Obama says will not change nuclear deal with India: report

US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he would not seek changes in a controversial nuclear deal with India and hoped it would be finalised by year-end, a magazine reported on Saturday.

“The existing agreement effectively balanced a range of important issues — from our strategic relationship with India to our non-proliferation concerns to India’s energy needs,” Obama was quoted as saying by the weekly Outlook news magazine.

“I am therefore reluctant to seek changes,” he said in the interview. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W. Bush had in 2005 unveiled the agreement which if finalised will allow India in to the fold of global nuclear commerce after having been shut out for decades.

Singh argues the pact is crucial for India’s energy security and continued strong economic growth.

But the Indian government’s left-wing allies who are staunchly opposed to the agreement last week withdrew their support over the issue.

The government will now face a confidence vote on July 22. Despite the political opposition, Singh’s government moved forward on an agreement subjecting the country’s civilian nuclear sites to international controls for the first time.

An approval by the UN atomic agency International Atomic Energy (IAEA) of the draft agreement is one of the several conditions India must fulfil to clinch the accord, apart from getting the nod from the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

“A final judgement on the deal negotiated by the Indian and US governments … must await the IAEA’s approval of a safeguards agreement with India and changes to be agreed by the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” Obama was quoted as saying.

“At that point, the US Congress will decide whether to approve the agreement. I continue to hope this process can be concluded before the end of the year,” Obama said.

Analysts have previously said that the agreement may face hurdles in finalising the agreement once Bush’s administration ends in January.

Courtesy :- Economic Times

Indian Heenal Raichura is Britain’s youngest doctor

At the age of 22, Indian-origin Heenal Raichura has qualified to become Britain’s youngest doctor and is all set to practice medicine.

Daughter of Nalin and Shobhna Raichura, Heenal was accepted into university to study medicine in 2002 when she was 16. Six years later she has passed her degree and is all set to start work at University College London Hospital where she hopes to become a surgeon.

Heenal said: “It’s quite a surreal feeling to actually, finally, become a doctor after six years of a degree. To finally come out at the end and say, ‘I’m a doctor’, my childhood dream, is an indescribable feeling.

“… My parents tell stories about how I would come over and put my head against their chest because I didn’t have a stethoscope to play with. I was always interested in trying to figure out what was going wrong with the body.”

Her proud father Nalin, 65, said: “She encountered immense difficulty in finding universities that would accept her at the age of 16 because the minimum age at entry is 17 years 6 months.”

She was offered a place to study medicine at St George’s University in London where she six years later she has graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree. She received her degree at a presentation ceremony in June and is believed to be Britain’s youngest doctor.

On top of the normal five years of medical study Heenal also spent an extra year to get a degree in Anatomy and Developmental Biology from the University College of London.

She lives with parents, who run a wholesale business her and 25-year-old sister Sonia.

Courtesy :- Economic Times