New Delhi: India will become the world's sixth operator of a nuclear-powered submarine next month when Russia's K-152 Nerpa attack vessel reaches the country's shores ahead of its formal induction into the Indian Navy.
The submarine, christened INS Chakra, is expected to reach the Indian shores, with its home base as Visakhapatnam, anytime in March, according to navy officers here.
The other global naval powers operating nuclear-powered submarines are the US, Russia, Britain, France and China.
The attack submarine was handed over to the Indian Navy by Russia at a ceremony in the Far Eastern Primorye territory on Jan 23.
Codenamed Akula-II by NATO, the Project 971 Shchuka-B class vessel will be on a 10-year lease with the Indian Navy till 2022 under a contract worth over $900 million signed in mid-1990.
Under the deal, Russia trained Indian submariners on operating the Nerpa for over a month in the Pacific Ocean ahead of its handing over.
With a displacement of over 8,000 tonnes, the vessel can touch a maximum speed of 30 knots and can operate at a maximum depth of 600 meters.
The vessel can lurk in the deep sea without having to surface for 100 days waiting for its prey to appear and to strike hard at will.
Manned by a 73-member crew, the vessel is armed with four 533mm torpedo tubes and four 650mm torpedo tubes.
The Indian Navy operated a nuclear-powered submarine 1987-1991 when it had a Soviet-origin Charlie class vessel, also named INS Chakra, in its fleet. The submarine was returned to Russia after the three-year lease ended.
Nuclear-powered submarines, being silent killers, are considered key weapon platforms in view of the surprise element in case of an attack. They are an important part of India's nuclear doctrine, as these can help in completing the nuclear-weapon triad or the capability to fire nuclear arsenal from platforms over the land, air, and under the sea.
Though Nerpa was originally scheduled to join the Indian Navy in 2009, an unexpected on-board explosion in November 2008 when it was undergoing sea trials in the Western Pacific by the Russian Navy sailors resulted in the death of 20-odd personnel due to a toxic gas release.
India will add another nuclear-powered vessel to its submarine fleet in the next six to 10 months when the indigenously built INS Arihant that is undergoing trials joins the fleet.
Two more Arihant-class submarines, with miniaturised nuclear reactors designed and developed with Russian help, will join the naval fleet in the next four years.
India currently operates 14 conventional diesel-electric submarines. Of them, 10 are Russian-origin Kilo class vessels and four are German HDW vessels
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/russian-submarine-to-reach-indian-shores-mid-march-180705&cp
ChanneledKnowledgeTV
Friday, March 2, 2012
HoGs attack in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD — With a police officer wounded and the presidential palace breached, the Pakistani capital has launched a fresh offensive against a uniquely feared enemy in the Muslim country - the city's ever expanding population of wild boar.
Each night, packs of the hairy beasts emerge from Islamabad's river beds, parks and scrubland to rifle through the overflowing rubbish bins of its mostly wealthy residents and growing number of restaurants.
City authorities are laying poison and have announced free hunting permits to cull the wild pigs' numbers. But to make sure residents don't get caught in the crossfire, they only allow shotguns. There have been few takers. Hunters are wary of getting arrested by the police, or even worse - getting mistaken for a terrorist.
The animals can weigh up to 180 to 220 pounds (80 kilograms to 100 kilograms) and have razor sharp teeth. Adult males come armed with upward curving tusks. While they scurry off at the site of humans, they charge when cornered, alarmed or wounded and are a major cause of traffic accidents in the city.
The latest chapter of man versus hog played out in a city center police station last week.
"Someone shouted 'watch your back' but before I could look round the animal had hit me," said Sajjad Hussain, who was on duty when the animal slipped in past the high, razor wire-topped blast walls after guards opened the gates to let in a car.
Hussain had a gash in his stomach that required eight stitches and is on medical leave.
The swine was even more unlucky. In his rush to escape, he bounded into a large pit where police barracks are being constructed. Trapped by high walls, he was an easy target for officers out to avenge their wounded colleague. Not quite fish in a barrel, but close.
"The pig was like a terrorist. We shot him down," said station chief Fayaz Tanooli. "I have told the guards if another pig gets in then they will be dismissed."
The hogs have also encroached upon the lavish, not to mention tightly guarded, houses of the president and prime minister.
A team has been dispatched to lay poison mixed with molasses or maize, said Malik Aulya Khan, the city's environmental chief.
"We are making special efforts. We have killed many with poison," he said. "Somehow they enter under the fences."
Wild boars are found all over Pakistan, and are one of its major agricultural pests, gobbling their way though millions of dollars of wheat and sugarcane crops. In Punjab province in the 1980s, the government initiated a bounty system whereby villagers were paid for each tail they delivered, but it was discontinued for lack of funds.
Islamabad was built from scratch in 1951 on scrubland that runs up against the Margalla Hills, meaning wild boars have always lived in or close to the city. But their numbers have grown along with the city and its human inhabitants, now around 800,000 from just 100,000 originally.
The meat of wild boar is prized in many countries, but has no value in Pakistan because its consumption is forbidden under Islam. The country's often persecuted and tiny Christian and Hindu populations don't keep pigs or eat wild boar either. That has helped ensure the animals thrive.
The animal's abundance has made the country a prime spot for boar hunting, said Qaiser Khan, who leads hunting parties to Pakistan, including teams of foreigners who like to shoot hogs. He said that teams must sign a contract stipulating they will not cook the meat or ask staff to so.
He said hunting in Islamabad was unlikely to get many takers because it was not "worth the hassle" of coordinating with police and city authorities. Moreover, shooting hogs with a shotgun was dangerous because the hunter had to be up close, and the weapon risked wounding, but not killing, the animal, he said.
Professor Rashid Ahmad Khan trapped and killed more than 1,700 pigs during three years of research into the problem in the 1980s.
He said that poisoning and hunting were both unsuitable methods of controlling the population, and instead advocates removing their habitat. Cutting down brush in which they hide during the day, fencing off the many streams that crisscross the city and better management of the trash that spills out of rubbish bins and around the back of restaurants in the city will help reduce their numbers.
"If we are not doing this, it will be impossible to weed out the animals," he said. "They are flourishing."
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/25/2083031/hogs-going-wild-in-pakistani-capital.html
Each night, packs of the hairy beasts emerge from Islamabad's river beds, parks and scrubland to rifle through the overflowing rubbish bins of its mostly wealthy residents and growing number of restaurants.
City authorities are laying poison and have announced free hunting permits to cull the wild pigs' numbers. But to make sure residents don't get caught in the crossfire, they only allow shotguns. There have been few takers. Hunters are wary of getting arrested by the police, or even worse - getting mistaken for a terrorist.
The animals can weigh up to 180 to 220 pounds (80 kilograms to 100 kilograms) and have razor sharp teeth. Adult males come armed with upward curving tusks. While they scurry off at the site of humans, they charge when cornered, alarmed or wounded and are a major cause of traffic accidents in the city.
The latest chapter of man versus hog played out in a city center police station last week.
"Someone shouted 'watch your back' but before I could look round the animal had hit me," said Sajjad Hussain, who was on duty when the animal slipped in past the high, razor wire-topped blast walls after guards opened the gates to let in a car.
Hussain had a gash in his stomach that required eight stitches and is on medical leave.
The swine was even more unlucky. In his rush to escape, he bounded into a large pit where police barracks are being constructed. Trapped by high walls, he was an easy target for officers out to avenge their wounded colleague. Not quite fish in a barrel, but close.
"The pig was like a terrorist. We shot him down," said station chief Fayaz Tanooli. "I have told the guards if another pig gets in then they will be dismissed."
The hogs have also encroached upon the lavish, not to mention tightly guarded, houses of the president and prime minister.
A team has been dispatched to lay poison mixed with molasses or maize, said Malik Aulya Khan, the city's environmental chief.
"We are making special efforts. We have killed many with poison," he said. "Somehow they enter under the fences."
Wild boars are found all over Pakistan, and are one of its major agricultural pests, gobbling their way though millions of dollars of wheat and sugarcane crops. In Punjab province in the 1980s, the government initiated a bounty system whereby villagers were paid for each tail they delivered, but it was discontinued for lack of funds.
Islamabad was built from scratch in 1951 on scrubland that runs up against the Margalla Hills, meaning wild boars have always lived in or close to the city. But their numbers have grown along with the city and its human inhabitants, now around 800,000 from just 100,000 originally.
The meat of wild boar is prized in many countries, but has no value in Pakistan because its consumption is forbidden under Islam. The country's often persecuted and tiny Christian and Hindu populations don't keep pigs or eat wild boar either. That has helped ensure the animals thrive.
The animal's abundance has made the country a prime spot for boar hunting, said Qaiser Khan, who leads hunting parties to Pakistan, including teams of foreigners who like to shoot hogs. He said that teams must sign a contract stipulating they will not cook the meat or ask staff to so.
He said hunting in Islamabad was unlikely to get many takers because it was not "worth the hassle" of coordinating with police and city authorities. Moreover, shooting hogs with a shotgun was dangerous because the hunter had to be up close, and the weapon risked wounding, but not killing, the animal, he said.
Professor Rashid Ahmad Khan trapped and killed more than 1,700 pigs during three years of research into the problem in the 1980s.
He said that poisoning and hunting were both unsuitable methods of controlling the population, and instead advocates removing their habitat. Cutting down brush in which they hide during the day, fencing off the many streams that crisscross the city and better management of the trash that spills out of rubbish bins and around the back of restaurants in the city will help reduce their numbers.
"If we are not doing this, it will be impossible to weed out the animals," he said. "They are flourishing."
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/25/2083031/hogs-going-wild-in-pakistani-capital.html
85 Tornadoes Slam Mid West
Multiple tornadoes have racked across Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana.
Updated at 1:35 p.m. ETBRANSON, Mo. -- At least nine people were killed overnight as a line of tornadoes marched across the Midwest, flattening parts of several towns, officials said Wednesday.
Hardest hit was Harrisburg, Ill., where six deaths were reported, along with nearly 100 injuries and at least 200 homes destroyed or damaged by a suspected tornado. Earlier reports from state officials said the death toll was 10, but those were later revised down.
Forecasters warned more twisters could strike the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachians through Wednesday evening as the storm system moved east.
Three other deaths were reported in Missouri, where a suspected tornado hit a mobile home park outside the town of Buffalo. One person died there and around a dozen people were injured. Two others died in the Cassville and Puxico areas of Missouri, state officials said.
http://texomashomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=165882
Updated at 1:35 p.m. ETBRANSON, Mo. -- At least nine people were killed overnight as a line of tornadoes marched across the Midwest, flattening parts of several towns, officials said Wednesday.
Hardest hit was Harrisburg, Ill., where six deaths were reported, along with nearly 100 injuries and at least 200 homes destroyed or damaged by a suspected tornado. Earlier reports from state officials said the death toll was 10, but those were later revised down.
Forecasters warned more twisters could strike the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachians through Wednesday evening as the storm system moved east.
Three other deaths were reported in Missouri, where a suspected tornado hit a mobile home park outside the town of Buffalo. One person died there and around a dozen people were injured. Two others died in the Cassville and Puxico areas of Missouri, state officials said.
http://texomashomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=165882
Monday, February 27, 2012
3.1 Earthquake quivers L.A
A shallow magnitude 3.1 earthquake was reported Sunday morning 12 miles from Hawthorne, Nev., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 9:37 a.m. Pacific time at a depth of 7.5 miles.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was 14 miles from Wichman, Nev., 22 miles from Schurz, Nev., and 147 miles from Sacramento.
In the past 10 days, there have been two earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.
Read more about California earthquakes on L.A. Now.
-- Ken Schwencke
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/earthquake-31-quake-strikes-near-hawthorne-nv-1twjke.html
According to the USGS, the epicenter was 14 miles from Wichman, Nev., 22 miles from Schurz, Nev., and 147 miles from Sacramento.
In the past 10 days, there have been two earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.
Read more about California earthquakes on L.A. Now.
-- Ken Schwencke
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/earthquake-31-quake-strikes-near-hawthorne-nv-1twjke.html
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