Free Republic

As a 32-year-old man became the latest to die while working in a sewer in India, activists are taking to the streets in protest. The young and old men who work as manual scavengers have one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. They brave stench and filth in the most deplorable conditions imaginable when they descend into the gutters to risk their lives for a meagre pay of around 7,500 to 10,000 rupees (£79 to £105) a month. Private daily contractors can be paid as little as 500 rupees (£5) for a day's cleaning. Recent government statistics revealed...

Police say the monkeys rained bricks on the man, 72, from a treetop after earlier collecting them from a run down building. A man in India has died after a group of monkeys threw bricks at him from a tree. Dharampal Singh, 72, had been collecting pieces of dry wood before the incident in Tikri, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday. Police said monkeys rained bricks on the man from a treetop after collecting them from a nearby dilapidated building, the Times of India reported.

An invasive insect species native to China, India and Vietnam is posing a problem in at least two states.... 'The Spotted Lanternfly' is harming crops in Winchester, Virginia, WDVM reported. The Pennsylvania-based Churchville Nature Center said the creatures were also spotted for the first time on its property Thursday. "If it is new to you, this invasive plant hopper is threatening the forests of the northeast as well as the lumber and agricultural industries. Please keep an eye out for the insect." The species poses a threat to agriculture and “has the ability to greatly impact the grape, hops and...

Railway police said 60 people died in a "freak accident" which happened when the sound of fireworks at the Dussehra festival on the outskirts of Amritsar made it impossible for people to hear the commuter train bearing down on them. At least 50 injured people were admitted to hospital. A witness said the train did not even sound its whistle as it sped past the site. "Why did authorities allow the fireworks display so close to the railroad track?'" he asked. Punjab's Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he was rushing to Amritsar to supervise relief and rescue operations. "District authorities...

The air launched version of BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile system integrated with Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft on display is a major attraction at Aero India 2011. The air launched version has lesser weight and additional rear fins for aerodynamic stability during separation from the aircraft and launch. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has chosen the Su-30MKI fighter aircraft as the launch platform for the BRAHMOS missile. Some exclusive modifications are being made in the aircraft to use it as a platform for launching the missile. The test of air-launched version of BRAHMOS is expected to take place in 2012,...

The Govt. of India last week finalised a Rs. 11,600 crore agreement that will pave the way for the induction of BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile into the Indian Air Force (IAF). According to a news report by the Indian Express, the induction of the cruise missile will give the IAF a cutting edge over adversaries in the region. Top sources said the multi-crore agreement with BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between the DRDO and Russian company NPOM, would enable factory production of advanced versions of the cruise missile, as per the report. BRAHMOS cruise missile can be launched from aircraft,...

China has showcased a dummy model of new CX-1 anti-ship missile at Zhuhai Air Show. Missile looks similar to Russian P-800 Oniks , its the same missile upon which Indo-Russian Brahmos cruise missile has been based . Chinese forums puts specification of the missile has Supersonic Cruise missile with range of 50 km to 290 km . Missile will be supersonic speed on all phases of flight, and will be able to use wide range of platforms (ships, submarines and land-based launchers), will have low profile flight (sea-skimming), possible use of the missile in electronic countermeasures environment and under enemy...

Supersonic Cruise Missile in Development South Korea is developing a supersonic cruise missile that can be used to attack aircraft carriers, Aegis ships and up-to-date destroyers. "Think tanks like the Agency for Defense Development have been developing a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile for some years now. They're expected to complete development in three to four years at the earliest," a government source said Tuesday. The missile under development is modeled after Russia's powerful Yakhont missile, which is 8.9 m long and weighs 3 tons, but will be smaller, the source added. It will be able to reach speeds of up...

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION Hypersonic missile threat 'Carrier killers' could destroy U.S. Navy's supremacy at sea By: Tom Simko Posted: 01/8/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 In a replay of cold war rivalries, a new missile race is shaping up but this time America and Russia are joined by India and China. All of these countries are rushing to develop hypersonic anti-ship missiles that threaten to reshape naval warfare and alter global balances of power. It's all about who can design the fastest missiles with the latest engine technology. American Tomahawk cruise missiles are powered by conventional turbofans,...

India has introduced into its Armed forces the new BrahMos missile, the head of the BrahMos Aerospace company, Sivathanu Pillai, told RIA Novosti news agency today. Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace, a joint Indian-Russian venture, produces and markets BrahMos supersonic missiles. The sea-based and land-based versions have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy. Earlier in the day, Russia's security chief, Nikolai Patrushev, visited the BrahMos plant in Hyderabad, where the new missile is produced. The missile, known as BrahMos Block-2, has a top speed of over Mach 5, which makes it virtually impossible...

The Indian Air Force is planning to arm its Su-30MKI fighter aircraft with 40 BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile, said Dr AS Pillai, CEO & MD BrahMos Aerospace as reported by RIA Novosti. "The inclusion of BRAHMOS cruise missile will make the aircraft unique in firepower," said Dr Pillai at the Defence Services Asia-2010 exhibition here, in an interview with the Russian news agency. He also added that the first trials of the air-launched version were set for 2011 and the first test-flight with the missile on-board are scheduled for 2012. The supersonic cruise missile has a range of 290-km and...

Mach 3 missile advances By Graham Warwick in Washington DC Lockheed Martin is nearing the crit­ical design review on a technology demonstrator for a Mach 3-plus cruise missile that could be air, ship and submarine-launched. The missile would be accelerated from subsonic launch to supersonic cruise by a turbine engine, and could fly 920km (500nm) or more in 15min to attack time-critical targets. The demonstrator is being de­signed for the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) under the Revolutionary Approach to Time-critical Long-Range Strike (RATTLRS) project. Lockheed’s Skunk Works is prime contractor. Rolls-Royce’s Liberty Works is building the YJ102R high-Mach...

India and Russia on 28 April successfully test fired, for the second time in 10 months, a jointly developed anti-ship cruise missile from the interim test range on India's east coast to a range of 290 km. Codenamed PJ 10, the 8.4m-long missile armed with a 200kg conventional warhead is configured on the Russian 3M55 Oniks/Yakhont (NATO reporting name: SS-NX-26) medium-range anti-ship missiles and was first tested in June last year (Jane's Defence Weekly 20 June 2001). Developed by Brahmos, an Indo-Russian company formed three years ago, the missile combines the propulsion system and seeker of the Yakhont with an...

With India signing a pact with Russia to purchase the S-400 missile defence system, Washington has informally conveyed to Delhi that it could avoid sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) if India were to give an assurance that it would buy the F-16 fighter aircraft from the United States. Not keen on buying an aircraft already in service with Pakistan, India has refused to give any such assurance till date. The fallout of the Trump administration’s reaction to the S-400 deal featured in the wide-ranging discussion between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US counterpart James Mattis...

The victims were standing on the railway tracks watching celebrations for the Hindu festival of Dusshera, eyewitnesses told BBC Punjabi. They did not hear the train approach as they watched a firecracker-filled effigy of the demon king Ravana burn. Officials said the priority now was to take the injured to local hospitals. Footage posted to social media showed the fast-travelling train hitting the crowd. The incident happened at about 18:30 local time (13:00 GMT), said local journalist Ravinder Singh Robin. Just moments before, crowds watching the firecrackers show were asked by organisers to move back - towards the railway tracks,...

You ARE Alive in Me Your situation is about to change for the better. These days are for you, For as I stand with you and beside you it is with my momentum your life is carved. Therefore your now is My Destiny "Yeah " Prophecy coming alive to accomplish The Fathers will in "Real" time. Do you understand?! I Am your Spear head and the Living breathing Force of The ( (( Active Kingdom of Zion )) ) Budding, blossoming and bearing Live fruit before the world's very eyes and existence, for you are riding in My Chariot of...

WASHINGTON: Something should have been done by previous administrations, but they ignored it. The problem of plastic in our oceans has been left to fester to unmanageable effect. Saying that over eight millions tons of garbage, plastic, is dumped into our oceans, the President says Save our Seas is an effort to clean the plastic out. No other political leader, not in the U.S. or any other country, is willing to stand up for the oceans. The Save Our Seas Act, an important bill which reauthorizes and amends the Marine Debris Act, will act to promote international action to reduce...

Oil prices cooled off in recent days as fears of an acute shortage of supply stemming from sanctions on Iran started to subside. At least two companies in India have lined up oil shipments for November, the month that sanctions on Iran take effect. The 9 million barrels of oil secured for next month translate into nearly 300,000 bpd of supply. Meanwhile, other reports suggest that the U.S. is softening its zero tolerance approach to sanctions, and could issue waivers to some importers who make significant reductions but struggle to cut imports to zero. Taken together, the oil market is...

Bringing it in just under the wire, negotiators representing Mexico, Canada, and the United States announced a new trade deal, to be named the USMCA, on Sunday, September 30, enabling the replacement for NAFTA for which many have long clamored. With the agreement to switch to this new program, the three nations are taking some steps – however small – back in the direction of the goals that Free Trade Agreements have always promised to support, but which have been largely forgotten in the quest for their side effects. Free Trade Agreements, in fact, are not designed to reduce taxes...

India is to press ahead with buying advanced air defence systems from Russia despite a warning from the Pentagon that it could face US sanctions over the $5 billion deal.