Clinton’s South Asia Visit Nepal & US Investment

By Gandhi Raj Kafle

MUCH hyped South Asia visit of President Bill Clinton has finally begun. Though his historical visit does not include Nepal, a small country between India and China, the visit is being looked as an important opportunity to exchange ideas about regional and international affairs between the United States and the countries in South Asia that are to be visited by him. The President will address numerous official functions in Delhi, Dhaka and Islamabad and discuss his country’s concern for peace. Talkson key regional and internationalissues are expected to come into sharp focus.

Sea Change
But, will there be anything for the economy during the tour of the US President? Politics may naturally dominate other issues during President Clinton’s talks with the leaders. Bill Clinton and the leaders of host countries too will give it a top priority because South Asia, like other regions in the world, has gone through a sea change politically. But, if the economy is untouched, the visit will surely lose its glamour, especially in South Asia, where poverty alleviation is the primary task of all governments here. President Clinton is therefore, expected to inspire businessmen, investors and entrepreneurs, especially of the West, to raise inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in South Asia.

South Asia is an investment attracting zone with vast scope for product and market expansion. It could be a suitable headquarters for many industries and untapped economic resources here and provide a unique opportunity for potential investors. Perhaps American entrepreneurs will know it through Clinton’s historical trip. Even then their participation for mobilising available economic resources in this region does not look so bright. Inflow of capital from the US and the West is not up to the South Asian nations’ expectations.

This situation must be changed and Clinton’s visit to South Asia should pave the way for common benefit of the people in this region and the potential capitalists from the West themselves. The involvement of Enron, the giant company of America, in India can also be remembered here. Enron is well-aware of power potential of Nepal also. Several government level talks with the company had been conducted in the past, but they have yet to take a concrete shape. The main thing is Nepal offers a unique opportunity for investment in power sector, which can be utilised if a pragmatic work plan for mutual advantage is developed.

The South Asian nations, however, should adhere to the tenets of liberalism for such advantages because today’s economy cannot move without timely reforms. But tenets of liberalism demand positive attitude from both sides. Understanding of one’s benefit must be honoured, but difficulty of others should also be addressed openly. This helps strengthen mutual cooperation which is necessary for a vibrant, growth-prone and sustainable economy in South Asia. Though there may not be direct instructions to boost East-West economic ties during the tour of the American President to South Asia, Bill Clinton can leave remarkable impressions of liberal attitude for economic benefit.

The US, which has headquartered many multi-nationals, is an economically influential country. Its private sector economy is strong, self-supportive and internationally vibrant. Besides, the US records an inspiring development in social sector. With all these progress, it seems, the US will continue to be a source of inspiration for the world’s progress, especially for developing countries.

So far as Nepal is concerned, the positive attitude for economic development from the US has been with us. But, it needs further boost up with greater focus on private sector participation. But, to note for an example, the progress is slow in this sphere. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) record does not show a promising path. Joint venture investment, US capital inflow, private sector participation and industrial and business promotion activities have not been able to break the pace of the traditional Nepal-US economic ties.

In fact, government level economic cooperation is not enough in today’s competitive world. The people level ties for investment and business expansion have to be activated in the days to come for common benefit. And, to make such ties tangibly beneficial the investors have to come up to the real sector of the economy. For long the American government has been interested to invest in social sectors like education, family planning, health services and human rights activities. That’s fine, it’s a significant and socially admirable initiatives, for which the US government must be thanked.

Nepal too has been receiving much goodwill from the US for its social sectors. Even though President Clinton’s goodwill visit to South Asia will be by-passing Nepal. Had Nepal’s name been scheduled in the itinerary of the President, the Nepalese people would have been enthusiastically awaiting now to give a hearty welcome to him. Even then all Nepalese have goodwill to the President and we hope the President too has the same for us.

Conclusively, the US keeps a high share of the total capital in the world and its economic policies and development programmes influence all nations. Even then the country’s vision for future progress cannot be streamlined if it leaves aside the fragile economies because this is an interdependent world. Bill Clinton, who is coming to South Asia very soon, is, therefore expected to speak of the American policies for assisting the economies of many small nations, which are keenly interested to join the mainstream world trade.

Hurdles
The hurdles to harmonise international investment for raising production inside the country must be solved. But, a plan for it cannot be worked out if it does not contain the concept of mutual benefit. In this spirit, if South Asia has not been able to attract the foreign investment up to the mark despite having many economically viable sectors, then meticulous studies have to be made to identify the problems. However, what cannot be denied is that it may be a complex issue. One nation, by itself, cannot possibly solve it. Goodwill only can garner strength to fight them. As such, it is to be hoped that the American President, during his tour to South Asia, will, not fail to show his country’s goodwill for economic development of all the nations of this region.

Caffeine And Its Effects

By Sanjeev Pandey

PERHAPS no subject in the health field is more controversial than the possibility of adverse effect from the consumption of coffee or other caffeine containing drinks or foods.

Caffeine exists in tea, coffee, and cocoa. It is also an additive in many soft drinks. However, 7Up, Sprite and most fruit-flavoured carbonated drinks are caffeine free. People forget that it is relatively potent drug that affects many parts of the body, especially the brain, heart, and kidneys.

Caffeine is a member of a group of closely related drugs called xanthines. The name is derived from the Greek word xanthos, which means ‘yellow’. When caffeine or the other xanthines are heated to dryness with nitric acid, they turn yellow hence the name. Caffeine is a close chemical relative of uric acid.

Caffeine is absorbed rapidly from the stomach and small intestine. Maximum concentration in the blood occurs within 30 to 60 minutes. It is distributed to the tissues in proportion to their water content. One of the organs most rapidly affected by caffeine is the brain.

Almost 99 per cent of the caffeine that is filtered by the kidneys is reabsorbed. Caffeine must be metabolised to be eliminated from the body. Normally, the end point of caffeine metabolism is uric acid, which is excreted in the urine.

Almost everyone knows that caffeine is a stimulant. However, in a normal rested human, it is often difficult to detect this effect. Most investigators agree that caffeine will counteract some of the changes in performance caused by fatigue, boredom, or sleep deprivation. It will raise performance back toward a normal level, but it will not increase performance to supernormal levels.

Caffeine effects many of the body’s organs. It constricts the blood vessels, speeds up the heart, and stimulates the brain, stomach, kidneys, ovaries, and testes. In some people it acts like an amphetamine, peeping them up temporarily, then letting them down. In the words of Dr. Sanford Miller, “Caffeine is a potent biologically active material.”

Symptoms of excessive caffeine include sleep disturbances headache, tremulousness, jitteriness, anxiety, light headedness, irritability, depression, rapid heart beat, palpitations (skipped heart beats), rapid breathing, diarrhoea, stomach pains, heartburn, frequent urination, and muscular tension.

Research by Dr. Brain Macmahon and his colleagues indicates a link between coffee drinking and pancreatic cancer. They found that people who drank as little as two cups of coffee daily doubled their chances of getting this diseases; three cups a day nearly tripled it

One of the researches has shown that persons who drink one to five cups of coffee a day have a 50 per cent greater chance of heart attacks than non-coffee drinkers. The risk was found to be 110 per cent greater for those drinking six or more cups per day. Similarly, other research has shown that men who drink one or two cups of coffee a day have a 150 per cent greater risk developing ulcers than do those who drinks no coffee. Coffee has been found to stimulate secretions of gastric acids. Research by Dr. Peterson shows that a combination of cigarette smoking, coffee and drugs causes duodenal ulcers.

Nearly every one agrees that drinking several cups of coffee a day has harmful effects on health. Many people find it difficult to wean themselves completely from coffee and sources of caffeine and its chemical relatives, withdrawal symptoms are common among those who try to quit. The first to occur is usually a headache, which may develop as soon as 18 hours after the last dose of caffeine. Other withdrawal symptoms include drowsiness, inability to concentrate, yawning depression, nervousness, and nausea. These symptoms can last for two weeks or more. So one way to taper off caffeine habit is to switch to ordinary teas. Tea contains nearly all the vitamins that exist in nature as well as many useful sub-stances like iron compound, magnesium, manganese, sodium, calcium, codeine, copper, and phosphorus. Besides this, ordinary teas also contain tannis which are digestive irritant that may increase the risk of cancer. The effects of tannis can be neutralised by adding milk to the sea.