A1 3
S U N DAY, JU N E 2 8, 2 0 1 5
2,467
WORLD
people were meanwhile in isolation, down from 2,931 on Friday
Russia’s Verba anti-aircraft system
WA R N I N G
Sri Lanka civil servants to face jail if election laws are violated
Russia’s next generation manportable air defence system (MANPADS) can engage aircraft, drones and cruise missiles head-on in a frontal attack. Most western MANPADS operate only in pursuit of a target
Verba 9M333 rocket Gu
ida
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s election chief on Saturday warned civil servants they will face fines and three years in prison for failing to ensure a free and fair parliamentary election announced for August. The head of the independent election commission, Mahinda Deshapriya, said he has been given wide powers under a recent statute to deal with civil servants who violated elections laws and favoured candidates. New power “I have powers now to jail public servants for a period of three years and also fine them up to Rs100,000,” Deshapriya told reporters a day after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked parliament and cleared the way for an election 10 months ahead of schedule. Almost all previous elections have been marred by allegations that state officials colluded with the party in power to give them an undue advantage. Independent poll monitors have also reported large scale abuse of state vehicles and other
I have powers now to jail public servants for a period of three years and also fine them up to Rs100,000 Mahinda Deshapriya
Election Commission head
resources to boost the campaign of the party in power. At the previous national vote, the presidential poll in January, Deshapriya had ordered police to” shoot in the head” and kill anyone trying to disrupt elections. The January 8 election was relatively peaceful with only one
drive-by shooting which killed a supporter of Sirisena. Deshapriya said the formal election period will begin from July 6 and warned that the government cannot make any politically-motivated transfers of civil servants until after the vote on August 17. Sirisena dissolved the legislature at midnight on Friday and said he would summon the new parliament on September 1 in line with pledges he had given to Sri Lanka’s international backers. During the May visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry, President Sirisena had assured that there would be a new government in Colombo by September. Pro-Western Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had pressed for early elections to increase the majority of his United National Party (UNP), which sat in opposition until Sirisena’s victory in January’s polls. Wickremesinghe’s party has welcomed the election as an opportunity to increase their strength in the legislature and ensure stability. - AFP
nce
sec
tion
Warhead 1.5kg high-explosive. Blast generator uses any remaining rocket fuel as additional explosive
Tri-band heat seeker Operates in ultraviolet, near- and mid-infrared wavelengths to increase target range by 250%
6km
Range
up to 6,500m
Kill altitude
500m/s
Velocity
Sol
id-f
uel
Weight
11-12kg
Length
1,635mm
flig
ht m
oto
r Lau boo nch ste r
Verba 9K333 launcher Night-firing capability Digital system believed to be highly immune to electronic jamming
IFF radar antenna Detects transponders on friendly aircraft Link to digital fire control network
Thermal battery Disposable launch tube
Trigger
Gripstock Reuseable assembly contains battery cooling unit and “identification friend or foe” (IFF) interrogator switch Source: IHS Jane’s, KB Mashinostroyeniya
Graphic News /
Graphics
S. Korea fears MERS may have spread to new hospital in Seoul The latest case involved a 27-yearold nurse at a hospital in eastern Seoul who was believed to have been infected while treating a patient
SEOUL: South Korea on Saturday said it was closely monitoring a hospital in eastern Seoul over fears that hundreds of people there may have been exposed to the deadly
CLEAN SWIPE: A member of staff cleans a ticket turnstile near a
train platform as she wears a face mask at Kowloon station in Hong Kong on Saturday. - AFP
MERS virus. A 70-year-old woman who caught Middle East Respiratory Syndrome while visiting an infected relative in a different hospital
was feared to have spread the virus to the new site. “We are focusing our efforts in tracing contacts and isolating people who came close to this patient”,
INCESSANT RAINS
14 killed in Bangladesh due to landslides, floods DHAKA: At least 14 people were killed and over 35 others injured in a series of landslides and flashfloods triggered by torrential rains in southeastern Bangladesh,
officials said on Saturday. The incessant rains, caused by a virtually persistent low in the Bay of Bengal, in the past two days and resulting in the swelling of riv-
ers have also marooned millions of people in several villages in the region. The inflated wasters submerged dozens of villages in western and northwestern districts. - PTI
a senior health ministry official told journalists on Saturday. The woman died on June 25, two days after she was diagnosed, but due to the virus’s 14-day incubation period, anyone she infected may only start showing symptoms in the coming days. The official said it was too early to say whether the outbreak may be on the wane, given that new cases are expected at the new site. “We would be able to talk about any trend of the outbreak only after watching the development at the hospital”, he said. The comments came as the country reported one additional MERS case, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 182 in the largest outbreak of the deadly virus outside Saudi Arabia. However, no additional fatalities were reported over the past 24
hours, with the death toll standing at 31, the health ministry said. The latest case involved a 27-year-old nurse at a hospital in eastern Seoul who was believed to have been infected while treating a patient. She is the fifth confirmed case at the hospital, where more than 100 patients who were exposed to the virus while undergoing dialysis have been isolated since June 18. Of the 182 confirmed cases, 90 people have recovered, 31 have died and 61 others are still being treated — 13 of whom are listed in a critical condition. Most of the deceased had preexisting medical conditions, according to the health ministry. Some 2,467 people were meanwhile in isolation, down from 2,931 on Friday. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, im-
ages on local media showed people wearing hazmat suits at a major subway station cleaning the escalators and mopping the floors after a 17-year-old Korean man with a fever sought medical care at a clinic in the station. The city’s health minister said the man was being tested for MERS. “Today there is a patient, he is a young Korean male and came to Hong Kong from the US passing through South Korea. He’s been in Hong Kong for around 10 days but today he had a fever,” the city’s health minister Ko Wingman told reporters. The city has not reported any cases of MERS, though multiple people have been tested for the virus. The area outside the clinic in the station was cordoned off and the man has since been isolated in hospital. - AFP