Pakistan on Wednesday test-fired the short-range, nuclear-capable Ghaznavi ballistic missile which can target northern and western Indian cities as the government vowed to "retain a strong conventional and unconventional deterrence'. A strategic missile group of the Pakistan Army conducted a successful training launch of the Ghaznavi or Hatf-III missile with a range of 290 km at the end of an annual field training exercise. The location of the firing was not disclosed by the military. This was the third test of nuclear-capable missiles by Pakistan since late January.

The visiting Russian Prime Minister, Victor Zubkov, is learnt to have given a "sympathetic and positive' response to India's plea for a major stake in the Sakhalin III and other major oil and gas projects in far-east Russia. India is a partner in Sakhalin I and gets oil supplies from there. At a 20-minute meeting between Mr. Zubkov and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday, the latter also took up the Indian oil companies' interest in investing in the Russian oil and gas fields. Opportunities

N. Gopal Raj Concern over the possibility that wild birds might transport the bird flu virus known as H5N1 has led to greater interest in studying bird migration. A flock of flamingoes over the Pulicat Lake in Andhra Pradesh. One day in December last year, Niranjan M., a 29-year-old engineer and avid bird-watcher living in Bangalore, drove some 125 km to a lake near Somnathpur in Karnataka. The lake was awash with a couple of hundred migratory birds, mostly bar-headed geese and, in the warm glow of the evening sun, he took over two dozen photographs.

George Monbiot Enthusiasm for biofuels is misplaced and masks the real solution to the problem of the globe's overdependence on oil

India and Russia have found a way to push ahead with the agreement without formally sealing it. The Indo-Russian nuclear cooperation agreement initialled by Nuclear Power Corporation head S.K. Jain and State Secretary Nikolai Spassky of Russia's Atomic Energy Agency in New Delhi on Monday opens the way for negotiating a commercial contract for the supply of four additional Russian reactors at Koodankulam. "The way is now open for work on the contract,' an official spokesman for the Russian atomic energy agency, Rosatom, said.

A silent revolution is on in this water-scarce belt of Jammu and Kashmir, heralded by a farmer who has shown what self-help and innovation can do. Most of the farmland was lying fallow in this belt of Samba district. Overcoming the constraint, the farming community diversified its produce base by growing high-value fruits such as kiwi, strawberry and raspberry.

Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in New Delhi on Wednesday. The 2008-09 Annual Plan for Himachal Pradesh was finalised at Rs.2,400 crore at a meeting here on Wednesday between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. The Plan outlay includes an additional Central assistance of Rs.450 crore earmarked for priority projects.

Following unearthing of the kidney transplant racket in neighbouring Gurgaon, a Delhi-based social activist has filed a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court seeking directions for, among other things, a review of the Human Organ Transplant Act, 1994, to enlarge the scope of prospective kidney donors to check illegal transplants and make the treatment accessible to poor patients as well.

Electrification of border, disturbed districts on priority basis Compulsory to supply minimum 6 to 8 hours of power to villages NEW DELHI: Seeking to put back on track the power sector , the Centre has given a major boost to the rural electrification programme by allocating Rs. 28,000 crore for the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY) during the 11th Plan including taking up on priority electrification of border and disturbed districts . Other initiatives

Global carbon trading has gained momentum. The Worldwatch Institute, drawing from various studies, places the total value of the trade in 2007 at $59.2 billion, an 80 per cent increase over 2006. As the 2012 deadline for reducing emission levels approaches, the volume of carbon trading will be enormous. Asian countries are the biggest sellers and western countries the biggest buyers. A World Bank report on the 2007 carbon market shows that China has a market share of 61 pe r cent and India 12 per cent.