Indo-Russian stealth fighter makes first flight

The prototype of a new stealth fighter being co-developed between Russia and India has made a successful first flight from a test airfield near the Siberian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia.

The Russian made Sukhoi T-50, which India refers to as the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), is the Russian equivalent of the US built F-22 stealth fighter. India is a full partner in the project and the Indian version of the jet will feature several homegrown technologies including the jet's mission computer.

The T-50 has super cruise capabilities, which means its normal cruise speed is beyond Mach 1, the speed of sound.

India is likely to pick up a 25 per cent stake in the 10 billion dollar project, but it's likely to be a decade before the fighter is fully developed and enters squadron service.

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Chamling's awards genuine: Govt

With Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling facing Opposition flak for allegedly purchasing awards using public money, the state government said on Thursday that the two latest awards to him were genuine and given in recognition of his contributions.

The American Biographical Institute (ABI) has decided to invite Chamling to join the organisation as an outstanding individual as per the communication received from its president J M Evans, the Information and Public Relations Department (IPR) said in a release here today.

ABI had done due diligence of over 4,000 people of professional importance, including Chamling, to determine the names of those to be inducted to its Hall of Fame, the release said. The ABI in its 42 years' publication has published over 250 biographies of those it has honoured in it dwelt on their leadership skills and excellence in public life, it said. Similarly, the New Delhi-based Friendship Forum of India has chosen to give 'Best Personality Award' and a gold medal to Chamling in recognition of his outstanding performance and exceptional leadership, the release added. BJP and other opposition parties have been questioning the propriety of various awards being given to Chamling by various organisations since he assumed office in 1994 and alleged that the chief minister had paid from the public exchequer for purchasing the awards.

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Assam villagers lynch soldier

In what is said to be a case of mistaken identity, people of an eastern Assam village bordering Nagaland lynched a soldier of the Gorkha Rifles and seriously injured a captain Monday evening. The soldiers were in civvies and had apparently been double-crossed by informers who led them to the village to catch militants.

According to police officials in Golaghat district, villagers of Kherbari had handed over five bruised soldiers to the 3rd Assam Police Battalion stationed nearby after dusk on Monday. One of the soldiers identified as Subedar Limbu had succumbed to his injuries inflicted by stone-pelting. One had escaped the wrath of the villagers, who claimed the men had come to target a stone quarry owner named Alauddin for extortion.

"Our men relied on a couple of informers who led them to the village saying some militants were hiding there. The soldiers should have stuck together and identified themselves since the area is always tense in view of the border dispute with Nagaland. In all probability, the soldiers must have been mistaken for NSCN militants because of their looks. One of our officers - Captain Vikram Singh - tried to intervene later but was also not spared. He has been sent to the base hospital at Jorhat nearby," said a spokesman from the Army's 3rd Corps at Rangapahar in Nagaland.

The NSCN, allegedly backing Nagaland government forces in its land-grabbing bids in Assam, is known to carry out frequent raids in villages this side of the inter-state border to extort money.

Police said the situation in the village was tense but under control. Army officials, on the other hand, said Kherbari was a hard lesson learnt on overdependence on informers.

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125 kg explosives seized in Assam

LAKHIMPUR (Assam): Over 125 kg of Neogel-90 explosives, the one used in the 2008 Jaipur blasts, has been seized from a truck in Assam's Lakhimpur
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district on Thursday.

The explosives were seized by a patrolling team of the CRPF and Assam police personnel when the truck, enroute to Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh via Lakhimpur, was stopped at Khelmati outpost here, the police said.

The explosives were kept in four cartons and the police have detained the driver and seven people who were travelling in the truck.

The driver during interrogation claimed that a person had hired the truck, loaded the explosives and directed him to deliver it in Lakhimpur.

The police have launched a massive search operation to trace the people involved in the incident.

The explosives could have been brought by militant outfits NSCN (K), NDFB or ULFA as all three are active in the area, the police added.

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Ajit Singh invites Amar to join RLD

Lucknow

Jan. 28: Rashtriya Lok Dal president, Choudhury Ajit Singh on Thursday said that former SP general secretary Amar Singh was welcome to join the Rashtriya Lok Dal. However, he added that Mr Singh’s inclusion into the party would only be on issues related to farmer welfare.

"If Amar Singh is a well-wisher of farmers, the RLD would be happy to get his company," the RLD president told reporters here. He added that the RLD needed the support of like-minded parties on issues like land acquisition and price hike.

Mr Ajit Singh further said that Mr Amar Singh, like RLD, was a true well-wisher of sugarcane farmers and the RLD would welcome him if he wanted to support our agitation on separate statehood and against land acquisition.

The RLD chief alleged that central government was scared of price hike issue and the Prime Minister was delaying to call a meeting of chief ministers on the issue.

The RLD is the first party to have extended an invitation to Mr Amar Singh after the Samajwadi Party accepted the latter’s resignation from all party posts on January 17.

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Man arrested in Goa over Russian child 'rape'

A man has been arrested in connection with the alleged rape of a nine-year-old Russian girl in Goa, India, police officials say.

Two men have been named as suspects in connection with the alleged assault on Arambol beach on Tuesday.

Police identified the man they detained as Anil Raghuvanshi and said he was an "accomplice of the main accused," who is believed to have absconded.

Goa is one of India's most popular tourist destinations.

Hundreds of thousands of people visit Goa every year. But it was the focus of intense media coverage in 2008 over the rape and murder of a British teenager holidaying there.

Two men were held in connection with the case, and were later released on bail. Police say that investigations are still ongoing.

'Abhorrent crime'

Senior police official Bosco George said that Anil Raghuvanshi is an employee at a pharmacy in the area.

They named the main suspect in the assault as Aman Bharadwaj.

Police believe that Mr Raghuvanshi diverted the attention of the girl's mother while the sexual assault was taking place.

Russia's ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, has demanded urgent action against the people responsible for the alleged rape.

"This perverted criminal must be caught and punished severely...We expect the Indian side to catch the culprits involved in the abhorrent crime," Mr Kadakin was quoted as telling reporters by India's The Hindu newspaper.

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