http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-17765653

India test launches Agni-V long-range missile

India has launched a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead, say media.

The locally-developed Agni-V missile was originally scheduled to have been launched on Wednesday in the eastern state of Orissa.

Defence officials had delayed the launch until Thursday because of heavy lightning in the area.

The missile has a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), within range of targets in China.

Analysts say the Agni (meaning "fire" in Hindi and Sanskrit) missile family is to be the cornerstone of India's missile-based nuclear deterrent.

The missiles are among the country's most sophisticated weapons.

In 2010, India successfully test-fired Agni-II, an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a range of more than 2,000km (1,250 miles).

Defence analyst Rahul Bedi says a successful test flight of the Agni-V missile, which is capable of delivering a single 1.5-ton warhead deep inside nuclear rival China's territory, would strengthen India's nuclear deterrence once it comes into service by 2014-15.

It is 17.5m tall, solid-fuelled, has three stages and a launch weight of 50 tons. It has cost more than 2.5bn rupees ($480m; £307m) to develop.

Only China, Russia, France, the US and UK have such long-range missiles. Israel is thought to possess them.

and.....

India Launches Nuclear Missile Test As South Korea Preps Cruise Missiles For Retaliation

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/18/2012 23:22 -0400

China

France

headlines

India

KIM

North Korea

United Kingdom

Within the last few minutes, Bloomberg has popped up two rather disturbing headlines - that for all intent and purpose have been totally ignored by the trading public at large.

India Test Fires Long-Range Missile Agni-V, CNN-IBN Says
*INDIA MISSILE TEST FLIGHT `IMMACULATE,' DEFENSE MINISTRY SAYS
S.Korea Deploys Missiles in Case of N.Korea Provocation: Yonhap
*N.KOREA'S KIM JONG UN CALLS FOR STRENGTHENED MILITARY, NHK SAYS
So Asia in general is in major sabre-rattling mode tonight with the following comment: South Korea’s military will firmly and thoroughly punish North Korea for any reckless provocation, Yonhap cited Shin as saying. We choose 'not to play'.
Via Bloomberg,
April 19 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea’s military has deployed cruise missiles capable of hitting key nuclear and missile facilities in North Korea, Yonhap News said, citing South Korea Major General Shin Won Sik.
South Korea’s military will firmly and thoroughly punish North Korea for any reckless provocation, Yonhap cited Shin as saying

Via Deccan Herald,
India fires nuke-tipped ICBM Agni-5
Bhubaneswar, April 19, 2012, DHNS
The country's first long range inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-5 was successfuly test-fired from Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast on Thursday.
The maiden test launch of India’s most advanced missile—Agni-V, was put off late on Wednesday evening by a day because of inclement weather conditions.
Official sources said the DRDO scientists who had been working hard for the test launch for more than two weeks decided to call off the test during the last minutes because of heavy lightning in the sky on the north Odisha coastline.
The test firing of the indigenously developed ballistic missile has assumed significance because its success would push India into the elite club of the five militarily powerful nations -- US, Russia, UK, France and China who have the capability to develop and launch a nuclear capable inter-continental missile.
The 17.5 metre long missile weighing 50 tonnes can travel up to 5,000 km to hit a target carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads of 110 kg.
If defence sources are to be believed, the prominent missile is scheduled for induction into the armed forces within the next two years. However, it had to be successfully test fired several times during the next one year before its scheduled entry into the forces.
and North Korea is acting out as usual - to be expected after the missile flop..... US threats N.K in the event of a third nuke test

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2012/04/19/0200000000AEN20120419002700315.HTML

2012/04/19 11:38 KST
(LEAD) N. Korea threatens to blow up Seoul over defamation of its leader
SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea urged South Korea Thursday to offer an apology over the alleged defamation of Pyongyang's milestone festival, a day after its military threatened to blow up Seoul.

The latest harsh rhetoric comes amid tensions following the North's failed rocket launch last week. The U.N. Security Council has condemned the launch and called on member states to find ways to tighten sanctions on the communist country.
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Po_detail.htm?No=89689&id=Po
US: Strike on N. Korea Possible if Nuclear Test Held
Write 2012-04-17 16:54:55 Update 2012-04-17 17:50:05
The commander of the U.S. Pacific Command says the U.S. may launch a surgical strike against missile bases and nuclear test sites in North Korea if it conducts a third nuclear test.

Admiral Samuel Locklear explained the U.S.'s position on Tuesday at a meeting with South Korean defense journalists at the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) in Seoul.

Locklear said Washington is closely watching the North in relation to the possibility of a third nuclear test, adding the U.S. and South Korea are looking at all options including a surgical strike.

Regarding the North’s new long-range ballistic missile unveiled on Sunday, Locklear said the U.S. will closely monitor the North’s missile development in cooperation with South Korea and other allies.

The commander added that the U.S. will maintain its military presence of about 28-thousand-500 troops in South Korea.
and.....
http://rt.com/news/north-korea-halts-nuclear-moraturium-325/
Pyongyang says it is “no longer bound to” its deal with the US, which provided a nuclear and missile test moratorium in return for food aid. The move comes in retaliation to the UN’s criticism of North Korea's failed satellite launch.
The UN Security Council (UNSC) condemned North Korea for last Friday’s rocket launch, which was widely regarded as a cover up to test a long range nuclear missile. On Tuesday, Pyongyang shot back at the UNSC for violating the country’s right to put satellites into orbit.
"We resolutely and totally reject the unreasonable behavior of the UNSC to violate (our) legitimate right to launch satellites," Pyongyang said in a statement delivered by the official KCNA news agency.
Washington pulled strings in the Council in order to rob Pyongyang of its right to conduct space research, the statement said.
"As the US violated the February 29 [North Korea-US] agreement through its undisguised hostile acts, we will no longer be bound to it," the statement said as quoted by Reuters.
Now, North Korea, free from the agreement, has "become able to take necessary retaliatory measures." The statement did not elaborate on exact measures.
Pyongyang agreed to give up all nuclear tests and rocket launches as well as uranium enrichment this past February. In response, Washington agreed to send some 240,000 tons in food aid to a country suffering from famine.
The same pact provided that International Atomic Energy Agency monitors, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, would be granted access to the nuclear scientific research center in Yongbyon. On April 16, the North went back on this part of the agreement.