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Iran test-fires 14 missiles
China sets up Net squad!
Myanmar deports ‘blacklisted’ Yeoh
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Colombo, June 28 Sri Lanka today announced that it will hold provincial elections in the once restive Tamil dominated north in 2012, even as President Mahinda Rajapaksa denied that he was pressured by India to offer a political solution to the ethnic community. Any political settlement to the matter will have to be approved by Parliament, he said. "There was no pressure from India on the thirteenth amendment of thirteen plus," Rajapaksa told reporters. The President said the election for the northern provincial council will be held "next year".
‘Tau’ may replace ‘Pi’
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Iran test-fires 14 missiles
Tehran, June 28 The Iranian-made surface-to-surface missiles, with a maximum range of 2,000 km, were fired simultaneously at a single target, the official IRNA news agency reported. Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace division, emphasised Iran’s preparedness to strike Israel and US interests in the event of any attack on the Islamic Republic. “The range of our missiles has been designed based on American bases in the region as well as the Zionist regime,” Hajizadeh told the semi-official Fars news agency. The United States and Israel have said they do not rule out military strikes on Iran if diplomatic means fail to stop it developing nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is geared to producing electricity, not atom bombs. IRNA said the Guards fired nine Zelzal missiles, two Shahab-1s, two Shahab-2s and one upgraded Shahab-3 missile. Iranian officials have previously announced that the Shahab 3 can reach targets up to 2,000 km away, putting Israel and US bases in the Gulf within reach. A long-time enemy of the United States, Iran has been emboldened by what it perceives as US military defeats in neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan. Both countries are still home to large US troop numbers and Washington has other bases in the Gulf that Iran could choose to target. “The Americans have reduced our labours,” Hajizadeh told Fars. “Their military bases in the region are in a range of 130, 250 and maximum 700 km in Afghanistan which we can hit with these missiles.” Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the Guards, said: “We still have our fingers on the trigger, but the number of the triggers have increased.” The “Great Prophet 6” war games, to be carried out on land and sea, are a “message of peace and friendship to countries of the region,” Hajizadeh said on Monday. Asked whether Iranian missiles were a threat to Europe, Hajizadeh told IRNA that while Iran had the technological capacity to build longer-range missiles, the 2,000-km range had been chosen precisely with Israel and U.S. bases in mind. “Except America and the Zionist regime, we do not feel a threat from any other country,” he said. The Guards also unveiled new underground ballistic missile silos which they said would reduce launch times as missiles would not need to be moved prior to being launched. — Reuters
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Beijing, June 28 The “Online Blue Army” is based on the needs of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and enforcing the ability of Internet security protection is an important issue in its military training programme, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said. Geng’s comments came in response to questions if the “Online Blue Army” is China’s Internet squad aimed at carrying out attacks on other countries’ Internet systems, state run Peoples Daily reported. Geng said his country will not carry out cyber wars. The PLA Daily had reported PLA’s Guangzhou command had invested tens of millions of yuan in building the specialised Internet squad. Geng said Internet security has become an international concern which affects not only the society but the military sector, adding that China, armed with comparatively lax online security protection is among the victims of Internet attacks. The Daily said internationally, online military units have long been established. The US destroyed Iraq’s air defence system using PC viruses during the Gulf War in 1991. Thereafter, the online army of the US also played major roles in the wars in Kosovo and Iraq. — PTI
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Myanmar deports ‘blacklisted’ Yeoh
Yangon, June 28 Yeoh, a Malaysian known for playing Chinese spy Wai Lin alongside Pierce Brosnan in the 1997 James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies” among other roles, was detained on arrival at Yangon’s international airport on June 22 and sent out of the country on the next flight. “She was deported on the same day because she is on a blacklist,” the official said. Yeoh, 48, has been in Thailand, Britain and France filming scenes for the film “The Lady”, as Suu Kyi is known in Myanmar. The film is due to be released in October. “The Lady” is a love story about Suu Kyi and her late British husband Michael Aris, and details their long separation while Suu Kyi was detained in 1989. Aris was denied visas to visit Suu Kyi and was he was diagnosed with cancer in 1997. She refused to leave Myanmar to visit him, fearing the ruling junta would block her return. Aris died in 1999. — Reuters
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Provincial poll in Tamil north next year: Rajapaksa
Colombo, June 28 "There was no pressure from India on the thirteenth amendment of thirteen plus," Rajapaksa told reporters. The President said the election for the northern provincial council will be held "next year". He wanted the parties to start preparing for the poll, which will be the first ever for the council since separated from the east. Indian officials visited Colombo early this month in the backdrop of a call by Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa to impose economic sanctions on Sri Lanka.
— PTI
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China asks Weiwei to pay $1.85 mn
Beijing, June 28 The 54-year-old artist was released on bail last Wednesday, a day before Premier Wen Jiabao left for Europe, where Britain and Germany have criticised Ai’s detention. On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed Ai’s release as she met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Berlin. Liu Xiaoyuan, a lawyer who has advised Ai’s family and is a friend of the artist, said that Ai had received a notice on Monday from the tax authorities requesting him to pay 5 million yuan in back taxes and 7 million yuan in fines. — Reuters
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France’s Lagarde is first woman IMF chief
Washington, June 28 Lagarde (55), who succeeds Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is the first woman to the top IMF post since its inception in 1944. Lagarde, picked with backing from the US, Russia, China and Europe, faces crisis talks over Europe. She takes over at a time when emerging nations want a greater voice at the IMF and the organisation’s reputation has been tarred by a scandal involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The IMF’s 24-member board agreed that both candidates were well qualified and the objective was to select one by consensus. Based on the candidate profile, Lagarde by chosen. Her five-year term will start on July 5.
— PTI
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Indian women most stressed: Survey
Tokyo, June 28 But while women in emerging markets may be under more pressure, they are also far more hopeful, with most seeing more financial stability and better chances for education for their daughters, according to the survey of 21 developed and emerging nations by global information and analytics firm Nielsen. An overwhelming 87% of Indian women said they felt stressed most of the time, and 82% had no time to relax. Despite being stressed, though, Indian women were also the most likely to spend any extra cash they might happen to have on themselves over the next five years. Nearly all, 96% , anticipated buying clothes, while 77% said they would splash out on health and beauty products and 44% on home electronics. “Women across the globe are achieving higher levels of education, joining the workforce in greater numbers and contributing more to the household income,” said Susan Whiting, vice-chair at Nielsen, in a statement. “Women tell Nielsen they feel empowered to reach their goals and get what they want, but at the same time, this level of empowerment results in added stress.” Mexican women came in second in terms of stress and lack of time, with 74%, followed by Russia with 69% , which the survey blamed partly on the intense pace of social change. The highest stress levels in developed countries were Spain with 66% and France with 65% . Some 53 % of US women said they were stressed. Women in general felt they had more opportunities than their mothers no matter where they were living. — Reuters
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London, June 28 “For all these years, we have been looking at the wrong number when we have been looking at pi. Pi simply isn’t the most natural number that we should associate with a circle. The proper number is 2pi, or tau,” Kevin Houston at the University of Leeds said. The number has long been seen as being essential to many mathematical formulae as well as being vital to equations in science and engineering. It is used while calculating the circumference of a circle by multiplying the diameter by the value of pi, while its area can be deduced by multiplying pi by the square of its radius. However, mathematicians campaigning for its replacement argue that since so many formulae require the use of tau that may be used as the main circle constant instead. — PTI
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards tested 14 missiles on Tuesday, the second day of war games intended as a show of strength towards the Islamic Republic’s enemies Israel and the United States.
Yangon, June 28
The humble “pi” may have had its day. Mathematicians are campaigning for the most important number in the world to be replaced with alternate value “tau”. They are claiming that the number - the constant which references the circumference of a circle to its diameter - is wrong and it should be replaced with “tau”, the Daily Mail reported.
