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Why the confusion about Kim Jong Un's health actually makes sense

Confusing and sometimes conflicting reports emerged Tuesday about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. That was followed by intense speculation on his whereabouts, his medical condition and the future of the world's only hereditary communist state.

Initial rumblings began after North Korea's most important holiday came and went on April 15 without an appearance by Kim, which was unusual.

Then Daily NK, an online publication based in South Korea that focuses on the north, reported that Kim had received a cardiovascular system procedure on April 12, and was being treated in a villa in Hyangsan County.

CNN was unable to confirm the report, but a US official said that Washington is monitoring intelligence that suggests Kim is in grave danger after undergoing a previous surgery. A second source familiar with the intelligence told CNN that the US has been closely monitoring reports on Kim's health.

But a South Korean official told CNN that Kim is "believed to be in other parts of North Korea than Pyongyang with other North Korean top officials," and "no unusual signs supporting reports about his health conditions have been detected." It's rare for the South Korean government to divulge information about Kim's whereabouts.

The truth is, few people outside of Kim's inner circle know for sure -- his daily routine and health are some of North Korea's most closely guarded secrets. In that environment, rumors and misinformation are almost inevitable.

The young North Korean leader is revered almost like a deity within the country, and he's protected as such -- just think back to the images of Kim's bodyguards running alongside his limousine during his meetings with other world leaders in 2018. His movements and whereabouts are protected with an intense secrecy unmatched in much of the world. Even discussing rumors or misinformation about his health can get you in trouble with the state's security services, experts say.

Kim Jong Un is back for the afternoon portion of the #interkoreansummit, and so are his bodyguards running alongside his limousine

Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in South Korea and an expert in North Korean affairs, says very few people know the intimate details of Kim's personal life -- and they are "not inclined to talk about it, because they would much prefer to remain alive."

"This is a very murky business," he said. "They (people close to Kim) have very little to gain by telling everybody what they know."

The debate about Kim's health and whereabouts is a timely reminder on an important caveat that should accompany nearly all stories on the inner workings of North Korea: The country is a black hole when it comes to gathering independent and trustworthy news.

Very few details about North Korea are revealed that are not state-sanctioned. Those who have fled the country offer invaluable insight, but defection can take weeks, months -- even years. Experts and analysts who study North Korea rely on everything from satellite images of personnel movements to a line-by-line analysis of state media dispatches to find out the truth.

NK News, a well-respected English-language North Korean monitoring website, even runs a North Korean Leadership Tracker which allows users to see the number of appearances or mentions of Kim and other high-ranking leaders in state media.

Speculation about the leader's health or whereabouts is often educated guesswork, and it often turns out to be wrong. But there are two major reasons why it happens so regularly.

No apparent heir

Any conjecture about Kim's death usually feeds into a popular narrative of North Korea as a modern-day Shakespearean tragedy.

The country has been ruled as a hereditary dictatorship since its founding in 1948 by Kim Il Sung. His son, Kim Jong Il, took over after his father's death in 1994. And Kim Jong Un took power 17 years later when Kim Jong Il died. Their eventual takeovers were telegraphed to the public before their respective fathers' deaths.

But Kim's three children are not believed to have reached adulthood yet. Even if one was being groomed for future leadership, the child would need some sort of regent to rule in an interim capacity -- something that's never happened in North Korea.

"It's not a monarchy officially. It's a monarchy for all practical purposes," Lankov said.

Michael Madden, an expert on North Korea's leadership, believes there are about 10 to 20 different scenarios that could play out should Kim be incapacitated, though cautioned against reading the tea leaves too much.

He said it's possible North Korea could choose to follow the model the Soviet Union did after the death of Joseph Stalin, another communist dictator who ruled by cult of personality, and turn to some form of collective leadership. It would likely be led Kim Jong Un's sister and close aide, Kim Yo Jong, an it's possible the body would serve until Kim Jong Un's heir is old enough to take the reins.

Everything we know about Kim Jong Un's sister (2018) 01:10

Kim Yo Jong has been one of the most visible members of her brother's leadership team since her trip to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, save for a few months when she disappeared from the public eye. The other option within the family is Kim Jong Un's other brother, Kim Jong Chol, but he is best known as an Eric Clapton fan and is not as involved in politics.

"The continuity of the regime is the key," Madden said.

Madden said it's important to note that though North Korea may not have a transparent, well-defined succession plan, "in terms of continuity of government, they have that setup."

"And the reason they have that setup is because they have nuclear weapons, they have got to maintain constant command and control over the nuclear weapons assets," he added.

The nuclear question

The security and question of what happens to North Korea's nuclear weapons in the event of some sort of leadership transition is likely the one that concerns officials in Washington, Seoul and Beijing.

Most countries aim to share what Vipin Narang, a professor of political science at MIT and expert in nuclear weapons issues and strategy, calls a "Goldilocks position on their nuclear weapons."

"States want the public and others to know just enough. They want to be transparent about the capability, but kind of opaque about the procedures and the actual line of deployment to enhance deterrence," he said.

North Korea's nuclear weapons are another closely guarded secret inside the country. Little is known about how many Pyongyang has, how reliable they are, if its missiles and submarines could successfully fire them or even how Kim oversees their command and control apparatus. Intelligence experts estimate Pyongyang has dozens of warheads based on the amount of radioactive material produced at its nuclear weapons facilities, but the exact number is unclear.

"We don't know a lot about how they manage their nuclear weapons during peacetime," Narang said.

Though North Korea is still technically at war with the South and the United States, many of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons may be sitting disassembled and "there are probably very few ready systems," Narang said.

But Narang said he wouldn't be terribly concerned about the security of North Korea's nuclear weapons in the event Kim died of natural causes. Kim is, by most accounts, not a healthy man. He is overweight, under stress and was reported to be a heavy drinker at meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

"I'm usually pessimistic," Narang said, "but you have a guy who's obese, a chronic smoker, has gout, presumably some form of diabetes. They've surely thought about this contingency given his health. And with Kim Yo Jong assuming a much greater role, it's possible they've already thought about what succession look like."

While those poor lifestyle choices do not mean Kim is knocking on death's door by any stretch, when combined with his absence it does remind policy and intelligence officials with a stake in North Korea's future that they should at least be thinking about an important but uncomfortable question: How exactly does a leader lionized as a near demigod hand over the reins, whether he goes under anesthesia for a medical procedure or in the event of his death?

The truth is few people -- if any -- outside the country know for sure. But the answers carry significant implications for officials from Beijing to Seoul to Washington, because they must consider whether Kim would leave behind a massive power vacuum in a state that has successfully tested nuclear weapons, and the intercontinental-range ballistic missiles to deliver them

.edition.cnn

Arnab Goswami resigns from Editors Guild of India on live television

Noted journalist and Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami on Monday resigned on live television from the Editors Guild of India.

While conducting a panel discussion on the mob lynching of two sadhus and their driver at Palghar in Mumbai, Gowasmi slammed the president of the organization Shekhar Gupta for not speaking up against the horrific incident and “destroying the remaining credibility” of the organization.

Speaking against Gupta, Goswami said, “I would say, Shekhar Gupta you hear it from me first. Whatever remaining credibility of the Editors’ Guild of India had been there, it has now been destroyed by its abject silence.”

“The Editors’ Guild of India has become a self-serving organisation. And I hereby on live television resign. Listen to me. I’ve been a member of the Editors’ Guild of India for a long time. I hereby on live television resign from the Editors’ Guild of India for its absolute compromise with its editorial ethics,” he added.

Goswami also alleged the Editors Guild of India as a ‘group of has-beens’ and for becoming a self-serving organization.

“And I accuse you Shekhar Gupta of leading the compromise on Indian journalism by not speaking up against the incidents like this, ” he said.

On April 16, two godmen (Sadhus) were lynched after they hired a driver to take them from Kandivali to attend a funeral in Surat, Gujarat.

However, the trio’s vehicle was stopped near a village Gadchinchale by some people while they were on their way on Thursday.

The three men were then pulled out from the car attacked them with stones and other objects on suspicion that they were thieves.

Over 100 people have been detained for their alleged involvement in the killing of the three men.

Few videos of the lynching incident have gone viral on social media.

nenow

National Civil services day 2020: Significance, history, awards, quotes

The national civil services day is celebrated on April 21 every year. Read the significance, history, awards, and quotes.

he National civil services day is observed on April 21. The civil service system is the backbone of the administrative machinery of the country. It is the permanent executive branch of the Republic of India. The policies and schemes are made by the government. The civil servants are the administrators. The civil servants are responsible for implementing all the government policies and schemes successfully up to the root level.

It consists of (IAS) Indian Administrative services, (IPS)Indian Police services, (IFS) Indian Foreign services along with central Group A and group B services.

History of National Civil services day 2020

On April 21, 1947, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, the Home Member of Parliament inaugurated the All India Services. Then, the previous Indian Civil Services under British India were changed to All India Services with subject to complete Indian control.

He gave a powerful speech at the All India Administrative Service Training School at Metcalfe House, Delhi. In his speech he referred to civil servants as the 'steel frame of India'.

Awards for exemplary service on National Civil Services day 2020

On National Civil Services day,'Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration' is awarded. A large number of districts across the country participate in this award program.

On National Civil Services day, the officers of central and state governments are awarded by the Prime Minister of India for their extraordinary services in the field of public administration.

The 'Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration 'is awarded in three categories:

Category 1: It comprises of eight northeastern states and the three hill states namely Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Category 2: It consists of seven Union Territories

Category 3: It consists of the rest of the eighteen states of India.

Under this scheme of awards instituted in 2006, all the officers individually or as a group or as an organization are eligible.

The award includes a medal, scroll and a cash amount of Rs 1 lakh. In the case of a group, the total award money is Rs.5 lakh subject to a maximum of Rs.1 lakh per person. For an organization, the cash amount is limited to Rs.5 lakh.

The award function is organized by the Department of the Administrative Reforms and Public grievances and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

The national civil services day is celebrated on April 21 every year. Read the significance, history, awards, and quotes.

HERE ARE SOME QUOTES ON NATIONAL CIVIL SERVICES DAY 2020

The civil servant is primarily the master of the short-term solution--Indira Gandhi

The Prime Minister and the chief ministers are one team. The Cabinet Ministers and the State Ministers are another team. The civil servants at the centre and the states are yet another team. This is the only way we can successfully develop India--Narendra Modi

With bad laws and good civil servants it's still possible to govern. But with bad civil servants even the best laws can't help--Otto von Bismarck

One of the keys to ensuring accountability is to have civil servants who witness fraud, waste and abuse to blow the whistle--Byron Dorgan

indiatoday

Plasma therapy: Do we finally have treatment for coronavirus disease?

Several states like Kerala, Gujarat and Punjab have already started to use plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients

Convalescent Plasma Therapy is an experimental procedure for COVID-19 patients

The deadly novel coronavirus has infected over 2 million people around the world. And yet there is no treatment available to cure the deadly disease. Scientists and doctors are exploring drugs, vaccines and multiple other treatments to fight COVID-19.

One such treatment is plasma therapy. A 49-year-old-male, the first coronavirus patient who was administered plasma therapy in the Max Hospital, Saket, has shown positive results. The patient is now off ventilator support, the hospital said on Monday.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recently allowed states to start clinical trails of plasma therapy. Nearly 100 institutes have shown interest to study how safe and efficient plasma therapy is in treating COVID-19. Several states like Kerala, Gujarat and Punjab have already started to use plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients.

What is a Plasma Therapy?

Convalescent Plasma Therapy is an experimental procedure for COVID-19 patients. In this treatment, plasma from a COVID-19 patient who has recovered from the disease, is transfused into a coronavirus patient who is in critical condition.

How it works:

The idea behind this therapy is that immunity can be transferred from a healthy person to a sick patient using convalescent plasma. This therapy uses antibodies from the blood of a recovered coronavirus patient to treat another critical patient. The recovered COVID-19 patient's blood develops antibodies to battle against COVID-19. Once the blood of the first patient is infused to the second patient, those antibodies will start fighting against coronavirus in the second person.

How do you donate plasma?

The process for donating plasma is similar to donating blood and takes about an hour, according to Houston Methodist. Plasma donors are hooked up to a small device that removes plasma while simultaneously returning red blood cells to their bodies. Unlike regular blood donation in which donors have to wait for red blood cells to replenish between donations, plasma can be donated more frequently, as often as twice a week.

The plasma drawn from one recovered person can help two people.

History of plasma therapy:

Discovered by German physiologist Emil von Behring, plasma therapy was first used in 1890. In 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had recommended the plasma therapy to treat Ebola virus disease. The plasma therapy was also used during Spanish flu pandemic. During the H1N1 infection of 2009, doctors used plasma therapy to treat patients.

Plasma Therapy to treat COVID-19 cases:

China, where coronavirus outbreak first emerged, had used this treatment to treat critical COVID-19 patients. Two trials of plasma therapy was conducted on 15 coronavirus patients and they showed improvement. At this moment, the ICMR does not recommend this as a treatment option outside of clinical trials.

Several countries around the world including United Kingdom and United States have also started plasma therapy trials.

livemint.