INTERNATIONAL WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 India faces crisis over dwindling numbers of girls: UN

NEW DELHI: The dwindling numbers of Indian girls, selection. boys and the number of girls younger than six plum- ing in few convictions. There were 221 cases of foeti- caused by the illegal abortion of millions of babies, has India’s traditionally male-dominated culture views meted for the fifth straight decade. cide reported in 2013, up from 210 in 2012, the reached “emergency proportions”, fuelling an increase sons as assets-breadwinners who will provide for the “The sharply declining child-sex ratio in India has National Crime Records Bureau says. in crimes such as kidnapping and trafficking, the family, carry on the family name, and perform the last reached emergency proportions and urgent action UN officials said India’s economic and social United Nations warned yesterday. rites for their parents, an important ritual in many must be taken to alleviate this crisis,” Puri added. progress had failed in the area of sex selection, and the Despite laws that ban expectant parents from run- faiths. Girls, however, are often seen as a liability, with A May 2011 study in British medical journal the unbalanced sex ratio was contributing to crimes such ning tests to determine the gender of unborn children, families having to dig deep for a substantial dowry to Lancet found that up to 12 million Indian girls were as rape, abduction and trafficking. female foeticide remains a common practice in parts of ensure a desirable match. In a culture that views pre- aborted over the last three decades, resulting in a The entire social structure will have to change, with India, where a preference for sons runs deep. marital sex as bringing shame to the girl’s family, par- skewed child sex ratio of 918 girls to every 1,000 boys a battle waged against the root causes of a preference “It is tragically ironic that the one who creates life is ents also worry about their safety. in 2011, versus 962 in 1981. for sons, said Lise Grande, the U.N. resident coordinator herself denied the right to be born,” said Lakshmi Puri, India’s 2011 census showed that while the overall Activists blame ultrasonography for the rise in abor- in India. “This may be one of the hardest, most difficult deputy executive director of UN Women, at the launch female-to-male ratio has improved marginally since the tions, saying the technology is used for sex determina- struggles India faces, but it is arguably one of its most of a new study on sex ratios and gender-biased sex last census a decade ago, fewer girls were born than tion. But the crime is tough to check, they add, result- important,” she added. — Reuters Thai king endorses junta’s constitution

BANGKOK: Thailand’s junta won approval European Union for a return to a demo- tionary constitution will instead tend to from the king yesterday for an interim cratic path. The interim constitution, when build sympathy and more support for constitution mapping out year-long politi- published, is expected to give an indica- Thaksin from rural and impoverished cal reforms expected to curb the influence tion of how the military plans to run the Thais.” He said the kingdom’s arch-royalists of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra. country and overhaul the political system, would have to use tactics such as “gerry- It was the first time the revered but ail- although the main changes are expected mandering on a massive scale” to prevent ing King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, has to come later in a permanent charter. another election victory by a pro-Thaksin granted an audience to coup leader The May coup was the latest chapter in party. The army chief seized power after General Prayut Chan-O-Cha since the mili- a long-running political crisis broadly pit- nearly seven months of protests saw 28 tary seized power two months ago. ting Thaksin’s billionaire family and its sup- people killed and paralysed the govern- “General Prayut met His Majesty the porters against a royalist establishment ment of former prime minister Yingluck King, who has endorsed the interim con- backed by parts of the military and judici- Shinawatra, who is Thaksin’s sister, and her stitution,” said deputy army spokeswoman ary. “The goal is to utterly destroy the Puea Thai Party. Colonel Sirichan Ngathong. influence of Thaksin,” said Paul Chambers, The junta, which has curtailed civil lib- Prayut has ruled out holding elections director of research at the Institute of erties, has said it plans to share power until around October 2015, despite Southeast Asian Affairs in Chiang Mai. “But with a new interim government, with the appeals from the United States and the a military government and new reac- military retaining control of national secu- rity. The new cabinet is expected to be picked by a junta-appointed national assembly which observers anticipate will be broadly subservient to the military. The reforms could result in the lower : MP-elect from the National Rescue Party (CNRP), Long Ry (C) raises his hands as he is released house of parliament becoming partially on bail from Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh yesterday. Cambodia’s main opposition party struck a deal with strongman appointed, like the upper house, said Kan premier to end its year-long boycott of parliament triggered by a disputed election. — AFP Yuenyong, executive director of the Siam Intelligence Unit think-tank. “The conser- vatives know that if they let a normal elec- Cambodia opposition ends tion happen again, the Puea Thai Party and Yingluck maybe can win another landslide,” he told AFP. He said the new boycott of parliament constitution could also include an amnesty for the coup-makers. But Kan added that there was also “a lot of political conflict within the conservatives them- Eight opposition politicians released selves”, so it was unclear how radical the reforms would be. PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s main clashes between demonstrators and gave the CPP 68 seats to 55 for the The junta chief received approval from opposition party struck a deal yester- security forces. CNRP. The opposition garnered just the king-the world’s longest-serving day with strongman premier Hun Sen The eight were released on bail 300,000 fewer votes than the ruling monarch-to run the country days after the to end its year-long boycott of parlia- shortly after the end of the talks yes- party as it secured a significant parlia- KABUL: Afghan and foreign security forces inspect the site of a suicide May 22 coup. On that occasion he did not ment triggered by a disputed election. terday, according to a CNRP lawyer. mentary gain on the previous vote. attack at the deputy counter narcotic compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, meet Bhumibol, who has lived at his sea- The Cambodia National Rescue Party Rights groups have denounced the While it failed to unseat Hun Sen, yesterday. An Afghan official said that four security guards were killed and side palace in the resort of Hua Hin south (CNRP) said it had agreed to break the charges against the politicians, who the poll was the ruling party’s worst six others wounded after a suicide bomber on a motorbike carried out the of Bangkok since leaving hospital in August deadlock and take up its seats in the could face up to 30 years in prison if election result since 1998. The CPP lost attack. — AP 2013 after almost four years. —AFP National Assembly in return for a convicted. 22 seats in a sign of falling support for promise of electoral reforms. Under the agreement the parties the strongman-a former Khmer Rouge It had refused to join parliament will reform the National Election cadre who has vowed to remain in since elections in July 2013, accusing Committee a key demand by the power until he is 74. Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s opposition which accused the body of Opposition supporters have staged Party of stealing victory with wide- endorsing a vote riddled by fraud. The several major demonstrations against spread vote-rigging. “Today we have new committee will have nine mem- Hun Sen’s government with Rainsy, a reached a common political resolution bers, four from each of the two main French-educated former banker, previ- to end the political crisis,” opposition parties, and another selected between ously rejecting the poll result and vow- leader told reporters after them. A CPP official said that would ing to fight for new polls. talks with Hun Sen. pave the way for elections which will But yesterday’s deal will see the “We have no choice,” he added. not take place before February 2018, CNRP lawmakers soon take their par- “The only appropriate way is to end despite an earlier call by the opposi- liamentary oath, according to opposi- the political crisis and the tense situa- tion for fresh polls to be held sooner. tion spokesman Yim Sovann. tion.” Hun Sen, who has held power for Since his defection from the Khmer nearly three decades, described the Dwindling support Rouge, Hun Sen has drawn popularity deal as a “success”. Hun Sen, 61, is regularly criticised for overseeing Cambodia’s transforma- Analysts say Rainsy’s return to the by campaigners for ignoring human tion from a nation devastated by the negotiating table may have been rights and stamping out dissent. regime’s “Killing Fields” genocide era in spurred by last week’s arrest of the A crackdown on striking garment the late 1970s to become one of eight CNRP politicians for insurrection workers in January left four people Southeast Asia’s most vibrant over a protest in the capital which saw dead. Official results of last year’s poll economies. — AFP Body of missing S Korean shipping tycoon found

SEOUL: South Korean police said yes- sinking, including all 15 crew members which his children and close associates terday that a badly decomposed body tasked with navigating the ship, and are large shareholders. The government found surrounded by liquor bottles in a employees at Chonghaejin, a company offered a $100,000 bounty for Yoo’s eld- field last month was that of a fugitive that operated the ferry, over suspicions est son, and one of his daughters was billionaire businessman blamed for of improper stowage and overloading arrested in France in May. April’s ferry disaster that killed more of cargo. The crew members face The predecessor company went than 300 people. charges of negligence and failing to bankrupt in the late 1990s but Yoo’s The body was found in a field of apri- perform their duties to rescue passen- family continued to operate ferry busi- cot trees in the southern city of gers, with four of them facing homicide nesses under the names of other com- Suncheon on June 12, local police sta- charges. Yoo faced allegations of tax panies, including one that eventually tion chief Wu Hyung-ho told a news evasion, embezzlement and profession- became Chonghaejin. conference. He said DNA and fingerprint al negligence. Officials suspect the sink- Yoo is also a member of a church samples taken from the body matched ing may have happened because that critics and defectors say is a cult. those of the wanted man, Yoo Byung- Chonghaejin illicitly funneled profits to Yoo’s church made headlines in 1987 eun. Wu said the body had decayed his family and failed to spend enough when 32 people, who critics suspect beyond recognition when it was found money on safety and personnel. were church members, were found and a more thorough examination was Yoo, head of the now-defunct prede- dead in the attic of a factory near Seoul needed to find how and when he died. cessor of Chonghaejin, allegedly still in what authorities said was a collective An initial investigation showed there controlled the company through a com- murder-suicide pact. Church members was no evidence that he was murdered, plex web of holding companies in have denied involvement. —AP he said. The dead man was wearing a pair of expensive shoes and a luxurious Italian brand Loro Piana winter parka. Also found near him were three empty Korean liquor bottles, a cloth bag and a magnifying glass, Wu said. The state-run National Forensic Service took about 40 days to run the DNA tests. Suncheon police officers said the lab will conduct additional tests to find the cause and timing of Yoo’s death. Police and prosecutors have been seeking Yoo since May and had offered a $500,000 reward for tips about him. They believe Yoo was the owner of the ferry and that his alleged corruption may have contributed to its sinking. The sinking, one of South Korea’s deadliest disasters in decades, has caused an outpouring of national grief and renewed scrutiny about public safe- SEOUL: People watch TV news showing Yoo Byung-eun, the fugitive owner ty. About 100 days after the disaster, 294 of the sunken ferry Sewol, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, bodies have been retrieved but 10 peo- yesterday. South Korean police said that a badly decomposed body of Yoo ple are still missing. found surrounded by liquor bottles in a field last month was that of a fugi- Prosecutors said Monday that 139 tive billionaire businessman blamed for April’s ferry disaster that killed people had been arrested over the ferry more than 300 people. — AP