India yesterday tested a short-range variant of its nuclear capable surface-to-surface Agni missile from a testing site off the country's east coast, a defense official said.
The homegrown missile, with a strike range of 700km, was tested from a mobile launcher at Wheeler Island off the coast of eastern Orissa state at 10.10am, the official said.
The missile, one of the variants of the Agni (Fire) series, can carry a one-tonne payload.
Defense Ministry spokesman Amitabh Chakravarty in New Delhi described the test as "a perfect launch."
The test comes within weeks of talks between India and Pakistan on reducing the risk of nuclear confrontation.
In the talks in New Delhi last month, both sides agreed to set up a hotline to prevent nuclear confrontation, to continue a ban on nuclear tests and to conclude an agreement on informing each other in advance about impending missile tests.
It also comes just days after media reports in Pakistan quoted President Pervez Musharraf as saying that Islamabad would conduct an "important" missile test in two months' time.
Musharraf did not disclose details of the test but said domestic critics who believed that Pakistan had decided to roll back its nuclear and missile programs were living in a "fool's paradise," the Dawn newspaper said on Thursday.
The president did not specify whether the test would be of a nuclear-capable missile.
"It has become a joke that people with negative minds are propagating the ill-notions of roll-back," he was quoted as telling a group of Pakistani journalists.
Early last month, Pakistan test fired a ballistic missile with a range of 1,500km. The missile could carry nuclear warheads deep inside India.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number