Nepal Army chief to visit India

KATHMANDU: Nepal's Army Gen Gaurav Shumsher Rana will pay a maiden visit to India from January 6 to further strengthen the age-old friendly relations existing between the armies of the two neighbouring nations.
Gen Rana, who assumed the top army post in September, will visit India at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Gen Bikram Singh.

During his 10-day long trip, he will be conferred with the title of honorary General of the Indian Army by President Pranab Mukherjee as per a long-held tradition of conferring the title on each other's army chief.

Since 1965, both the armies have been conferring the honorary rank of General on each other's Army chief in view of the close military ties shared by the two countries.

Besides holding bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart, Gen Rana will meet other top Indian civilian and military officials.

India-educated Gen Rana will be leading a six-member delegation of Nepal Army.

The visit is expected to further strengthen the age-old friendly relations existing between the two countries, Nepal Army Headquarters said in a statement today.

Rana took over the post of Nepal's Army chief succeeding Gen Chhatra Man Singh Gurung. He passed out of The Lawrance School, Sanawar in Himachal Pradesh, and has served in the Nepal Army for the last 39 years.

Read More..

Pictures We Love: Best of 2012

Photograph by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/AP

Powder-splattered, and powder-splattering, runners cross the finish line of The Color Run 5K in Irvine, California, on April 22. Each kilometer (0.6 mile) of the event features a color-pelting station dedicated to a single hue, culminating in the Pollock-esque riot at kilometer 5.

The "magical color dust" is completely safe, organizers say, though they admit it's "surprisingly high in calories and leaves a chalky aftertaste."

See more from April 2012 >>

Why We Love It

"Vibrant color floating through the air automatically brings to mind festive Holi celebrations in India. We expect to see revelers in Mumbai but instead find a surprise in the lower third of the frame—runners in California!"—Sarah Polger, senior photo editor

"There are a lot of eye-catching photographs of the festival of Holi in India that show colored powder in midair, but this particular situation has the people all lined up in a row—making it easy to see each of their very cinematic facial expressions."—Chris Combs, news photo editor

Published January 3, 2013

Read More..

Chelsea Clinton Raises Profile During Mom's Illness













While Hillary Clinton was in the hospital it was daughter Chelsea -- not the secretary of state or the former president Bill Clinton -- who spoke for the family.


She, along with the State Department, doled out what little information the family wanted to share in a series of tweets and when her mother was released from the hospital, it was Chelsea who delivered the thanks on behalf of her parents, tweeting her gratitude to the doctors as well as those who kept her mother in their thoughts while she recovered from a blood clot.


When Hillary Clinton leaves office, possibly at the end of this month, it will be the first time since 1982 that a Clinton will not be holding a public office.


The watch will be on whether Hillary Clinton makes another run for the White House in 2016, but almost inevitably people will also be watching to see if Chelsea Clinton decides to run for office, too.


"Americans always look for dynasties: Bush, Kennedy, Cuomo, Clinton … it's some kind of continuity. There will always be pressure on her to run for public office," said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political strategist in New York.


"She's learning from the two best politicians in recent American history and she understands when to hold them and when to fold them," Sheinkopf said.


That sense of dynasty could also present a significant hurdle.






James Devaney/Getty Images











Secretary of State Clinton: Mystery Health Issues Watch Video









Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Undergoing Blood-Thinning Therapy Watch Video





"She's got to A, demonstrate that she has the charisma of her father, or B, demonstrate that she has the policy chops of her mother. And I think like most people she is somewhere in between," a former Hillary Clinton aide from her 2008 campaign said. "People are judging her through each of her parents and it's an impossible standard."


Chelsea Clinton, 32, has inched towards a possible political career in recent statements and has become more politically active.


In an interview with Vogue published in August she was more open to it than she has been in the past, telling the magazine, "Before my mom's (presidential) campaign I would have said no," but "now I don't know."


"I believe that engaging in the political process is part of being a good person. And I certainly believe that part of helping to build a better world is ensuring that we have political leaders who are committed to that premise. So if there were to be a point where it was something I felt called to do and I didn't think there was someone who was sufficiently committed to building a healthier, more just, more equitable, more productive world? Then that would be a question I'd have to ask and answer."


Clinton also spoke of a change in her private to public life:


"Historically I deliberately tried to lead a private life in the public eye," she told the magazine. "And now I am trying to lead a purposefully public life."


Besides her work as a special correspondent with NBC, Chelsea Clinton has taken on high profile roles with her father's Clinton Global Initiative. She sits on several corporate boards and has both moderated and sat on panels discussing both women in politics and childhood obesity, among other issues.


She has also worked toward making same-sex marriage legal in New York last year, as well as gay marriage referendums in Maine, Maryland, Wisconsin and Washington state, all of which were successful in November. She has also been active in superstorm Sandy recovery, most notably delivering aid to the devastated Rockaways with her father.






Read More..

Federal agencies bracing for cuts after ‘fiscal cliff’ deal



The eleventh-hour agreement to avoid a “fiscal cliff” of higher taxes put off the major cuts known as a sequester until March 1, when another showdown is expected over the federal debt limit and how much to reduce the size of government.


Congress and the White House agreed to find $24 billion to pay for the delay, divided between spending cuts and a tax change that allows Americans holding traditional retirement plans to convert more of them to Roth IRAs, a process that requires tax payments up front.

The remaining $12 billion in cuts to domestic and defense agencies will not take effect until at least March 27, when the stopgap budget funding the government expires. The first $4 billion in cuts must come by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, and the remaining $8 billion in fiscal 2014, which will start Oct. 1.

The cuts will be rolled into budget deliberations on Capitol Hill, and no one knows what agencies and programs they will affect. Out of a discretionary spending budget of $1.04 trillion, $12 billion is relatively small. But it’s not a rounding error.

“There will be a few select cuts that will be painful,” said Patrick Lester, fiscal policy director at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (formerly OMB Watch). “We won’t know for months what those cuts are, which makes them easy to do.”

William R. Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said $12 billion “spread across the government doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but it depends on how it’s spread out.”

Even if each agency took a hit, some “will still be looking at furloughs and even [reductions in force] as a possible solution,” he said. Those are some of the near-certain actions many agencies have said they would take if they had to make the across-the-board cuts Congress imposed in 2011 to force itself to reckon with the federal deficit.

On Wednesday, government and union leaders said that threat, just two months away, is making them nervous.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Congress has “prevented the worst possible outcome by delaying sequestration for two months.”

But he warned that the “the specter of sequestration” threatens national security.

“We need to have stability in our future budgets,” Panetta said in a statement. “We need to have the resources to effectively execute our strategy, defend the nation, and meet our commitments to troops and their families after more than a decade of war.”

Several officials said they are still sorting out what the two-month delay means.

“We are working hard with [the Office of Management and Budget] to understand the impact, but we’re just not there yet,” said Army Lt. Col. Elizabeth Robbins, a Defense Department spokeswoman.

Defense consultant Jim McAleese said the deal to raise taxes on families with income above $450,000 and individuals earning more than $400,000 will bring in so much less revenue than the $250,000 threshold President Obama proposed that steep defense cuts are inevitable.

Instead of the $10 billion in cuts a year over 10 years that the Defense Department could have expected to see under Obama’s most recent deficit reduction plan, McAleese said the reductions could be more in the range of $15 billion to $20 billion a year over 10 years.

“People were talking before about defense cuts of $10 billion per year, but the sheer size of the disagreement is going to bring about an immediate, aggressive reaction that will impact the final outcome of the spending cuts,” he said.

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said of the $12 billion in cuts, “I would hope agencies could find these savings without impacts on front-line employees and without impacts on services to the public. We have more questions than answers right now.”

Steve Vogel contributed to this report.

Read More..

Wilkie Terrace land parcel sold for S$24.5m






SINGAPORE: A land parcel at 13/15 Wilkie Terrace has been sold to Roxy-Pacific Holdings for S$24.5 million.

Its marketing agent, Jones Lang LaSalle, said the plot located off Dhoby Ghaut/ Selegie Road has been sold to a subsidiary of Roxy-Pacific Holdings in a private treaty deal.

Jones Lang LaSalle added that the sale price of S$24.5 million reflects a land rate of S$1,259 per square foot per plot ratio based on the gross plot ratio of 2.1, after factoring in a marginal development charge.

Spanning 9,324 square feet, the freehold site currently houses a bungalow owned by a family and it is zoned for residential development.

Including this latest acquisition, Roxy-Pacific has bought three sites in the vicinity in the last six months.

Jones Lang LaSalle said the other two sites are Sophia Mansions at Adis Road and 7/9/11 Wilkie Terrace which adjoins the land parcel that it has just purchased.

The two earlier transactions were handled by property consultant Credo Real Estate before its merger with Jones Lang LaSalle.

Mr Karamjit Singh, Head of Investments and Residential at Jones Lang LaSalle said: "The narrowing gap in land prices between the upper and lower ends of the residential market is causing some developers to shift their attention to freehold land in more central locations. Some may be building up their land banks in anticipation of an upswing in the higher end of the market."

Jones Lang LaSalle added that the site at 13/15 Wilkie Terrace is located near to the upcoming Rochor MRT station, part of the Downtown Line, which is expected to commence operations in two years.

- CNA/xq



Read More..

Samajwadi Party dissolves its youth wings

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party on Thursday dissolved all its four youth wings and their national executive with immediate effect.

"The decision to dissolve four youth wings — Yuvjan Sabha, Lohia Vahini, Youth Brigade and Chharasabha has been taken after permission from SP national president Mulayam Singh Yadav", a party release issued here said.

While national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav dissolved the national executive, SP state president Akhilesh Yadav had done the same with the state executive with these wings.

The party has not cited any reason for this.

Read More..

Pictures: Errant Shell Oil Rig Runs Aground Off Alaska, Prompts Massive Response

Photograph courtesy Jonathan Klingenberg, U.S. Coast Guard

Waves lash at the sides of the Shell* drilling rig Kulluk, which ran aground off the rocky southern coast of Alaska on New Year's Eve in a violent storm.

The rig, seen above Tuesday afternoon, was "stable," with no signs of spilled oil products, authorities said. But continued high winds and savage seas hampered efforts to secure the vessel and the 150,000 gallons (568,000 liters) of diesel fuel and lubricants on board. The Kulluk came to rest just east of Sitkalidak Island (map), an uninhabited but ecologically and culturally rich site north of Ocean Bay, after a four-day odyssey, during which it broke free of its tow ships and its 18-member crew had to be rescued by helicopter.

The U.S. Coast Guard, state, local, and industry officials have joined in an effort involving nearly 600 people to gain control of the rig, one of two that Shell used for its landmark Arctic oil-drilling effort last summer. "This must be considered once of the largest marine-response efforts conducted in Alaska in many years," said Steve Russell, of Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation.

The 266-foot (81-meter) rig now is beached off one of the larger islands in the Kodiak archipelago, a land of forest, glaciers, and streams about 300 miles (482 kilometers) south of Anchorage. The American Land Conservancy says that Sitkalidak Island's highly irregular coastline traps abundant food sources upwelling from the central Gulf of Alaska, attracting large numbers of seabirds and marine mammals. The largest flock of common murres ever recorded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was in Sitkalidak Strait, which separates the island from Kodiak. Sitkalidak also has 16 wild salmon rivers and archaeological sites tied to the Alutiiq native peoples dating back more than 7,000 years.

Shell incident commander Susan Childs said Monday night that the company's wildlife management team had started to assess the potential impact of a spill, and would be dispatched to the site when the weather permitted. She said the Kulluk's fuel tanks were in the center of the vessel, encased in heavy steel. "The Kulluk is a pretty sturdy vessel," she said. " It just remains to be seen how long it's on the shoreline and how long the weather is severe."

Marianne Lavelle

*Shell is sponsor of National Geographic's Great Energy Challenge initiative. National Geographic maintains editorial autonomy.

Published January 2, 2013

Read More..

Obama Signs 'Fiscal Cliff' Bill With Autopen


Jan 3, 2013 12:53am







ap obama fiscal cliff press Conference thg 130101 wblog Obama Signs Fiscal Cliff Bill With Autopen

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo


HONOLULU, Hawaii — President Obama has signed the “fiscal cliff” legislation into law via autopen from Hawaii, where he is vacationing with his family.


The bill to avert the “fiscal cliff” arrived at the White House late this afternoon and it was immediately processed, according to a senior White House official. A copy was delivered to the president in Hawaii for review. He then directed the bill to be signed by autopen back in Washington, D.C.


The Bush administration deemed in 2005 that the use of the autopen is constitutional, although President George W. Bush never used the mechanical device to replicate his signature on a bill.


The office of legal counsel found at the time that Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution allows the president to use the autopen to sign legislation, stating “the President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill to sign it.”


Obama has used the autopen twice in the past to sign legislation, both times while he was overseas.


Use of the autopen has been controversial.  Conservative groups alleged last summer that Obama used an autopen to sign condolence letters to the families of Navy SEALs killed in a Chinook crash in Afghanistan — a charge the White House disputed flatly as false.


In 2004, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was criticized for using an autopen to sign condolence letters to the families of fallen troops.


And in 1992 then-Vice President Dan Quayle even got into some hot water over his use of the autopen on official correspondence during an appearance on “This Week with David Brinkley.”


Obama, who arrived back in Hawaii early Wednesday morning to continue his family vacation, spent the afternoon golfing with friends at the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay.


Obama is slated to remain in Hawaii through Saturday.


ABC News’ Jonathan Karl contributed to this report



SHOWS: Good Morning America This Week World News







Read More..

Thai arrested over death of Briton at New Year party






BANGKOK: Police in Thailand said Wednesday they had arrested a Thai man over the death of a British tourist shot during New Year celebrations at one of the Southeast Asian nation's most popular islands.

The 26-year-old suspect is alleged to have opened fire during an argument with a group of other Thai men at a bar on the southern resort of Koh Phangan, killing holidaymaker Stephen Ashton who was dancing on the beach.

"He was charged with murder, even though he said he did not aim to kill a tourist. Firing the gun, no matter at whom, was aiming to kill," said Surat Thani province police commander Kietpong Khaosa-ard.

The man, who was arrested late Tuesday near his home on the island, was also charged with illegal possession of a weapon.

The British Foreign Office on Tuesday said it was providing consular assistance to Ashton's family.

Phangan is a resort island in the Gulf of Thailand near Koh Samui and draws thousands of backpackers to its famous full moon parties.

- AFP/de



Read More..

Vadra probe panel is cover up to 'gargantuan land scams': Ashok Khemka

CHANDIGARH: Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka has termed Haryana's decision to set up a panel to probe his orders to cancel mutation of a land deal between Robert Vadra and DLF as a "cover up to the gargantuan land scams", and sought relevant file notings from the state government.


Four days after the high-level panel submitted its inquiry report into the cancellation of mutation of 3.5 acre of land in Gurgaon, Khemka stood his ground on his findings in the controversial deal.


In a letter to Haryana Chief Secretary P K Chaudhery on Monday, Khemka, who had as Director General of Consolidation of Holdings, cancelled the mutation of land deal between businessman Robert Vadra and real estate giant DLF, wrote that his orders under Sec 42 of East-Punjab Holdings (Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmentation) Act, 1948, were "quasi- judicial and final."


Currently MD of Haryana Seeds Development Corporation, Khemka has also sought a copy of the government order constituting the inquiry committee, its terms of reference and relevant file noting pages constituting the panel.


On being contacted, Khemka said the committee is a "sham to justify possible action against me as a cover to the gargantuan land scams".


"All this kind of humiliation and mental torture is to break me down psychologically," he claimed, adding that "vested interests" in the government have "pre-judged" the matter.


He said he is surprised that the affected individual or the corporate house is "not ostensibly aggrieved."


In his letter Khemka said, "the remedy for the affected party is to challenge the order by way of filing a writ petition in the high court".


Khemka has cited a case in which the Punjab and Haryana High Court had on September 6 last year directed the Hooda government to compile all orders of the DG consolidation, where precious panchayat lands were transferred to influential realtor companies.


"One of my orders pertaining to Chirsi village (Faridabad district) is also under challenge," he wrote.


The probe panel had submitted its report to the state Chief Secretary on December 28.


Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Vadra had sold 3.53 acre of land at Shikohpur village in Gurgaon district to DLF.


As DG Consolidation, Khemka had on October 15, last year set aside the mutation on the grounds that the assistant consolidation officer who had sanctioned it was not authorised to do so.


Chaudhery, meanwhile, said he was "examining" the probe panel's report.

Read More..