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Solar-powered aircraft creates flight history
32 killed in Karachi blast
Zardari: We will defend ourselves in courts
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Pat-down searches for US-bound passengers
LTTE landmine pattern baffles mine experts
India to get Nerpa N-sub on lease
Another flight scare; no threat, says FBI
Colombia seizes 750 kg of cocaine
Taliban getting more cohesive: NATO official
17 miners killed in China
Qaida ‘responsibile’ behind attack on US plane First map
of earth gravity field
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Solar-powered aircraft creates flight history
Dubendorf Air Base (Switzerland), December 28 Scientists and engineers are working full-steam to fly the aircraft around the world for 36 hours through day and night in the spring or summer of 2010, Bertrand Piccard, the driving force behind the Solar Impulse project and its test pilot, said here. “What is being done is not a revolution. We try and open a new path and see what happens. We do not claim that commercial aviation will run on solar energy in the next couple of years. Solar impulse is an attempt to show what can be achieved by renewable energies and new technologies.” The difference between this aircraft and similar ones developed earlier is that this is being developed to fly at night, Piccard, who created a record by being the first to fly around the world in a hot-air balloon, said. Indian engineers and students have also shown a keen interest in being part of this historic feat but are yet to become part of the 70-member team which is working on making the project a reality, Phil Mundweller, who heads the project’s external communications wing, said. “We receive a few letters every month from Indian students and engineers working on solar or renewable energies. There has been growing interest since we visited Delhi and Jaipur earlier this year,” Mundwellar said. The aircraft, bearing call sign HB-SIA, has a weight of only 1,600 kg but has a wingspan of 63 metre, length of 21.85 metre and 6.4 metre height. Its weight can be compared to a family car and the engine power to a scooter’s. It generates power from 11,628 photovoltaic solar cells spread over the wings having a span of an Airbus A-340. Announcing that the plane would be flown for 36 hours in the next spring or summer, Piccard said it would be flown about 8,000 kms each in five legs, having five stops in five continents. The stoppages would be in Europe, the US, Pacific (probably Hawaii), the Emirates and China. The idea is to take off an hour before sunrise, climb to the maximum altitude of 8,000 metres and not use energy stock in the battery. When the sun goes down, the aircraft would go down to an altitude of about 1,000 meters to use lesser energy, an engineer at the project site pointed out. The aircraft has been designed for short take-offs and landings. Its Version-II, to be called HB-SIB, would be built by 2013 to undertake a Trans-Atlantic flight, Piccard said. For Piccard, the project probably means taking forward a family tradition of innovation and adventure. His grandfather went in a balloon to the stratosphere and his father reached the bottom of the ocean in one of the first submarines. — PTI
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32 killed in Karachi blast
Karachi, December 28
The attack sparked angry protests across Karachi, which has often witnessed sectarian and political violence, and mob set on fire several buildings, 200 shops, 50 vehicles, two each police stations and banks.
Television footage showed the powerful blast occurred as hundreds of people participating in the Ashura procession observed on the 10th day of the holy month of Muharram were making their way through MA Jinnah Road, a key thoroughfare in the heart of Karachi.
Sharmila Farooqi, the advisor to the chief minister of Sindh province, confirmed that 32 people were killed and over 80 others injured in the blast. An emergency was declared in all hospitals and doctors recalled were from leave, officials said. Hospitals appealed to people to donate blood for the injured.
Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmed confirmed the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. “We have got a head, which confirms it was a suicide attack,” he said.
The procession was headed towards an imambargah or Shia prayer hall when the bomber detonated his explosives near a court complex at 4.20 pm. Dense smoke rose from the site of the blast as people ran in panic. Witnesses and reporters said police fired in the air immediately after the explosion. — PTI
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Zardari: We will defend ourselves in courts
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad He said some forces that were allied with dictatorship in the past now hope that the judicial process could undo the will of a democratic electorate and destabilise the country. “My ministers, my party, leaders of other parties and thousands of civil servants across our nation will defend themselves in the courts if necessary,” he said in an article published in The Wall Street Journal on the occasion of the second death anniversary of his spouse and former premier Benazir Bhutto. “I have spent almost 12 years in prison on trumped up charges never proven, even by a court system manipulated by dictators and despots,” the President wrote adding: “But like Benazir, I refuse to be intimidated”. “Democracy is the greatest revenge. So let the legal process move forward. Those of us who have fought for democracy against dictatorship for decades do not fear justice; we embrace it.” He paid tributes to Bhutto for the outstanding contribution she made during her two tenures as the elected prime minister. In her death, the President said: “Women everywhere lost one of their greatest symbols of equality. And Islam, our great religion, lost its modern face. She freed all political prisoners, ended press censorship, legalised trade and student unions, built 46,000 primary and secondary schools and appointed the first female judges in our history.”
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Pat-down searches for US-bound passengers
Washington, December 28 "As a result of this incident, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has worked with airline and the law enforcement authorities, as well as federal, state, local, and international partners to put additional security measures in place to ensure aviation security remains strong," an official statement said yesterday. The TSA said it has issued a directive for additional security measures to be implemented for the last point of departure of international flights to the US. "Passengers flying to the US from abroad can expect to see additional security measures at international airports such as increased gate screening including pat-downs and bag searches," it said. Pat-downs include physical checking of the entire body of both men and women. "During flight, passengers will be asked to follow flight crew instructions, such as stowing personal items, turning off electronic equipments and remaining seated during certain portions of the flight," the TSA said. — PTI
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LTTE landmine pattern baffles mine experts
Periyathampanai , December 28 "There is no set pattern of landmines laid by the LTTE and we confront with various challenges," Maj K Raju, who was also in the Indian Army, told reporters. Major Raju and his team of mining experts from Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) commenced work in north-western Mannar district and have now cleared their way towards Periyathampanai and Pannivirichchan in Vavuniya district. The army officer, who has been engaged in this task for the last seven years, said the families after moving in would have to follow a route map while getting in and out of their houses to avoid any mines outside the cleared area. There are plans to provide security to guide people before the entire area is cleared of mines in the weeks ahead and impart mine education for the returning population. The unpredictable landmine pattern and poor visibility because of the thick jungles in the terrain was slowing the demining progress, Major Raju said. He added that the landmines had been planted in clusters in some areas that lead to multiple explosions. Over 1000 mines had been recovered from the area since the end of last month. The total number of mines in northern Sri Lanka over the years is estimated at 1.5 million and the officials from the FSD said since starting operations in 2002, the organisation had so far cleared 2 lakh sq metres of landmines. — PTI
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India to get Nerpa N-sub on lease
Moscow, December 28 The Nerpa submarine was today formally inducted into the Russian navy with the raising of St Andrews Flag, shipyard officials said. The commissioning of the submarine coincided with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to the region, but it was not clear whether he was present at the ceremony. The submarine will be subsequently leased to the Indian Navy in March for a 10-year lease under the name INS Chakra for $650 million. The 12,000-ton K-152 Nerpa belongs to the class of the quietest and deadliest of all Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines. The Nerpa was to be initially leased to the Indian Navy in mid-2009, but its delivery was delayed due to a fatal accident killing 21 crewmen and technical staff following the release of lethal Freon gas in the sleeping quarters, while on trial sailing in the Sea of Japan. Built by the Amur Shipyards in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the submarine has successfully passed final trials, a Pacific Fleet spokesman said. "A state commission has concluded that judging by the results of all trials, the Nerpa nuclear submarine is ready to enter service with the Russian navy," the Pacific Fleet official said.— PTI
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Another flight scare; no threat, says FBI
Washington, December 28 Already on the alert following a failed attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Friday, the flight crew became concerned yesterday after a Nigerian man became sick and spent about an hour locked in the bathroom, officials said. But the passenger got upset when he was questioned by the crew of the flight from Amsterdam, CNN said, quoting sources in the government. "Today at Detroit Metro Airport, the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTFF) responded to a report from an incoming flight from Amsterdam where a passenger spent a long time in the restroom. This raised concerns so an alert was raised. "The JTTF investigated and the investigation shows that this was a non-serious incident and all is clear at this point," FBI spokesperson (Detroit) Sandra R Berchtold said. The officials told NBC News that the man, a businessman, had locked himself in the airliner's bathroom and refused to come out of it as stomach problems prevented him from leaving. All 257 passengers and 12 crew have deboarded safely. The flight landed in Detroit at 12:34 pm (local time) yesterday. In an earlier incident on Friday, Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, allegedly tried to blow up a US plane mid air. Metro Airport spokesman John Witner said there was a report of suspicious activity on the Delta/Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam. After the flight crew became concerned, the pilot of the flight requested emergency assistance upon arrival. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said the airline alerted the authorities to a "disruptive passenger" on board, who was taken into custody when the plane landed.
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Colombia seizes 750 kg of cocaine
Bogota, December 28 The cocaine was hidden in coffee and polypropylene shipments, the head of the National Police's Drug Enforcement Unit, Gen. Francisco Patiño, said on Sunday. Drug enforcement agents have seized 123.5 tonnes of cocaine this year, Patiño said. Agents found 425 kg of cocaine on Wednesday in a 25-tonne shipment of polypropylene bound for Spain, the General said. The cocaine was mixed with polypropylene, Patiño said, adding that it took his agency's chemists four days to separate the drug from the thermoplastic polymer, which is used to make packaging materials, textiles and other products. The smugglers painted the material green, black, yellow, blue and other colours in an effort to throw off the police. Investigators found the cocaine by "tracking a special shipment the smugglers wanted to move using exports of raw materials" from Buenaventura, Patiño said. —
IANS/EFE
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Taliban getting more cohesive: NATO official
Kabul, December 28 The insurgency is organised, increasingly effective and growing more cohesive, said a senior intelligence officer with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). "The insurgent strength is enabled by the weakness of the Afghan government," the officer told reporters on condition of anonymity. The Taliban is funding its operations, which he estimated to cost between $100 million to 200 million a year, through "Al-Qaida, drugs and taxing the people." Its ideology is based on "establishing Al-Qaida as a global entity", ridding the region of foreign forces and establishing a caliphate, or Islamic state, and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan work together to those ends. The United States and its allies "took our eye off the ball" for a number of years, allowing the movement to grow and strengthen, the officer said. Now, "where the (Afghan) government is weak, the enemy is strong", able to exploit the corruption and unpopularity of President Hamid Karzai's administration. "In 33 out of the 34 provinces, the Taliban has a shadow government,” the ISAF officer said, adding that its shadowy leader Mullah Mohammad Omar “has a government-in-waiting, with ministers chosen” for the day the government falls. — AFP
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17 miners killed in China
Beijing, December 28 Twelve miners were killed late Sunday in the Donggou Colliery mines in Jiexiu city, a news agency reported. "The workers were killed when they violated safety rules and demolished a wall between the shafts where gas was accumulated in high density," the agency quoted a spokesman as saying.
—PTI
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Qaida ‘responsibile’ behind attack on US plane Dubai, December 28 The group said it provided the Nigerian suspect with a “technically advanced device” but
that it had failed to detonate because of a technical fault. In a statement posted on Islamist websites, the group identified the
suspect as Umar Farouk al-Nigiri (the Nigerian), and said the attack was a response to US attacks
on the group in Yemen. — Reuters
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First map of earth gravity field London, December 28 The research vehicle was launched from Russia's Plesetsk spaceport in March 2009 with a Rokot rocket. The map confirmed earlier hypothesis that the gravity force is not constant throughout the plane due to geological and other peculiarities. For instance, St Petersburg is the area with largest gravity in the European part of Russia. The map was presented at the recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and posted by BBC on yesterday.
— Itar-Tass
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The frozen hand of a monument of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin is seen is seen as the temperature is below -30 degrees Celsius in downtown
Yakutsk, about 4,800 km east of Moscow, on Monday. — AP/PTI
An ethnic Hmong sits on a truck on the way out of the Ban Huay Nam Khao camp to the border with Laos, in Phetchabun province, around 416 km (258 miles) northeast of Bangkok. The Thai army began the forced repatriation of thousands of ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers to Laos on Monday, defying international concerns that some would be persecuted back home. — Reuters
