South Korea's Defence Ministry

The ministry provided few details of the launch, which comes as the two Koreas trade threats amid Pyongyang's anger over annual South Korean-US military drills that North Korea calls a rehearsal for an invasion.

Leader Kim Jong Un is also preparing for a major ruling party meeting next month that analysts believe he will use to further solidify his autocratic rule. The North has fired a slew of missiles and artillery shells into the sea in an apparent protest against the drills. The Defence Ministry said it wasn't immediately known whether the missile fired today morning was a short-range or mid-range missile.

The North's launch came amid speculation in the South that its rival was preparing to test a medium-range missile with a range of 3,500 kilometres enough to reach US military installments in Japan and Guam. Foreign experts have nicknamed the missile "Musudan" after the village in the northeast where North Korea has a Launchpad.

Today is the birthday anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the current leader's grandfather and the nation's founder. North Korea has occasionally used such celebrations to stage nuclear or missile tests that outsiders consider provocations.

 

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Modi arrives in Saudi Arabia on two-day visit

kingdom as both countries are set to firm up a raft of pacts to bolster their strategic partnership besides exploring ways to enhance security and counter-terror cooperation.

          Combating threat of terrorism and radicalisation are expected to figure high on the agenda of the talks between Modi and the leadership of Saudi Arabia, a country known as spiritual home of Islam which recently has formed a ajorcoallition of 34 Muslim nations to fight terror, particularly the ISIS.

          India's ties with Saudi Arabia, one of the world's leading oil producers, have been on an upswing over the last  two decades based on burgeoning energy ties and both countries may look to move beyond buyer-seller relationship in the sector and go for joint ventures and investment in refineries and oil fields.

          In this context, Modi may seek deeper  involvement of  Indian companies in upstream and downstream oil and gas sector projects in the Gulf nation whose economy has been hit due to falling crude prices, cut in oil exports and slowing down of  domestic consumption.

    

The Prime Minister will hold extensive talks with King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on range of bilateral issues tomorrow following which both sides will sign a number of  MoUs. Separately, he will also meet Crown Prince and Interior Minister Mohammed bin  Naif and Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

          The Prime Minister arrived here from Washinton on the final leg of his three-nation tour that began on March 30 with a visit to Brussels.Security and counter-terror cooperation between India and Saudi had gotten a boost after then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit here six years back during which both countries had elevated their ties to the strategic partnership level.The security cooperation has been improving since then.

Saudi Arabia has close ties with Islamabad and the India may raise the issue of Pakistan-based terror groups carrying  out attacks on it. Modi had visited United Arab Emirates,another close ally of Pakistan, in August and both sides, in a joint statement, had called on all states to abandon use of  terror against other countries which was seen as a message to Islamabad.

  Modi and his delegation are staying at the majestic King Saud Guest Palace at the heart of the city. He is the fourth Indian Prime Minister to visit Saudi Arabia after Manmohan Singh in 2010, Indira Gandhi in 1982 and Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956.

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Mobile phone service suspended in Islamabad, Rawalpindi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday suspended mobile phone services in the capital Islamabad and adjacent Rawalpindi for security reasons to foil attempt by terrorists to sabotage dress rehearsal ahead of Pakistan Day.

The National Day will be celebrated on Wednesday with a grand parade by the armed forces in Islamabad. Exhibition of major weapons and cultural activities are also part of the celebration. As part of the tradition, full rehearsal is carried ahead of the parade.

Officials said that the phone service will remain suspended till afternoon today. Stringent security measures are in place in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to avoid any untoward incident on the National Day. Rangers and police have enhanced patrolling as a dress rehearsal is currently underway, security officials said.

"Same rule will apply on March 23 when mobile phone service will be switched off from morning till afternoon," he said. The internet is also not working smoothly in some areas. Strict security measures have been put in place to deal with any threat by the militants. The last parade was held on March 23, 2008, reviewed by General Pervez Musharraf as a civilian president, but was discontinued owing to security concerns.

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Hockey India names 18-member team for Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

NEW DELHI: Hockey India today announced an 18-member Indian team led by Sardar Singh that will take part in the 25th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from April 6 to 16. Besides India, New Zealand, 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Australia, Pakistan, Japan, Canada and hosts Malaysia will be taking part in the annual tournament.

While Sardar Singh will lead the team, S Sunil will be supporting him as the vice-captain. Besides two goalkeepers - Harjot Singh and Akash Anil Chikte, the squad will have five defenders: Rupinder Pal Singh, Jasjit Singh Kular, Kothajit Singh, Surender Singh, Harmanpreet Singh. The midfield will be under the leadership of skillful Sardar and he will be assisted by Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh, Manpreet Singh, S K Uthappa, Harjeet Singh.

While Sunil, Talwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah will form India's forwardline. With the 2016 Rio Olympics few months down the line, the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup will serve has as a barometer to measure the team's preparation for the most important sporting event of the year.

"India has a good record in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and we would like to keep it that way. Being an Olympic year, this tournament assumes special importance as it will give us an idea where we stand. Playing against good teams like Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan and not to forget hosts Malaysia will give the team critical competition exposure. It will be a good opportunity trying out new things and new combinations in the tournament to see if they work," said Sardar Singh.

In preparation for the tournament, the Indian men's team is currently undergoing a training camp that started on March 7 at the SAI Centre in Bangalore. "The boys have been working hard as a unified unit and are geared up for the tournament ahead. Azlan Shah will be good testing ground for us right before the Rio Olympics and will be very crucial for the team. We are focused on improving the game technically and implement the right strategies," said chief coach Roelant Oltmans.

One of the concern areas of the Indian team has been the tendency to concede late goal. "In the past we have conceded late goals that have taken away the games from us. We want to eliminate that particular weakness. We have been working on it for some time now, which we will be able to put to test in the tournament," he added.

India have enjoyed a good run in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. They won the prestigious tournament five times in 1985, 91, 95, 2009 and 2010, while they earned bronze on six occasions and finished runners-up once in 2008. The round-robin format will help the team get decent amount of competition exposure under its belt. It will also give them an opportunity to gauge the fitness level, since the conditions in Ipoh around this time of the year will be extremely hot and humid. The Indian team has shown considerable improvement in the fitness levels in the past couple of year.

GOALKEEPER: Harjot Singh, Akash Anil Chikte

DEFENDERS: Rupinder Pal Singh, Jasjit Singh Kular, Kothajit Singh, Surender Singh, Harmanpreet Singh

MIDFIELDERS: Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh, S K Uthappa, Harjeet Singh

FORWARDS: Talwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah.

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Pakistan team to probe Pathankot terror attack arrives

New Delhi, Mar 27 (UNI)  A five-member joint investigating team of Pakistan set up by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for  probe into the Pathankot airbase terror attack arrived here today about three months after the deadly terror attack in the Punjab town.

The team, which  will visit Pathankot  on Tuesday,  will be allowed to the selected areas of the airbase, and examine eyewitnesses, and record statement of victims, sources here said. The team members will first get briefing here by the National Investigation Agency for two days. It is for the first time that a team of Pakistan's intelligence and Police and military officials  has been allowed to visit India.

New Delhi believes that Pakistan's extremist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out the January 2 Pathankot attack in which seven Indian security jawans had lost their lives. The incident had derailed the India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary level talks. The date for the visit of the team had been decided after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz in Nepal. The team comprises of Intelligence Bureau Lahore Deputy director Azim Arshad, Lt Tanvir Ahmad of ISI, Punjab counter terrorism Department AIG Rai Tahir, Lt Col Irfan Morza of MI and Gujramwala CTD investigating officer Shahid Tanveer, sources said.

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Akshay Kumar shoots with Rajinikanth in Delhi for 'Robot 2'

New Delhi, Mar 27 (UNI) Bollywood superstar Akshay  Kumar, whose villainous look in Shankar's 2: 0 (Robot 2) was revealed earlier  this week, has begun shooting for the film here along with South Indian  superstar Rajnikant, trade sources said. 

The sources said a major portion of  the film, which features several elaborate fight sequences, will be shot in the  National capital. Akshay's look for 2: O, was released on Wednesday. Ever since  it was revealed, the actor's look in the film achieved through use of prosthetics, has gone viral on the social  media, sources say. 

However, this is not the first time that Akshay has used prosthetics while playing a  character. He changed his facial features for Vipul Shah's Action Replay. In between his shooting schedule, Akshay will take time off to  watch the India Australia T20 World Cup. Match at Ferozshah Kotla this evening.  In a tweet last evening, Akshay said, ''After a hard week on #Robot2 cant  tell u'll how good it feels to enjoy a match with my kids & friends in Delhi  #WT20.'' 

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Cancelling train tickets to be just a phone call away

New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Come April and cancelling a confirmed train ticket would only be a phone call away. Indian Railway is set to launch a facility next month for the hassled passengers who find it hard to reach its counters within the stipulated time to cancel their confirmed tickets and claim refund.

"One has to dial 139 giving details of the confirmed ticket for cancelling it and the sender will get a one-time password (OTP). Passenger has to reach the counter the same day and reveal the OTP to claim refund," said a senior Railway Ministry official. After the change in refund rules, a lot of passengers are now finding it difficult to reach counters to cancel the reserved tickets within the stipulated time and as a result they are losing money.

According to the new refund rules, railways has doubled the ticket cancellation charge with the aim of helping genuine passengers get confirmed tickets. "The refund rules were revised to discourage touts and ticketing agents who engage in black marketing of tickets," said the official, adding "however, it has also resulted in inconvenience in some genuine cases. So we are now providing the 139 facility for cancellation."

Coming to the aid of harried passengers, railways will launch the cancellation facility through 139 service so that one does not have to rush to the counter to cancel confirmed tickets. The tickets which are booked online can be cancelled on the ticketing websites. The 139 facility is for those who bought tickets from counters. The software is ready and the facility is likely to be formally launched in the second week of April. 

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