Depression now hits kids below 3

Depression in children as young as 3 real and not just a passing grumpy mood, according to provocative new research. The study is builled as the first to show major depression can be chronic even in very young children, contraty to the stereotype of the happy-go-lucky preschooler. Until fairly recently, “people really haven’t paid much attention to depressive disorders in children under the age of 6,” said lead author Dr.joan luby, a psychiatrist at Washington university in St. Louis “ they didn’t think it could happen because children under 6 were too emotionally immature to experience it”.

Previous research suggested that depression affects about 2 percent of US preschoolers, or roughly 1,60,000 youngsters, at one time or another. But it was unclear whether depression in preschoolers could be “they didn’t think it could happen because children under 6 were too emotionally immature to experience it”.

Chronic, as it can be in older children and adults. Lusby’s research team followed more than 200 preschoolers, ages 3 to 6, for up to two years, including 75 diagnosed with major depression. The children had up to four mental health exams during the study. Among initially depressed children, 64 percent were still depressed or had a recurrent episode of depression six month later, and 40 percent still had problems after two years. Overall, nearly 20 percent had persistent or recurrent depression at all four exams.

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N. Korea frees U.S. journalists

North Korea on Wednesday released the two American reporters who had been imprisoned in the country since March, issuing a “special pardon” following the surprise visit of the former U.S. President, Bill Clinton.

On Tuesday, Mr. Clinton met North Korean leader Kim Jong-I1, the first high-level visit from the U.S to Pyongyang in almost a decade, and made the case for the release of the journalists. In March, Laura Ling (32) and Euna Lee (36), reporters with American television channel Current TV, were detained by authorities when they were filming a report along the country’s border on the influx of North Korean refugees in to china. They were accused of illegally crossing the border and had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for “hostile acts” against the country. State media in North Korea reported that following meetings with Mr. Clinton, Mr. Kim issued a “special pardon” in keeping with the country’s “humanitarian and peace-loving policy.” But analysts have suggested the release had more to do with some sort of “package deal” North Korea struck with the U.S. to end its political and economic isolation – a suggestion Washington has strongly denied.

North Korea currently faces a range of sanctions, which were recently expanded by the United Nation after the country conducted a nuclear test and a series of missile tests in May. In April, North Korea quit the Six-Party Talks initiative set up by the U.S. along with China, Russia, Japan and South Korea to bring about denucleraisation and stability in the region.

On Wednesday, U.S. officials in Washington denied that any sort of political deal had been struck during Mr. Clinton’s visit. Officials said they had no role in planning the visit and described it as a “private mission”. They also rejected reports made by North Korean media on Tuesday that Mr. Clinton had carried a message for Mr. Kim from President Barack Obama. U.S. officials revealed how Mr. Clinton’s surprise visit – the first high-level visit from Washington since Mr. Clinton’s own Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang in 2000 – came about.

Officials said Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee had informed their parents in a telephone call that Pyongyang had specifically said it would consider their release only if Mr. Clinton made a trip as a peace envoy. On this occasion, Pyongyang kept up its end of the bargain. Less than 24 hours after he touched down in North Korea, Mr. Clinton left in his private jet in the early hours of Wednesday with the two reporters.

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Credit card users learn tough lessons

They are deep-pocketed people. Risk taking comes ever so naturally to them. These to combine to make these people a lethal force in the market place. Their entry and exit, not surprisingly, have left reverberations cross the market. Thanks to the credit card issuers one the foreign and new generation banks, spending has acquired a new dimension and definition among the Indian middle class. If there was a competitive rush to issue credit cards, there was also this unusual craze to hold them. Thus, there was a convergence of interest. This had indeed led to the emergence of card culture.

With the economy doing well and individual confidence running high, there was a perfect harmony of interest. When times were good, everything had worked. Alas, these are troubling times. Things have already started to turn sour. A sense of despair and a feeling of wronged have overtaken the credit card users as the issuers of the plastic money have begun to tighten their screws in an obvious attempt to cover their positions.

The meltdown

In the wake of global financial meltdown and following especially in the aftermath of the financial shenanigans at the Ramalinga Raju-founded Satyam, many credit card players have begun to take some really drastic step as a measure of abundant caution. Taking precaution is alright and welcome. What is incomprehensible, however, is the way they went about doing that. Many credit card users found themselves in a jam all of a sudden.

To their dismay, they have discovered that their limits have been slashed. This unannounced unilateral cut in their limits has thrown a spanner in their financial planning. While slashing the limits, the card issuers have overlooked the ‘disruptive’ implication of their move. What if a card user has already overshot the lowered credit limit? In this instance, the over used money has to be paid immediately. More often than not, the credit card issuers had gone overboard in luring clients by heavily advertising the roll over option or the minimum payment facility ends up paying very heavily in the form of interest charges (well over 35 percent now). In fact, the credit card players make huge money thanks to these unsuspecting clients who roll over their payments for a variety of reason. In the changed context, a sudden slash in the credit limits has caught the roll-over clients” in a tight spot. How could they suddenly find lump sum money to settle ‘overshot amount’ arising primarily because of lowering of their credit limits? If they don’t pay it immediately, they are charged additional interest on the so-called ‘overshot amount’ in the end, the card user is left paying usurious interest.

Damocles sword

With the proverbial sword hanging over their heads in the wake of recession in the U.S. and Europe, software professionals are already in a state of extreme uncertainty. In fact, the real estate boom and the growth in Indian car population are largely linked to the rise of Indian software industry as a global power house. As they struggle their way out of the troubled times, the out-of the-blue cut in their credit card limits has further compounded their misery. There is larger social implication here. What impact will the pile-up of financial worries on individuals (caused in parts by unhindered spending habits and partly due to economic slowdown induced actions) have on the society at large? It is reasonable to assume that an individual will realign his/her expenditure to the new situation where the incomes have shrunk and uncertainty has increased.

For a client who rolls over payment, cutting credit limit can prove very disruptive. In the name of competition, the credit card players had freely roped in all and sundry clients without any real scrutiny of the credit worthiness. And, they had also provided the clients unbelievable credit limits without any rhyme or reason. At the first hint of a trouble, these players have moved in fast to cut any possible loss. Their sheer size, give these players a kind of a tonic to indulge in strategies that have disruptive elements inbuilt. The moral of the story is: spend within the means.

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India –U.S. nuclear deal sent to Congress

As the U.S. reaffirmed its commitment to complete all steps of the civil nuclear deal with India, U.S. President Barack Obama transmitted to the Congress his first report on the landmark accord but the contents were not made public.

The White House while referring to Mr.Obama’s action also said the India-U.S. nuclear deal sealed during the previous Bush Administration opened up new pathways for partnership between the two countries on non-proliferation issue globally.

“Civil nuclear cooperation with India has opened new pathways for a strengthened U.S.-India partnership on non-proliferation issues globally”, National Security Council spokesman Benjamin Chang told PTI.

Mr. Benjamin said Mr. Obama transmitted on Tuesday to the U.S. Congress his first report on the civil nuclear deal.

This is the first report issued by Mr.Obama since the entry into force of the 123 Agreement in December last year.

“The report covers the period of October 4, 2008, to June 30, 2009. It provides an update on U.S. –India civil nuclear cooperation and developments that relate to India’s nuclear-related activities,” Mr. Obama wrote to the Chairman and ranking members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Mr.Obama wrote to them: “Classified information associated with these issues has been provided in a separate classified information associated with these issues has been provided in a separate classified annex.”

The report also includes updates on joint efforts by India and the US to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

This is the first report issued by Mr.Obama since the entry into force of the 123 Agreement in December last year.

The report is being offered pursuant to the reporting requirements of the Henry J Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 and the United States –India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Nonproliferation Enhancement Act of 2008, the latter being the approval legislation for the 123 Agreement.

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Nexus card allows for quick traffic processing

The NEXUS card, with an imbedded radio frequency identification chip allows expedited processing through dedicated traffic lanes between the U.S. and Canada, as well as airports and marine location.

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Space agreement to help launch ‘India-U.S.3.0’

New Delhi: Despite last-minute wrinkles, India is still looking to sign an end-use monitoring agreement to ease the sale of U.S. military hardware during the visit here of Hillary Clinton, but the highlight of Monday’s discussions between external affairs minister S.M. Krishna and the u.s.secretary of state will be the unveiling of a new strategic dialogue architecture and the singing of an agreement to facilitate the launch of u.s. satellites and satellites with U.S. components in Indian launch vehicles.

South block officials say the new dialogue architecture is intended to take indo-U.S. relations to a higher level, 3.0 to use Ms.Clinton’s phrase and will cover areas like nonproliferation, security, education, health and development. Although the U.S. side is keen on India making public the sites where U.S. supplied nuclear reactors will be located, a final decision has yet to be taken on this in south block.

The new technology safeguards agreement (TSA) to be signed on Monday will cover launches involving satellites owned by U.S. government or academic institutions or by third country space agencies and universities which have U.S. equipment on board. Since the components and satellites will have to be integrated with ISRO’s launch vehicles, the TSA will provide for monitoring by the U.S. side to ensure against diversion or misuse of equipment.

In March 2006, frontline reported that the U.S. was insisting on “a full-fledged TSA, which included restrictive movement of the payload, constant overseeing presence of U.S. escorts, and impermeable firewalls between civil and military payloads”. According to ISRO officials, the final text of the agreement to be signed follows the standard template the U.S. negotiates with all countries, “its provisions are essentially driven by U.S. law and India did not have much flexibility during its negotiations,” an official told the Hindu.

The agreement to be signed is apparently an umbrella one similar to the a TSA that china an the U.S. signed-with individual licensing by the state department likely dispensed with, but India will not yet be able to enter the lucreative market for the launch of U.S. commercial satellites or third country commercial satellites with U.S. components till a separate commercial space launch agreement (CSLA) is signed. “The TSA is a necessary but not sufficient condition for commercial launches,” said an ISRO official. India and the U.S. have been working on the draft of a CSLA for some time now but there are still major differences between the two sides.

Even after a CSLA, however, ISRO will not be able to launch U.S. communications satellites since this figure in the U.S. munitions list and require separate certification from the state department. A second agreement will also be signed by Mr. Krishna and Ms. Clinton on a framework for “robust result-oriented cooperation” in science and technology for “collaborative research and its commercialization.”

Ministry of external affairs officials says this on the October 2005 science and technology cooperation agreement.

The next steps in strategic partnership of January 2004 envisaged an agreement to allow for the Indian launch of all U.S. licensed satellites and third country satellites with controlled U.S. items on board but despite the absence of this, the NSSP was declared “concluded” in July 2005.

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Hillary not to visit Pakistan

US secretary of State Hillary Clinton has no plans to visit Pakistan and Afghanistan during her upcoming trip to India and Thailand, the American state department has said.

“I am sure that she will visit Afghanistan and Pakistan, but not on this visit. It is just to India and Thailand,” State department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters at his daily press briefing.

It is believed that certain quarters in the State Department, friends of Pakistan in the US and Islamabad itself wanted Clinton to make a stopover in Pakistan during her trip to India later this week.

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U.S. budget deficit tops $1 trillion

The U.S. federal budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time ever and could grow to nearly $2 trillion by this fall, intensifying fears of higher interest rates, inflation and the strength of the dollar.

The deficit has been widened by the huge sum the government has spent to ease the recession, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. The cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also is a major factor.

The soaring deficit is making Chinese and other foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could also force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make U.S. debt attractive longer term.

“These are mind-boggling numbers,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University. “Our foreign investors from China and elsewhere are starting to have concerns about not only the value of the dollar but how safe their investments will be in the long run.”

The Treasury Department said on Monday the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to $1.09 trillion. The administration forecasts that the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.84 trillion in October.

Government spending is on the rise to address the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and an unemployment rate that has climbed to 9.5 per cent.

Congress has already approved a $700- billion financial bailout for banks, automakers and other sectors, and a $787-billion economic stimulus package to try to jump-start a recovery. Outlays through the first nine months of this budget year total $2.67 trillion, up 20.5 per cent from the same period a year ago.

There is growing talk among some. Obama administration officials that a second round of stimulus may eventually be necessary.

That has many Republicans and deficit hawks worried that the U.S could be setting itself up for more financial pain down the road if interest rates and inflation surge. They also are raising alarms about additional spending the administration is proposing, including its plan to reform health care.

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have said the U.S. is committed to bringing down the deficits once the economy and financial sector recover.

The Obama administration has set a goal of cutting the deficit in half by the end of this first term in office.

In the meantime, the U.S. debt now stands at $11.5 trillion. Interest payments on the debt cost $452 billion last year – the largest federal spending category after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defence.

The overall debt is now slightly more than 80 percent of the annual output of the entire U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product.

History shows the dangers of assuming too soon that economic downturns have ended.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt made that mistake in 1936. Believing the Depression largely over, he sought to reduce public spending and to balance the federal budget, but that undermined a fragile recovery, pushing the economy back under water in 1937.

Mr. Geithner travels later this week to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where he is expected to face question about the U.S. deficit. As he did during a visit to China last month, Mr.Geithner will try to reassure investors in West Asia that their U.S. holdings are safe from a calamitous bout of inflation.

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