PM: India to develop high-tech weaponry
New Delhi: Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said the country would embark on production of cutting-edge technology weapons in sensors, robotics, propulsion systems and stealth, and fight wars through remote technology.

"We plan to go in for precision-guided munitions as well as unmanned vehicle technologies in the 11th and 12th Plan period," Singh said after presenting awards of excellence to the country's top defence scientists here.

"The Defence Research and Development Organisation aims to create new range of products and technology. These include cutting-edge technology in propulsion systems, camouflage and stealth technology, sensors and micro-electromagnetic systems, as well as precision-guided munitions, robotics and unmanned vehicle technologies," Singh said after inaugurating the DRDO's new building adjacent to South Block.

The country's top defence scientist, M Natarajan, said India's intermediate-range ballistic missile Agni-III was technically ready for launch. "We (DRDO) are technically ready for the test-firing of the missile," Natarajan, scientific advisor to the defence minister, said. "We are awaiting a nod from the government," he added.

The nuclear capable surface-based Agni-III with solid and liquid propellant has never been fired and tests have repeatedly been put off since November '04. The exact range if of the missile is a matter of speculation, with the estimates ranging from 3,000-6,000 km.

The Agni-III is deployable on rail or road mobile launch vehicles and has an inertial guidance system with improved optical or radar terminal phase co-relation capability. The DRDO has also achieved a major breakthrough in making the command and control systems of other surface-to-surface missiles more sophisticated.

According to DRDO award citations, the organisation has developed complete indigenous capability and self-reliance in the field of solid propulsion.

DRDO sources said other Agni missiles — Agni-I (700-800 km range) and Agni-II (2,000 km range) — had already been inducted into the Army as part of country's minimum deterrent. While Agni-I and II have boosters from the Indian Space Research Organisation, Agni-III will have a different system with a new booster vehicle.
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Myanmar to sell some natural gas to India
New Delhi: The ambassador of Myanmar to India, U. Kyi Thein, has announced that a part of gas produced in his country would be sold to India.

Speaking at an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said the bilateral trade between the two countries, which stood at $557mn in 2005, would reach $1bn by the end of 2006.
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AP govt. seeks share of gas from RIL's reserves in the KG basin
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has sought "sufficient share" in the natural gas reserves, currently being explored by the Reliance Industries Limited in the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) basin.

"The state is on path of growth in various sectors, including investments in heavy industries like automobiles and it needs to tap its natural resources particularly energy," Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh, managing director, L V Subramanyam said.

Subramanyam suggested at a CII conference that the gas from K-G basin could move out from the state only after meeting the state demand, which he projected at 81.9 million cubic metres a day in 2010, while its demand for power generation would be at 39 mcmd.

Andhra Pradesh which excels in various sectors including IT, is now concentrating on improving and developing its power sector in order to invite investments and provide quality and affordable power to the industrial consumers.
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AP issues job cards to 39 lakh households
Hyderabad: Four months into the national job guarantee scheme, Andhra Pradesh has already put in place a "foolproof mechanism" in planning works and disbursal of wages.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Jairam Ramesh, union minister of state for commerce, said the State had prepared an elaborate system that was transparent and accountable.

The State had issued `job cards' to 39 lakh households (each card-holder was entitled 100 days of work in a year), about 25 per cent of all cards issued in the country under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Of the 200 districts where the scheme was being implemented, 13 belonged to Andhra Pradesh.
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