July 18, 2007	Wednesday	Rajab 02, 1428

BEIJING, July 17: The weathermen in Beijing are going ahead with plans to fire rockets to disperse rain clouds, an experiment aimed at guaranteeing sunshine at next year’s Olympics.

Zheng Guoguang, head of China’s Meteorological Administration, said practice drills were ready to begin, the China Daily reported on Tuesday.

Zheng said the drills would simulate what will be done when the Games open on Aug 8, 2008. He said this summer was the last chance for meteorologists to practice under similar weather conditions.

China has tinkered with artificial rainmaking for decades, though the technology has been questioned.—AP