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Friday, September 30, 2011

Karzai abandons peace talks with the Taliban



Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said his government will no longer hold peace talks with the Taliban.
He said the killing of Burhanuddin Rabbani had convinced him to focus on dialogue with Pakistan.
Former Afghan President Rabbani was negotiating with the Taliban but was killed by a suicide bomber purporting to be a Taliban peace emissary.

Nirjan Thapa: Manhunt International Nepal

    



KATHMANDU, : Kathmandu as well as other cities of Nepal is familiar with the fact that there are numerous numbers of beauty pageants happening for ladies all year round.

In contrast, we rarely hear about male pageant contests and even if they are organized they aren’t treated on par with female pageant contests. 


In such a scene, Group of Event Entertainers (GEE), an event management company, has been emphasizing on male pageant contests and has been organizing Manhunt International Nepal, one of the few pageants focused on the male glamour industry since 2003.

In this year’s contest, GEE brought 13 men between the age of 18-28 years on the ramp of the grand finale of the Code 10 Manhunt International Nepal 2011 on September 25, 2011 at the Army Officers’ Club, Sundhara.

Nirjan Thapa, a 24-year-old MBS graduate who has been modeling for over two years and has also been working as a modeling trainer and choreographer, won the title of this year.

The proprietor of Cargo World Pvt Ltd, Rajiv Shahi, 28, was announced the first runner-up, and Subib KC, a 26-year-old MBA graduate who works as a project officer at an INGO, won the title of second runner-up.

The fact that a contest that has been going on since 2003 came and went without much of a stir goes to show that the event did not grab as much attention as the Miss Nepal or other beauty contests do.

Syrian toll mounts as US summons Damascus envoy

    



 
 
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
SYRIA, Oct 1: Renewed violence in Syria claimed at least 19 lives, as Washington summoned the Syrian envoy over the attempted assault on the US ambassador in Damascus.

Clashes between security forces and deserters killed 11 people in a village in Hama province Friday, while another eight died during a crackdown on protests in flashpoint Homs, rights activists said. 

Dengue fever infects over 12,000 in Pakistan


PAKISTAN, -
Already cursed by floods and suicide bombings, Pakistan now faces a new menace from an unprecedented outbreak of the deadly tropical disease dengue fever.
In less than a month, 126 people have died and more than 12,000 have been diagnosed with the virus, which has spread rapidly among both rich and poor in Pakistan's cultural capital Lahore.
Dengue affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and subtropics each year, resulting in fever, muscle and joint ache.
But it can also be fatal, developing into haemorrhagic fever and shock syndrome, which is characterised by bleeding and a loss of blood pressure.

AHMAD killing: Muslim leaders accuse police of having a hand in murder

    

KATHMANDU,
The Muslim community in Kathmandu on Friday said the police and the administration “may have facilitated” the murder of Faizan Ahmad, the General Secretary of Nepal Islamic Sangh.

In an interaction here, leaders of the community said suspicion arises as the police took no immediate action, even when sounds of bullets being fired rocked the whole area when Ahmad was gunned down by two assailants on Monday.

US Congressman meets PM Video

    






Visiting US Congressman Steve Chabot has met Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai at the PMO in Singha Durbar Friday and expressed concern over the ongoing peace process and constitution-drafting.

Bamboo scaffolding collapse kills six in India

    


Indian investigators were probing the deaths of six construction workers who were killed when the bamboo scaffolding on which they were working collapsed.
The six plunged to their deaths from the eighth floor of a newly constructed 14-storey building in the north Mumbai suburb of Bhayander on Thursday afternoon. Three other workers were injured.

Raw Video: Fierce Firefight With U.S., Taliban

    

AFGHANISTAN, 
 NATO has released video of a firefight between U.S. soldiers and what they said were Taliban militants, two of whom were said to have been killed, in Kandalay village in southern Afghanistan.

Post-war Nepal bucks the population growth trend

    


KATHMANDU, - Contrary to the trend of ‘baby boom’ (high growth rate) in post-war periods in other countries, Nepal’s census report published on Tuesday shows a significant drop in the growth rate.
Population experts say the population growth could have crossed an average annual growth rate of over 2.25 percent—more than the previous census—had Nepal followed the trend.
However, the absent population played a vital role in the significant drop to 1.40 percent in the annual population growth rate in the post-war situation in the country, they said.
According to the experts, the end of a war in a particular country brings about a baby boom there as people involved in the war return home with the beginning of the peace process. People are psychologically more relaxed and feel safe to spend more time together with the family, which ultimately helps population growth, census expert Bal Kumar KC said.
“The post-war period is also a time to begin new professions and build new families for people involved in and affected by the war. This is an important factor that comes into play in the population growth rate,” KC, who is technical advisor at the Central Bureau of Statistics for the past four decades, said.
However, this was not the case with Nepal, KC said.
While Nepali youths were yet to get good employment opportunities as a relief package after the war, dozens of developed countries opened workers’ visa for underdeveloped countries, and this paved the way for Nepalis to go abroad for employment. As a result, over 1.92 million population is recorded absent in the 2011 census.
Migrant workers and people who are absent in the country for more than six months at the time of census comprise the absent population. The absence of this group of the population who belong to the reproductive age group has significantly contributed to Nepal bucking the trend.
“The absence of a huge chunk of the reproductive population is the main cause for the low population growth rate even after the civil war,” KC said.
The annual population growth in rural areas is more than that in the urban areas in developing countries.
This year’s census records 1.63 million (1,637,469) as absent population, out of which 85.38 per cent belong to rural areas.
Another census expert Bidhya Bir Singh Kansakar agreed that the absence of this predominantly rural population has made a huge difference in slashing the growth rate.

British Government Rs 400,000 compensation for wall-collision victims

    


KATHMANDU
The British Government has decided to provide the compensation of Rs. 400,000 to the kin of those who were killed in wall collision of Sep 18.
Kin of Sajan Shrestha, daughter Amisha and Bir Bahadur Majhi of Sindhuli will receive Rs. 400,000 each. Similarly, injured Binaya Shrestha will receive a treatment expense of Rs. 100,000.
Resham Gurung, Coordinator of Sarokar Samuha, formed to meet the demands of the quake victims informed that the decision came after submitting the necessary documents of the dead people to the British embassy.
Gurung also informed that Shrestha’s wife Maya would be employed in the Human Rights section of DANIDA.
The quake victims, however, accused the British Government of providing a mere amount on the name of compensation.

Greek PM presses EU leaders for new bailout tranche

    

George Papandreou with Herman Van Rompuy in Warsaw. 29 September 2011
The Greek prime minister is having a day of talks with fellow EU leaders to approve a new bailout tranche Greece needs to avoid bankruptcy in October.
George Papandreou is meeting European Council chief Herman Van Rompuy and others in Warsaw before seeing French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.
International inspectors are in Athens to decide whether Greece should receive the 8bn euros (£6.9bn; $10.9bn).

Playing the White House: Entertaining with the US president

    

By Paul GambacciniBroadcaster and DJ
Pat and Richard Nixon at the pianoRichard Nixon and his wife Pat were the first presidential couple to bring jazz to the White House
Whoever holds the keys to the White House not only has the free world to organise but a busy entertainment schedule too. It's not just fun - very often it's crucial for oiling the wheels of diplomacy.
"It's the social side that really gets a lot of business done," says Maria Downs, social secretary to President Gerald Ford.
Richard Nixon's vice-president, who became president for two years after the Watergate scandal, did not leave as big a mark as some other 20th Century presidents - but he and his wife earned an excellent reputation for arranging, and enjoying, good entertainment.

Beetle's beer bottle sex wins Ig Nobel Prize

    


Beetle on beer bottle
I'm sorry, run that one past me again.
That's right, certain Australian beetles will try to copulate with discarded beer bottles, but they have to be of the right type - brown ones with bobbly bits on them.
This fascinating observation made almost 30 years ago has finally landed entomologists Darryl Gwynne and David Rentz with an Ig Nobel Prize.

Deuba faction on warpath with party establishment; declares nationwide protest

    



The Sher Bahadur Deuba faction of the Nepali Congress has decided to launch nationwide protest against the decision to dissolve the central bodies of four sister wings of the party.

A meeting of Deuba loyalists held at his residence Budanilkantha Friday decided to launch protest after the Dashain festival.

At the meeting, Deuba assured leaders that he will not relinquish his stance till party president Sushil Koirala withdraws the decision to dissolve the executive committees of sister organisations and reach an agreement in package.

Deuba also instructed his loyalists leaders to hold meetings of the sister organisations at the district level, possibly before Dashain.

Deuba had resigned from the party's Central Working Committee (CWC) to oppose party president Sushil Koirala's "unilateral steps" in party affairs, especially the dissolution of the central bodies of Nepal Tarun Dal, Women's Association, Indigenous Nationalities Association and Democracy Veterans

Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki 'killed in Yemen'

    

Video grab of Anwar al-Awlaki video message, picture credit: SITE Intelligence Group
The US-born radical Islamist cleric and suspected al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed in Yemen, the country's defence ministry has said.
A statement said only that he died "along with some of his companions".
Awlaki, of Yemeni descent, was on the run in Yemen since December 2007.

Burma dam: Work halted on divisive Myitsone project

    


The dam, which is several years from completion, was planned to be the world's 15th tallest at 152m (500 feet) high.
The campaign against the project brought together conservationists, environmentalists, Kachin activists and the political opposition.
Their objections ranged from the lack of public consultation to the potential environmental impact of a project that would have created a reservoir of some 766 sq km (300 sq miles) - about the size of Singapore - and forcibly displaced thousands of ethnic Kachin villagers, our correspondent says.
"The president sent a message comprising 10 points to the parliament this morning. One of them said that the construction of the dam on the Irrawaddy will be shelved during the term of his government," one official at parliament was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
"He said that his government, being born out of people's desire, has to act according to the desire of the people," said the official, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
The editor of the Irrawaddy News website, Burmese Aung Zaw, based in northern Thailand, told the BBC the decision was unexpected.
"It was a welcome surprise for everybody, inside and outside of Burma," he said.
Map
"The people [are] really happy and welcome the decision made by President Thein Sein because it wasn't only [Aung San] Suu Kyi, let me remind you of that.
"It's the population, the whole Burmese who feel they belong to the culture heritage of the Irrawaddy river. They welcome the news."
The vast majority of the electricity produced on the dam would benefit China, and the dam had served to inflame growing anti-Chinese sentiment in Burma, our correspondent says.
Beijing is investing vast sums in a series of big infrastructure projects aimed at exploiting Burma's rich natural resources and geographic position in the region, she says.
There has as yet been no official reaction from China to the unusual step taken against it by its isolated ally.
Burma's president has suspended construction of a controversial Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam.
In a letter read out in parliament on Friday, Thein Sein said the $3.6bn (£2.3bn) Myitsone dam was contrary to the will of the people and lawmakers.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi recently joined the anti-dam campaign.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Nazis' Enigma machine sells for world record price


Enigma machines were vital to the Nazi war effort. The Germans believed messages encoded on them were unbreakable.London-- An Enigma machine which featured in a Hollywood movie about the codebreakers of World War II has smashed auction estimates and sold for a world record price.
The encoding device sparked a three-way bidding war when it went under the hammer at Christie's in London Thursday, selling for £133,250 ($208,137) -- more than double the upper estimate of £50,000.
Christie's said the previous record for an Enigma machine was £67,250, at the same auction house, in November 2010.
Vitally important to the Nazi war machine, the Enigma machine was used by the German military to encrypt messages into a form they believed was unbreakable.
However, the code was cracked by a team of cryptologists atBletchley Park in southern England -- a breakthrough widely credited with having shortened the war by at least two years.

Yen, Dollar Gain on Slowdown Concerns


The yen and dollar strengthened, while metals fell and Asian stocks headed for their biggest quarterly loss since 2008 amid signs global economic growth is slowing. New Zealand’s currency fell and bond yields jumped the most this year after the nation’s credit ratings were lowered.

1 dead‚ about 30 hurt in Venezuela train crash


ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARALLAVE: Two commuter trains collided in a tunnel outside Caracas on Thursday, killing one person, injuring about 30 and leaving frightened passengers gasping for air in the dark, officials said.

5 NATO troops, 3 Afghans killed



 
 
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
KABUL, Afghanistan, : Two Afghan policewomen and a civilian were killed by a mine on their way to work Thursday, a day after another five NATO soldiers died in the 10-year war against the Taliban.

The policewomen and civilian died when their vehicle was blown up by a remote-controlled mine on their way to work at the civilian airport serving the western city of Herat, officials said. 

lain Hindu leader's wife quits hunger strike

    



 

BIRGUNJ,: Babitadevi Tiwari, wife of slain Hindu Yuba Sangh president Kashinath Tiwari, ended her hunger strike Thursday evening.

She gave up her fast on the fourth day after being convinced by the Parsa chief district officer, Taranath Gautam that legal procedure against her husband’s killer has been initiated. Her husband was killed some three months ago. 


CDO Gautam went to the strike venue and ended her strike offering her juice. She had been losing her health due to the fast, with doctors giving her saline water on Wednesday.

In his statement, murder accused Aman Kushahawa has told police that Shiyaram Kushahawa, personal secretary of Prabhu Shah, currently a cabinet minister, gunned down Tiwari. He has also claimed Minister Shah was involved in plotting the murder.

17 Indian officials convicted of raping villagers



 
 
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW DELHI, India, : Seventeen Indian police and forest officials have been convicted of gang raping a group of tribal villagers in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in 1992.

Press Trust of India says another 100 officials were found guilty Thursday of brutally beating dozens of people from the village of dalits. Also known as untouchables, dalits are considered to be at the bottom of India´s caste system. 


The incident occurred as officials raided Vachathi village to search for smuggled sandalwood. The two-day raid ended with 18 women reportedly raped and 100 people badly beaten.

An Indian court will issue sentences next week, though some of the defendants have died in the time it took for the case to make its way through India´s notoriously slow judicial system.

Philippine immigrant maid wins landmark Hong Kong case


Migrant Workers Union members outside the Hong Kong high courtHong Kong's High Court has ruled that a domestic helper from the Philippines should be allowed to apply for permanent residency in the city.
The case was brought by Evangeline Banao Vallejos, who has lived in Hong Kong since 1986.
The ruling follows a landmark judicial review and could lead to more than 100,000 other foreign maids winning rights to residency.

Navy issuing first 1,000 redundancy notices


More than 1,000 Royal Navy staff will learn they are being made redundant later as part of a first round of military job cuts.
Of about 1,020 job losses, a third are compulsory. Some 810 sailors applied for redundancy and 670 were accepted.
The navy is cutting numbers by 5,000 to 30,000 by 2015, as part of 22,000 armed forces cuts designed to help save £5bn.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the MoD had to share the blame for the cuts having "helped create the problem".
Earlier this month about 920 soldiers and 930 RAF personnel were told they were being made redundant, in the first tranche of cuts announced in last year's Strategic Defence and Security Review.
The next round of redundancies is due in March. The Ministry of Defence is also shedding 25,000 civilian staff over the next four years.
Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Dr Fox reflected on the actions of military chiefs under previous government, saying: "I think the MoD consistently dug a hole for itself that it eventually found that it could not climb out of.
"It is irritating to hear some of those who helped create the problem criticising us when we try to bring in a solution."
A "complete breakdown of trust" between the military and the government over ballooning costs reached its zenith towards the end of Gordon Brown's premiership, the defence secretary said.
'Morale knocked'
He added that he wanted the armed forces to "take the pain early" so the military could balance its books and regain lost credibility.
Morale within the forces had "taken a knock" but most people understood that reform "had to be done", Dr Fox said.
Only personnel not on or preparing for deployment, and who have taken all their operational leave, have been considered for redundancy from the Royal Navy.HMS Cumberland
This includes sailors who took part in the Libya campaign on HMS Cumberland and other ships now being decommissioned.

Insecurity, extortion dampen Dashain mood

    


VDC Secretary Dabal Bhatta is worried about his security after a trader was killed in Khatibada VDC in Doti district recently. Bhatta has been tasked to distribute social security allowance in the VDC.
No different is the situation of Nirauli VDC Secretary Ganesh Khadka. He said that it was difficult to carry out the allowance distribution task and keeping Rs 900,000 meant for the purpose is very risky. 

After the earthquake, trauma haunts people

    


KATHMANDU, 
More than 10 days after the 6.8 earthquake rocked Nepal, people in the country continue to talk the temblor, have cold feet and suffer from frequent nightmares.
Physical damages may have been fairly limited, but judging the psychological impact of the tremor is hard, experts say. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a significant number of people around the country haven’t completely gotten over the quake.

Post-war Nepal bucks the population growth trend

    


ATHMANDU, - Contrary to the trend of ‘baby boom’ (high growth rate) in post-war periods in other countries, Nepal’s census report published on Tuesday shows a significant drop in the growth rate.

China Roeket Launched Video

Libyan forces take Sirte airport


Transitional forces fire a rocket near Sirte, 28 September 2011Forces loyal to Libya's transitional authorities have taken the airport in the city of Sirte, the birthplace of fugitive leader Muammar Gaddafi.
A BBC correspondent says jubilant fighters moved through the partially destroyed terminal buildings tearing down symbols of the Gaddafi regime.

China ready for next space leap


China is due to launch its first space laboratory, Tiangong-1.
The 10.5m-long, cylindrical module will be unmanned for the time being, but the country's astronauts, or yuhangyuans, are expected to visit it next year.
Tiangong-1 will demonstrate the critical technologies needed by China to build a fully fledged space station - something it has promised to do at the end of the decade.

Pakistan PM: 'We won't be pressured by US' on Haqqanis


Pakistan will not bow to US pressure to step up its fight against militancy, its prime minister has said.
Yousuf Raza Gilani told a rare meeting of political and religious parties that relations between the two countries should be based on mutual respect.
He said that Pakistan's "national interests" should be respected.
Relations have hit new lows since the top US military officer said Pakistan was backing the Haqqani group in Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan rejects.
Washington wants Islamabad to sever links with the Haqqani group, which correspondents say has roots deep inside Pakistani territory.
US officials say they are close to deciding whether to label the group as a foreign terrorist organisation.
"Pakistan cannot be pressured to do more," Mr Gilani told the meeting in Rawalpindi.
"The blame game should end, and Pakistan's sensitive national interests should be respected," he said, in comments carried live on local television stations.
He said that Pakistan was united over any threat to its sovereignty.
Tensions between the two countries, which were already high, rose still further last week when the most senior US military officer, Adm Mike Mullen, made his accusations, calling the Haqqanis a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's spy agency.
The White House, however, made slightly more conciliatory noises on Wednesday.
Spokesman Jay Carney said he would not have used the same language as Adm Mullen, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the two countries have to "work together".

US ambassador Robert Ford pelted with tomatoes in Syria

    


Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have pelted US ambassador Robert Ford with tomatoes as he met an opposition figure in Damascus.
Pro-government protesters climbing the wall and raise Syrian flags outside the US embassy in Damascus in July
Veteran politician Hassan Abdul Azim said about 100 protesters tried to get into his office as Mr Ford arrived and then surrounded it, trapping him.

Manchester City suspend Carlos Tevez for up to two weeks

    

Manchester City has suspended Carlos Tevez after it was alleged he refused to appear as a substitute in the 2-0 defeat by Bayern Munich.-

Tevez, 27, who said the dispute was a "misunderstanding", is banned until further notice for a maximum of two weeks while the club investigate.

Samsung Plaza opens at New Baneshwor

    

Samsung
KATHMANDU, 
Him Electronics, sole authorised distributor of Samsung consumer electronics in Nepal, opened its exclusive outlet Samsung Plaza at New Baneshwor on Wednesday. The new showroom was inaugurated by directors Pukjhraj Devi Golchha and Seema Golchha amid a programme. This is Samsung’s fourth exclusive showroom after its outlets at Durbar Marg, Civil Mall and Kumaripati.
“We believe that this location will be suitable for our target customers” said Seema Golchha, “The new facilities offered here will provide a one-stop solution for all Samsung products to our customers.” 
According to Him Electronics, the showroom will sell Samsung’s latest technology products in a premium, interactive and soothing environment. The products on display include the latest range of Samsung Smart
TV, 3D LED and LCD televisions, Samsung digital smart cameras
along with the entire range of colour televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, music systems and DVD players.
The shop features innovative displays in a vibrant ambience which highlights the products aesthetically. Backing up the product line is a team of highly trained customer support representatives who are adept at handling any queries from customers, the company said.

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