COLD WVE KILLS TWO IN SAPTARI

BITING COLD WAVE KILLS TWO IN SAPTARI

Kathmandu, 18 Dec. A cold wave Sunday killed two persons in Saptari in central terai in a cold wave that has hit the Himalayan ,hill and terai regions.
Minimum temperature in the capital hovers around two degrees Celsius.
Cold wave death toll in three central death has now risen to eight
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NANCY POWELL APPOINTED US AMBASSADOR TO INDIA

Kathmandu, 18 Dec.: US President Barack Obama named Nancy Powell, a career diplomat with wide experience in South Asia, to be the ambassador to India and fill a half-year vacancy.

Powell has served as US ambassador to Pakistan and to Nepal and holds the rank of career ambassador, a prestigious title given only to select career diplomats based on their service.

In a statement announcing Powell´s appointment and a separate appointee, Obama said: "These fine public servants both bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles."

But US presidents in recent years have chosen political appointees for India in a bid to highlight the importance of the relationship between the world´s two largest democracies.

Obama´s first ambassador to India, former congressman Timothy Roemer, announced his resignation in April, saying he had agreed in advance not to serve for more than two years.

Relations between the United States and India have warmed rapidly since the mutual mistrust of the Cold War. But many Indian commentators accuse Obama of not investing the same effort in relations as his predecessor George W. Bush.

The administration has dismissed the concerns, noting that Obama invited Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his first state guest and pointing to Obama´s support for India´s long-time goal of a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Previous US ambassadors to India have included the economist John Kenneth Galbraith and the scholar and future senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, AFP reports from Washington..
(NOTE: US-Nepal relations gained height when Powell was ambassador to Nepal. Secretary of State Colin Powell was the first to visit Nepal and Washington launched a a massive military programme to train ,recruit and ar a ranger battalion raising Indian and Chinese concerns when Sher Bahadur Deuba was prime minister. Deuba was hosted at the White House in the first term of George W. Bsh who urged Maoists should be searched, founded and killed. In his second administration, Bush reversed the policy and throttled Royal Nepal Army which Washington helped upgrade and finally brought Maoists to power in Nepal.
The reversal coincided with the royal rule.
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