Kabul, Sept.27 (ANI): Faced with an ever more aggressive Taliban, NATO alliance troops are planning a winter "development surge" in the form of civil works projects in eastern Afghanistan.

According to the Washington Post, the plan has been designed to win over tribes in regions near the Pakistan border and to prevent the younger generation from joining the Taliban's ranks.

The paper quoted military officials here as saying that the troops will maintain their armed pressure simultaneously.

"There is no doubt the enemy has bounced back. They are not unified, and they only have support of 10 percent of the people. But they have achieved a perception of insecurity. Our challenge is to create a perception of security," said Brigadier General Mark A. Milley, deputy commander for U.S. operations under NATO in eastern Afghanistan. "Our fighting season is 365 days a year. We are not going to let them rest and reconstitute themselves," added Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, spokeswoman for U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan.

According to the paper, the projects include building a road from Khost city to a major highway to solidify local support for the Karzai government and weaken Taliban leader Haqqani's grip.

NATO and U.S. officials also claim that they have taken strong new measures to avoid civilian casualties, not only for humanitarian reasons but because reports of civilian bombing deaths are a way for insurgents to undermine Western air power that they cannot challenge militarily.

"We need to weigh the effects and the proportionality of every action. If there is the likelihood of even one civilian casualty, we will not strike, not even if we think Osama bin Laden is down there," said rigadier General Richard Blanchette, chief spokesman for the 53,000-strong NATO forces here.

NATO and U.S. military officials have said recently that they need more troops to make faster headway against a "syndicate" of Taliban insurgents, foreign al-Qaeda fighters and other enemy forces.

Western officials here also said that the major obstacles to progress on the ground are not only military. In particular, they cited the lack of strong local governance, the poor performance of the Afghan national police, and the difficulty of protecting rural areas long enough to provide projects and services that will strengthen public loyalty to the authorities.

Officials describe the overall situation as mixed. (ANI)

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Basti (Uttar Pradesh), Sept 26 (ANI): The release of more water from barrages in Nepal coupled with continuous downpour has compounded the already grim flood-situation in Basti in Gorakhpur District of Uttar Pradesh.

Water in Ghagra and Kuano rivers have risen more than one-and-a-half feet since Wednesday, overflowing neighbouring villages in Gorakhpur and Deoria Districts.

Several areas of Basti district in the State are inundated and rescue operations are in progress to get them to safer places and provide them relief materials.

The flood victims on the other hand lament that the authorities have not done enough to help them.

"The houses have drowned in flood water. We are living on roads for past four five days. There is no food. Sometimes we get some food and sometimes we have to keep fasting. Our kids also don't get food all the time. Till now we have not got any help from the government," said Sarita Devi, a flood victim.

At least 100 people have been killed in Uttar Pradesh since Saturday, as heavy monsoon rains caused rivers to burst their banks, sweeping away houses.

Uttar Pradesh is country's most populous State with 170 million people, and also one of the most flood-prone regions in the country.

Monsoon rains and flooded rivers have brought huge devastation across South Asia this year, killing at least 1,500 people, mostly in India and Nepal. (ANI)

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New York, Sept.26 (ANI): An actuarial firm in the United States has said that both John McCain and Barack Obama would be cleared for insurance coverage if they approached in their capacity as President of the United States.

Obama has a history of smoking, and McCain is 72 years old with a history of skin cancer. But neither candidate is a bad bet to live through two terms as president of the United States, according to a statistical analysis performed by an actuarial firm.

According to John M. Bragg and Associates Inc., an Atlanta-based actuarial firm, McCain has 8.4 healthy years ahead of him, making him eligible, albeit barely, to serve two terms as the country's commander-in-chief.

Obama can look forward to more than two decades - 21.9 years to be exact - of healthy living.

Healthy years differ from life expectancy in that they refer to the number of years a person will live without requiring assisted living or suffer a debilitating illness such as Alzheimer's disease, not to the average number of years a person has left to live.

Bragg and Associates decided to compute the candidates' healthy years as a "public service" to voters.

Either candidate has not contracted the company, nor is it endorsing one.

"Health expectancy is one of our specialties," owner John Bragg told FOXNews.com.

"We've been doing this for more than 20 years, and we were interested in knowing whether the two candidates would be healthy for two terms. We had access through their Web sites to review their health situations. So we took a look," he added.

Actuaries specialize in risk. Using lifestyle and health information, they calculate a person's risk of injury, sickness, disability and death.

Among the pros and cons used to calculate McCain's longevity were his four bouts with melanoma - the deadliest type of skin cancer - as well as his degenerative arthritis, still-active 97-year-old mother and his treadmill EKG, which is in line with someone 10 years younger.

To gauge Obama's health, Brooks took into account that he is also in extremely good health, with low cholesterol, triglyceride and blood pressure levels, as well as a very low body fat percentage.

On the downside, however, Obama is considered a smoker, even though he has recently quit.

Obama's medical records also noted some mild respiratory problems and a family history of cancer on his mother's side. But Brooks said neither is expected to substantially impact his longevity.

Although the numbers show that Obama has more than double the number of healthy years ahead of him than McCain does, Brooks said that has more to do with age than with health.

Brooks also noted that the healthy-year calculations are misleading in that they put Obama at about age 69 when his health starts to fail and McCain at better than 80 years old.

"It has less to do with health and more with survival of the fittest," Brooks said. "You get more credit the longer you live. McCain already has 25 years on Obama, so Obama still has to survive the next 25 years before he can get credit for them." (ANI)

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New York, Sept.26 (ANI): US First Lady Laura Bush has said that Alaska Governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin does not have any significant foreign policy background, but can rely on John McCain for help in this area.

In an interview with CNN, Bush was asked whether Palin, who is McCain's running mate, had sufficient foreign policy experience.

"Of course she doesn't have that. You know, that's not been her role. But I think she is a very quick study, and fortunately John McCain does have that sort of experience," Fox News quoted her, as saying.

Nonetheless, Laura Bush said that she had "a lot of confidence" in Palin, and cited her "executive experience" as a governor and a mayor.

"She's got a lot of really good common sense, and I think that's very important," Bush said.

Bush, who was interviewed in New York while advocating for global literacy at the United Nations, also said she felt Palin has been treated unfairly because she is a woman.

"I do think there's a little bit of that going on, and I think it's to be expected," she said. (ANI)

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