Railways cuts plan outlay by Rs 4,000 crore for 2012-13

NEW DELHI: Cash-strapped Railways has scaled down its plan outlay by around Rs 4,000 crore for the current fiscal, following failure to raise the funds internally. In its budget for 2012-13, Railways had proposed its highest ever plan outlay of Rs 60,100 crore. It was planning to generate Rs 18,050 crore through internal resources.

"In view of the shortfall in generation of targeted internal resources, the plan outlay for the current year has been reassessed downward from Rs 60,100 to Rs 55,881 crore," said minister of state for railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The cutting down in total plan outlay due to shortfall in revenues through internal means is set to adversely affect spending on Railways' modernization and safety programmes.

Though Railways has tried to put up a brave front and claimed that the available resources have been judiciously allocated as per requirement of priority projects, it has been pleading with the finance ministry and the Planning Commission for hike in additional Budgetary support to fund its pending projects and safety measures. But, the finance ministry has been pressing Railways to increase its resources through internal means or encourage private investment.

Railways is losing around Rs 24,000 crore every year in cross-subsidizing passenger travel by freezing fare hike under popular pressure since last 10 years. The freight loading target has also been revised downwards. Railway minister Pawan Bansal is aware of the tough job at hand: To pull the national transporter out of financial mess and carry on with the reformist agenda.

Bansal had admitted in Parliament about the transporter's failure to manage finances for completing its long list of pending projects. Railways needs Rs 147,187 crore for completing 347 pending projects related only to laying of new tracks, gauge conversion and doubling of rail lines, but could manage only Rs 5,000 crore annually for implementing all its projects. The transporter is pinning hope on timely completion of UPA's ambitious dedicated freight corridor (DMRC), which has tied up its funding from multilateral agencies. The completion of DMRC will increase freight revenue as well as decongest tracks for passenger traffic.

After getting the Union Cabinet's approval for its public-private partnership (PPP) models, railways is also expecting to encourage private investment. Private players have been demanding a clear policy framework for promoting private sector investment and foreign direct investment. Railway modernization requires an investment of around Rs 8.4 trillion in the next five years, of which Rs 2.30 trillion are likely to be raised through PPP ventures.

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Rice Withdraws From Sec. of State Consideration

Image Credit: Evan Vucci/AP Photo

UN Ambassador Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from consideration for Secretary of State, saying the criticism surrounding her comments on Benghazi had become an “irresponsible distraction.”

“I am fully confident that I could serve our country ably and effectively in that role,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama today. “However, if nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities.”

Read Susan Rice’s letter to President Obama

“That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country,” she added.

Rice has been criticized by Republicans for her response to questions on the Sunday talk shows shortly after the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi killed four Americans.

“The position of Secretary of State should never be politicized,” Rice wrote. “As someone who grew up in an era of comparative bipartisanship and as a sitting U.S. national security official who has served in two U.S. Administrations, I am saddened that we have reached this point, even before you have decided whom to nominate. We cannot afford such an irresponsible distraction from the most pressing issues facing the American people.”

Sources tell ABC News that even before Rice withdrew her name from consideration to be Secretary of State earlier today, Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., had emerged as the leading contender, with the president convinced he would be the better Secretary of State.

The president is all but certain to nominate Kerry, sources say, though no official decision has been made.

The position of Secretary of Defense is not as far along in the process, but sources say former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., seems to have an edge right now over other possible candidates such as former undersecretary of defense for policy Michelle Flournoy and deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.

The CIA director slot, sources say, will go to either acting director Michael Morrell or White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan.

President Obama, who publicly defended Rice on several occasions, has accepted her decision to remove her name from the running.

“I have every confidence that Susan has limitless capability to serve our country now and in the years to come, and know that I will continue to rely on her as an advisor and friend,” Obama said in a written statement. 

“While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first,” he said. “The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country.”

Two Republican members of Congress who had adamantly opposed Rice’s potential nomination both reacted quickly.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., tweeted, “I respect Ambassador Rice’s decision.” And a spokesperson for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote, “Senator McCain thanks Ambassador Rice for her service to the country and wishes her well. He will continue to seek all the facts surrounding the attack on our consulate in Benghazi that killed four brave Americans.”

–Jake Tapper and Mary Bruce

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Global Checkup: Most People Living Longer, But Sicker

If the world's entire population went in for a collective checkup, would the doctor's prognosis be good or bad? Both, according to new studies published in The Lancet medical journal.

The vast collaborative effort, called the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010, includes papers by nearly 500 authors in 50 countries. Spanning four decades of data, it represents the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of health problems around the world.

It reveals that, globally, we're living longer but coping with more illness as adults. In 1990, "childhood underweight"—a condition associated with malnutrition, measles, malaria, and other infectious diseases—was the world's biggest health problem. Now the top causes of global disease are adult ailments: high blood pressure (associated with 9.4 million deaths in 2010), tobacco smoking (6.2 million), and alcohol use (4.9 million).

First, the good news:

We're living longer. Average life expectancy has risen globally since 1970 and has increased in all but eight of the world's countries within the past decade.

Both men and women are gaining years. From 1970 to 2010, the average lifespan rose from 56.4 years to 67.5 years for men, and from 61.2 years to 73.3 years for women.

Efforts to combat childhood diseases and malnutrition have been very successful. Deaths in children under five years old declined almost 60 percent in the past four decades.

Developing countries have made huge strides in public health. In the Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, and Peru, life expectancy has increased by more than 20 years since 1970. Within the past two decades, gains of 12 to 15 years have occurred in Angola, Ethiopia, Niger, and Rwanda, an indication of successful strategies for curbing HIV, malaria, and nutritional deficiencies.

We're beating many communicable diseases. Thanks to improvements in sanitation and vaccination, the death rate for diarrheal diseases, lower respiratory infections, meningitis, and other common infectious diseases has dropped by 42 percent since 1990.

And the bad:

Non-infectious diseases are on the rise, accounting for two of every three deaths globally in 2010. Heart disease and stroke are the primary culprits.

Young adults aren't doing as well as others. Deaths in the 15 to 49 age bracket have increased globally in the past 20 years. The reasons vary by region, but diabetes, smoking, alcohol, HIV/AIDS, and malaria all play a role.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is taking a toll in sub-Saharan Africa. Life expectancy has declined overall by one to seven years in Zimbabwe and Lesotho, and young adult deaths have surged by more than 500 percent since 1970 in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

We drink too much. Alcohol overconsumption is a growing problem in the developed world, especially in Eastern Europe, where it accounts for almost a quarter of the total disease burden. Worldwide, it has become the top risk factor for people ages 15 to 49.

We eat too much, and not the right things. Deaths attributable to obesity are on the rise, with 3.4 million in 2010 compared to 2 million in 1990. Similarly, deaths attributable to dietary risk factors and physical inactivity have increased by 50 percent (4 million) in the past 20 years. Overall, we're consuming too much sodium, trans fat, processed meat, and sugar-sweetened beverages, and not enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fiber, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Smoking is a lingering problem. Tobacco smoking, including second-hand smoke, is still the top risk factor for disease in North America and Western Europe, just as it was in 1990. Globally, it's risen in rank from the third to second leading cause of disease.

To find out more and see related charts and graphics, see the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which led the collaboration.

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Fed sets inflation, jobless targets for hiking rates

WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve laid out target levels on unemployment and inflation for raising interest rates for the first time Wednesday, surprising analysts who expected such a move would wait until next year.

In an effort to better signal its policy path, after its benchmark rate has been locked at 0-0.25 percent for four years, the Fed said it would not lift rates as long as the inflation outlook was below 2.5 percent and the jobless rate, now at 7.7 percent, stays above 6.5 percent.

Saying the economy continues to grow only at a "moderate" rate, the Federal Open Market Committee also launched a new, open-ended $45 billion a month bond-buying program to replace the bond-swap Operation Twist program that expires at year-end.

That will take its total "quantitative easing" asset purchases, of both Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, aimed at pushing down long-term rates to encourage investment, to $85 billion a month.

After a two-day policy meeting, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed that the economy, while growing at a moderate pace, was still hindered by high unemployment, which he called "an enormous waste of human and economic potential."

He also warned that Congress and the White House needed to urgently find a solution to the fiscal cliff crisis, which could send the economy back into recession next year.

"Even though we have not even reached the point of the fiscal cliff potentially kicking in, it's already affecting business investment and hiring decisions by creating uncertainty or creating pessimism," Bernanke said at a post-meeting news conference.

Even with the new target thresholds, the FOMC essentially held close to its course of the past year, stressing that its current "highly accommodative" monetary policy will stay in place even after the economy starts turning up.

Its benchmark interest rate would hold at the current level "at least as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6.5 percent" and inflation over the horizon of one to two years is projected at lower than 2.5 percent.

Such a stipulation was far more explicit than previous Fed guidance, which forecast that its easy-money policy would be in place "at least through mid-2015."

With prospects low for a rebound in inflation, it also further enshrined combatting unemployment as the primary focus of Fed policy for the next two or three years.

Jim O'Sullivan of High Frequency Economics said the change in the forecasting language suggested that FOMC members see the economy possibly improving over the next couple years more firmly than they had previously forecast.

"The signal is similar but is more clearly conditional," O'Sullivan said.

"As we have been writing, we see risks tilted toward a more rapid-than-expected decline in unemployment continuing."

But Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed that the FOMC was not signaling greater optimism.

Tying future monetary policy moves to specific conditions will make policy more transparent and predictable, he told journalists.

"The change in the form of the committee's forward guidance does not in itself imply any change in the committee's expectations of the likely future path of the federal funds rate since the October meeting," he said.

Indeed, the FOMC cut very slightly its growth forecast for next year to 2.3-3.0 percent, from around 1.8 percent this year.

And the survey of FOMC participants showed only five of 19 saw monetary policy tightening by 2014, the same as the October meeting.

Markets liked the news for only a short time, shooting up before falling back to around break-even level at the close.

The dollar suffered, though, falling to $1.3065 against the euro.

-AFP/ac

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What women's empowerment when competent ones dropped from govt panel: Indira Jaising

NEW DELHI: India's first woman additional solicitor general Indira Jaising criticized the Centre's decision to drop several "competent" women lawyers from its panel for handling government litigation in the Supreme Court and asked law minister Ashwani Kumar whether they needed a 'godfather' to succeed in the legal profession.

Recent changes in the panel of lawyers made Jaising, who is among a handful of women lawyers designated as senior advocates in the country, write to the law minister complaining that though the government took pride in empowering women through various steps, the dropping of 'competent' women lawyers from the central government panel had sent a wrong message.

"This can only send a very wrong message to the (legal) profession as a whole and to women in particular that there is no place for them in the profession. Even otherwise, the perception among people is that only those with powerful godfathers or godmothers (of which there may be very few) can progress in the profession," Jaising said.

She said this perception needed urgent correction and a message ought to be sent out loud and clear if "we mean to encourage competent lawyers and women in particular". "Several women I know who have assisted me competently have been dropped from the panels with no notice or appreciable reason," she said, justifying her angst against the alleged arbitrary dropping of women lawyers from the panels.

She clarified that she was not advocating priority for women but said the government needed to guard against them being discriminated against in a systemic manner. "I recognize that 'merit' and 'competence' must be the guiding principles in making appointments and selection, but it is a matter of common knowledge that 'merit' itself is not a neutral word but a social construct, which tends to entrench the privilege of the privileged.

"I have no doubt that women lawyers can assist in formulating policies which are just and fair to all concerned," she said while expressing concern over the dismal representation of women in the legal profession.

"They are also grossly underrepresented in the judiciary. Indeed, one would expect that they constitute at least 50% of the judiciary as they do in population. There is need to address these issues on an urgent basis," she added.

"A glance at the number of women designated senior counsel show that there are only four to five such designated seniors in the Supreme Court. This is the position in all the high courts as well. All these issues do require the attention of policy makers and of law makers," she further said.

In another letter addressed to the Chief Justice of India, Jaising requested Justice Altamas Kabir to explore the possibility of providing a creche facility within the Supreme Court for women lawyers who may want to leave their toddlers there while attending to work in the court.

dhananjay.mahapatra@timesgroup.com

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Why Mass Shooters Often Wear Masks

The Oregon mall shooter was dressed all in black and his face was covered by a white hockey mask.

The mask, the black clothes, the age of the gunman and a weapon are becoming a familiar and deadly pattern.

The gunman, 22-year-old Jacob Tyler Roberts of Portland, is one of a string of killers before him, including Aurora shooter James Holmes, who chose to wear black and cover their faces with masks.

Hero Saves Customer At Mall Shooting

For these cold-hearted killers, the costume bolsters their confidence and power as they carry out their depraved fantasies, said Dr. Mary Ellen O'Toole, a retired FBI profiler.

"They're doing it because it's a role. It's almost like a big game and like they're the puppet master. They've got the control, the power, the weapons," she told ABCNews.com.

"The biggest thing for a mass shooter is the control and empowerment for the shooting," said former FBI agent and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett. "It isn't uncommon for a shooter to wear a costume, or sometimes simply to dress in black.... He went there being someone other than who he is in reality because it gives him power."

From the costume to his age and ethnicity, Roberts fit the mold of who FBI profilers expected the shooter to be.

Oregon Mall Shooting: 'Killing of Total Strangers' Watch Video

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Oregon Mall Shooting: At Least 3 People Dead Watch Video

"Its clear the majority [of shooters] are white males, but we can't say anything statistical about that," O'Toole said, pointing to the Virginia Tech shooting, which was perpetrated by a Korean, and the Red Lake shooting, where the gunman was Native American.

Nevertheless, she acknowledged the preponderance of whites among the list of mass killers.

"I think it's a question that needs to be put out there," O'Toole said

There is one thing that can be predicted, however -- age. Most mass shooters are between the ages of 15 and 25, O'Toole said.

"This is where we see young men acting out in a different way," she said, citing increased levels of testosterone. "It has to do with their biological make-up and development."

Garrett said that the age period between 15 to 25 years can also be a time when young men might feel the world is passing them by, stifling what they could have been. The desire to be remembered, he said, can be a factor that can cause unstable young men to kill.

They may have thoughts of, "I can be more than I am if you didn't stop me," Garrett said, adding that the "you" didn't necessarily refer to a specific individual.

Shooting Was Survivor's Second Brush With Death

Psychiatric issues are another commonality with mass killers, said Garrett.

"The idea that you can walk into a mall or any other location and shoot people is very intoxicating for these people. They typically do not feel empowered during the day," he said. "Depression, manic depression play into feelings of inadequacy."

As Roberts walked through the Clackamas Town Center, intent on killing as many people as possible, witnesses said he was looking straight ahead, shooting along the way.

PHOTOS: Oregon Mall Shooting

Two people were killed and one wounded before Roberts took his own life.

While investigators try to piece together what made Roberts snap, O'Toole warned the cycle of gun violence will continue.

"Somewhere, there is a male in this age range thinking of outdoing the shooter in Aurora and outdoing the shooter in Oregon and they are watching this and saying, 'I am going to do it.'"

ABC News' Colleen Curry and Jared Weiner contributed to this report

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Who’s Watching? Privacy Concerns Persist as Smart Meters Roll Out

Energy consultant Craig Miller, who spends much of his time working to make the smart grid a reality, got a jolt when he mentioned his work to a new acquaintance. The man, who happened to be a lineman at a Pennsylvania utility, responded earnestly:  "Smart meters are a plot by Obama to spy on us."

The encounter was a disheartening sign of the challenge ahead for proponents of the smart grid, who say that the technology can help the industry meet power demand, fix problems faster, and help consumers lower their electricity bills. Advocates of such a 21st-century grid are learning that they need to take privacy concerns seriously. Though smart meters are not, in fact, a domestic espionage scheme, they do raise questions: In a world where households start talking with the power grid, what exactly will be revealed? And who will be listening? (See related quiz: "What You Don't Know About Electricity.")

The term "smart grid" encompasses an array of technologies that can be implemented at various points along the line of transmission from power plant to electricity user, but for many consumers, it is symbolized by one thing: the smart meter.  A majority of U.S. states have begun deploying the wireless meters, which can send electricity usage information from a household back to the utility remotely at frequent intervals. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than 36 million smart meters were installed across the nation as of August 2012, covering about a quarter of all electrical customers. In the European Union, only 10 percent of households have smart meters but they are being deployed rapidly to meet an EU mandate that the technology reach 80 percent of households by 2020.

Because smart meters can provide real-time readings of household energy use instead of the familiar monthly figures most customers now see in their electric bills, the devices offer a new opportunity for consumers to learn more about their own power use and save money. But the ability to track a household's energy use multiple times a day also presents some unsettling possibilities. In theory, the information collected by smart meters could reveal how many people live in a home, their daily routines, changes in those routines, what types of electronic equipment are in the home, and other details. "It's not hard to imagine a divorce lawyer subpoenaing this information, an insurance company interpreting the data in a way that allows it to penalize customers, or criminals intercepting the information to plan a burglary," the private nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation noted in a blog post about smart meters. (Related: "Pictures: The Energy Drain of Recreational Drugs")

The European Union's data protection watchdog warned earlier this year that smart meters, while bringing significant potential benefits, also could be used track whether families "are away on holiday or at work, if someone uses a specific medical device or a baby-monitor, how they like to spend their free time and so on." The European Data Protection Supervisor urged that member states provide the public with more information on how the data is being handled. (Related: "The 21st Century Grid")

A State-by-State Effort

As with many of the rules governing utility operations, regulations to address privacy concerns in the United States are currently embedded in a patchwork of state laws and public utility commission policy.  Most experts point to California as a leader: Last year, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) adopted rules governing access to, and usage of, customer data. The state has also passed legislation that requires utilities to obtain the customer's consent for release of their information to any third party. The CPUC was involved in producing a comprehensive report on privacy with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that summarizes, often in chilling detail, the many ways in which privacy breaches could occur on the smart grid, and recommends best practices for preventing those breaches. "As Smart Grid implementations collect more granular, detailed, and potentially personal information, this information may reveal business activities, manufacturing procedures, and personal activities in a given location," the NIST report said.

George Arnold, national coordinator for smart grid interoperability at NIST, points out that many of these privacy and security issues have been dealt with in the health care and telecommunications sectors, for example. "Protecting the privacy of the information [on the smart grid] has been taken very seriously. . . . I think it's a good news story that policymakers recognize the importance, and both policy and technical tools are well in hand to deal with this," Arnold said.  (See related photos: "World's Worst Power Outages.")

But no existing federal or state laws can be counted on to protect consumers' utility data as smart meters are rolled out across the country. At least one utility in California argued early on that it was subject to a number of existing laws that would address privacy concerns, according to Jim Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology, which worked with the CPUC on its privacy framework. However, Dempsey's group found that no single law provided a clear answer regarding utility data, and that a new set of rules was necessary. "Almost every state has some kind of [privacy] law already," Dempsey said. "But the point is, those laws predate the smart grid, and they do not really account for the complexity of the smart-grid ecosystem."

With other states—including Colorado, Maine, and Texas—now formulating policy on smart meters, a consensus is emerging. Jules Polonetsky of the Future of Privacy Forum, which advocates for responsible handling of consumer data, says there is general agreement that utilities should have rules that govern how they can use smart meter data, and that a customer should be able to know and have access to the data being collected. Still, Polonetsky points out that as energy-saving applications and devices (such as the Nest wireless thermostat) proliferate, state privacy frameworks may have limited power. Utility sharing of data is restricted, but "some device that I buy and I activate may not be subject to utility regulations," Polonetsky said. His organization has introduced a privacy seal for companies that handle smart-grid data, with the goal of highlighting companies that are being proactive about privacy.

Resistance to smart meters in some areas, though confined to a small fraction of utility customers, has been vociferous enough that a handful of communities have declared moratoriums on installations. The city of Ojai, California, for example, declared such a moratorium in May, though it is effectively unenforceable. In Texas, one woman pulled a gun on a utility employee who was trying to install a smart meter. Beyond privacy issues, many smart-meter opponents cite fear of exposure to radio frequency waves, even though radio frequency exposure from smart meters falls "substantially below the protective limits set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the general public," according to a study from the Electric Power Research Institute, the nonprofit research organization funded by the electric power industry. (Related: "Putting a (Smiley) Face on Energy Savings")

Some states, including California and Maine, which has the highest penetration rate in the country for advanced meters, have allowed residents to opt out of smart-meter installation. So far, few customers have done so: In California, according to Chris Villarreal of the CPUC, the opt-out rate was less than half of one percent. The Texas Public Utility Commission is currently weighing whether or not to allow customers to opt out.

Miller, the energy consultant, has been working on a $68 million effort partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to implement smart-grid technology with rural electric cooperatives. He said many of the concerns about smart meter privacy run counter to how utilities actually operate. "The utilities go through all kinds of effort to reduce the amount of information they get," he said. "They see no advantage [in] collecting data with no operational value. If the data did not allow you [as a utility] to make a better decision about the operation of your grid, then there's no reason for a utility to collect it, and they won't."

High Ambitions, Low Public Awareness

Protecting homeowner data from interested outsiders will be crucial for the electric industry as it seeks customer buy-in on the smart grid, but the real challenge may lie in boosting the interest of homeowners themselves. "Our research shows that consumers generally overwhelmingly are unaware of the smart grid [and smart meters] and don't even know what those terms mean," said Patty Durand, executive director of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC), a nonprofit dedicated to consumer education about the smart grid.

In most cases, the utility notifies the customer that the smart meter is coming, swaps in the new meter, and recovers the cost of deployment through a slight rate adjustment, so a homeowner may have little involvement in the installation process. That decreases the likelihood that a homeowner will understand what the smart meter does or how it is beneficial. (Related: "Smart Meters Take Bite Out of Electricity Theft")

"For the longest time, the relationship between the utility and the customer has been, 'Here's the power and you can pay for it'," said Villarreal of the CPUC. "Now with smart grid and smart meters, we're asking the customers to get more involved and providing them with a lot more information, and now they're starting to ask questions."

Villarreal said that not all utilities have been quick to embrace a world that demands more of a dialogue with customers. In response to the notion of posting a privacy policy, one utility representative from another part of the country told him, " 'We don't want to do that, because we don't want customers calling us and asking us questions about it.' That's not a very proactive response to working with your customers. You're probably just raising the ire of customers more than solving the problem," he said.

California's public utilities have learned to employ robust communication strategies for smart-meter rollouts. San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) sent out at least five notifications to customers leading up to installations. "I think that really helped, because it wasn't like it was somebody knocking on the door," said Caroline Winn, SDG&E's vice president of customer services and chief customer privacy officer. "People weren't surprised to get the smart meter when we installed them."

While a combination of proactive communication and opt-out policies can help prevent customer confusion and minimize backlash against smart-meter rollouts, utilities have the long-term task of making sure that they add value for both customers and themselves. Some benefits involve little or no customer engagement: Smart meters can tell utilities, for example, when outages occur and help generate outage maps for customers (in the analog days, the utility didn't know about an outage unless a customer called).

Other aspects of smart meters involve more attention from a household. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), which has installed 9.1 million smart meters across northern and central California at a total cost of $2.2 billion, has experimented with a variety of methods for getting customers more interested in their data. "We deploy reporting with your bill that shows you your usage compared to your neighbor's, and that's highly motivating for some people," said PG&E Chief Information Officer Karen Austin.

PG&E's other programs include rate incentives for energy conservation during peak times, text messages that alert customers when their electricity usage crosses into a new pricing tier, and participation in the Green Button Initiative, which allows people to download their energy-usage information in a standardized format. The goal is to create a level of engagement with energy-usage data among consumers that has barely existed before. Ultimately, the hope is that when consumers see how much energy they use, they can try to use less.

"The utilities have been challenged with not properly educating consumers and not understanding who their consumers are, because they've never had to," said Durand of the SGCC. "In the past, it's been a one-way relationship . . . but those days are over." (Related: "Can Hurricane Sandy Shed Light on Curbing Power Outages?")

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

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Cardin looks ahead to busy 2nd Senate term

Now that Maryland voters have handed him six more years in office, Sen. Benjamin Cardin has the freedom to do something many of his colleagues don’t amid the ongoing “fiscal cliff” negotiations. Keep an open mind.

As President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) work to strike a deficit-reduction deal, the Maryland Democrat has his own priorities. And he won’t rule anything out — even significant entitlement reforms or reductions that would impact his state’s huge population of federal employees.

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US blacklists Al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria

WASHINGTON: Washington blacklisted an Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group in Syria Tuesday, warning extremists could play no role in building the nation's future as the US readies to recognize the new Syrian alliance.

The move against the Al-Nusra Front came ahead of talks in Morocco on Wednesday, when the United States is expected to give full recognition to the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Though a minority, Al-Nusra has been one of the most effective rebel groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, raising concerns that hardline extremists are hijacking the 21-month-old revolt.

"What is important is to understand that extremists fighting the Assad regime are still extremists and they have no place in the political transition that will come," a senior State Department official said.

"Extremists should not dictate that political transition," he insisted on a conference call with journalists, asking to remain anonymous.

The State Department designated the group linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) a foreign terrorist organization, while the Treasury also slapped sanctions on two of its leaders, Maysar Ali Musa Abdallah al-Juburi and Anas Hasan Khattab.

"Exposing the operation and the identities of Al-Nusra's leaders is a key objective here," another top US official said.

Topping the agenda at the Friends of Syria meeting in Marrakech will be two key issues -- the political transition after Assad's fall and mobilizing humanitarian aid as winter sets in amid a growing refugee crisis.

Declaring Al-Nusra a terrorist group freezes its assets and bans Americans from any transactions with it, but US officials said it would also help ensure that vital aid is falling into the right hands.

Countries wanting to support the opposition need to ensure they are helping "those opposition groups who truly have the best interest of Syria and Syrians in mind," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

They should not back "groups coming from the outside who want to hijack what the Syrian people have started for their own means, and have a very different future in mind, a future that is based in Al-Qaeda-based values and principles, not democratic-based principles and values."

The group has claimed responsibility for recent suicide bombings that killed scores of people, and has said it hopes to replace the Assad family's four-decade hold on power with a strict Islamic state.

Wednesday's talks could mark a step forward for the Syrian opposition, which had struggled for months to unite until a new coalition arose from November meetings in Qatar.

"Now that there is a new opposition formed, we are going to be doing what we can to support that opposition," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Brussels last week.

Clinton had planned to attend the Marrakesh meeting but canceled her trip on Monday due to illness. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is traveling in her place.

She also met on her Europe trip with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to see if there were ways to increase the pressure on Assad to step down and end the bloodshed.

Since the last Friends of Syria meeting in Paris in July, the number of people killed has risen from 16,000 to more than 42,000, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq has carried out scores of massive bombings aimed at Shiite civilians and regularly targeted US forces before their withdrawal a year ago.

The Treasury Department also sanctioned two armed militia groups supporting the Assad regime -- Jaysh al-Sha'bi and Shabiha -- as well as two Shabiha commanders.

The United States "will target the pro-Assad militias just as we will the terrorists who falsely cloak themselves in the flag of the legitimate opposition," said David Cohen, under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The Treasury Department said the militias have been "instrumental in the Asad regime's campaign of terror and violence against the citizens of Syria."

Nuland warned the US may target other groups. "There's a lot of morphing and changing within these militia groups," she said. "What we are saying is this is a false flag that we can identify and beware."

-AFP/ac

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Disclose Swamy's letter to Kalam after consulting him: CIC

NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the President's Secretariat to make Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy's letter to former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam public after consulting him. Swamy had written to Kalam after the 2004 election which UPA had won.

In the letter Swamy had raised doubts on if Congress president Sonia Gandhi's candidature would be accepted by the courts as it was unclear whether she had renounced her Italian citizenship as stipulated under the Citizenship Act.

Activist Subhash Agrawal had sought a copy of the letter from the President's office, which had turned down his application earlier this year, saying the disclosure would be a breach of confidentiality and fiduciary relationship and therefore attracts Sec 8(1)(e) of RTI Act.

After hearing the matter, Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Satyananda Mishra ordered to disclose, "the information... relating to the letter written by Subramanian Swamy to the then President on the formation of the Council of Ministers after following the procedure laid down in Section 11 of the Right to Information Act, if the CPIO considers such consultation necessary."

"No records are available in this regard," the Secretariat had said to a question on whether it was true that certain individuals, political parties or anyone else had objected against some particular person being invited to form the government in 2004.

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