Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone. Let's celebrate this new year of 2013 with joy and bliss. After all, we all "survived" the 2012 end-of -the-world. Continue reading this blog and provide more ideas and comments.Thank You!

North Korea's Third Probable Nuclear Test

North Korea is prepping itself to embrace the third trial of its nuclear capability. Or that is what the United States intelligence unit, if not the entire world, is predicting. With the recent Unha-3 rocket launch by the world’s most secretive nation two weeks back and the recent improvements at its nuclear facility, North Korea has “successfully” propelled itself to international limelight. This communist country and its leaders were already well-known for their publicity stints that sometimes, do not work out well.

            The recent rocket launch by the North Korean government is seen as a landmark achievement under the reign of the new leader, Kim Jong-Un. This boyish de facto leader took over the government’s supremacy early this year, following the death of his much-favoured father, Kim Jong-Il. Kim Jong-Un portrayed significant hope to many nations in transforming North Korea’s ideology and approach pertaining to international affairs in his early days holding the public office. Now, he seems to be no different compared to his father and grandfather.

            Currently, many nations, most accurately, the countries that are considered as arch-nemesis of North Korea, are in jittery. The list includes the Asian Tiger, South Korea and the biggest economic powerhouse, United States of America. For an ordinary lay-man, one might think, what is the wrong with North Korea launching its own rocket? After all, at the current pace, it has become common for countries to launch their own rockets carrying satellites and space shuttles for defence and space exploration purposes.

            America has been sending countless rockets to outer-space through National Space and Administration Agency (NASA). The same goes to the other nations as well. Japan has its very own JAXA. Russia, too has its own space agency, Roscosmos. So, with due respect to the rights of each nation to develop its rocket and space technology, why did the United Nations together with other countries imposed economic sanctions on Korean DPR to put a rigid full stop to its rocket launch?

            The answer, my friends, is actually easy but quite complex to comprehend. There is a consensus attained in the UN General Assembly that any nuclear-armed nation should not launch any rockets as it poses fatal danger to the global well-being. Why? This is simply because the technology required to launch a rocket is equivalent to the degree of technology needed in launching intercontinental ballistic missile. So, in other words to say, United Nations and its member states are troubled in North Korea’s rocket launch as the country may launch nuclear missile towards its rival.

            Although Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s bigwigs have reiterated countless times that the launch is only targeted for satellite placement meant as a boost for the country’s defence, many are still sceptic. Experts in America’s space agency have mentioned albeit being doubtful, that with North Korea’s existing technology, the satellite may only capture grainy imageries of the country. Plus, it may be useless to get scan images from the satellite at night, as huge portion of North Korea will be in dark due to limited supply of electricity. So, their claim is, it is unlikely for the rocket to carry a satellite as mentioned by the North Korean authority.

            Two major questions linger around? Doesn’t United States is considered as a nuclear-armed nation? Doesn’t Uncle Sam’s country has the precise and sufficient capability to build nuclear weaponry? The answers are YES! But, international law and order permits USA and four other countries namely Britain, France, Russia and China to own and generate nuclear weaponry under the name of Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, signed in 1968. So, this provides the authority for ONLY these five countries to be nuclear-armed and any other nations are barred from developing nuclear weapons. The treaty is still in use to date, albeit the fact that it is discriminatory in nature.

            In the past, during the reign of the second leader Kim Jong-Il, the world had witnessed two rocket launches of Korea DPR. The rockets are classified as Unha-1 and Unha-2 respectively. Much to the international horror, shortly after the launches, North Korea conducted its nuclear test at its facility in 2006 and later in 2009. This was met with furious global backfire and economic sanctions. All these international opposition led by United Nations and America had their devastating impact on North Korea’s fragile economy and social conditions. Yet, this has not been a barrier for Kim Jong-Un in pursuing the nation’s agenda.

            Now, that a third rocket launch is successful, will there be another round of nuclear test for North Korea? Just wait and see.

Gang Rape In New Delhi, India.

                One girl against six drunken men. Her scream, her plea for mercy and her innocence were worthless. She was gang-rapped by a group of six disgusting drunken men who were “joyriding” on the same bus the girl boarded. The 23 year-old’s male companion was thrashed and beaten up. Each took turn to rape the girl and after satisfying their lust, her vagina was struck by a metal rod, reaching up to her intestines. Soon after that, the girl and the male companion were thrown out of the moving bus. The girl was lying there naked, semi-conscious asking for help. Did anyone helped? Did anyone even paid heed? NO! And you know what, all these horrifying cruelty happened in the capital city of a country that pays never-ending respect for women….INDIA! Or so, as they call it.

            This cruel mishap befell Nirbhaya, the 23 year-old damsel left her in coma for many days and struggling to be alive. Whilst the medical professionals in sub-continent India have tried their best in recovering Nirbhaya, now India’s very own Home Minister have sponsored the girl to be flown to the Republic of Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital for a better intensive care and treatment. The medics are still struggling to save her life using whatever means they are left with. Let’s all hope for a medical miracle to emerge!

            This tragedy shook the entire country. Student activists together with other non-governmental organisations are going to the streets to protest against the merciless action. Its Premier has been taken to task to punish the unscrupulous culprits for their act. Not only that, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh has been chided by many for slow-moving judicial system in India. This is because, many got agitated that the six men are still not convicted in court and sentenced to appropriate punishment. These mounting pressure towards the higher public-office holders specifically, towards Mr. Manmohan Singh has compelled the Premier to release an official statement that justice will be served at any expense. He mentioned that this tragedy should be condemned by every right-thinking man and woman. His guarantee made a huge majority relieved that the culprits will be severely punished, yet still anticipating what the final outcome could really be.

            Many parties who came forward to stage demonstrations pressed for capital punishment for all six offenders. For you information, statistics by the relevant authority showed that on average, there will be a rape case in New Delhi on daily basis. This shows the seriousness of the current status quo that should be well-monitored.

In many situations, a huge pool of people have condemned death penalty for several reasons, but it this case, many Indians opine that a sentence that would send these savages to the gallows would be the best punishment ever. Anyhow, everyone can only wait until the end of the prosecution to really witness the final sentence.

Within days after the Nirbhaya rape case, few other similar cruelty on women took place in India. For instance, a 42- year old was gagged and rapped by three men, a day back. If no prompt actions are taken by the Indian authority, the situation will only get more and more murky. As for the international scope, we need real-time enforcement and well-scrutinised enactments to instil fear against future rape offenders. The authorities, globally should learn from nations and sovereign states that records the lowest sexual abuses against our women. And let’s face the stark reality; no one wants to see a country with low percentage of rape cases. Everyone wants to see a country with NO rape cases at all. It may sound like an idealist’s idea that may not come true, but believe me, anything is POSSIBLE! 

Egypt Revolution 2.0

After the “successful” Arab Spring uprising in Egypt early last year, the people of Egypt are prepping themselves for a second round. If the former was against a ruler that reigned for about three decades, this time around, it is meant for the newly elected leader. Whilst international news providers are highlighting that Syria is the only country suffering from the Arab Spring contagion to date, Egypt is once again propelling itself to global attention. Getting confused, already???

            When Arab Spring revolution initiated in Tunisia about two years ago, it spread like a wild blaze to the neighbouring nations, namely the Middle East region within weeks, if not days. In Egypt, the majority of the nationals stood up and expressed their opposition against the rule of the once-prominent Hosni Mubarak. And within weeks, Mubarak was ousted and election was held. Even the election was full of problems. Finally, after the ballot papers were counted, Mubarak’s successor was named. He is Muhammad Morsi. That is certainly a new, novel chapter for the Egyptians as it marked a leadership from the Muslim Brotherhood, the once-shunned political establishment.

            While many celebrated with joy and bliss, quite a number remained sceptic of Morsi’s rule in the upcoming future. Even United States of America had its share of disbelief in the Morsi rule. Prior to the election, USA has enjoyed great attention in Egypt thanks to Hosni Mubarak. Well, that was also a reason why Mubarak was hated in his own nation. The influence of America in Egypt helped the former a lot , particularly in terms of diplomatic relations in Mid East. But, since Morsi is an Islamist leader, such attention may be made available any longer.

From day one until this very moment, the Morsi administration had been a tumultuous one. One controversy after the another. This man tried his best to administer Egypt in its best form. Taking Turkey as an epitome of successful Islamic rule, he with his comrades strived ahead.He faced problems with many parties, within his own country. First, a huge number of Egyptians disapproved his election as they claimed there were irregularities in the electoral system. Not only that, Morsi faced a stand-off with the military regime which aided in the oust of Mubarak. 

            Yet, apart from that, Morsi received international plaudits when he successfully mediated a cease-fire truce between Palestine and Israel in the recent dispute. He portrayed his calibre in handling the spat between the two arch-nemesis, albeit the fact that the truce did not last long enough.

            However, now Muhammad Morsi faces another problem. He made it public that he intends to have the judiciary branch of Egypt under his control for a specific period of time. He, himself had outline certain conditions that he would comply with if he had the judiciary branch within his jurisdiction. But, this insinuation of Morsi was met with objections from the judges and lawyers of Egypt. Their disapproval was bolstered with the disagreement of the liberal and Christian groups as well as the opposition backbenchers.

            As people have started to go to the streets to protest, Morsi offered a referendum of two phases. The people will get to vote for a new constitution. Surprisingly, the first phase showed victory to Morsi’s administration even though with a slim yet significant margin. The second phase is done with but, the official results are yet to be announced. However, the Government’s affiliates claimed that the victory is once again on their side. If this is true, we will see an Egypt rule plunged into dictatorship. If a leader has authority over executive, legislative and judiciary branches of a state, he is ostensibly, going to rule with iron-clad.

            Anyhow, whilst many parties are crying out loud claiming fraud and irregularities in the referendum, Egyptians have been given a chance to vote. In the end,  it is them who must decide the future of their country. Let’s just wait and watch!

The Connecticut Massacre and The Gun Dilemma

We certainly have a lot of things to be afraid of. First, the much-hyped doomsday is just three days away. Second, the civil war in Syria waged against the Bashar administration is looming without an end. And most recently, the shooting spree that slaughtered 26 innocent lives in Connecticut.

                Flipping pages of any daily in the recent days can show detailed reports of this devastating incident in Connecticut. 20 children and six adults in an elementary school were shot down mercilessly by a 20-year old lad named Adam Lanza. This guy previously , had murdered his own mother before heading towards the elementary school. After the rampage, he committed suicide on the spot. His intention of the manslaughter remains unclear and police officers from the force is still mulling to find out the cause.

                This incident had gave a big scare to everyone, most accurately the Americans. In just a few  hours, if not minutes, the news of the latest mishap spread beyond continents. Condolences poured and attention was focused to this part of United States of America. Soon after that, the President, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama gave a press conference in which he offered his condolences to the victims’ families. He, himself had his eyes tearful while speaking to the scores of reporters. What a horrifying incident this is to everyone!

                Honestly, shooting rampage by a maniac is not a peculiar and a new issue in the Uncle Sam’s country. Prior to this, a man entered this worship place of the Sikh community in United States and shot many down. Even before that, a doctorate studies dropout, James Holmes entered a theatre and engaged in shooting spree, killing many lives. And believe it or not, all these happened in a mere two years only.

                Ostensibly, such cases may also have happened in the yesteryears. But, so far it seems that no mass action has been taken to counter-attack these mishaps. For a well-developed country and world’s biggest economic juggernaut like America, problems related to security should be at the minimal level. Yet, more and more problems can be noticed arising from this nation. For a country that preaches about peace and regional security, domestic affairs pertaining to the nationals’ safety should be of ultimate concern.

                After the occurrence of such cases, many have voiced their concern regarding open sale of firearm in America and how it can be abused. This no-restriction sale of firearm in America can be traced back to the American Revolution and maybe way beyond that. Many parties fear that this particular liberalisation in private weaponry sale could be the cause of these massacre. Maybe they do have a point. But, it should also be noted, open sale of firearm alone may not be the reason. For instance, in Switzerland and Israel where weaponries are legal to be sold, homicide rate is very low compared to the rate in USA. So, this paves the way for a bigger and massive question. What is the root of this problem?

                To furnish the best form of answer, authorities inclusive of President Obama should analyse and decide on the best manner to deal this cruelty. If no prompt action is taken, more serious homicide and security-related problems will be arising. This should also be a stark reminder to all the authorities throughout the globe to take a great concern of the safety of their own people.Beware!  

Kofi Annan and The Peace Envoy.

         Kofi Annan is no more.Alright, no worries because what I meant was this highly respected figure is no longer the chief of the UN-Arab League peace envoy or the Syrian conflict.He has officially resigned from his post which was responsible in carving a workable blueprint to solve the 16 months civil war in Syria. Alas,the much-expected Plan A is now on the brink of failure.But,contrary to the public understanding, the fault lies not in hands of Kofi Annan and his teammates. It traces back to the dispute among the permanent members of the Security Council and their inefficiency to reach a concensus for the Syrian problem.

         Since the very first day of inception of United Nations, the successor of the failed League of Nations, the five nations have marked their presence in this international juggernaut quite firmly.Yet, the question whether these nations have delivered their roles to the global community remains cloudy. Those countries are USA, UK, France, Russia and China.This blog had particularly commented or rather, critised the behaviour of the nations in the Security Council in previous posts.

         For those whom are still confused about their involvement in Kofi Annan's resignation, here is the explanation.Initially, the UN was supposed to come up with a resolution to halt and heal the intensifying mutiny in Syria.However, after months of negotiation, these five nations can only boast with three failed resolutions.Whilst the three allies (USA, UK and France) are keen in bringing UN's military intervention to solve the political turmoil, Russia and China are simply not buying them.These two emerging economies prefer a rather subtle way of solution; that is to organise a diplomatic round-table talk with al-Assad's administration and to  offer a smooth transition of power to the Syrians.

         International human rights watchdogs have stressed that the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's regime is continuous pursuing vendetta against the Free Syrian Army(the rebels) and is causing the death toll of innocent civilians to increase.

      These nations are seen at loggerheads to produce the best framework for the Syrian problem.We have witnessed NATO force's interference in Libya and its efforts to end the rebellion.Yes, the black sheep (the President) was ousted successfully yet,the intervention also killed many members of the public in the name of military raid and airstrikes.This has met many objections internationally and increased suspicions on the efficacy of military role in preventing a political divide.

       Actually, even before one starts to talk about internation affairs and the role of United Nations, he or she must acknowledge the fundamental foundation of UN and international relations.1648 Peace of Westphalia works as the best essence to create a good global rapport.It  stressed that any happenings in a nation should be decided only by its own people.In simple words, a country's fate ought to be determined by its own citizens.Maybe this is the reason behind Russia's and China's intention of organising  the round-table talk.But, at the same time , one must bear in mind that Syria is a long-time ally of Russia and the mainland China itself,is a good friend of the ex-USSR union.

         Anyway,the harm is done and we need a prompt solution. Kofi Annan himself, has insisted that the problem is getting out of control and the plan should not fail.He added that there is no Plan B.Almost everyday,we are reading about massacre in Al-Kubeir, Homs, Damscus and recently, Aleppo in newspaper.This unfortunate scenario must not prevails and let's hope for a good future for Syria.

Of The Olympics And The Colorado Shooting.

        The past few weeks have provided us with many intenational affairs ; some capable of captivating us while the others can cause you goosebumps.Well,let's start with the good news first.For the sports aficionados out there, the much-awaited London Olympics has started.In this case,the Britons deserve our standing ovation.Why not, the opening ceremony of the Olympics itself was a undestructable experience of its own.Heads off to the the director of Slumdog Millionaire , Danny Boyle who had done a resounding job of coordinating the opening ceremony itself.And not forgetting, heads off also to Her Majesty,the Queen Elizabeth for her sporting stint in the ceremony.No one could have imagined that the monarch, herself would be willing to "act" in a event witnessed by millions of people, globally.

And I would proudly like to say that, the Games is now on.So far, by having a glimpse at the rankings, People's Republic of China ranks first, pushing Uncle Sam's nation to the second spot.And the list goes on and on.Yet,it is too early to decide the most gold medal-earning  country now.So let's just wait and feel the heat!

Okay,let's put the London Olympics aside.Let's move to the bad news.Few weeks before the event,the entire globe (including me) was eagerly waiting for the much-anticipated block-buster flick of the year,The Dark Knight Rises.Well, the Joker was dead and the Gotham City will be razed by a villain in the name of Bane.However, the spirit for the Batman's emergence was dampened when it was reported in the mass media that the Joker is back.And he killed 12 individuals and left 58 others in severe injuries after a shooting rampage in a cineplex,literally.OMG, am I reading the correct news?Yes, you are......unfortunately.

A man named James Holmes entered a cinema in Colorado during a screening of the climax of the Batman triology and started to shoot mercilessly.This had inevitably petrified throngs of movie-goers as severe reduction among cinema patrons was witnessed.Paradoxically, this psycho is actually considered as a well-achieving nerd throughout his schooling years.He is also former doctorate programme student.

What caused him to behave like a wild animal in the Colorado incident remains a unsolved mystery.But,certain speculations that rose from several sources are linking Hollywood movies' uncensored violence and brutality as the possible factor.Whilst stakeplayers are profusely defending Hollywood films regarding its implications to the society, one cannot simply rule out that it is not  the reason behind this maniac scenario.

There you have it; two significant issues that attracted our intention in just a single month.This article is aimed not only to highlight, but also to dictate the need of us  of not being inundated by great happenings while leaving heart-wrecking affairs like the Colorado shooting due ignorance.May these loonatism ends!

P/S: The world had enough of one Anders Behring Breivik, and we don't need a  replacement.