Panaji, May 24 (IANS) Long-delayed aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya is undergoing trials and could be in India by December, Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin said Friday. The Russian ambassador also complained that the delay in handing over of the Russian aircraft carrier to India was being written about extensively, as compared to the five-year long delay in the French-built Scorpene submarine.
Islamabad, May 24 (IANS) Pakistani government Friday reiterated its opposition to US drone strikes on its territory, saying the strikes were "counter-productive" and "entail loss of innocent civilian lives". The statement came from the Pakistan foreign ministry, hours after US President Barack Obama defended the use of the drone missions as self-defense against militants. Addressing the National Defense University in Washington Thursday, President Obama defended the use of drones and said: "We are at war with an organisation that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first." Pakistan reiterated its opposition in a statement, saying: "The Government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that the drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives, have human rights and humanitarian implications and violate the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law." The ministry's spokesperson, however, appreciated Obama's acknowledgement that "force alone cannot make us safer"
Ramallah, May 24 (IANS) The Indian women's football team's dream of qualifying for the AFC Cup fell by the wayside as they went down fighting 1-2 to Chinese Taipei, who notched their second consecutive win, in a group D encounter at the Faisal Al Huseni Stadium here.
Srinagar, May 24 (IANS) Three soldiers of the Rashtriya Rifles and a militant were killed Friday morning in a gun-battle in south Kashmir, an army officer said. The gunfight was still continuing. Troops of counter-insurgency force Rashtriya Rifles and police were Friday morning laying a cordon around Bachoo village of Tral tehsil in Pulwama district, 35 km from here, when militants opened fire at them, spokesperson for the army's Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Col Ankur Vasisht told
Srinagar, May 24 (IANS) Three soldiers of the Rashtriya Rifles were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district Friday while they were laying a cordon around a village where militants were reportedly hiding, an army official said. The incident took place at Bachoo village in Tral tehsil of Pulwama, about 35 km from here. "As the troops were laying the cordon they were fired upon by some militants," Lieutenant Colonel Ankur Vasisht, spokesperson for the army's Srinagar-based 15 Corps, told
London, May 24 (IANS/EFE) Two additional suspects have been arrested in connection with the brutal killing of a British soldier on a street in this capital, Scotland Yard said. The two men shot and detained at the scene of Wednesday's attack remained under guard at separate hospitals in London.
Moscow, May 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Taliban influence in Afghanistan may grow after international coalition forces pull out, while rising radicalism in Syria could lead to the country's disintegration, Russian military intelligence agency GRU has said. GRU chief Lt. Gen.
Washington, May 24 (IANS) Chandigarh-born "trailblazer" Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan has made history with the US Senate unanimously confirming him as the first South Asian judge on the powerful appeals court for the American capital. Srinivasan, 46, currently principal deputy solicitor general of the US, was Thursday confirmed by the Senate by a 97 to 0 vote, as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, often called the nation's second-highest court. "Pleased" at the unanimous confirmation of his nominee "the first one to this important court in seven years," President Barack Obama said "Sri is a trailblazer who personifies the best of America." "Born in Chandigarh, India, and raised in Lawrence, Kansas, Sri spent nearly two decades as an extraordinary litigator before serving" in his current job, Obama noted predicting, "Now he will serve with distinction on the federal bench." "Sri will in fact be the first South Asian American to serve as a circuit court judge in our history," he said as he pressed the Senate to act quickly to fill the three remaining vacancies on the appeals court "as well as other vacancies across the country".
Tel Aviv, May 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The sale of S-300 air defence systems by Russia to Syria would be "destabilising" for the region, US Secretary of State John Kerry said. "S-300 missiles coming from Russia, or other countries, Iranian missiles, are destabilising to the region," Kerry said. "The United States is committed, not only in its defence of Israel, but in its concerns for the region to try to address this issue." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier this month that Russia would honour a deal with Syria to supply it with S-300 air defence systems.
Moscow, May 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia's first light-class modification Angara 1.2PP carrier rocket is ready for its maiden launch, its manufacturer Khrunichev Center said. The first Angara will be sent to the Plesetsk space centre in northern Russia later this month, the manufacturer said in a statement, but did not give a precise launch date. Meanwhile, the first heavy-class Angara-A5 has been completed and will soon be presented to the public, a Khrunichev spokesman said.
