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India, Pak form JWG on local governance
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IANS regrets Kathmandu story on Nalini Singh
New Delhi, December 23 Senior Indian journalist Nalini Singh yesterday termed as "malicious" and "baseless" news reports that she had made derogatory remarks about Nepal or its people, as alleged by a reporter in Kathmandu quoted in the local media.
Taliban’s military chief killed, says US
Maoists close 400 hotels
‘Stay the course’ is top catch phrase
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Discovery back for Christmas
Houston, December 23 Discovery touched down on a flood-lit runway at 5:32 p.m. EST yesterday at NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), concluding a smooth 13-day flight. Before setting foot on the runway, each crew member underwent a brief medical exam inside the Crew Hatch Access Vehicle. After receiving the doctors nod, Polansky and his team were greeted by NASA officials, including administrator Michael Griffin, before taking a walk around Discovery to inspect the spacecraft. While thanking mission control after landing, veteran spaceflyer and Discovery's commander, Mark Polansky, said: "You have seen thrilled people right here. ... I think it's going to be a great holiday. We're just really proud of the entire NASA team and thank you." Returning to the earth alongside Polansky were Discovery pilot William Oefelein, mission specialists Nicholas Patrick, Robert Curbeam, Joan Higginbotham and European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts Christer Fuglesand and Thomas Reiter. Patrick and Reiter, who came back from a six-month stay at the space station, felt the pull of gravity yesterday for the first time since July. It was not until about an hour before the landing that NASA decided where to bring the shuttle home. There were showers over Florida, and crosswinds at the back-up landing site, Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojaye Desert. NASA was not thrilled about another landing site, White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico as it lacked the equipment needed to transport the shuttle back to its home at Cape Canaveral. Only once has a ship landed there in 1982. Finally, NASA gave the green signal for Florida and when it appeared that the rain would not reach Cape Canaveral. Discovery was launched on December 9 and arrived at the station two days later. The crew installed the P5 spacer truss segment during the first of four spacewalks.
— PTI
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India, Pak form JWG on local governance
Islamabad, December 23 The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at a meeting held here yesterday, Dawn newspaper reported. The working group will consist of nominees from the two sides to be intimated through correspondence. The first meeting of the JWG will be held in New Delhi on mutually agreed dates and its agenda will be finalised later. The group will recommend schedules of activities for bilateral exchanges between the two countries to the forum.
— UNI
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IANS regrets Kathmandu story on Nalini Singh (IANS regrets a story put on Friday from Kathmandu, on the basis of local media reports, that have caused unintended hurt and anguish to senior journalist Nalini Singh. The following story clarifies the situation, giving Nalini Singh’s version of the incident involving another Nepali journalist in her TV channel.) New Delhi, December 23 "All comments attributed to me are wrong, malicious, vicious, baseless and motivated", Singh told IANS in New Delhi on her arrival from Kathmandu. She said there was "no way" she could have made derogatory remarks against Nepal or its people as she was very fond of the country and its people. Singh pointed out that at a public function organised by her Nepal1 channel in Kathmandu on November 24, she had made a speech saying: "I love Nepal, its hard-working people, the language and the music". Pointing that she had "family links" with Nepal, she said she had made the bulk of the speech in Nepali and that it was heard by a 600-strong audience that included top politicians, bureaucrats, army officers, and journalists. The speech was also televised internationally, Singh pointed out. Anjana Rawal, a Nepali reporter who is supposed to contribute stories on issues concerning children, women and human rights for the channel, alleged that Singh had insulted her. Rawal’s remarks were picked up by local Nepali media. Singh said she had only pointed out to Rawal that that her work was "irregular, unsubstantiated and not based on research". Therefore, she was asked not to send any story in the future and that, as such, her services were not required. At this, the local media reports said, Rawal manhandled Singh. The incident had caused a storm in the Nepali media with sections supporting Singh and Rawal. According to Singh, Anjana Rawal was present at the November 24 function and she "danced happily in which I also joined". "I find it very strange that everything was fine on November 24 and now there is this report", Singh maintained. — IANS
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Taliban’s military chief killed, says US
Kabul, December 23 Osmani is the highest ranking Taliban leader to be killed after the ouster of the regime in November 2001 and was associated with Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, officials said. The US military here announced that the Taliban leader was killed in an air strike last Tuesday. Spokesman Col Tom Collins said officials waited four days to make the announcement so that the news could be confirmed. Osmani was number four in the Taliban hierarchy, and probably a co-equal with Haqqani and Dadullah and after Mullah Omar, the untraced Taliban leader believed to be hiding in northern Pakistan. However, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who is often cited in the media here as the "Taliban spokesman" denied that Osmani had been killed. But little value is attached to the observation in official circles. Osmani was the governor of the Urozgan province when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, officials said.
— PTI
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Maoists close 400 hotels
Kathmandu, December 23 The strike was called on a day when Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai assured World Bank of his party's decision to welcome foreign investment.
— PTI
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‘Stay the course’ is top catch phrase
Los Angeles, December 23 In second place was the ill-fated book title “If I Did It” by OJ Simpson. In third place was a series of emotion icons used in e-mail and text messages: “# - )” which Payack said meant “wasted.” Fourth was “Airline Pulp,” a Chinese/English hybrid way of describing food served aboard an airliner. Serial Texter was fifth, denoting widespread use of text messages among youth. The top catch phrases for 2005 were Out of the Mainstream, used to describe the ideology of any political opponent, and bird flu or Avian flu.
— Reuters
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Rebels call off strike 12 missing in Indonesian floods 
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