NEW DELHI (AP) - Indiawill test a new nuclear-capa-ble missile with a range ofmore than 5,000 kilometers(3,100 miles) in a year’s time,the country’s top militaryscientist said Wednesday.

India’s current longest-range missile is the Agni-IIImissile with a range of 3,000kilometers (1,900 miles),which its military test-firedon Sunday. That missile isalready capable of reachingtargets not only across his-toric rival, Pakistan, but alsomajor cities in China and theMiddle East.

V.K. Saraswat, India’schief military scientist, saidthe new missile, Agni-V,would be a land-based systemwith a range of over 5,000kilometers (3,100 miles).

“Agni-V is out of thedrawing board. We are aim-ing for a flight trial in ayear’s time,” Saraswat toldreporters.

Agni means ‘fire’ in theSanskrit and Hindi lan-guages. Both versions of theAgni would be able to carry1.5-ton conventional ornuclear warheads.

The plan for a longerrange missile underscoresIndia’s ambition to assertitself as a global power.

Nuclear rival Pakistanlongest-range missile whichhas been tested in a fieldexercise, Shaheen II, has arange of 2,000 kilometers(1,250 miles).

Saraswat said the Agni-III was ready to be inductedby the army. He said it was100 percent Indian technolo-gy and most parts had beenmanufactured by domesticindustries.

India’s homegrown mis-sile arsenal also includes theshort-range Prithvi ballisticmissile, the medium-rangeAkash, the anti-tank Nag andthe supersonic Brahmos mis-

sile, developed jointly withRussia.

Neighbors India andPakistan have fought threewars since they gained inde-pendence from Britain in1947.

The two sides began talksaimed at resolving their dif-ferences over the Himalayanregion of Kashmir and other

disputes in 2004. India putthe peace process on holdsoon after terrorist attacks inMumbai in November 2008,which India blamed on thePakistan-based militantgroup Lashkar-e-Taiba.

India recently offered torestart peace talks, thoughPakistan has yet to formallyaccept.

Friday 12th February, 2010 7

India’s chief military scientist V.K. Saraswat, left, andProgramme Director AGNI missile Avinash Chander posewith a model of the Agni missile during a press conferencein New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010. Saraswatsays the country will test a new long-range nuclear-capablemissile, the Agni-V with a range of 5,000 kilometers, within ayear. (AP)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Afamily court judge ruledWednesday that a 7-year-oldgirl should be allowed tosamba before a crowd of thou-sands as a Carnival drumcorps queen, a coveted rolenormally reserved for sultrymodels.

Little Julia Lira is sched-uled to perform for the packedSambadrome stadium - and formillions more around thecountry via live television -early Monday morning whenthe Viradouro samba groupparades.

“We received the news thismorning that the judge will letJulia parade,” Viradouro saidspokeswoman Joice Hurtado.“The group is ecstatic that shewill be able to samba.”

The Rio state agency forchild protection confirmed theruling and said it would appealto the Justice Ministry. Calls toJudge Ivone Caetano, whodecided the case, were notimmediately returned.

Viradouro’s plan to makeJulia its Carnival queen hascreated a stir in Rio and madeheadlines around the globe,with some child’s rights advo-cates saying it’s inappropriatefor a young girl to be in sucha traditionally sexualizedrole.

“The decision sets a nega-tive precedent that will haveimplications across Brazil,”said Carlos Nicodemos, who as directorof the Rio de Janeiro state Council forthe Defense of Children andAdolescents had asked the court toblock Julia’s participation.

Nicodemos said he worries aboutwhat message it sends to a nation thathas long had a problem with sexualexploitation of children, especially inthe lawless Amazon region.

Julia’s father, Marco - who is alsothe president of Viradouro - has saidconcerns about the girl’s well-being areoverblown. He says the girl will wear acostume that is not too skimpy for a 7-

year-old, and both he and his wife willwatch her closely to make sure shedoesn’t get too tired during the 80-minute parade.

More than just a massive streetparty, Rio’s Carnival parade is also afierce competition between 12 top-tiersamba “schools” whose winner ishailed by fans across Brazil.

Viradouro, which won the title in1997, is no stranger to controversy. In2008, a judge blocked the group fromputting a dancer dressed as AdolfHitler on a float loaded with naked peo-ple representing Holocaust victims.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)- An alleged Islamist militantbeing tried on charges of har-boring terrorists behinddeadly twin hotel bombingsin the Indonesian capitalclaimed Wednesday that hehad helped craft a plot toassassinate the president.

Amir Abdillah appearedin South Jakarta DistrictCourt on charges of violatingIndonesia’s anti-terrorismlaw, including concealinginformation and harboringterrorists linked with theJuly 17, 2009 attacks at theJ.W. Marriott and Ritz

Carlton hotels in Jakarta.The bombings, which killedseven and wounded morethan 50, ended a four-year lullin terrorism in the Muslim-majority country.

Abdillah also wascharged with plotting toassassinate President SusiloBambang Yudhoyono -referred to by mostIndonesians as SBY - after

the bombings. He acknowl-edged to reporters outsidecourt Wednesday that hehelped develop the plan.

“Yes, SBY was the tar-get,” he said.

Asked if he had anyregrets, he responded: “If Iwere punished, that would bewrong. Only Allah knows.”

Abdillah, who prosecu-tors say was a driver for thelate Southeast Asian militantleader Noordin Top, wasarrested a month after theattacks as the first suspect inthe case. If convicted, hecould be sentenced to death.

Girl, 7, gets OK tobe samba queenin Rio Carnival

India to testmissile with3,100-milerange

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The doc-tor facing a manslaughtercharge in singer MichaelJackson’s death has returnedto Nevada to resume hismedical practice and awaittrial, his representatives saidWednesday.

Dr. Conrad Murray wasin Las Vegas makingarrangements to work fromanother physician’s officepending an April 5 eviden-tiary hearing in Los Angeles,said Miranda Sevcik, spokes-woman for Murray and hislawyer, Edward Chernoff.

Chernoff vowed in a Webposting that Murray “is goingto keep practicing medi-cine.”

“We’re not sharing thelocation because the doc-tor’s primary concern is for

his patients’ privacy,” Sevciksaid from Houston.

Murray moved his prac-tice, Global CardiologyAssociates, out of a LasVegas office building inAugust, said Mary Russell,property manager for thebuilding across FlamingoRoad from Desert SpringsHospital.

Murray, a 56-year-oldcardiologist, also continuesto operate the medical prac-tice in Houston that heresumed in November,Chernoff said.

Murray is licensed topractice medicine inNevada, Texas andCalifornia, although theCalifornia Medical Board ispreparing to seek removalof his license there.

Julia Lira, the Viradouro’s samba group drumcorps queen, poses for photographers before apress conference in Rio de Janeiro,Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010. A family court judgeruled Wednesday that the 7-year-old should beallowed to samba before a crowd of thousandsas a Carnival drum corps queen, a coveted rolenormally reserved for sultry models. (AP)

NATO: French warship sale to Russia not a threat

BRUSSELS (AP) -NATO’s chief says the con-cerns of some alliednations about France’s saleof a modern assault ship tothe Russian navy are under-standable for historical andgeographical reasons.

But a spokesman saidWednesday that Secretary-General Anders FoghRasmussen doesn’t consid-er Russia a threat to NATOor any allied nation.

The sale has alarmedEstonia and Lithuania,

which expressed concernsabout the deal involving the23,700 ton (21,500 metricton) Mistral class helicop-ter carrier.

France has agreed tosell Russia a single warshipand is considering arequest for three more ves-sels that may be built underlicense in Russian ship-yards. Each ship costsbetween euro400 millionand euro500 million(US$547 million and $684million).Former Michael Jackson

doctor back in Las Vegas

Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s doctor, is escorted byLos Angeles County Sheriffs deputies as he arrives at theAirport Courthouse to face charges of involuntarymanslaughter in the singer’s death in Los Angeles onMonday, Feb. 8, 2010. (AP)

Suspect on trial in Indonesia hotel bombingsAlleged Islamic militant AmirAbdillah, center, is mobbed byreporters after his first trial at SouthJakarta District Court in Jakarta,Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010.Abdillah went on trial Wednesday oncharges of harboring terroristsbehind twin suicide hotel bombingsin the Indonesian capital that killedseven and wounded more than 50last year. (AP)

Health Ministry media spokesmanW. D. M. Wanninayake told The Islandthat around 400,000 dog bite cases,including 52 deaths had been reportedin 2009. Although the Anti-RabiesControl Programme had provided vacci-nation and sterilization facilities free ofcharge, response from the general pub-lic had been negative.

He said that dog bite victims weregiven human immuno gobulin and oneinjection cost Rs. 35,000. The healthministry had been allocating Rs. 500million annually to purchase the injec-tions, the spokesman said.

The Health Ministry had also beenspending Rs. 200 million annually tomaintain the Anti-Rabies ControlProgramme, said Wanninayake.

“The Police Department and theJudiciary are run with taxpayers’money and their duty is to serve thepublic and not act according to theirwhims and fancies,” she said.

The police told court that theycame in a procession to protest againstthe arrest of former Army Commanderand Chief of Defence Staff over con-spiracy charges.

The police said that a group ofgovernment supporters who had gath-ered there, had targeted Oppositionactivists.

The police said that the proFonseka group had not obtained per-mission to hold the protest rally. At thispoint the Magistrate asked the policewhether the pro-government group had

obtained permission. The police failedto respond to the inquiry..

Counsel Gunaratne Wanninayake,who appeared for the eight suspects,accused the police of misleading thecourt. He said the police were protect-ing armed thugs led by a UPFAMunicipal Councillor who attackeddemonstrators.The Magistrate orderedthe police to arrest government sup-porters who could be clearly identifiedin the photographs and warned thepolice to avoid twisting facts, therebymisleading the Court.

The Chief Magistrate said thatpeople were free to hold dissentingpolitical views, but the judiciary and thepolice had to carryout their dutiesimpartially.

He said 175 Port employees hadbeen sent on transfer to Kankesanturaiwhile several teachers had been trans-ferred to difficult areas like Akkaraipattu.“They are not the only ones who havesuffered. Even employees of severalmedia organizations as well thoseattached to the CTB have been vic-itimised during the post election period.

Ratnapriya urged PresidentRajapaksa to uphold his promises byprotecting those employees.

The TUC said they would meet nextweek to discuss and assess the situa-tion. “If things don’t settle down by thenwe would have to resort to trade unionaction,” Ratnapriya warned.

The embassy said, “Norway hasnever and will never interfere with othercountries’ elections or in any way try toundermine or oust a democraticallyelected government and president”.

According to the statement, theNorwegian Ambassador in Colombo,Tore Hattrem had brought up the issuewith the Sri Lankan Ministry of ForeignAffairs.

The US embassy said that therewas “no truth to the Sri Lankan DefenceSecretary’s claim that the U.S. providedfinancial support to the Opposition can-

didate.”The embassy urged the Sri

Lankan Government to protect therights of those who supported theopposition or other candidates in theelection and to ensure the safety andsecurity of representatives of the press.

The Embassy statement furtherread that the “free expression of opin-ion and peaceful participation in thepolitical process are fundamental dem-ocratic rights, which all citizens of SriLanka should enjoy.”

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