Pak
testfires third Ghazanvi missile
Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday test fired a new version
of the Ghazanvi, its medium-range, nuclear-capable missile.
Official sources here were quoted as saying that the latest
version of the surface-to-surface missile had a range of
290 km. Monday's Ghazanvi missile test was the third in
the category, and the second major missile test by Islamabad
in the past six weeks. On October 12, the Ghauri V missile
was testfired.
Sir
Edmund Hillary blasts US, UK over Antarctica
London:
Sir Edmund Hillary, the first trekker to set foot on
Mount Everest along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay , has severely
criticized the activities of the US and Britain in Antarctica.
The 85-year-old, New Zealander who is presently in Antarctica
to mark the 25th anniversary of the continent's worst disaster,the
crash of an Air New Zealand plane into Mount Erebus, in
which 257 people died, has revealed that a road being built
by the Americans across the continent was "terrible" as
the snow highway would spoil the journey to the pole, which
he reached 46 years ago. "I'm very strongly opposed to it.
I think they ought to continue using their aircraft as they
have done for years and years," BBC quoted him as saying
in the Wellington-based Dominion Post newspaper. The aim
of the 1,600-km road is to link McMurdo Station on the Antarctic
coast to the Amundsen-Scott base, thus reducing the number
of flights to the South Pole. Sir Edmund also leashed out
at the UK for neglecting the historic huts used by Britain's
Robert Falcon Scott ,who died on his way back from the South
Pole in 1912 and other early explorers. "I believe that
the people of the UK should be putting more effort into
preserving the areas," he added.
25
miners killed in China (Go
To Top)
Hong
Kong: A gas explosion in a state-owned mine in central
China has reportedly claimed the lives of 25 miners. Reports
reaching here from Beijing said that at least 140 miners
were still trapped under the rubble created by the blast.
Of the 127 who managed to escape, 45 were reported injured.
ASEAN,
China sign landmark trade pact (Go
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Vientiane:
Landmark trade agreement between 10 South East Asian
countries and China has been signed at a summit here. The
deal could eventually unite a quarter of the world's population
in a free trade zone. Participants at the Association of
South East Nations (Asean) summit have also announced plans
to hold another regular East Asian summit. The new summit,
like the trade agreement, would aim to strengthen economic
ties in the region. The Asean-China trade accord unites
China and South East Asian countries in a single market
worth 2 trillion dollars. According to media reports quoted
analysts as warning that the agreement was more hopeful
than substantial. It commits countries to lower tariffs
on goods they trade by 2010, but it excludes thousands of
"sensitive goods", such as sugar, iron, steel and cars,
which governments are unwilling to include in the agreement.
India-ASEAN
car rally runs through Myanmar, Thailand (Go
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by Ajay Sharma
Tachilek
(Myanmar), Mesao (Thailand): The first India-ASEAN car
rally continued its sojourn through the volatile Myanmar
on Sunday with police escorts and helicopters keeping guard
all through the race, aimed at promoting trade, investment
and tourism between India and Southeast Asia. Around 240
participants in 60 vehicles, mostly India-made sports utility
vehicles, are taking part in the 20-day, 8000-km rally flagged
off from Guwahati (India) on November 23. The rally crossed
over into Thailand and will be received by Indian Prime
Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and other ASEAN leaders in Laotian
capital Vientiane on Wednesday. It will then pass through
Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore before concluding
at Batam Island in Indonesia. The rally was accompanied
by a heavy security blanket as it passed through India's
insurgency prone northeastern states and across Myanmar.
The rally, which would be henceforth held every two years,
seeks to pave the way for a land trade route between India
and the ASEAN. Last year, India signed an agreement with
the 10-member ASEAN, leading to the creation of a free trade
pact within a decade. ASEAN groups Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam
and the Philippines.
