another Malaysia Airlines has gone down and hours after it 'disintegrated' in the sky, several conspiracies are floating behind the tragedy.
All 298 people on board a Malaysia Airlines plane were killed on Thursday after the jet was shot down by "terrorists" over war-torn eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, nearly four months after the mysterious disappearance of MH370 in the Indian Ocean.
The United States is planning to use the services of an Indian satellite to get quicker weather information in war-torn Afghanistan, crucial for the movement of its military assets, the Pentagon has said.
'As far as acquisition of Russian equipment is concerned, with about 70% of Indian military equipment being of Russian origin, a sudden decision to abandon imports from Russia is not feasible,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Swarms of immature pink locusts and adult yellow locusts are currrently active. Not only are fresh locusts swarms expected to arrive in the coming weeks, but even those already present in India have mated and are breeding new offspring.
Australian researchers on Wednesday said they have detected a low-frequency underwater noise off India's southern tip at about the time MH370 mysteriously disappeared, as a British woman sailing from Kochi to Phuket in March claimed that she may have seen the plane on fire.
The Theatre-level Readiness and Operational Exercise was conducted to test combat readiness of the combined fleets of the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and the Coast Guard.
The sources said the military brass is considering deploying Indian Navy's MiG-29K fighter jets in a couple of air bases in the northern sector as part of efforts to bring in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges.
'Notwithstanding the realisation among the Indian leadership to build up its navy for the force's expanding role, the Indian Navy was allocated only 15% of the interim defence budget presented in Parliament in February 2019.' 'The outlay for the navy's capital acquisition is not even adequate to meet its committed liabilities,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
"Rafale's induction in the air force is an important and historical moment and it is a matter of pride for us to be witness to this moment. I congratulate the Armed Forces, and all countrymen on this occasion. The induction of Rafale in IAF's fleet shows the strong relations between India and France. India and France have been economic, cultural and strategic partners since long. Our faith in strong democracy and a wish for world peace are the basis of our relation," Singh said at the induction ceremony being held at the IAF airbase in Ambala.
'If the Chinese intent is to be gauged based on its aggression in the South China Sea, greater forays in the Indian Ocean, a hawk's attitude towards Taiwan, flying its fighters repeatedly over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea and creating strategic assets globally, there would be a requirement for strategic partnerships for India,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
There is no conceivable reason for any big power to put road blocks on the path of an India-Pakistan normalisation process, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India has progressed extremely well and probably better than any country near the Indian Ocean in establishing a tsunami warning system, an internationally acclaimed tsunami expert said on Thursday.
A Thai satellite has spotted hundreds of floating objects in southern Indian Ocean that could possibly be the debris of the crashed Malaysian plane, even as bad weather on Thursday grounded multination aerial search for the aircraft's wreckage.
Distraught relatives of several passengers aboard Flight MH370 on Sunday launched a $5 million (about Rs 29.48 crore) reward to "entice" a whistle-blower who can provide key information and help their search to trace the Malaysian jet that vanished mysteriously three months ago.
'While many Chinese policy makers dismiss the political, economic and technological component of US-India relations, they express caution on the defence-related ties which also happens to be a major driver in US-India relations,' explains China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
Multinational rescue teams were scouring remote seas in the Indian Ocean to trace the missing Malaysian plane carrying 239 people on board, as the desperate search for the jet entered its third week on Saturday.
Two objects possibly related to the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 239 people have been spotted in the southern Indian Ocean, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Thursday.
This was the first major request of arms sale purchase by India after Obama designated New Delhi as a major 'strategic defence partner'.
A robotic submarine deployed to locate the missing Malaysian plane's black boxes on the floor of the Indian Ocean on Tuesday aborted its first search as it encountered water deeper than its operating limits of 4.5 km.
The arduous hunt for the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on Friday entered a new phase with two hi-tech ships scouring a large area in the Indian Ocean for the black box of the jet before pings from it fall silent.
Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria was at the Leh IAF base on Wednesday where he reviewed operational preparedness of the force in effectively guarding the sensitive border areas in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese armies have been on a nearly six-week standoff.
The four-day joint Naval exercise 'MALABAR 2013' in the Bay of Bengal between the United States and India, providing an opportunity to advance multinational maritime relationship and mutual security issues, began on Thursday.
An agreement to expedite the Jaitapur nuclear plant was expected to be signed.
The permanent system, in development, is expected to be operational by July 2006.
Access to Sabang Port will allow the Indian Navy to dominate Malacca Strait more effectively, reports Ajai Shukla.
Mere shuffling of resources or cosmetic changes to prove a point would be counterproductive in the long run, observes Commodore Venugoptal Menon (retd).
A yet-to-be-released US Department of Defence report has found that the Indian Navy's expensive new Boeing P-8I multi-mission maritime aircraft ineffective at surveillance and detection and destruction of submarines.
A yet-to-be-released US Department of Defence report has found that the Indian Navy's expensive new Boeing P-8I multi-mission maritime aircraft ineffective at surveillance and detection and destruction of submarines.
Defence experts want defence expenditure to be at 3% of GDP, which they consider minimum to counter the two-front threat from China and Pakistan, internal insurgencies, and dominating a 7,500 km coastline and the Indian Ocean beyond. What Arun Jaitley has given India this Budget is 2.16% of GDP, observes Ajai Shukla.
It is speculated that the tsunami was caused by activity around a volcanic island in the strait, Krakatoa, which is 156 km west of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
The search for the missing Malaysian aircraft may take "decades" as its wreckage could be spread over a big area in the Indian Ocean, a top Malaysia Airlines official said, while criticising the government for not informing them about the air turn back made by the jet.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said India is committed to resolve all issues through dialogue, noting the way ahead to address the issue is negotiations.
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We celebrate Dassera and regard it as an auspicious day as a day of victory of good over evil! So was 16 December! It is time we regard this day as auspicious as Dassera in future, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'We don't need to hinge India-UK relations on shared hostility toward China,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sufyan Shaikh, the first Indian to complete swimming in ten seas takes us through the spectacular moments that defined his life and career.
In the wake of the crash of flight MH370, Malaysian authorities have issued new security instructions ordering that the pilot and co-pilot are not allowed to be left alone in the cockpit, even when one of them is taking a toilet break.
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