to time. If on some issue, she has talked to some leaders, what is there to be s urprised about? What is new in chis," he said. t~ Co n gress leader, nor wishing to be identified, told JANS dm Priyanka joi ned d1e meeting towards the end.

He said d1e meeting v,,as called to discuss the tour pr<>grammes o f Rahul and Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress, which suffered heavily in the recentl y-held assembly poUs, is facing a stiff challenge from die Bharatiya Janata Par ty, and the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party has added to the complications.

Revived Nalanda University to start functioning by February- end

The revived Nalanda University, an international centre of learning coming up in Bihar, is taking a small but p ositive step towards law1ching operations from later this year.

The first batch of students, faculty and staff are to move by February-end to Rajgir, abom IOO km from Pama, adjacent to where the sprawling international nniversity is set to come up.

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'By tbe end of Febrnary we are moving to Rajgii: We are taking hotels nearby, ei,."J)loring all options," an official source cold IANS.

Nalancla Unive rsi ty at present has 40 students or Nalanda fellows. Along w ith the faculty and staff, they would operate out of d1e temporary campus till the acmal structure comes up.

" The Bihar govemmem has offered us use of its health deparrn1ent office. The Bihar chief minister (Ni tish Kumar) is personally monitoring d1e project;' the source added.

The university, an initiative of d1e lndian government and die 18 East Asia Sunmut (EAS) countries, is corning up around 12 km from d1e nuns of its ancient namesake thar was fl o cked by thousands of scholars and clunkers from across tbe world till the 12th centw.j. ] twas d1en destroyed by an invading Turkish army of Bakhtiyar Klulji, a general of Qutbuddin Aibak. ft was set on fire by d1e invaders and the blaze in d1e huge library is believed to have raged for several days.

An around eight-km boundary wall marks the 446-acre campus where tl1e modern centre of exceUence is to come up.

The residential univetsiry, due to be completed by 2020, is to bave seven schools - all for postgraduate and doctorate smdents.

Tbe university, which bas Nobel lallteate A martya Sen as its chairperson, is to stare its first academic session from d1is year. The first batch of students would be enrolled for rwo postg.raduate programmes in history and ecology and environmental studies.

Last May, die Nalanda board had approved the architecnu:al plan of d1e proposed Ulliversity.

"The government is fast-tracking the university," said d1e sollfce. The Nalanda Univers ity (Amendment) Bill 2013 was introduced in die Raj ya Sabba on Sep 5, 2013, b y the external affairs ministr)' and wa,s referred to a parliamentary standing committee. The committee's r eport was cabled in die Raj ya Sabha during the December winter session of parliament

The deparm1ent of expenditure has cleared the Rs.2,7 00 crore cost for the L1niversity to be spent over 10 years. TI1e approval of the cabinet committee on economic affairs is n ow being sought.

The architectural desig n approved for the new university has proposed a massive lake at die centre of the campus. The library, a huge dome -shaped srrucrure, would come up in die middle o f the lake and be half submerged.

China has already comnurted $1 m illion for tbe project, Singapore bas pledged $5- 6 million and Australia about $1 million Australian dollars. Ali the funds bave been committed on a voluntary basis.

During !us trip to Brunei in October, Prime 1\iunister Manmohan Singh inked agreements witl1 seve n RAS countries that have pledged their commitment co the Nalanda University project.

Tbe memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed wim Ausrralia, Cambodia, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Laos and Myanmar. India signed the Mou wid1 China during d1e prime minster's visit to Beijin g in ovember.

JANS