January 31, 2006	Tuesday	Muharram 1, 1427

BHUBANESHWAR (India) Jan 30: India test fired a short-range suface-to-air missile on Monday, the third launch in three days, a defense ministry official said.

The missile was launched from the government’s main testing centre along the country’s eastern coast.

The missile, named Akash, has a range of 25 kilometres, carries a 60-kilogram payload and is designed to hit several incoming aircraft simultaneously, the official said.

He said Akash missiles were test fired twice on Saturday, launched five minutes apart, from a mobile launcher.—AFP