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Top Stories
Government likely to okay
Russian rocket launcher
What is India News Service,
Thursday, 24 February 2005, 2200 hrs IST
The Army is likely to acquire the much-awaited multi-barrel rocket launcher system Smerch from Russia next month after the Government formally gives the go-ahead later this week.
The Smerch system is capable of hitting a target at a distance of more than 80 kms and the need for a such a weapon was strongly felt during the Kargil war in 1999.
The Army conducted extensive and stringent field trials of this system, worth over Rs 500 crores, over the last four years in all kinds of terrain and weather - hot deserts, mountains, glaciers and the jungles of the north-east - sources said here on Wednesday.
This acquisition would be the first big ticket item to be inducted into service after the new UPA Government came to power in May last year. This likely decision, moreover, indicated that the Government was committed to continue the modernisation and upgradation of Defence services initiated by the previous NDA Government. The induction of Smerch system would enable the artillery to hit targets deep inside the enemy territory and especially in the mountainous terrain, sources said while highlighting the importance of this acquisition.
10 killed in Bihar, Jharkhand elections:
Incidents of violence marred the
third and final phase of elections in Bihar and Jharkhand. At least 10 persons
were killed, said reports.
52
per cent polling in Bihar: An estimated 55 per cent of the
electorate exercised their franchise today in the final phase of polling for 93
Assembly seats in Bihar and 28 seats in Jharkhand. The Deputy Election
Commissioner, A.N. Jha, told reporters ...
Poll
outcome will fuel Cong feud: Infighting in Congress, under wraps
after the surprise victory at parliamentary elections in May last year, may
erupt after the assembly poll results of Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana. Some
senior leaders have already begun to question the attitude of
"advisors" who "mislead" Ms Sonia Gandhi on vital issues.
Fractured mandate: No exit from confusion in Bihar:
Laloo may be down but not completely out. For JD(U) and BJP, it could be so near and yet so far. Paswan is all set for the trappings of the kingmaker.
More election stories
Exit
polls show split verdict in Bihar
BJP
lauds EC for \91clean poll\92
Repolling
passes off peacefully
Daring
Air Force men with flying machines:
From evacuating stranded troops and civilians from snow-bound areas in Kashmir
to maintaining the lifeline to the world\92s highest battlefield, Siachen, it is
the call of the Air Force\92s helicopter pilots and the Army\92s aviators.
Zahira
fails to turn up before Nanavati Commission: The prime witness in the Best
Bakery case, Zahira Sheikh, today failed to turn up before the G.T. Nanavati and
K.G. Shah judicial inquiry commission here and was given time to appear on March
21.
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There
are only graves here: Until now, the few survivors in this
remote belt of South Kashmir were busy counting the bodies of those killed in
last weekend's avalanches. Today, huge snow cutters managed to clear the long
road from Qazigund ...
We
are with you, Sonia tells Kashmiris: The United Progressive
Alliance chairperson and Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, said today that the
entire country supported the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their hour of need
and that the Centre would provide succour.
SC
refuses to refer Badal, Bhattal cases to Bench: The Supreme Court has
declined to refer a batch of petitions by some important politicians, including
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and former Chief Minister
Parkash Singh Badal, to the Constitution Bench to examine the issue of prior
sanction from a \93competent authority\94 for their prosecution in corruption
cases.
States
Grounded ship in Goa stripped, vandalised:
Goa\92s tourism minister blames the earlier Parrikar government for turning a blind eye to the illegalities involving the M V River Princess.
Rajasthan
police rescue Andhra men being taken for 'conversion':
While the Andhra Pradesh villagers deny that they wanted to convert, Bajrang Dal activists at Kota attacked them to prevent them from doing so.
Neighbours
Blow
to business along Indo-Nepal border: Traders
at the once busy trade post of Jhulaghat on the Indo-Nepal border look jaded. On
the nippy February morning no one shows the spirit of enterprise the businessmen
at the traditional trade posts along the Indo-Nepal border are known for.
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View from abroad
Multiple power centres in India doing well, reports Newsweek:
India\92s odd couple, Sonia and Manmohan, has pushed reforms without incurring much political damage by detaching governing from
politicking.
The credit card generation:
There is widespread concern over the easy availability of credit cards and loans, which have pushed up personal debt across age-groups to unprecedented levels in Britain.
Oxford Dictionary goes SMS savvy:
The most common abbreviations will be included in the dictionary as they are a part of the language and deserve a place in the language description.
Overall
India could go in for Russian rocket launcher: The
Centre is on the verge of making up its mind on the Smerch offer.
Bihar could have hung verdict: Exit polls suggested no party will get a
majority.
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