Pentagon extends the tours of duty for Marines @ Afganistan.

The Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan, after insisting for months the unit would come home on time. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is doing combat operations in the volatile south, will stay an extra 30 days and come home in early November rather than October, Marine Col. David Lapan confirmed Thursday.
Military leaders as recently as Wednesday stressed the need for additional troops in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has often praised the work of the 24th MEU in fighting Taliban militants in Helmand Province.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, has repeatedly said he did not intend to extend or replace the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, calling their deployment there an extraordinary, one-time effort to help tamp down the increasing violence in the south.
Asked about the possibility of an extension in early May, Gates said he would "be loathe to do that." He added that "no one has suggested even the possibility of extending that rotation."
Lapan said Thursday that commanders in Afghanistan asked that the Marines stay longer.
Based on a NATO report,
Afghanistan and ISAF took the first steps June 30 to transition air traffic control at Kabul International Airport to the country’s government.
His Excellency Hamidullah Qaderi, Afghan Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, and Major General J.L.H. Eikelboom, Director of ISAF’s Air Coordination Element, met to sign a letter of agreement to begin the process.
Currently ISAF provides and manages all air traffic controllers at the airport. With this agreement, ISAF will bring in civilian controllers who are internationally certified. ISAF will then train the civilian controllers on the specifics of Kabul International Airport. Once the civilian controllers are locally certified, ISAF controllers will turn the civilian controllers and responsibility over to the Afghanistan government.
With Afghanistan’s guidance, the fully qualified civilian controllers will begin training Afghans for the job. In time, the civilian contractors will be able to depart, leaving the tower of Afghanistan’s largest airport run solely by Afghans.
"This is an important step for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan," said Brigadier General Carlos Branco, ISAF spokesperson. "The government is ready for this move, and ISAF is here to help make this a smooth transition. In the end, it will also mean more jobs for Afghans."

Movie Review :"LOVE STORY 2050

I generally don't blog movie review ~ unless or until I'm satisfied by both -enjoying the particular cinema in my Friday multiplex schedule & simultaneously by turning around those movie review ,I click weekly [ More or less I read those movie review which are either written by Tom of BBC or Anupama (wife of VidhuVinod Chopra ) or even Khalid of HT.
Harman Baweja’s sci-fi love story is nothing but an over-priced endeavour of the director-father Harry Baweja to ‘creatively’ launch his son. The much hyped Harman-Priyanka ‘Love Story 2050’ comes as a silly and expensive excuse to find a new ‘Hrithik Roshan’ in the debutante. What makes the film a failure is weak storyline and some ‘pathetically funny’ special effects. The film could still be considered as an entertainer for kids, but with those flying cars and robot overdose, ‘Love Story 2050’, begins to look nothing more than a video game. The story revolves around Karan Oberoi (Harman), the only son of well-known businessman Mr Oberoi (Dalip Tahil). Karan is not happy with his money-oriented emotionless father, who is more bothered about his business than his only son. Karan doesn’t fear to play with danger, as he believes that this would bring no loss to anyone. In middle of the story, Karan meets Sana (Priyanka Chorpa) and what else, it’s love at first sight for the couple. There they decide on their marriage, and here comes the twist. Sana ‘dies’ in an accident, leaving Karan all alone. Then enters Karan’s uncle, Dr Yatinder Khanna (Boman Irani), who happens to be a scientist by profession. Dr Khanna has been working on a time machine for last fifteen years, to accomplish his dream project of venturing into the ‘futuristic world’. Karan meets Khanna and recalls Sana’s dream to enter the year 2050. He somehow believes that he would find Sana in ‘2050’ and with the help of the time machine, he enters the year 2050. Karan meets Sana, who is now the best rock-star of the world, living in Mumbai and is named as Zaisha. And then, Karan tries, tries, and keeps trying, till he succeeds in getting his love, Sana alias Zaisha, back to the present with the help of QUTY and BOO, two robotic dolls taking care of Zaisha. The Harman-Priyanka ‘jodi’ could not live up to the expectations. Though Harman has acted quite well, but Priyanka’s character lacks ‘sense’. The story s**** big time, but Harman has managed to live up to comparisons with Hrithik and has proved his talent to the world. The actor sure seems to be blessed with great acting skills, as it is just not easy for anybody to emulate Hrithik with such brilliance. Be it acting, dance, emotions or diction, Harman has performed all of it well, but you can’t stop yourself from tagging him as another ‘Hrithik in the making’. Harman does have the talent to make it big in Bollywood, and we do believe that the industry can still accommodate many more Hrithiks!

New Delhi's coming political equation

I don't prefer nothing except by my reference of present Delhi politics is :"Ultimate political opportunism"- -~though I'm not sure bout your definition.
Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi here today to discuss the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and made it clear that they favoured the deal.
Yadav and Amar Singh had a 30-minute meeting with the Prime Minister, which convinced them that the nuclear deal is in the interest of the country and that they would try to convince other United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) constituents on the issue.
Earlier on Thursday, the SP leaders had met former President A P J Abdul Kalam to discuss the pros and cons of the nuclear deal.
Kalam elaborately explained to them the benefits of the deal and allayed fears about the national sovereignty or foreign policy being compromised.
"We have been opposing it (nuclear deal) as we did not have any new details. But now these new details have come," Yadav told mediapersons.
On being asked whether they were satisfied with the clarifications given by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement two days back, Yadav said, "the entire nation would be satisfied."
Amar Singh said the Prime Minister's statement, addressing point-by-point issues, was "quite satisfactory" but the UNPA had decided to consult some "eminent" and "undisputed" scientist who was identified as Kalam.
Both Yadav and Amar Singh seemed to be convinced that the deal was in favour of the nation and said "national interest was a priority to them rather than politics".
However, they insisted that no commitment had been given to the Prime Minister about extending support, as they have to consult other UNPA leaders.
The SP, whose 39 MPs in Lok Sabha would be crucial for survival of the Government if Left parties withdraw support, are likely to announce their decision on supporting the UPA in a couple of days.
Courtesy:ANI

India 'close' to Iran pipeline deal

Few days ago Indian Left ~an ally of rulling UPA government accuse some key cabinet ministry for intentionally delaying India Pakistan Iran Gas pipeline deal to motivate Indo-US Nuclear Deal on basis of nation's robust energy demand.
India will soon sign a deal on a pipeline that will transport gas from Iran, India's oil minister has said.
The $7.5bn project, which will bring gas from Iranian fields to India and Pakistan is expected to be signed "next month", Murli Deora said at a World Pertroleum Congress (WPC) event in Madrid on Thursday.
"The only issue is where to take the delivery, the delivery point," he said, adding the two options were on the India-Pakistan border or the Pakistan-Iran border.
"But these things are being sorted out at a very high level now, and I hope by next month things will be okay."
The deal was discussed at the sidelines of the WPC event, Deora said.
US pressure
Talks on the 2,600km pipeline began in 1994 but stalled amid tensions between India and Pakistan and differences over prices and transit fees.
But India and Pakistan said last month that they had come to a commercial agreement on the deal.
India has been under pressure from the United States not to do business with Iran.
Washington accuses Tehran of being a state sponsor of terrorism and of seeking to build nuclear weapons, claims Iran denies.
But New Delhi, which imports more than 70 per cent of its energy needs, has been looking around for fresh supplies of oil and gas.
Earlier this year, India told Washington not to interfere in its dealings with Iran after a US state department spokesman said India ought to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme.
India said that Iran had the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy but has asked Tehran to co-operate with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
Subsidies hit
If the pipeline deal is signed, it would come three years after India last signed an agreement with Iran for the supply of five million tonnes of gas annually for 25 years.
The WPC event highlighted apparent divisions between the oil powers and consumer nations over how to bring down record oil prices.
India, which subsidises its fuel costs to ease the burden on the poorest members of society, has recently raised prices amid the soaring cost of crude oil.
But Deora said that the four-day WPC event had not been a failure.
"There has been some movement. The very fact that everybody met and everybody spoke about different angles and different ideas ... is a great achievement," he said.
"You don't expect the price [of oil] to go down to 30 dollars... You have a dialogue and you present your views."

First China flight lands in Taiwan

China and Taiwan have launched the first regular direct flights between the mainland and the island after almost six decades.
The inaugural flight from Guangzhou landed at Taiwan's Taoyuan international airport on Friday with 258 passengers, including 100 mainland tourists, on board.
The first regular commercial flight connecting the two is a move aimed at further easing tensions and warming ties.
The move to start direct flights follows talks in May when Taiwan's ruling party leaders visited Beijing and agreed to resume talks with China.
The two sides entered negotiations in mid-June on improving economic ties and lifting travel restrictions, which subsequently led to the landmark deal.
Liu Shao-yong, president of China's Southern Airlines, piloted the Airbus A330 jetliner during the 100-minute flight.
"This is a sacred moment. The two sides of the strait are like members in one family," he said after landing.
"Flying over the strait to Taiwan is like coming home. It feels good."
Warm welcome
Several fire engines shot water streams at the aircraft in a welcome gesture as Taiwanese officials stood watching nearby.
Taiwan's China Airlines also flew more than 300 Taiwanese on a charter flight to Shanghai earlier in the day.
There have been no regular direct flights since 1949 when the two sides split amid a civil war, with Taiwan barring direct travel for decades as a security measure.
China continues to claim the island as part of its territory.
"We were lucky to be on the plane since many people were fighting for seats on the inaugural flight," said Wang Yu, a Chinese businessman from Zhuhai in southern China.
Tsai Chang-lung, a Taiwanese businessman, told AFP he and his wife were "happy to enjoy this historic moment together".

Picture copyright should be protected by: AP