Successful firing of BrahMos missile
Balasore: The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was test fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near here today.

The launch was carried out from a mobile launcher, with an indigenously built multi-axle Tatra truck serving as the base platform.

The trajectory of the missile's flight was tracked by sophisticated instruments and radars on a ship located close to the point of impact in the Bay of Bengal, the sources said.

The BrahMos - named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers - was developed by a joint venture company set up by India and Russia following an agreement signed by the two countries on February 12, 1998.
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Rlys offers new bonanza for travellers
New Delhi: The railway is planning to introduce 50 new garib raths and 450 AC trains with pantry cars in Railway Budget 2007-08. At present, there are over 6,000 AC trains and two garib raths for the poor (one between Amritsar and Saharsa in Bihar and the other between Delhi and Patna). Last year, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav introduced the air-conditioned garib raths with 74 (instead of 64) berths in each bogey, with tickets priced 25 per cent lower than AC three-tier fares.

The ministry also plans to float special purpose vehicles (SPVs) with the private sector and state-owned companies for manufacturing wagons and operating special freight corridors.

It also expects the gross budgetary support to go up by 10 per cent from Rs6,800 crore to Rs7,500 crore in Budget 2007-08.

With a surplus of Rs13,000 crore till December 31, 2006, and a target of Rs20,000 crore, the railways have sufficient cash to invest in more air-conditioned bogeys and face competition from private budget airlines.

The Cabinet has also cleared the recommendation of the Railway Convention Committee to fix the dividend they pay the government at 6 per cent for 2006-07, against 7.38 per cent last year which could Rs276 crore additional funds for the railways if it meets the target of Rs20,000-crore capital surplus for the current year.
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Aero India comes of age
Bangalore: With the Aero India show to be held on February 7-11 India is fast catching up with Britain and France's Farnborough and Paris air shows respectively.

From a modest beginning as a defence exposition in 1996, Aero India 2007, the sixth edition of the biennial event, has improved beyond recognition and has drawn attention from all the big global aviation companies. The fact that Farnborough International (FIL), the organiser of the Farnborough Air Show, has joined the Ministry of Defence and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) as co-organisers, underscores the growing importance of the show.

The event slated for February 7-11 has drawn incredible interest and has put India on the map as being a promising destination for aerospace manufacturing and the opening up of the Indian skies. India's rising security profile has also made the country a significant market for aerospace industry.

In all 450 firms are expected to participate in Aero India 2007, from 380 in Aero India 2005. The number of foreign firms among the air show participants will be 275, against 232 previously while the number of visitors is expected to be about 35,000, including 4,000 international visitors.

The growing interest in the show is also due to the fact that the US lifted the sanctions imposed on India in post- Pokhran nuclear test in 2001 leading to US-based defence suppliers establishing a base here.

Boeing IDS, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Missile Systems, BAE Systems, Embraer, Bombardier and Bell Helicopter, who are bidding for various defence deals are among the most active participants in the event. The event will also see active participation by IT majors like TCS, Wipro, Infosys, HCL and IBM, and engineering product designing and development solutions providers like CADES and Quest.
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WTO to review India's trade policy
New Delhi: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) will review India's trade policy this May after more than four years. Eager to show the world that its reform process is on the right track, the commerce & industry ministry has shot off letters to all economic ministries and departments asking for inputs on important events and significant policy changes since 2002. It has pointed out that in the forthcoming trade policy review, it is important to project policies as well as concerns clearly and effectively. On the road-map to be provided by concerned ministries and departments for inclusion in the country report, the commerce department has advised that it should include the long-term strategic policy orientation that would be followed, the intermediate policy goals and the empirical results that are expected to be realised.
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