India reached a milestone when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur launched the country's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine 'INS Arihant' for sea trials.
Function was attended by PM Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, defence minister A K Antony, Andhra Pradesh CM YR Reddy and others at the launching of India's first nuclear submarine, INS Arihant at Visakhapatnam.
Prime Minister arrived at the ENC's airbase INS Dega in Visakhapatnam by a special IAF plane along with his wife at 11 am and drove straight to the naval dockyard to commission INS Arihant into the sea. The 6000-tonne submarine will first be put on sea trials for two years before being commissioned into full service. In these two years, the submarine will also undergo harbour trials of its nuclear reactor and other systems. The launch coincides with Vijay Diwas marking India's triumph over Pakistani intruders in Kargil. With the launch of the submarine India will join the exclusive club of US, Russia, China, France and the UK with similar capabilities. The ENC headquarters in Visakhapatnam has been decked up for this historic event, navy sources said. INS Arihant has been built under the advanced technology vessels (ATV) programme at a cost of $2.9 billion at the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam.
Code-named Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), the submarine christened 'INS Arihant' (destroyer of enemy) was launched for sea trials at the Matsya naval dockyard here.
As India has declared "no first use" of nuclear weapons, the country's weapons system must survive a first strike for retaliation. Therefore, Arihant's primary weapon is stealth as it can lurk in ocean depths of half a kilometre or more and fire its missiles from under the sea.
The 6000-tonne submarine is powered by an 85 megawatt capacity nuclear reactor and can acquire surface speeds of 22 to 28 kmph (12-15 knots) and submerged speed upto 44 kmph (24 knots). It will be carrying a crew of 95 men and will be armed with torpedoes and missiles including 12 ballistic missiles.
Four more nuclear-powered submarine of this class have already got government's nod and these would add to the Navy's underwater combat potential in the years to come.
Defence Minister A K Antony, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy witnessed the event.
The Prime Minister flew to Vishakapatnam this morning by the IAF's newly acquired Boeing business jet and reached the venue of the submarine launch by road.
Sea trials of the submarine will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal off Vishakapatnam, where the vessel was under construction for the last two decades.
The Rs 30,000-crore secret nuclear submarine project was started in the 1980s though it was conceived by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s.
The first official admission of the project nearing completion came this February when Antony had announced it during the AeroIndia show in Bangalore.
INS Arihant can also be armed with cruise missiles. The DRDO is already working on an equally secretive Sagarika project for a 700-km K-15 missile, capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
With US, Russia and China already fielding 5,000-km range SLBMs, the DRDO too has recently tested an SLBM based on the design of 3,500-km range Agni-III.
The induction of ATV will help India to complete the nuclear weapons triad, as envisaged under its nuclear doctrine to deliver nuke-tipped missiles from land, air and sea.
India has land-based nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missiles, apart from IAF fighters such as Mirage-2000 that can deliver tactical nukes.
So we are proud to be an INDIAN
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Srilanka Team Back To Home Safely
The Sri Lanka cricket team has arrived home on early Wednesday, Geo News reported. The Sri Lankan players were also accompanied with three Pakistani doctors on flight.Relieved relatives gave the tour party an emotional welcome as the 25-member contingent was led from a specially chartered Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A320 by team manager Brendon Kuruppu.Earlier, the Lankan team, following the Lahore attacks, had left Pakistan for home on Tuesday afternoon after it was taken from the Gaddafi Stadium through helicopter to the airport. Special arrangements were made for bringing the tourists to the airport and a special helicopter of the Pakistan Air force took them from the Gaddafi Stadium to the Lahore airport. Following which, they were sent through a chartered flight to Sri Lanka via Abu Dhabi.Chairman PCB Ijaz Butt, Director National Cricket Academy Aamer Sohail, chief operating officer Saleem Altaf and other officials saw-off the Sri Lankan players and the officials at Gaddafi StadiumStar batsman Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana, who both received hospital treatment in Pakistan, were placed in an ambulance and taken to a private medical facility in Colombo, a senior official said. Spin bowler Ajantha Mendis was seen leaving the aircraft with a plaster behind his right ear. A total of seven players and an assistant coach were hurt in the attack, which left eight people dead. Vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara, who was another wounded in Tuesday's gun and grenade assault, told reporters that the players had been asked by team management not to speak with reporters. Sri Lanka sports minister Gamini Lokuge also met the team at Bandaranaike International Airport, where security was tight, the official said. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, but some Sri Lankan officials fear a possible link with the military offensive against ethnic Tamil rebels in the island's north. Sri Lanka were airlifted from Gaddafi Stadium by helicopter before flying out of Lahore late Tuesday, abandoning a tour which was only arranged when India refused to visit their troubled neighbour. At least a dozen men ambushed Sri Lanka's cricket team with rifles, grenades and rocket launchers on Tuesday, converging on the squad's convoy as it drove through a traffic circle near Gaddafi Stadium. Seven players, an umpire and a coach were wounded, none with life-threatening injuries, but six policemen and a driver died. The attackers struck as a convoy carrying the squad and match officials reached a traffic circle 300 yards (meters) from the main sports stadium in the eastern city of Lahore, triggering a 15-minute gunbattle with police guarding the vehicles. 'We were all tucked under the seats,' Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said when the team arrived home in Colombo early Wednesday. 'Our guys were getting hurt and screaming but we couldn't help each other. We were just hoping that we will not get hit. None of us thought that we would come alive out of the situation.' The assault, just ahead of the resumption of the second cricket test, was one of the worst terrorist attacks on a sports team since Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. By attacking South Asia's most popular sport, the gunmen guaranteed themselves tremendous international attention while demonstrating Pakistan's struggle to provide its 170 million people with basic security as it battles a raging Islamist militancy. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said the incident 'has humiliated the country' and the head of the Interior Ministry, Rehman Malik, declared Pakistan was 'in a state of war.' Malik told media that authorities were investigating whether the attackers wanted to take hostages. 'We are looking at the possibility the gunmen wanted to hijack the bus and take it to a nearby building and create a drama,' Malik said. 'The way they came prepared and in large numbers indicates such a plan.' Tuesday's attackers melted away into the city, and none was killed or captured, city police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said. The attackers abandoned machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and plastic explosives, Punjab IG Khwaja Khalid Farooq said. They carried backpacks stuffed with dried fruit, mineral water and walkie-talkies - provisions also abandoned at or near the scene, officials said. Authorities did not speculate on the identities of the attackers, but the chief suspects will be Islamist militants, some with links to al-Qaida, who have staged high-profile attacks on civilian targets before. The bus driver, Mohammad Khalil, accelerated as bullets ripped into the vehicle and explosions rocked the air, steering the team to the safety of the stadium. The players - some of them wounded - ducked down and shouted 'Go! Go!' as he drove through the ambush. Authorities cancelled the test match against Pakistan and a special flight carried the Sri Lanka team - including two players who had been hospitalised - home, where the players were immediately sequestered to a private meeting with their families.
Srilanka National Team
A team of heavily armed gunmen, some traveling in rickshaws, ambushed Sri Lanka's national cricket team Tuesday as it arrived for a match, killing six police guards and wounding seven players. The brazen attack heightened fears that Pakistan is becoming increasingly unstable.
The assault bore striking similarities to last year's three-day hostage drama in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.
Working in pairs, the attackers in Lahore carried walkie-talkies and backpacks stuffed with water, dried fruit and other high-energy food — a sign they anticipated a protracted siege and may have been planning to take the players hostage.
The bus sped through the ambush, but the gunmen's preparations indicated they may been planning to hijack the vehicle, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik told The Associated Press. None of the gunmen were killed and all apparently escaped into this teeming eastern city.
Even though the bus was peppered with 25 bullet holes, none of the cricket players were killed. The attack was among the highest-profile terrorist strikes on a sports team since the 1972 Munich Olympics, when Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes.
In addition, by targeting not only a major Pakistani city but also the country's most popular sport, the attack was sure to resonate throughout the region, where cricket has been an obsession since it was introduced by the British during the colonial era.
In targeting the sport, the gunmen were certain to draw international attention to the government's inability to provide basic security as it battles militants linked to al-Qaida and the Taliban and faces accusations that it is harboring terrorists.
The attack ended Pakistan's hopes of hosting international cricket teams — or any high profile sports events — for months, if not years. Even before Tuesday, most cricket squads chose not to tour the country for security reasons. India and Australia had canceled tours, and New Zealand announced Tuesday it was calling of its December tour.
Besides the six police officers, a driver of a vehicle in the convoy was also killed, officials said. Seven Sri Lankan players, a Pakistani umpire and a coach from Britain were wounded, none with life-threatening injuries.
Malik did not speculate on the identity of the attackers, but said Pakistan was "in a state of war" and vowed to "flush out all these terrorists from this country."
Pakistan has a web of Islamist militant networks, some with links to al-Qaida and the Taliban, which have staged other high-profile strikes in a bid to destabilize the government and punish it for its support of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
The convoy transporting the Sri Lankan team and cricket officials was surrounded by police vehicles at the front, rear and side, but traveled the same route each day of the five-day test match against Pakistan's national team, according to Malik. The attack occurred on the third day of play just before 9 a.m.
The assailants struck at a traffic circle about 300 yards from the Gaddafi Stadium in downtown Lahore, firing at least one grenade and a rocket as well as repeated automatic weapon rounds from a white car, before other gunmen attacked from three other locations, witnesses and officials said.
Lahore police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said the attackers arrived at the scene in motorized rickshaws and two cars, and police later seized a large cache of weapons abandoned in one of the rickshaws and elsewhere near the scene.
The arsenal displayed for journalists included rocket-propelled grenades, pistols, 25 hand grenades, submachine guns and plastic explosives.
Despite the onslaught, the bus carrying the Sri Lankan players did not stop, speeding through the hail of bullets and into the stadium, likely saving many lives.
As the players ducked, shouting "Go! Go!" driver Mohammad Khalil said he maneuvered the bus, pocked with bullet holes and its windshield shattered, into the stadium.
Bloodied players were helped off the vehicle and Sri Lankan team captain Mahela Jayawardene shouted: "Get more ambulances in here! Get more ambulances in here," according to Tony Bennet, an Australian cameraman covering the match.
At the traffic circle, gunmen fought a 15-minute battle with police. Pakistani TV footage showed at least two pairs of gunmen with backpacks firing on the convoy from a stretch of grass, taking cover behind a monument.
"These people were highly trained and highly armed — the way they were holding their guns, the way they were taking aim and shooting at the police," said Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province, adding that they "used the same methods... as the terrorists who attacked Mumbai."
One militant group likely to fall under suspicion is Lashkar-e-Taiba, the network blamed for the Nov. 26-28 Mumbai attacks, in which 10 gunmen targeted luxury hotels, a Jewish center and other sites, killing 164 people.
The group has been targeted by Pakistani authorities since then, and its stronghold is in eastern Pakistan.
In the past, India and Pakistan — who have fought three wars since 1947 — have often blamed each other for attacks on their territories.
While some politicians and retired generals, along with ordinary Pakistanis, hinted at an Indian hand in the Lahore attacks, government leaders and security chiefs did not. Any high-level allegations like that would trigger fresh and possibly dangerous tensions between the countries, already running high following the Mumbai attacks.
There were also no indications that authorities in Pakistan or Sri Lanka suspected Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger separatist rebels, who are being badly hit in a military offensive at home and have staged scores of terror attacks in the past.
Rehman, the Lahore police chief, said the 12-14 assailants resembled Pashtuns, the ethnic group from close to the Afghan border, the stronghold of al-Qaida and the Taliban. He said officers were hunting for them.
U.S. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters in Washington that the United States condemned "this vicious attack on innocent civilians but also on the positive relations that Pakistan and Sri Lanka are trying to enjoy."
The most seriously wounded cricket official was umpire Ahsan Raza, who underwent an operation after being shot in the abdomen, a medical official said.
Two Sri Lankan players — batsmen Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana — suffered bullet wounds and were treated in a hospital, said Chamara Ranavira, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan High Commission. Paranavitana was grazed by a bullet in the chest, and Samaraweera has a bullet wound in his thigh, he said. The team traveled home to Sri Lanka later Tuesday.
Cricket's governing body said it would review Pakistan's status as co-host of the 2011 World Cup
International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the council will meet in Dubai next month to discuss whether to redistribute World Cup matches among India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the competition's other co-hosts.
The assault bore striking similarities to last year's three-day hostage drama in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.
Working in pairs, the attackers in Lahore carried walkie-talkies and backpacks stuffed with water, dried fruit and other high-energy food — a sign they anticipated a protracted siege and may have been planning to take the players hostage.
The bus sped through the ambush, but the gunmen's preparations indicated they may been planning to hijack the vehicle, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik told The Associated Press. None of the gunmen were killed and all apparently escaped into this teeming eastern city.
Even though the bus was peppered with 25 bullet holes, none of the cricket players were killed. The attack was among the highest-profile terrorist strikes on a sports team since the 1972 Munich Olympics, when Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes.
In addition, by targeting not only a major Pakistani city but also the country's most popular sport, the attack was sure to resonate throughout the region, where cricket has been an obsession since it was introduced by the British during the colonial era.
In targeting the sport, the gunmen were certain to draw international attention to the government's inability to provide basic security as it battles militants linked to al-Qaida and the Taliban and faces accusations that it is harboring terrorists.
The attack ended Pakistan's hopes of hosting international cricket teams — or any high profile sports events — for months, if not years. Even before Tuesday, most cricket squads chose not to tour the country for security reasons. India and Australia had canceled tours, and New Zealand announced Tuesday it was calling of its December tour.
Besides the six police officers, a driver of a vehicle in the convoy was also killed, officials said. Seven Sri Lankan players, a Pakistani umpire and a coach from Britain were wounded, none with life-threatening injuries.
Malik did not speculate on the identity of the attackers, but said Pakistan was "in a state of war" and vowed to "flush out all these terrorists from this country."
Pakistan has a web of Islamist militant networks, some with links to al-Qaida and the Taliban, which have staged other high-profile strikes in a bid to destabilize the government and punish it for its support of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
The convoy transporting the Sri Lankan team and cricket officials was surrounded by police vehicles at the front, rear and side, but traveled the same route each day of the five-day test match against Pakistan's national team, according to Malik. The attack occurred on the third day of play just before 9 a.m.
The assailants struck at a traffic circle about 300 yards from the Gaddafi Stadium in downtown Lahore, firing at least one grenade and a rocket as well as repeated automatic weapon rounds from a white car, before other gunmen attacked from three other locations, witnesses and officials said.
Lahore police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said the attackers arrived at the scene in motorized rickshaws and two cars, and police later seized a large cache of weapons abandoned in one of the rickshaws and elsewhere near the scene.
The arsenal displayed for journalists included rocket-propelled grenades, pistols, 25 hand grenades, submachine guns and plastic explosives.
Despite the onslaught, the bus carrying the Sri Lankan players did not stop, speeding through the hail of bullets and into the stadium, likely saving many lives.
As the players ducked, shouting "Go! Go!" driver Mohammad Khalil said he maneuvered the bus, pocked with bullet holes and its windshield shattered, into the stadium.
Bloodied players were helped off the vehicle and Sri Lankan team captain Mahela Jayawardene shouted: "Get more ambulances in here! Get more ambulances in here," according to Tony Bennet, an Australian cameraman covering the match.
At the traffic circle, gunmen fought a 15-minute battle with police. Pakistani TV footage showed at least two pairs of gunmen with backpacks firing on the convoy from a stretch of grass, taking cover behind a monument.
"These people were highly trained and highly armed — the way they were holding their guns, the way they were taking aim and shooting at the police," said Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province, adding that they "used the same methods... as the terrorists who attacked Mumbai."
One militant group likely to fall under suspicion is Lashkar-e-Taiba, the network blamed for the Nov. 26-28 Mumbai attacks, in which 10 gunmen targeted luxury hotels, a Jewish center and other sites, killing 164 people.
The group has been targeted by Pakistani authorities since then, and its stronghold is in eastern Pakistan.
In the past, India and Pakistan — who have fought three wars since 1947 — have often blamed each other for attacks on their territories.
While some politicians and retired generals, along with ordinary Pakistanis, hinted at an Indian hand in the Lahore attacks, government leaders and security chiefs did not. Any high-level allegations like that would trigger fresh and possibly dangerous tensions between the countries, already running high following the Mumbai attacks.
There were also no indications that authorities in Pakistan or Sri Lanka suspected Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger separatist rebels, who are being badly hit in a military offensive at home and have staged scores of terror attacks in the past.
Rehman, the Lahore police chief, said the 12-14 assailants resembled Pashtuns, the ethnic group from close to the Afghan border, the stronghold of al-Qaida and the Taliban. He said officers were hunting for them.
U.S. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters in Washington that the United States condemned "this vicious attack on innocent civilians but also on the positive relations that Pakistan and Sri Lanka are trying to enjoy."
The most seriously wounded cricket official was umpire Ahsan Raza, who underwent an operation after being shot in the abdomen, a medical official said.
Two Sri Lankan players — batsmen Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana — suffered bullet wounds and were treated in a hospital, said Chamara Ranavira, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan High Commission. Paranavitana was grazed by a bullet in the chest, and Samaraweera has a bullet wound in his thigh, he said. The team traveled home to Sri Lanka later Tuesday.
Cricket's governing body said it would review Pakistan's status as co-host of the 2011 World Cup
International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the council will meet in Dubai next month to discuss whether to redistribute World Cup matches among India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the competition's other co-hosts.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire Cast
Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan (co-director: India)
Writers: Simon Beaufoy (screenplay) and Vikas Swarup (novel)
Released Date: 23 January 2009 (India)
Tagline: Love and money... You have mixed them both.
Plot:
A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.
Awards: Won 8 Oscars. Another 62 wins & 29 nominations
Writers: Simon Beaufoy (screenplay) and Vikas Swarup (novel)
Released Date: 23 January 2009 (India)
Tagline: Love and money... You have mixed them both.
Plot:
A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.
Awards: Won 8 Oscars. Another 62 wins & 29 nominations
And the Oscar Goes to:
Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Foreign-Language Film: Departures
Animated Feature Film: WALL-E
Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Costume Design: The Duchess
Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Live Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Documentary Short: Smile Pinki
Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire
Original Song: "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Foreign-Language Film: Departures
Animated Feature Film: WALL-E
Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Costume Design: The Duchess
Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Live Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Documentary Short: Smile Pinki
Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire
Original Song: "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire makes India Proud.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
'An Indian will be on the moon by 2025'
By 2025 an Indian might unfurl the national flag on the lunar surface. ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has a plan to send an
Indian to space by an indigenously developed space craft by 2015. "If the mission gets successful, there will be an Indian flag on the moon's surface by 2025," said SK Shivakumar, director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, on Saturday. Shivakumar was delivering a lecture at the regional science centre on `Chandrayaan' mission as part of the on-going Science Expo-2009. He also shared with the audience that after the successful launching of Chandrayaan-1 mission, Chandrayaan-2 mission would be launched by sending a lunar space craft with land-rover to do in-situ experiment on moon's surface. He also informed the students that there were plenty of opportunities in space science. "Students who qualify for the IITs and are enlisted in IIT list may opt for a B-Tech from the Indian Institute of Space Science at Trivandram. ISRO bears all the expenditure for the course and also absorbs space scientists in the organisation," he said. India has already carved a niche for itself in space science as Chandrayaan mission was carried out on a little budget compared to the lunar missions of the other nations.
Indian to space by an indigenously developed space craft by 2015. "If the mission gets successful, there will be an Indian flag on the moon's surface by 2025," said SK Shivakumar, director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, on Saturday. Shivakumar was delivering a lecture at the regional science centre on `Chandrayaan' mission as part of the on-going Science Expo-2009. He also shared with the audience that after the successful launching of Chandrayaan-1 mission, Chandrayaan-2 mission would be launched by sending a lunar space craft with land-rover to do in-situ experiment on moon's surface. He also informed the students that there were plenty of opportunities in space science. "Students who qualify for the IITs and are enlisted in IIT list may opt for a B-Tech from the Indian Institute of Space Science at Trivandram. ISRO bears all the expenditure for the course and also absorbs space scientists in the organisation," he said. India has already carved a niche for itself in space science as Chandrayaan mission was carried out on a little budget compared to the lunar missions of the other nations.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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