Michel Euler/AP

Since the middle of the twentieth century, polio has been on the fast track to being an extinct disease. When the cure was first found, the numbers of reported cases began to drop off dramatically. Since 1988, the number of countries reporting cases of polio has went from 125 nations to just four: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

As far as Bill Gates in concerned, that is four countries too many that are still dealing with the disease.

Gates wants the illness to no longer just be a contained disease, but one that no longer exists. He said that the world is “on the threshold of eliminating polio once and for all.”

Recently, the illness has afflicted people in the four nations where it is still active, as well as Tajikistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bill Gates believes that the recent reports are a sign that if the leaders of the world do not band together to take out the disease for good, all of the work that has already been done will be put at risk.

The Global Eradication Initiative has come up short in their funds by $720 million for 2011 and 2012.

Gates said that now is the time to work together to finish the job we started a half-century ago.

Gates said, “I’m betting money, reputation, energy, everything we have to help polio eradication this year.”

After meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates last week, Gates announced that the prince of Abu Dhabi would donate $17 million.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister of England, announced that after meeting with Gates, his nation would be donating $62 million.

Gates himself will be donating $302 million this year via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gates is also intending to work closer with President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan to get more support for the Pakistani government to help eradicate the disease that is effecting the children of the Middle Eastern state.

As David Oshinsky, the author of Polio: An American Story said, “If you increase the number of unvaccinated children, you increase the chance that this virus will find new subjects. Polio’s only a plane ride away.”

Polio is no longer at the forefront of the minds of Americans as the disease is practically unheard of in the United States, but the illness still exists in the world. And as Gates, along with many others, knows, if we do not eradicate it for good now, there’s no telling of how strongly the disease might come back.

AP

San Francisco (Obama.net)- On his third day in India, President Barack Obama stopped in New Delhi to make a major announcement in front of parliament. On what was also his third day of a ten-day tour of Asia, President Obama spoke on India’s hope to become a member of the United Nations Security Council.

Obama said that he, as well as his administration, support India’s hope to join the five winners of World War II on the Council.

Obama said, “In the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed U.N. Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.”

India would join the United States, England, Russia, China, and France if it becomes a permanent member.

The President of the United States also addressed his hopes for more ties between America and India. Obama commented on his desire to see more economic and security partnerships between the two nations.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry immediately talked down the plans. A statement from Pakistan’s government said, “India’s aspirations for recognition as a global power notwithstanding, there are reasons enough to discredit this propose direction of the process of UNSC (United Nations Security Council) reforms.”

The Foreign Ministry said that the way India conducts itself with neighboring states, such as Pakistan, should be reason enough to discount India’s hope to gain a permanent seat on the Council.

The United States quickly responded as the White House released a statement saying that the government views India as a fast rising power in the international community, regardless of Pakistani claims.

It has yet to be determined when the talks to get India into the Security Council will begin.

Many fear that any effort put towards getting India a permanent seat will be fruitless. The United States has previously helped Brazil, Japan, and Germany in their quests to attain a seat, but no success was realized.

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is making a strong case for his country though. He has been promoting India’s message to “tackle nuclear terrorism” and India’s motion “to lead global efforts for nonproliferation and universal and nondiscriminatory global nuclear disarmament.”

With Pakistan adamant that India should not be added to the Council and the United States asserting that they should be included, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the international community as well as the other four members of the Security Council respond.

CNN/Getty

San Francisco (Obama.net)- President Barack Obama continued his stay in India on Sunday. Obama spoke again in Mumbai, this time as part of a town hall meeting. A day after announcing a new deal with India that would be worth approximately $10 billion and would create thousands of jobs in the United States, as well as improve the trade balance in America by heavily increasing exports, Obama focused his attention on Pakistan.

Terrorists have been in Pakistan for years and still maintain a stronghold in the nation. While the nation has been making efforts to rid itself of terrorists and become self-sufficient, it has not done a very good job as of yet and President Obama has noticed.

Obama made it clear that Pakistan is not moving as quickly as he would prefer it to and that the process to eliminate terrorists from the nation are taking much too long. The President of the United States said that it is now time to take care of the issue and to address the “extremist elements” in Pakistan.

Obama did not randomly call out Pakistan though. The President was answering a question from a student worried with the current conditions in Pakistan as it is the neighbor of India.

President Obama said the hope is that “over time trust develops” and “dialogue begins” between India and Pakistan. Obama continued, “The U.S. stands to be a partner in that process, but can’t impose that.”

The goal in the region is to create a partnership between India and Pakistan. India and the United States are both concentrating their efforts on ridding Pakistan of terrorists as both countries have been the victims of terrorist attacks. The United States was the victim of the September 11^th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and India suffered a massacre in Mumbai in November of 2008 that saw 164 innocent people lose their lives.

Obama is now set to continue his ten day tour of Asia. In the coming days, the President will visit Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea. More vital announcements are expected to be revealed by Obama pertaining to relations with those nations and the American economy.

If the stop in Mumbai is any indication, this week will see the improvement of the partnerships between the United States and its allies in Asia economically, politically, and socially.

CNN/AFP/Getty

San Francisco (Obama.net)- After making the increase of American exports to the rest of the world one of his goals in helping restore the economy of the United States, President Obama has already raised the amount of American exports.

To kick off his tour of the Eastern Hemisphere, Obama stopped in India on Saturday to announce some big plans. Those plans center around ten billion dollars in deals that will bring American products into India.

Obama told attendees of the United States and India Business Council and Entrepreneurship Summit in Mumbai “The United States sees Asia, and especially India, as a market of the future. For America, this is a jobs strategy.”

After many years of jobs being outsourced to India, now jobs will be created in America to produce the goods that India will import.

The President said, “In 2010, trade between our countries is not just a one way street of American jobs and companies moving to India. It is a dynamic, two way relationship that is creating jobs, growth, and higher living standards in both our countries.”

In addition to making the trade agreement with India, Obama is also expected to make progressions in previous negotiations with South Korea. Obama said in the New York Times on Saturday that he will “work to complete a trade pact (with South Korea) that could be worth tens of billions of dollars in increased exports and thousands of jobs for American workers.”

Obama then pointed out that according to statistics, for every one billion dollars in exports, over five thousand jobs are created in the United States. The new deal with India is projected to create approximately 54,000 jobs for American workers.

All of Obama’s work with India, South Korea, and other nations is part of his agenda to at the very least double exports from the United States in the next few years. As statistics show, if successful, an enormous amount of jobs would be created in the United States and thus would lower the high unemployment rate.

Obama’s trip to Asia has just begun and he is expected to make even more announcements pertaining to trade and the American economy in the coming days.

In the end, Obama is delivering on his promises to improve the trade balance in the United States and to make the United States less dependent on foreign goods, especially oil.

Numerous American jobs have been moved to India in recent history due to cheaper labor costs. However, Obama’s plan calls for the amount it costs to “create a job in Bangalore, India,” to no longer cost less “than if you create one in Buffalo, New York.”

Part of the action calls for the removal of deductions for American corporations for investing in subdivisions located in foreign nations.

Tens of thousands of American employees are located in Indian subdivisions where they mainly work in customer service. Furthermore, even more workers are hired in India via the nearby technology companies and outsourcing companies as well.

In addition, as India’s economy is quickly growing, as well as their middle class, numerous American organizations are adding more sales, marketing, and distribution divisions in the nation.

Many in India fear that Obama’s tax ruling will reduce the amount of outsourcing to the country. However, according to experts, the amount of profit that is gained from the reduced labor costs is still going to be enough to keep American companies interested in outsourcing to India.

Currently, American companies are responsible for 60% of the 2.2 million technology and outsourcing employees. The new tax revision will not undo the successes of India’s economy, nor will it hinder it in the future, it is simply for American government revenues to support the United States of America in the current financial crunch.