News princock

Taiwan upgrades dozens of fighter jets

TAIPEI: Taiwan plans to complete the first stage of an ambitious plan to upgrade its fighter jet force by the end of 2013, in an effort to maintain a credible deterrent against China into the 2030s.

Some 60 of Taiwan's Indigenous Defence Fighters (IDFs) will be upgraded and ready for deployment within 12 months, according to a report submitted to parliament by the defence ministry.

The aircraft will be equipped with enhanced radar, avionics and electronic warfare capabilities, along with a locally-produced cluster bomb, according to the report.

The remainder of the country's 127-strong fleet of IDFs will be upgraded by 2017, the report said.

Taiwan deployed the IDFs in 1992 and the upgrade, which kicked off in 2009, will extend the service life of the aircraft for about another two decades according to the report, which was submitted to parliament last week and made available to AFP by a legislator on Monday.

The United States last year agreed to equip Taiwan's 146 ageing US-made F-16 A/B jets with new technologies in a US$5.85 billion deal that irked China.

China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence, prompting Taipei to develop more advanced weapons or seek to buy them from abroad.

- AFP/xq

I know my limitations: Chidambaram on PM candidature

Label: Lifestyle

NEW DELHI: "I know my limitations. And I live and conduct myself according to my limitations." This was the response of finance minister P Chidambaram today when asked to comment on DMK chief M Karunanidhi's remarks that he was potential prime ministerial candidate.

"I don't know whether I should take your question very seriously. But let me give you a very serious answer. I know my limitations. And I live and conduct myself according to my limitations," he told reporters here.

Yesterday, Karunanidhi had supported a suggestion by actor Kamal Hassan that the finance minister was a potential prime ministerial candidate.

Chidambaram said if the reporters were expecting a light-hearted comment then "I tell you this: I know that some of you think I am foolish. But I am not so foolish as you think."

How to Banish That New Year's Eve Hangover

Label: Health

For those of us who enjoy the occasional cocktail, the holiday season would be incomplete without certain treats of the liquid variety. Some look forward to the creamy charms of rum-laced eggnog; others anticipate cupfuls of high-octane punch or mugs of warm, spiced wine.

No matter what's in your glass, raising one as the year winds down is tradition. What could be more festive? The problem is, one drink leads to two, then the party gets going and a third is generously poured. Soon, the music fades and the morning arrives—and with it, the dreaded hangover. (Explore a human-body interactive.)

Whether it's a pounding headache, a queasy stomach, sweating, or just general misery, the damage has been done. So now it's time to remedy the situation. What's the quickest way to banish the pain? It depends who you ask.

Doctors typically recommend water for hydration and ibuprofen to reduce inflammation. Taking B vitamins is also good, according to anesthesiologist Jason Burke, because they help the body metabolize alcohol and produce energy.

Burke should know a thing or two about veisalgia, the medical term for hangover. At his Las Vegas clinic Hangover Heaven, Burke treats thousands of people suffering from the effects of drinking to excess with hydrating fluids and medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"No two hangovers are the same," he said, adding that the unfavorable condition costs society billions of dollars-mostly from lost productivity and people taking sick days from work.

Hot Peppers for Hangovers?

So what's the advice from the nonmedical community? Suggestions range from greasy breakfasts to vanilla milkshakes to spending time in a steamy sauna. A friend insists hot peppers are the only way to combat a hangover's wrath. Another swears by the palliative effects of a bloody mary. In fact, many people just have another drink, following the old "hair of the dog that bit you" strategy.

Whether such "cures" actually get rid of a hangover is debatable, but one thing's for sure: the sorry state is universal. The only people immune to hangovers are the ones who avoid alcohol altogether.

So for those who do indulge, even if it's just once in awhile, see our interactive featuring cures from around the world (also above). As New Year's Eve looms with its attendant excuse to imbibe, perhaps it would be wise to stock your refrigerator with one of these antidotes. Pickled herring, anyone?

Deal or No Deal, 'Cliff' Debate Will Linger Into 2013

Label: Business

Dec 31, 2012 6:00am

ap obama cliff lt 121229 wblog Deal or No Deal, Washington Debacle Will Linger Into New Year

AP Photo/ Evan Vucci

Analysis

The fiscal cliff is just the beginning.

Regardless of whether Democrats and Republicans reach some kind of last-minute bargain to avoid the worst effects of tax hikes and spending cuts, the disaster that has been the fiscal cliff negotiations has broad implications for the Washington agenda in 2013 and beyond.

The tone has been set for the new year, and possibly for the rest of President Obama’s time in office: Washington’s divisions are the only point that matters anymore. Call if dysfunction or call it just plain broken, just don’t call it capable of even small legislative moves that involve compromise.

Hopes of a grand bargain on fiscal policy, involving entitlement spending, tax rates, and the debt ceiling, disappeared weeks ago. All that’s left are fading possibilities involving the delaying portions of tax increases and restoring some planned cuts.

Those are moves that actually make the deficit outlook worse. More saliently, they should be the politically easy things to get done, yet Congress is paralyzed and the president appears powerless to do anything meaningful to prod action.

The other items Obama ticked through this weekend as part of his second-term agenda – immigration reform, energy and environmental policy, infrastructure investments, gun control – look like dreams in this environment.

The causes are manifold, and the blame doesn’t have to be equally distributed for the ramifications to be real. The fact is that Republicans – who will control at least one house of Congress for at least half of the president’s second term – do not now and may not ever see sufficient political benefit to offer the types of concessions Democrats are insisting on.

If an election couldn’t change that, there’s precious little left that can. Name the issue and it’s all too easy to see similar dynamics derailing meaningful reform.

Washington is now broken beyond the point where bold individual leadership can even fix it. The forces at play are bigger than the ability of the president, House Speaker John Boehner, or any other person or persons to turn them around without the certain promise of a revolt in the party ranks that would leave them out of effective power.

The cliff metaphor suggests a jump into a void, but at least one that has a bottom. Yet as the nation watches this slow-motion wreck, the depths of dysfunction have yet to be fully explored.

SHOWS: World News

Senators trade proposals into night to avoid ‘fiscal cliff’

Label: World

Senate negotiators labored late into Saturday over a last-ditch plan to avert the “fiscal cliff,” struggling to resolve key differences over how many wealthy households should face higher income taxes in the new year and how to tax inherited estates.

As the clock ticked toward a Jan. 1 deadline, the halls of the Capitol were dark and silent. The House and the Senate are shuttered until Sunday afternoon, in part to avoid distractions as the talks over averting sharp tax increases for most American taxpayers entered their final hours.

While Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) monitored developments by telephone, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) arrived at the Capitol shortly after noon. Asked whether he and Reid would be able to strike a deal, McConnell smiled and replied: “I hope so.”

As nightfall approached, top Democratic and Republican aides continued shuttling paperwork with the latest proposals back and forth between the two leaders’ offices, about 60 steps apart.

Under negotiation is a deal that would extend George W. Bush-era tax cuts for nearly all taxpayers but increase rates on top earners. It also would extend unemployment benefits set to expire in January for 2 million people and prevent about 30 million Americans from having to pay the alternative minimum tax for the first time.

McConnell left the Capitol shortly before 7 p.m, revealing few details. “We’ve been in discussions all day, and they continue,” he said. He added, “We’ve been trading paper all day and talks continue into the evening.”

Reid and McConnell have set a deadline of about 3 p.m. on Sunday for cinching a deal. That’s when they’re planning to convene caucus meetings of their respective members in separate rooms just off the Senate floor. At that point, the leaders will brief their rank and file on whether there has been significant progress and will determine whether there is enough support to press ahead with a proposal.

“They both know the clock ends Sunday,” said Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska).

If all goes according to plan, the leaders would roll out the legislation Sunday night and hold a vote by at least midday Monday, giving the House the rest of New Year’s Eve to consider the measure.

In the House, Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) huddled Saturday with his senior staff for two hours but remained on the periphery of the negotiations. Passage in the unpredictable chamber is anything but certain. Boehner told President Obama and congressional leaders Friday that he could commit only to considering a Senate-passed bill and suggested that the House may amend that bill and send it back to the Senate.

House consideration of the measure could become another white-knuckle moment. Boehner would like the eventual deal to be passed by a bipartisan coalition that is roughly equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, GOP aides said. Republicans have not supported tax increases since 1990, and conservative activists were already criticizing any deal to raise taxes on the wealthy.

Two hurt as protesters attack Iraq deputy PM

Label: Technology

RAMADI, Iraq: Two people were wounded when security forces opened fire to disperse protesters who attacked Iraq's deputy premier on Sunday, forcing him to flee a rally he was addressing, an AFP reporter said.

The demonstrators, who have blocked a key highway connecting Iraq to Syria and Jordan for the past week over the alleged targeting of their Sunni Arab minority by the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, threw water bottles, stones and shoes at Saleh al-Mutlak before grabbing and hitting him.

Mutlak, who is himself Sunni and from Anbar province where the protests have been staged, managed to escape after federal police arrived and fired their weapons into the air.

An aide to Mutlak, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the deputy premier was all right and was returning to Baghdad.

Mutlak had arrived at the rally site earlier on Sunday and began addressing the crowds, which have numbered in the tens of thousands at their peak over the past week, from an elevated platform.

But as he began speaking, demonstrators shouted "Traitor!" in an apparent reference to his being in the national unity government they were protesting against, and began throwing bottles of water at him, an AFP journalist said.

They then began hurling stones and shoes, at the point where Mutlak's personal security detail formed a protective ring around him and escorted him from the platform, firing their weapons above the heads of protesters.

But demonstrators followed them and broke through the security cordon, grabbing Mutlak's clothes and hitting him in the mouth, drawing blood.

Federal policemen then intervened, firing into the air to disperse the crowd, and Mutlak was driven off in an unmarked civilian car. Two people were wounded by the gunfire.

The rallies began on December 23 after the arrest three days earlier of Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi's guards on terrorism charges, prompting the minister to call for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to resign or be removed.

Demonstrators, who have massed in Sunni-majority provinces such as Anbar, Nineveh and Salaheddin, have said anti-terror laws were being used by the Shiite-led government to target their community.

- AFP/xq

Congress anti-rape draft bill proposes 30 years jail, chemical castration

Label: Lifestyle

NEW DELHI: Imprisonment of upto 30 years for rape convicts has been proposed by Congress in a draft bill for a tougher law to check crimes against women which could also include chemical castration in rare cases.

The final draft of the Congress' bill, which is to be submitted to Justice J S Verma-led Committee set up by the Centre in the wake of the horrific gang rape of the 23-year-old girl, who died yesterday, has not been readied yet, sources said today.

Some of the provisions of this tougher law includes imprisonment up to 30 years for rape convicts and setting up of fast track-courts to decide the cases within 3 months were discussed in the presence of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on December 23 when she met a group of people protesting against the gang-rape incident a week earlier.

There is also a suggestion to re-define the Juvenile Act and lower their age.

One of the accused in the rape case is a juvenile and aged a few months less than 18 years. A view has been expressed by a section that only those below 15 years should be described as juvenile.

Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, which has framed and helped frame many landmark legislations like RTI is likely to be involved in the whole exercise.

Sources said the Women and Child Development Ministry, headed by Krishna Tirath, held a marathon meeting with stakeholders on this issue on Friday during which several suggestions have been made.

The ministry will prepare a summary of suggestions received and will submit it to the Justice Verma-headed three-member committee set up to review existing laws and make recommendations for changes in them to effectively check crimes against women.

"There is no government draft till now. The summary that we submit to J S Verma Committee will be the first written document on which the new law will be based," sources told.

At the meeting with the protestors at her 10 Janpath residence, Gandhi had favoured fast track courts for trying rape cases with a 90-day cap while party spokesperson Renuka Chowhdary made a strong pitch for chemical castration to rape convicts. Chowdhary such a punishment is already in vogue in various countries and that it had a deterrent effect, sources said. PTI

How to Banish That New Year's Eve Hangover

Label: Health

"No two hangovers are the same," he said, adding that the unfavorable condition costs society billions of dollars-mostly from lost productivity and people taking sick days from work.

Hot Peppers for Hangovers?

NYC Subway Pusher Held For Murder, Hate Crime

Label: Business

A woman who allegedly told New York City police she pushed a man onto the subway tracks because she hated Hindus and Muslims has been charged with murder as a hate crime.

Erica Menendez, 31, allegedly told police that she "pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I've been beating them up."

Menendez was taken into custody this morning after a two-day search, and when detectives were interviewing her she allegedly made the statements implicating herself in Thursday night's subway-platform death.

"The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter's worst nightmare -- being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train," Queen District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. "The victim was allegedly shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself. Beyond that, the hateful remarks allegedly made by the defendant and which precipitated the defendant's actions can never be tolerated by a civilized society."

Menendez was due to be arraigned this evening. She could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the second degree murder charge.

On Thursday night, a woman shoved a man from a subway platform at Queens Boulevard, and the man was crushed beneath an oncoming train. Police had searched the area for her after the incident.

New York City Subway Pusher Charged With Murder Watch Video

The victim was Sunando Sen, identified by several media outlets as a graphic designer and Indian immigrant who opened a print shop, Amsterdam Copy, on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Sen was struck by the No. 7 train after the unidentified woman allegedly pushed him from the northbound platform at 40th Street and Queens Boulevard at 8:04 p.m. on Thursday.

Witnesses told police they had seen the woman mubling to herself, pacing along the platform. She gave Sen little time to react, witnesses said.

"Witnesses said she was walking back and forth on the platform, talking to herself, before taking a seat alone on a wooden bench near the north end of the platform. When the train pulled into the station, the suspect rose from the bench and pushed the man, who was standing with his back to her, onto the tracks into the path of the train," NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne said earlier today. "The victim appeared not to notice her, according to witnesses."

READ: What to Do If You Fall on the Subway Tracks

Police released brief surveillance video of the woman fleeing the subway station, and described the suspect as a woman in her 20s, "heavy set, approximately 5'5" with brown or blond hair."

It was New York's second death of this kind in less than a month. On Dec. 3, 58-year-old Ki-Suck Han of Queens was shoved onto the tracks at New York's Times Square subway station. Two days later, police took 30-year-old Naeem Davis into custody.

On Friday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was asked whether the attack might be related to the increase of mentally ill people on the streets following closures of institutions over the past four decades.

"The courts or the law have changed and said, no, you can't do that unless they're a danger to society. Our laws protect you," Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show.

Agreement within reach on ‘fiscal cliff’ deal, officials say

Label: World

President Obama and Senate leaders were on the verge of an agreement Friday that would let taxes rise on the wealthiest households while protecting the vast majority of Americans from historic tax hikes set to hit in January.

The development marked a breakthrough after weeks of paralysis. After meeting with Obama at the White House, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said they would work through the weekend in hopes of drafting a “fiscal cliff” package they could present to their colleagues on Sunday afternoon.

As the Senate began haggling over critical details, the emerging deal faced an uncertain fate in the House, where Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) failed just one week ago to persuade his adamantly anti-tax caucus to let taxes rise even for millionaires.

Still, on Friday, Obama pronounced himself “modestly optimistic” at a brief news conference at the White House. The ordinarily dour McConnell said he was “hopeful and optimistic.” And Reid immediately began preparing Senate Democrats for what could be a difficult vote.

“Whatever we come up with is going to be imperfect. Some people aren’t going to like it. Some people will like it less,” Reid said on the Senate floor before dozens of silent and attentive senators from both parties. But “we’re going to do the best we can for . . . the country that’s waiting for us to make a decision.”

According to people briefed on the talks, the developing package would protect nearly 30 million taxpayers from paying the alternative minimum tax for the first time and keep unemployment benefits flowing to 2 million people who otherwise would be cut off in January.

The deal also would likely halt a steep cut in Medicare reimbursements set to hit doctors in January and preserve popular tax breaks for both businesses and individuals, such as those for research and college tuition.

But the two sides were still at odds over a crucial issue: how to define the wealthy. Obama has proposed letting tax rates rise on income over $250,000 a year. Senate Republicans have in recent days expressed interest in a compromise that would lift that threshold to $400,000 a year, an offer Obama made to Boehner before the speaker abruptly broke off negotiations last week.

In addition to its political appeal, the $400,000 threshold has practical benefits, Republican aides said: It would limit tax increases to the very top tax bracket rather than the top two brackets. And it would avoid a quirk of the tax code that would cause rates to rise more dramatically for those earning between $250,000 and $400,000 than for households with much larger incomes.

The two sides also had yet to agree on another politically sensitive issue: how to tax inherited estates. Republicans — and many Senate Democrats from states with large family farms — want to maintain the current tax structure, which exempts estates worth up to $5 million and taxes those above that level at 35 percent. Obama has proposed a $3.5 million exemption and a tax rate of 45 percent, a proposal that is far more acceptable to liberal Democrats.

Work-life harmony in S'pore remains stable: study

Label: Technology

SINGAPORE: A national study has shown that work-life harmony in Singapore has been stable over the past six years.

The 2012 National Work-Life Harmony Study, conducted by the Social and Family Development Ministry, shows Singapore having an index of 63.

This is a notch lower than the index of 64, achieved in the inaugural study in 2006.

In the study, zero indicates "no harmony", while 100 means "total harmony".

The study found that employees who scored 70 or higher tend to report better work, family and personal outcomes.

Those with children and who spend more time dining with family members also enjoy better work-life harmony.

While the workplace is generally supportive of work-life needs, the study showed more could be done with regard to flexibility at work.

This is especially so for mothers and younger employees.

"I hope that more employers will take the initiative to even just have a chat with these mothers. To understand the needs and requirements, before these women decide to quit, when they face a no-solution situation, because it is very costly for any business to lose a talented employee," said Yeo Mui Ean, president of Women Empowered for Work and Mothering.

"And of course one other group we have in the workforce is really the Generation Y. They have dreams they want to pursue beyond work. And in order to energise and engage them, we need to realise that this group of Generation Y work best in a manner that is different from the baby boomers and Generation X."

- CNA/xq

Gang-rape victim's fight will not go in vain: Sonia Gandhi

Label: Lifestyle

NEW DELHI: Promising swift and fitting punishment for the Delhi gang-rape accused, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the nation's "beloved daughter" will get justice and her fight will not go in vain.

"As a woman and mother, I understand how you feel. I appeal you to remain calm and help strengthen our collective resolve to fight the menace of violence against women," Gandhi, who is also the UPA chairperson, said in a televised address.

"Today all Indians feel as they have lost their own beloved daughter, their cherished sister, a young woman of 23 whose life full of hope, dream and promise was ahead of her. Our hearts go out to her parents, family, the whole country shares their pain," she said.

Appealing for peace and calm in wake of the tragic incident, Gandhi said, "Today we pledge that she will get justice and that her fight will not go in vain".

The Congress president said that the tragedy "strengthens our resolve to fight with all our might and with all the powers of our laws and our administration for the safety and protection of all women of our country and to ensure swift and fitting punishment for the perpetrators of such acts.

"It deepens our determination to battle the pervasive shameful social attitudes and mindsets that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such impunity."

As people hit the streets expressing their outrage over the tragedy, Gandhi said "to all of you who have expressed their anger and anguish publicly, who have poured out in her support, I want to assure you that your voice has been heard.

Gandhi had yesterday sought speedy action against the perpetrators of the "barbarous" attack and had hoped the victim undergoing treatment in Singapore recovered.

Choosing to skip her customary New Year wishes on the sidelines of the 127th Foundation Day of Congress at AICC headquarters here yesterday, Gandhi had said,"..Not so today because our thoughts are with the young woman, who is fighting for her life after the barbarous attack".

She had added, "Our only wish today is that she recovers and comes back to us and that no time is lost in bringing the perpetrators of such a barbarous act to justice".

The Congress chief had earlier shot off strongly-worded letters to home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Delhi chief minister Shiela Diskhit wanting firm steps for the security of women in the national capital, describing the incident as a "matter of shame".

How to Banish That New Year's Eve Hangover

Label: Health

"No two hangovers are the same," he said, adding that the unfavorable condition costs society billions of dollars-mostly from lost productivity and people taking sick days from work.

Hot Peppers for Hangovers?

Obama Still Hopeful in Final Days Before 'Cliff'

Label: Business

Dec 29, 2012 6:00am

ap obama cliff lt 121229 wblog President Obama Still Hopeful in Final Days Before Cliff

AP Photo/ Evan Vucci

Three days remain for Congress to pass a federal budget agreement that would avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” and today President Obama said he believes the House and Senate leadership can squeak out a deal in time.

In his weekly address, released this morning, the president said allowing the package of perilous tax increases and budget cuts set to take effect in the New Year “would be the wrong thing to do for our economy.”

“Congress can prevent it from happening if they act now,” he said. “Leaders in Congress are working on a way to prevent this tax hike on the middle class, and I believe we may be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time.”

The president was referring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who were attempting to quickly fashion a deal that can pass both chambers of Congress. Although not mentioned specifically in the video, the two leaders and their House counterparts, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., met with the president and his staff at the White House Friday that left both parties’ leadership cautiously optimistic in public statements following the meeting.

INFOGRAPHIC: Fiscal Cliff: Why It Matters

Largely repeating remarks he made following the meeting, the president noted that should the last-minute wrangling fail he has asked Reid to deliver a basic proposal to the Senate floor for a simple up-or-down vote.

“We believe such a proposal could pass both houses with bipartisan majorities -as long as these leaders allow it to come to a vote. If they still want to vote no and let this tax hike hit the middle class, that’s their prerogative – but they should let everyone vote. That’s the way this is supposed to work,” he said. “We just can’t afford a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy.”

Reid’s backup legislation would reflect the Democrats’ side in this quagmire, demanding a tax boost for household incomes greater than $250,000 and an extension of unemployment benefits for roughly 2 million Americans that is set to expire without their reauthorization.

Fiscal Cliff: By The Numbers

“You meet your deadlines and your responsibilities every day,” Obama said. “The folks you sent here to serve should do the same.”

The president’s statement came a day before what could be a critical turning point in the “cliff” ordeal. On Sunday, the House of Representatives returns from holiday recess, the same day McConnell and Reid could offer up a hypothetical deal for a vote. Meanwhile, NBC’s “Meet the Press” will air a televised interview with Obama that morning.

SHOWS: Good Morning America World News

FEOrchard appoints Koh Boon Hwee as non-exec director, non-exec chairman

Label: Technology

SINGAPORE : Far East Orchard (FEOrchard), formerly known as Orchard Parade Holdings, has appointed Koh Boon Hwee as a non-executive director and non-executive chairman with effect from 1 January 2013.

62-year-old Mr Koh will take over from Philip Ng who will be stepping down as a non-executive director and non-executive chairman from next year.

In a statement issued on Friday, FEOrchard said Mr Ng will also cease to be a member of the Nominating Committee, but will remain as a strategic advisor.

It added that the appointment of Mr Koh is a continuing progression in the organisational development of the company and its business growth.

FEOrchard has undergone a strategic corporate restructuring this year with a new diversified portfolio focusing on property development, hospitality real estate development and management, and healthcare real estate space.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Ng, who is also chief executive officer of FEOrchard's parent, Far East Organization, said: "As FEOrchard begins the next phase of its transformative growth, we will actively develop and expand on our domain real estate capabilities and will also seek to enlarge our footprint beyond Singapore.

"Boon Hwee brings immense value to this endeavour with his excellent record of accomplishments in developing people, businesses and customers across a broad spectrum of industries and markets."

Mr Koh is currently chairman (executive) at Credence Capital Fund II (Cayman) Ltd and Credence Partners Pte Ltd.

He is also currently non-executive chairman of Sunningdale Tech, Yeo Hiap Seng Limited, Yeo Hiap Seng (Malaysia) Berhad, AAC Technologies Holdings, Rippledot Capital Advisers, FEO Hospitality Asset Management, and FEO Hospitality Trust Management.

- CNA/ms

Campaigns against gender-based violence have kids as primary target

Label: Lifestyle

NEW DELHI: The roots of gender-based violence go so deep-seated that organizations battling it have practically written the adults off. Nearly every campaign pushing for gender equality has kids and youths as their primary target.

Breakthrough involved youths for community mobilization and training in schools and colleges; Must Bol, run by the Youth Collective, works mainly with college students. After Sunday's gang rape, child rights NGO, Butterflies held a "consultation with children" on the issue of sexual violence against women.

"Children are as much part of the value-system and being indoctrinated from day one but they are also the most receptive," says Sonal Khan, vice president, Breakthrough. With adults, it's always a battle. "It was such hard work moving the issue (domestic violence) as these attitudes are part of the psyche," she says.

Umang Sabarwal, who, in 2011, had tried to engage adults in a discussion on women's safety and freedom, learnt more from the opposition to the Slut Walk than the walk itself.

"There was an entire movement by the media dismissing it as an attention-seeking attempt. But in the media too, women are objectified and sexualized," she says. She'd only hoped to "get a thought in people's heads" she says and "never expected [the walk] to revolutionize things" but found that the roots of this "mindset" go too deep.

Activists find even language against them. "You can't deal with it, if you don't have words for it," says Khan. The expression "eve-teasing" trivializes sexual harassment; and family members of women who were attacked are more likely to say, " kuchch kharab hua ladki ke saath" than say they were sexually assaulted.

"Many young people have had little access to spaces for interactions between the genders and these boys feel it's okay to tease girls. They may consider rape violence but not harassment. That recognition is missing," says Manak Matiyani of Youth Collective. Plus gender stereotypes work against both the sexes - women have to be fair and "homely" (meaning, good around the house) and men, masculine and tall. "People don't take harassment on the road seriously. A woman complains and there are the neighbours and elders who'll ask questions about what she was doing," says Khan. She insists that all initiatives should seek equal participation from men and women. "Otherwise we'll fall back into the same dialectic and make this a "women's issue"."

Because the youth are net savvy, these organizations have used social media extensively. Those involved in Must Bol use short films. Blank Noise started as a blog in Bangalore in 2003, to address issues of harassment on the streets. The blog lists 29 forms of it and posts photographs of garments worn by women when they were harassed. Their initiative, Action Heroes Special, a "blogathon" inviting women to share stories harassment conducted over July-August 2012, has eight-pages worth of stories from Delhi alone.

Delhi-based WhyPoll Trust runs a similar initiative - Voices from the Dark -telling harassment stories in Q&A format. In 2012, they had launched the "Fight Back" application for smartphones using which women in distress could send out SOS emails, text messages and social network posts - one of the founders, Hindol Sengupta, says it was downloaded over a hundred times. In 2011, WhyPoll had also drawn up a list of the 100 spots or roads in Delhi the women found most dangerous after a survey - Nelson Mandela Marg, Dhaula Kuan, Benito Zuarez Marg, Paharganj and Mehrauli-Gurgaon road were the top five.

How to Live to a Ripe Old Age

Label: Health

Cento di questi giorni. May you have a hundred birthdays, the Italians say, and some of them do.

So do other people in various spots around the world—in Blue Zones, so named by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner for the blue ink that outlines these special areas on maps developed over more than a decade. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)

In his second edition of his book The Blue Zones, Buettner writes about a newly identified Blue Zone: the Greek island of Ikaria (map). National Geographic magazine Editor at Large Cathy Newman interviewed him about the art of living long and well. (Watch Buettner talk about how to live to a hundred.)

Q. You've written about Blue Zones in Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, California; Nicoa, Costa Rica and Okinawa, Japan. How did you find your way to Ikaria?

A. Michel Poulain, a demographer on the project, and I are always on the lookout for new Blue Zones. This one popped up in 2008. We got a lead from a Greek foundation looking for biological markers in aging people. The census data showed clusters of villages there with a striking proportion of people 85 or older. (Also see blog: "Secrets of the Happiest Places on Earth.")

In the course of your quest you've been introduced to remarkable individuals like 100-year-old Marge Jetton of Loma Linda, California, who starts the day with a mile-long [0.6-kilometer] walk, 6 to 8 miles [10 to 13 kilometers] on a stationary bike, and weight lifting. Who is the most memorable Blue Zoner you've met?

Without question it's Stamatis Moraitis, who lives in Ikaria. I believe he's 102. He's famous for partying. He makes 400 liters [100 gallons] of wine from his vineyards each year, which he drinks with his friends. His house is the social hot spot of the island. (See "Longevity Genes Found; Predict Chances of Reaching 100.")

He's also the Ikarian who emigrated to the United States, was diagnosed with lung cancer in his 60s, given less then a year to live, and who returned to Ikaria to die. Instead, he recovered.

Yes, he never went through chemotherapy or treatment. He just moved back to Ikaria.

Did anyone figure out how he survived?

Nope. He told me he returned to the U.S. ten years after he left to see if the American doctors could explain it. I asked him what happened. "My doctors were all dead," he said.

One of the common factors that seem to link all Blue Zone people you've spoken with is a life of hard work—and sometimes hardship. Your thoughts?

I think we live in a culture that relentlessly pursues comfort. Ease is related to disease. We shouldn't always be fleeing hardship. Hardship also brings people together. We should welcome it.

Sounds like another version of the fable of the grasshopper and the ant?

You rarely get satisfaction sitting in an easy chair. If you work in a garden on the other hand, and it yields beautiful tomatoes, that's a good feeling.

Can you talk about diet? Not all of us have access to goat milk, for example, which you say is typically part of an Ikarian breakfast.

There is nothing exotic about their diet, which is a version of a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes vegetables, beans, fruit, olive oil, and moderate amounts of alcohol. (Read more about Buettner's work in Ikaria in National Geographic Adventure.)

All things in moderation?

Not all things. Socializing is something we should not do in moderation. The happiest Americans socialize six hours a day.

The people you hang out with help you hang on to life?

Yes, you have to pay attention to your friends. Health habits are contagious. Hanging out with unhappy people who drink and smoke is hazardous to your health.

So how has what you've learned influenced your own lifestyle?

One of the big things I've learned is that there's an advantage to regular low-intensity activity. My previous life was setting records on my bike. [Buettner holds three world records in distance cycling.] Now I use my bike to commute. I only eat meat once a week, and I always keep nuts in my office: Those who eat nuts live two to three more years than those who don't.

You also write about having a purpose in life.

Purpose is huge. I know exactly what my values are and what I love to do. That's worth additional years right there. I say no to a lot of stuff that would be easy money but deviates from my meaning of life.

The Japanese you met in Okinawa have a word for that?

Yes. Ikigai: "The reason for which I wake in the morning."

Do you have a non-longevity-enhancing guilty pleasure?

Tequila is my weakness.

And how long would you like to live?

I'd like to live to be 200.

White House Says It Has No New Fiscal Cliff Plan

Label: Business

The White House said today it has no plans to offer new proposals to avoid the fiscal cliff which looms over the country's economy just five days from now, but will meet Friday with Congressional leaders in a last ditch effort to forge a deal.

Republicans and Democrats made no conciliatory gestures in public today, despite the urgency.

The White House said President Obama would meet Friday with Democratic and Republican leaders. But a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said the Republican "will continue to stress that the House has already passed legislation to avert the entire fiscal cliff and now the Senate must act."

The White House announced the meeting after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called the budget situation "a mess" and urged the president to present a fresh proposal.

"I told the president I would be happy to look at whatever he proposes, but the truth is we're coming up against a hard deadline here, and as I said, this is a conversation we should have had months ago," McConnell said of his phone call with Obama Wednesday night.

McConnell added, "Republicans aren't about to write a blank check for anything Senate Democrats put forward just because we find ourselves at the edge of the cliff."

"That having been said, we'll see what the president has to propose," the Republican Senate leader said.

But a senior White House official told ABC News, "There is no White House bill."

That statement, however, may have wiggle room. Earlier today White House spokesman Jay Carney said, "I don't have any meetings to announce," but a short time later, Friday's meeting was made public.

It's unclear if the two sides are playing a game of political chicken or whether the administration is braced for the fiscal cliff.

Earlier today, fiscal cliff, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid lashed out at Republicans in a scathing speech that targeted House Republicans and particularly Boehner.

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf to Saddam Hussein: 'Get Outta Town' Watch Video

Reid, D-Nev., spoke on the floor of the Senate as the president returned to Washington early from an Hawaiian vacation in what appears to be a dwindling hope for a deal.

The House of Representatives will meet for legislative business Sunday evening, leaving the door cracked open ever so slightly to the possibility of a last-minute agreement.

But on a conference call with Republican House members Thursday afternoon, Boehner kept to the Republican hard line that if the Senate wants a deal it should amend bills already passed by the House.

That was the exact opposite of what Reid said in the morning, that Republicans should accept a bill passed by Democratic led Senate.

Related: What the average American should know about capital gains and the fiscal cliff.

"We are here in Washington working while the members of the House of Representatives are out watching movies and watching their kids play soccer and basketball and doing all kinds of things. They should be here," Reid said. "I can't imagine their consciences."

House Republicans have balked at a White House deal to raise taxes on couples earning more than $250,000 and even rejected Boehner's proposal that would limit the tax increases to people earning more than $1 million.

"It's obvious what's going on," Reid said while referring to Boehner. "He's waiting until Jan. 3 to get reelected to speaker because he has so many people over there that won't follow what he wants. John Boehner seems to care more about keeping his speakership than keeping the nation on a firm financial footing."

Related: Starbucks enters fiscal cliff fray.

Reid said the House is "being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker" and suggested today that the Republicans should agree to accept the original Senate bill pass in July. Reid's comments, however, made it clear he did not expect that to happen.

"It looks like" the nation will go over the fiscal cliff in just five days, he declared.

"It's not too late for the speaker to take up the Senate-passed bill, but that time is even winding down," Reid said. "So I say to the speaker, take the escape hatch that we've left you. Put the economic fate of the nation ahead of your own fate as Speaker of the House."

Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel reacted to Reid's tirade in an email, writing, "Senator Reid should talk less and legislate more. The House has already passed legislation to avoid the entire fiscal cliff. Senate Democrats have not."

Boehner has said it is now up to the Senate to come up with a deal.

Obama, who landed in Washington late this morning, made a round of calls over the last 24 hours to Reid, Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Related: Obama pushes fiscal cliff resolution.

Fewer small businesses confident of growth in 2013: survey

Label: Technology

SINGAPORE: Fewer small companies in Singapore are confident that their businesses will grow in 2013 compared to the years before, found the CPA Australia Asia Pacific Small Business Survey.

The survey, conducted by accounting body CPA Australia between 2 and 15 October, covered 250 businesses that have fewer than 21 employees. The businesses surveyed spanned the retail, information, media and telecommunications sectors.

Businesses in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand and Indonesia were also polled for this report.

According to CPA Australia, confidence among Singaporean small businesses has been on a steady decline since 2010.

74 per cent of small Singaporean companies expect their businesses to grow in the year ahead, down from 77 per cent and 85 per cent in the last two consecutive years.

Gavan Ord, business policy adviser at CPA Australia said: "While confidence is relatively high, Singapore small businesses are significantly more likely to expect their business to 'grow a little' than 'grow strongly', indicating that business confidence is somewhat weaker than (what) the headline figure indicates."

"Reflecting this, the percentage of Singapore businesses that expect to increase their marketing spend in 2013 is the lowest of all markets surveyed," he added.

More Singapore businesses however expect the local economy to improve.

60 per cent of small businesses in Singapore expect the local economy to grow "strongly" or "a little" in the year ahead, compared to 56 per cent a year ago.

- CNA/jc

Nation in grip of pessimism due to 'policy paralysis, lack of leadership', Narendra Modi says

Label: Lifestyle

NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi launched a fresh attack on the Centre on Thursday, saying the country was in the grip of pessimism because of "policy paralysis, intellectual bankruptcy and lack of leadership".

He said the Centre's policies "lack urgency or seriousness" in tackling economic crises and thus the "sense of pessimism" in the 12th Plan.

"There is a policy paralysis, intellectual bankruptcy and lack of leadership in the country because of which the country was experiencing stagnancy. We are going on the path of negative growth," Modi told reporters at the 57th National Development Council (NDC) meeting here.

He said when the entire world was looking at India in the context of development, there is sense of pessimism from the ones who are leading the nation making it difficult to move forward.

In his speech at the meeting, Modi said, "It seems that there is no urgency or seriousness in tackling economic crises facing the country. There has been a virtual lack of direction in the macro-economic management of the country."

Attacking the government for lowering the growth target for the 12th Plan, Modi said though the target of 9 per cent GDP growth, talked about last year, appeared ambitious, "it was not impossible to achieve if we had the political will to do what is necessary".

"In this context, it is painful to note the unmistakable sense of pessimism in the 12th Plan document ... Significantly lowering the growth targets of the 12th Plan will further add to the mood of despondency and pessimism in the country and cast increasing doubts on the sustainability of the India growth story," he said.

Modi sought to project the Gujarat model of development by listing out the initiatives taken by him in various sectors including agriculture, urban development and decentralized planning.

Modi, however, evaded questions on whether he was ready to lead the nation.

Questioning the Centre for blaming the international economic situation for the slow growth, Modi said how then were some of the states performing better.

"If the Centre can blame the international situation, who should the states point out to," he said, referring to the high growth rate in some states including Gujarat.

Modi also called for setting up a National Resources Commission on the lines of the Finance Commission which discusses the allocation of grants to states every five years.

The chief minister said the national resources commission should decide on the quota utility of natural resources which were a part of the state, but noted such states should be given a say while making such allocations.

He said the country is facing a demographic opportunity as 65 per cent of the population is young and pitched for a youth-centric growth which focusses on skill development.

Modi said the Planning Commission had also studied the Gujarat model for skill development and recommneded it to other states.

Contending that growth in manufacturing has been stagnating at 16 per cent, Modi said, "The outlook for employment for the youth in industry remains bleak which casts a doubt on India's capacity to take advantage of the demographic dividend.

"It is unfortunate that the central government has been bereft of any vision or strategy in this regard. This feeling of helplessness in making effective policy interventions has resulted in job creation suffering and the youth of the country becoming disillusioned," he said in his speech.

Modi, who was sworn-in as the chief minister for the fourth time on Wednesday, was greeted by several leaders including Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. Modi walked up to Himachal chief minister Virbhadra Singh to greet him.

Modi also attacked the Centre for taking "unilateral" decisions and said it should "resist the temptation to tinker with the federal structure mandated by the Constitution."

"There has also been a tendency to take unilateral decisions by legislating on subjects which are dealt by states where huge financial liabilities are created for the states without commensurate transfer of resources from the Centre. The Right to Education Act is a recent example of this," he said.

He wanted the Centre to set up a structured mechanism to address such issues and resolve them in a time-bound manner.

On the issue of capping of subsidies on cooking gas, Modi said the Centre had shown "little concern" for the "constant agony" that millions of Indians are forced to undergo on a daily basis because of rising prices.

"The recent decision of the central government to restrict the number of LPG cylinders to six per year will further add to the misery of India's middle classes and the poor," he said and demanded a review.

Modi suggested piped natural gas as an alternative to LPG cylinders and wanted the government to come out with a time- bound detailed policy and incentivise states who take up this project on a priority basis.

"The sustainable, long-term solution is to establish a gas-grid supplying piped gas to households for domestic use. This would result in proper targeting of subsidies and eliminate wastage," he said.

Space Pictures This Week: Green Lantern, Supersonic Star

Label: Health

Green Lantern
Image courtesy Caltech/SSI/NASA
Another glorious, backlit view of the planet Saturn and its rings has been captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, as seen in a picture released December 18.
On October 17, during its 174th orbit around the gas giant, Cassini was deliberately positioned within Saturn's shadow, "a perfect location from which to look in the direction of the sun and take a backlit view of the rings and the dark side of the planet," according to NASA.
(Related: "Ten Best Pictures From NASA's Cassini Probe—Saturn, More.")
Published December 26, 2012

Starry Night
Photograph by Wally Pacholka, TWAN
The Milky Way glitters over Yosemite, California, in a picture taken December 14 and submitted to the astronomy-education project The World at Night (TWAN).
Our galaxy is far larger, brighter, and more massive than most other galaxies. From end to end, the Milky Way's starry disk, observable with the naked eye and through optical telescopes, spans 120,000 light-years.
(See Milky Way pictures inNational Geographic magazine.)
Published December 26, 2012

Celestial Ornament
Image courtesy G. Bacon, STScI/ESA/NASA
The Hubble Space Telescope has spied a nearby planetary nebula that resembles a holiday ornament wrapped in a ribbon, as seen in a picture released December 18.
Planetary nebulae such as NGC 5189 represent the final brief stage in the life of a medium-size star like our sun.
(See more nebula pictures.)
Published December 26, 2012

It's a Bird, It's a Plane
Photograph by Shamil Zhumatov, Reuters
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carries U.S. astronaut Thomas Marshburn, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to the International Space Station on December 19.
While floating some 240 miles (390 kilometers) above Earth's surface, the space station has hosted a rotating international crew since November 2000.
(See our space-exploration timeline.)
Published December 26, 2012

Martian Hazard
Image courtesy Caltech/NASA
Still not home for the holidays, NASA's Mars rover Opportunity keeps plugging away on the red planet's surface.
Here, the rover's hazard camera scans a target called Onaping at the base of Copper Cliff in the Endeavor crater. At least Opportunity calls home.
(See "Mars Rover Detects Simple Organic Compounds.")
Published December 26, 2012

Jewel Box
Photograph by Rolf Olsen, Your Shot
A star cluster named Jewel Box sparkles in a picture submitted to the Your Shot photo community on December 18.
Visible as a faint smudge with the naked eye under dark skies, the Jewel Box is located 6,440 light-years away towards the constellation Crux, or the Southern Cross. The bright orange star in the centre of the cluster is known as Kappa Crucis.
(See another picture of Jewel Box.)
Published December 26, 2012

Supersonic Star
Image courtesy Caltech/NASA
The giant star Zeta Ophiuchi is having a "shocking" effect on surrounding dust clouds in this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, released on December 18.
Stellar winds flowing out from this fast-moving star are making ripples in the dust, creating a bow shock seen as glowing gossamer threads only visible in infrared.
Published December 26, 2012

Image courtesy Jesse Allen, EO-1/USGS/NASA
Published December 26, 2012

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Newtown Shooter's DNA to Be Studied

Label: Business

Geneticists have been asked to study the DNA of Adam Lanza, the Connecticut man whose shooting rampage killed 27 people, including an entire first grade class.

The study, which experts believe may be the first of its kind, is expected to be looking for abnormalities or mutations in Lanza's DNA.

Connecticut Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver has reached out to University of Connecticut's geneticists to conduct the study.

University of Connecticut spokesperson Tom Green says Carver "has asked for help from our department of genetics" and they are "willing to give any assistance they can."

Green said he could not provide details on the project, but said it has not begun and they are "standing by waiting to assist in any way we can."

Lanza, 20, carried out the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., just days before Christmas. His motives for the slaughter remain a mystery.

Geneticists not directly involved in the study said they are likely looking at Lanza's DNA to detect a mutation or abnormality that could increase the risk of aggressive or violent behavior. They could analyze Lanza's entire genome in great detail and try to find unexpected mutations.

This seems to be the first time a study of this nature has been conducted, but it raises concerns in some geneticists and others in the field that there could be a stigma attached to people with these genetic characteristics if they are able to be narrowed down.

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Arthur Beaudet, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, said the University of Connecticut geneticists are most likely trying to "detect clear abnormalities of what we would call a mutation in a gene…or gene abnormalities and there are some abnormalities that are related to aggressive behavior."

"They might look for mutations that might be associated with mental illnesses and ones that might also increase the risk for violence," said Beaudet, who is also the chairman of Baylor College of Medicine's department of molecular and human genetics.

Beaudet believes geneticists should be doing this type of research because there are "some mutations that are known to be associated with at least aggressive behavior if not violent behavior."

"I don't think any one of these mutations would explain all of (the mass shooters), but some of them would have mutations that might be causing both schizophrenia and related schizophrenia violent behavior," Beaudet said. "I think we could learn more about it and we should learn more about it."

Beaudet noted that studying the genes of murderers is controversial because there is a risk that those with similar genetic characteristics could possibly be discriminated against or stigmatized, but he still thinks the research would be helpful even if only a "fraction" may have the abnormality or mutation.

"Not all of these people will have identifiable genetic abnormalities," Beaudet said, adding that even if a genetic abnormality is found it may not be related to a "specific risk."

"By studying genetic abnormalities we can learn more about conditions better and who is at risk and what might be dramatic treatments," Beaudet said, adding if the gene abnormality is defined the "treatment to stop" other mass shootings or "decrease the risk is much approved."

Others in the field aren't so sure.

Dr. Harold Bursztajn, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is a leader in his field on this issue writing extensively on genetic discrimination. He questions what the University of Connecticut researchers could "even be looking for at this point."

Democrats push for tax cuts they once opposed

Label: World

Democrats seeking a deal to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff” are trying to etch into stone the signature economic achievement of Republican President George W. Bush by permanently extending tax cuts enacted during his tenure.

President Obama has put the extension of the tax cuts for most Americans at the top of his domestic agenda, a remarkable turnaround for Democrats, who had staunchly opposed the tax breaks when they were written into law about a decade ago.

With Obama leaving his Hawaii vacation for Washington on Wednesday and lawmakers returning Thursday, the main dividing line between Republicans and Democrats has come down to whether tax rates should increase for top earners at the end of the year, when the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire. While Republicans want to extend all the cuts, Democrats are pushing to maintain lower rates on household income below $250,000. Those lower rates significantly reduce the taxes of nearly all American households that earn less than $250,000 — and many who earn more, even if tax rates are allowed to increase on income above that figure.

While it is increasingly unlikely that the two parties will reach an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff before Jan. 1, it is all but certain that their ultimate deal, whenever it comes, will make permanent the lower rates for most Americans.

R. Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia Business School and an architect of the Bush tax cuts, said it is “deeply ironic” for Democrats to favor extending most of them, given what he called their “visceral” opposition a decade ago. Keeping the lower rates even for income under $250,000 “would enshrine the vast bulk of the Bush tax cuts,” he said.

Democrats say they have reconsidered their opposition to the Bush tax cuts for several reasons. The cuts were written into law from 2001 to 2003 after a decade in which most Americans saw robust income growth. Over the past decade, by contrast, median wages have declined, after adjusting for inflation, amid a weak economy. Allowing tax cuts for the middle class to expire would further reduce take-home pay.

“We’ve had these tax cuts in place since 2001. The world changes, and the economy is where it is,” said Steven Elmendorf, who was chief of staff to former House minority leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), a primary opponent of the Bush tax cuts. “With people’s economic status, we should not be raising taxes on people earning under $250,000.”

What’s more, income inequality has been growing. Sparing the middle class higher taxes while requiring the wealthy to pay more would tip the scales slightly in the other direction.

“The reason there’s been this movement toward broad consensus on renewing the tax cut for working- and middle-class families is that will give us a sharper progressivity in the tax system that is very much desired by Democrats and progressives who’ve seen an income distribution more and more distorted toward the wealthy,” said Betsey Stevenson, former chief economist in Obama’s Labor Department and a professor at the University of Michigan, who added that taxes may have to rise even more than currently contemplated to meet the country’s needs.

Vivian Balakrishnan attends state funeral of former Gerakan president

Label: Technology

SINGAPORE : Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan was in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to attend the state funeral of former Gerakan president, Lim Keng Yaik.

Dr Balakrishnan conveyed condolences on behalf of the Singapore Government.

He was accompanied by Singapore's High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur Ong Keng Yong.

Dr Lim, who served as Malaysia's Energy, Water and Communications Minister from 2004 until 2008, died on Saturday.

He was 73.

- CNA/ms

Punjab to set up separate force for night policing

Label: Lifestyle

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Wednesday announced the setting up of a separate force for policing during the night hours amid the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal ( SAD) facing fire for its youth leaders being accused of assaulting a senior police officer.

Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal told media here that Punjab would be the first state in the country to have a dedicated force for night policing. He said the force would be given rest during the day time.

The party has already disowned the three leaders accused of assaulting Assistant Inspector General (AIG) SS Mand at a nightclub in Ludhiana on Monday. Referring to the assault, Badal said that no one, including Akali Dal leaders, was above the law.

Badal said there would be a separate Superintendent of Police (SP) for each district for night policing.

The need for a separate cadre for night policing was felt as it was getting ignored due to rotational shift of the existing force, he said.

Police will patrol on highways and streets to check the activities of anti-social elements.

The deputy chief minister also said that women were being recruited in the Punjab Police to curb incidents of crime against women.

Photos: Humboldt Squid Have a Bad Day at the Beach

Label: Health

Photograph by Chris Elmenhurst, Surf the Spot Photography

“Strandings have been taking place with increased frequency along the west coast over the past ten years,” noted NOAA’s Field, “as this population of squid seems to be expanding its range—likely a consequence of climate change—and can be very abundant at times.” (Learn about other jumbo squid strandings.)

Humboldt squid are typically found in warmer waters farther south in theGulf of California (map) and off the coast ofPeru. “[But] we find them up north here during warmer water time periods,” said ocean sciences researcherKenneth Bruland with the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).

Coastal upwelling—when winds blowing south drive ocean circulation to bring cold, nutrient-rich waters up from the deep—ceases during the fall and winter and warmer water is found closer to shore. Bruland noted that climate change, and the resulting areas of low oxygen, “could be a major factor” in drawing jumbo squid north.

Published December 24, 2012

Storms Spawn 34 Tornado Reports Across South

Label: Business

Severe Christmas day weather tore across the deep South, spinning off 34 possible tornadoes and killing at least three people in its path, while extreme weather is forecast throughout today for parts of the East Coast.

The storm first pounded Texas, then touched down in Louisiana and blasted through homes in Mississippi. In Mobile, Ala., a wide funnel cloud was barreled across the city as lightning flashed inside like giant Christmas ornaments.

Bill Bunting with the National Weather Service's Severe Storms Prediction Center said that the damage may not yet be done.

"Conditions don't look quite as volatile over a large area as we saw on Christmas day but there will be a risk of tornadoes, some of them could be rather strong, across eastern portions of North Carolina and the northeastern part of South Carolina," he said.

Across the Gulf region, from Texas to Florida, over 280,000 customers are still without power, with 100,000 without power in Little Rock, Ark. alone.

The punishing winds mangled Mobile's graceful ante-bellum homes, and today, dazed residents are picking through debris while rescue crews search for people trapped in the rubble.

"We've got a lot of damage, we've got people hurt," one Mobile resident told ABC News. "We've had homes that are 90 percent destroyed."

Melinda Martinez/The Daily Town Talk/AP Photo

Winter Weather Causes Holiday Travel Problems Watch Video

In the Houston area a tree fell onto a pickup truck, killing the driver, ABC affiliate WTRK reported. In Louisiana, a 53-year-old man died when a tree fell on his house, and a 28-year-old woman was killed in a crash on a snowy highway near Fairview, Okla., according to the Associated Press.

At least eight states issued blizzard warnings Tuesday, as the storms made highways dangerously slick heading into one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Tuesday's extreme weather caused an 8-foot deep sinkhole in Vicksburg, Miss. Alma Jackson told ABC News that a concrete tank that was in her backyard fell into the sinkhole.

"It's really very disturbing," she said. "Because it's on Christmas day, and then to see this big hole in the ground and not have any explanation, and not be able to cover it. And the rain is pouring down."

Teresa Mason told ABC News that she and her boyfriend panicked when they saw the tornado heading toward them in Stone County, in southern Mississippi, but she says they were actually saved when a tree fell onto the truck.

"[We] got in the truck and made it out there to the road. And that's when the tornado was over us. And it started jerking us and spinning us, "she said."This tree got us in the truck and kept us from being sucked up into the tornado."

The last time a number of tornadoes hit the Gulf Coast area around Christmas Day was in 2009, when 22 tornadoes struck on Christmas Eve morning, National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro told ABC News in an email.

The deadliest Christmastime tornado outbreak on record was Dec. 24 to 26, 1982, when 29 tornadoes in Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi killed three people and injured 32.

The last killer tornado around Christmas, Vaccaro said, was a Christmas Eve EF4 in Tennessee in 1988, which killed one person and injured seven. EF4 tornadoes can produce winds up to 200 mph.

ABC News' Matt Gutman, Max Golembo and ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

Federal workers feel unease over potential layoffs, furloughs unleashed by ‘fiscal cliff’

Label: World

Federal employees have been skeptical for months that the biggest cuts to government spending in history could really happen. But with the “fiscal cliff” a week away, workers are now growing increasingly alarmed that their jobs and their missions could be on the line.

President Obama and members of Congress headed out of town late last week for a Christmas break without reaching a deal to avoid $110 billion in automatic across-the-board spending cuts, which would hamstring operations ranging from weather forecasting and air traffic control to the purchase of spare parts for weapons systems. So civil servants are bracing for the blow, wondering whether their work will be upended — and whether they may be forced to take unpaid days off.

“This could change day by day,” said Antonio Webb, 25, who works in the mail service that handles correspondence for the Department of Homeland Security. “You could come into work and the next day they say, ‘We don’t need you because we have to cut so much.’ ”

Many federal workers have become jaded after a two-year pay freeze and congressional fights over spending that keep agencies lurching from one stopgap budget to another. Until recently, few employees thought it could come to this: Budget cuts of 8 to 10 percent divided equally between military and domestic agencies. Only a few programs, like Social Security, veterans benefits and some services for the poor, are exempted.

“Sure, we continue to do our jobs,” said Carl Eichenwald, who works in enforcement at the Environmental Protection Agency. “But all of this uncertainty is disruptive for our mission. A lot of time gets spent spinning wheels. We won’t know whether we can do inspections. Do we have 100 percent of our budget, or 85 percent?”

Top congressional aides said Monday that discussions of how to avert the fiscal cliff had come to a virtual standstill. Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) had not spoken since Friday.

Each side in the negotiations urged the other to come up with a way around the impasse. A senior Democratic aide said Boehner needs to return from the holiday with a “cleared head and a readiness to deal.” The aide said that there is no time for Democrats to unilaterally advance a bill in the Senate, adding that they can press forward with legislation only if they are assured by Republican leaders of GOP support.

A senior Senate Republican aide insisted, however, that it is now up to Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and his fellow Democrats to figure out what they can pass in the Senate without worrying about the Republican-controlled House.

As the year-end deadline approaches, federal employees have been told very little by their bosses about how their agencies are preparing to carry out huge spending reductions.

“It seemed like we were almost immune to thinking that something real was going to come of it,” said Fernando Cutz, an analyst for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Then came an e-mailed memo on Thursday from agency heads to employees. The cuts would be “significant and harmful to our collective mission.” Furloughs “or other personnel actions” — layoffs — remain a real possibility.

More parents sending children for ECA during school holidays

Label: Technology

SINGAPORE: More parents are sending their children for extra-curricular activities during the school holidays.

Parents say this allows the kids to spend time in a fun and meaningful way.

Singing along to a "pizza song", these children pick up pizza-making skills from a restaurant chef.

The lyrics have been modified to help them remember the steps.

Some parents also joined in the sessions to bond with their children.

The chef says enrolment goes up by some 30 per cent during the school holidays.

And this year, he conducted five more classes to cater to the demand.

Those who prefer more active options enlisted into sports camps.

One training camp by the Singapore Table Tennis Association teaches children the basics of the game.

Through special exercises, the children - aged between seven and 10 - build up their stamina and increase their flexibility.

There are 20 to 30 children in each session.

- CNA/de

HC allows transfer of Gayatri Devi's shares to grand children

Label: Lifestyle

NEW DELHI: The legal battle over transfer of late Maharani Gayatri Devi's shares in royal family's firms has been decided in favour of her grandchildren, Devraj and Lalitya Kumari with the Delhi high court ordering rectification of share registers of the companies.

Jagat Singh, son of Gayatri Devi and Sawai Man Singh, held 99 per cent shares in firms including Jai Mahal Hotels Pvt Ltd and later died leaving behind a will that his mother would be the owner of all his properties.

Gayatri Devi, who died on 29 July 2009, left a will saying all her properties, including the shares in the firms, would be inherited by her grand children Devraj and Lalitya Kumari.

The transfer of shares in favour of Gayatri Devi's grand children was opposed by other heirs of late Maharaja Sawai Man Singh. They were his (Sawai Man Singh) other sons, Prithviraj Singh, Jai Singh and his maternal grand daughter Urvashi Devi.

Justice Indermeet Kaur, deciding the dispute between members of Rajasthan's royal family, set aside an order of the Company Law Board (CLB) which had refused to direct rectification in share registers of Jai Mahal Hotels Pvt Ltd, Rambagh Place Hotels Pvt Ltd, SMS Investment Corporation Pvt Ltd and Sawai Madhopur Lodge Pvt Ltd.

Earlier, the grand children of Gayatri Devi had moved the CLB for rectification that the shares pertaining to their father and grand mother be transferred to them.

"The CLB returning a finding apposite has committed an illegality which is liable to be set aside. It is accordingly set aside. The order dated March 16, 2011 is set aside; the member register of the companies be rectified in the name of the petitioner group and petitioners i.e. Devraj and Lalitya Kumari be substituted in lieu of Jagat Singh," the court said.

The royal family has key income-generating properties such as Rambagh Place Hotel and Jai Mahal Hotel.

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