MICA (P) 191/11/2008 MONDAY, JULY 27 2009
TEMASEK CEO JOB MONDAY INTERVIEW: JOHN HO
The possible
candidates
from within
MONEY, PAGE B18
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FIVE PARTS
Tears and tributes
YASMIN Ahmad was laid to rest
yesterday as tears and tributes flowed
for the film-maker, who made movies
that celebrated Malaysia’s multiracial
differences and TV commercials that
made grown men weep.
Hundreds of people gathered at a
mosque, and later at a Muslim
cemetery in Petaling Jaya to pay their
last respects. Tributes to the 51-year
old also flowed freely in blogs and in
e-mails to
newspapers.
쐽 WORLD
PAGE A8
& LIFE!
PAGE C2
H1N1: Few kids get seizures
VERY few of the children in
Singapore who fell ill with Influenza A
(H1N1) come down with seizures.
Only six out of more than 300 here
did so.
쐽 PRIME PAGE A4
Boy’s birthday shock
A SIX-year-old boy celebrating his
birthday at his favourite fast food
chain did not get to enjoy a single
bite. As he opened a glass door to
enter, it shattered, leaving him with
cuts and a head full of glass chips.
쐽 HOME PAGE B1
Jiving with the elderly
SENIOR citizens are taking part in a
dance and movement workshop as
part of a grant by the National Arts
Council which sponsors arts groups to
bring the arts to various segments of
the community.
쐽 HOME PAGE B2
Continuity and assurances
THE last major piece of President
Barack Obama’s foreign policy puzzle
will fall into place today when he
addresses the opening session of
strategic talks between the United
States and China.
쐽 WORLD PAGE A12
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Scorpio East’s
quiet showman
LIFE! PAGE C4
THIS IS ANFIELD, Some 45,000 Singaporeans turned the National Stadium into a sea of red last night.
The occasion? The visit of English football giants Liverpool, who trounced Singapore
SINGAPORE 5-0 in their friendly. MORE REPORTS: SPORT PAGE B10
India extends reach
with N-sub launch
Able to stay underwater
for months, it gives
New Delhi a critical edge
BY RAVI VELLOOR
SOUTH ASIA BUREAU CHIEF
NEW DELHI: India formally unveiled its
first home-built nuclear submarine yes-
terday, joining a select band of five na-
tions that have the capability to build the
sophisticated weapons system.
As the country’s electronic news me-
dia waxed jingoistic about the develop-
ment, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
stressed that New Delhi had no aggres-
sive designs nor meant to threaten any-
one.
India, he said, merely sought “an exter-
nal environment in its region and beyond
that was conducive for its peaceful devel-
opment and the protection of its value
systems”.
Only the United States, Russia, Brit-
SPECIAL REPORT
Singapore-
Malaysia air
travel booms
PRIME, PAGE A6
ain, France and China have the capability
to launch nuclear weapons from subma-
rines. Yesterday’s launch also moves In-
dia closer to the nuclear triad, or the capa-
bility to deliver nuclear weapons from
platforms based on land, air and sea.
Analysts stress that the sea-based de-
terrent is critical for India because of its
policy of no-first use of nuclear weapons.
Should the country’s land- and air-based
weapons be wiped out by an enemy
first-strike, it would require submarines
to launch the retaliatory second-strike.
Some observers also see it as an at-
tempt to counter the strategic interest of
China in the region. “A nuclear subma-
rine is the ultimate weapon in the hands
of the government,” said strategic ana-
lyst A. K. Singh, a retired vice-admiral.
“We are catching up with China very
quickly and as for Pakistan, this puts us
way ahead in the game.”
The submarine was launched less than
a week after US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton left India after clinching an End
User Mechanism agreement that would fa-
cilitate future sales of American weapons
to India.
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While the country has been diversify-
ing its defence purchases, PM Singh sin-
gled out Russia for special thanks in a ges-
ture underscoring New Delhi’s continu-
ing dependence on the Soviet Union’s suc-
cessor state for its defence needs.
“I would like to express our apprecia-
tion to our Russian friends for their con-
sistent and invaluable cooperation, which
symbolises the close strategic partnership
that we enjoy with Russia,” he said.
The Indian submarine’s design is part-
ly based on a Charlie-class nuclear subma-
rine that Russia loaned to India two dec-
ades ago.
Developed in secret as the Advance
Technology Vehicle programme, the first
of the submarines was named the Ari-
hant, or Destroyer of Enemies. Developed
at Vishakhapatnam, the port city and
base of the Eastern Naval Command, it
came to life as a 5,500-tonne vessel with
a capacity to launch 12 ballistic missiles.
The Arihant will probably be equipped
with India’s Sagarika series of missiles,
which can deliver a 500kg nuclear pay-
load to distances of between 750km and
1,000km. That would put most of Paki-
New sports
centres to act
as unifiers
BY SUE-ANN CHIA
SENIOR POLITICAL
CORRESPONDENT
SINGAPORE is to adopt a new ap-
proach in building sports complexes.
They will come up next to community
clubs in a bid to bring residents togeth-
er under one roof and help them bond.
The first such “hybrid” facility is in
Sengkang West, which was opened
yesterday by Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong.
The next one will be in Bukit Pan-
jang, to be built by next year.
More are on the drawing board,
said the Singapore Sports Council.
“The motivation behind such a
unique concept ultimately boils down
to our desire to bring the community
together through sports and other rec-
reational activities,” said the council’s
chairman Alex Chan at the opening of
the new Sengkang Sports and Recrea-
tion Centre (SRC).
Taking up the point in his speech,
PM Lee underlined the unifying power
of sports when he spoke of the need to
create more spaces for strengthening
social cohesion.
CONTINUED
ON PAGE A7
stan within range of submarines based in
the Arabian Sea.
Likewise, Indian submarines in the
South China Sea will have some of Chi-
na’s most prosperous regions in range.
“Given the growing power asymmetry
with China, India’s need for a reliable nu-
clear deterrent that can survive a first
strike has never been greater,” said strate-
gic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney.
“Even today, we do not have a missile
that can target Beijing.”
At the core of the Arihant is a miniatur-
ised nuclear reactor that can help it stay
underwater for months. Developed at a fa-
cility near Chennai, and with some aid
from Russian experts, the reactor, which
is the size of a minibus, is said to have a
capacity of about 90MW.
The submarine will be manned by a
crew of about 95 men. The 100m-long
vessel, with a single shaft propulsion sys-
tem, is one of the smallest in its class.
India’s warships are typically launched
by the wives of public figures or top offi-
cials and the Arihant was no exception.
Mrs Gursharan Kaur, wife of Prime Minis-
ter Manmohan Singh, cracked a coconut
on the hull of the black-bodied subma-
rine to mark the occasion, people who wit-
nessed the event said.
Full sea trials are at least 18 months
away and will take place once the vessel
is fully outfitted.
Later this year, the Nerpa, an Aku-
la-class attack submarine, will join the In-
dian navy on loan from Russia. That has
fuelled speculation that India may seek to
build hunter-killer submarines once it
has stabilised the design of the Arihant
class of submarines.
velloor@sph.com.sg