Putin orders rain away for tercentenary celebrations

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the St Petersburg’s Geophysics Observatory to keep the city free from rain during the upcoming 10-day tercentenary celebrations of the northern capital.

Ten cloud-seeding aircraft equipped with chemical charges will be in the skies to protect St Petersburg from rain on the occasion, as up to 50 heads of states and governments, including US President George W. Bush, British PM Tony Blair, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee are scheduled to attend the gala ceremonies on May 30-31.

Cloud-seeding was a common practice in the Soviet era, when Russians sought to chase away the clouds on national holidays, when the military parades were held on the Red Square in Moscow. Cloud-seeding planes were also used during the 1994 Goodwill Games in St Petersburg.

The Russian Government has already allocated about $1 million to Rosgidromet, the national meteorological service, for providing support to the celebrations, Itar-Tass reported quoting the government Information Department.