Over 660 Indian nationals evacuated from Yemen arrived home by two IAF planes and a special Air India flight on Friday night, taking the total number of evacuees who have been safely brought back from the strife-torn country to 1,022.
Cracking the whip, India on Friday initiated action to scrap the deal for purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Italian firm AgustaWestland in the wake of allegations that kickbacks to the tune of Rs 362 crore were paid to bag it.
The defence ministry on Wednesday sought an explanation from BEML chief V R S Natarajan for serving a legal notice on former Army Chief Gen V K Singh demanding an apology for his alleged defamatory statements against the defence PSU on the Tatra truck issue.
The defence ministry was on Tuesday dismissive about a media report that the Army moved two units towards Delhi in January without informing the government, saying such exercises are conducted from time to time. "The points raised in the report have already been clarified by the Army. Such exercises are conducted by the Army from time to time," defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in a statement. He also dubbed the report as "baseless and incorrect".
The Centre on Saturday announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Bikram Singh as the next army chief from May 31, to succeed General V K Singh. Lieutenant General Singh, the eastern army commander, will head the 13-lakh strong force and have tenure of just over two years, till August 2014. "Lieutenant General Singh has been designated as the next chief of army staff, in the rank of general, with effect from the afternoon of May 31, 2012," defence ministry said.
The body of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who died in Shillong on Monday evening, was carried to Delhi early Tuesday morning by a special aircraft from Guwahati.
The Defence Ministry issued the order after the Cabinet Committee on Appointments cleared Singh's name for the top post, senior ministry sources said in New Delhi.
The Indian Air Force put its might on display at the full dress rehearsal on Tuesday, ahead of the 83rd Air Force Day on October 8, at the Hindon air base in Ghaziabad.
Defence Minister A K Antony will perform all the customary duties of the Prime Minister during Republic Day on Monday, the government said on Saturday, clearing confusion over the issue."The Defence Minister will lay a wreath at the India Gate before the Republic Day parade begins and step in for the Prime Minister in all functions related to the Republic Day." Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in New Delhi.
Defence Minister A K Antony has deferred his visit to Japan, scheduled from June 28, apparently in view of the political developments surrounding the Indo-US nuclear deal. Antony was to undertake a five-day visit aimed at enhancing defence cooperation between the two countries.
India on Wednesday dismissed reports that it had put its Air Force on a state of "high alert" and said nothing unusual or extraordinary has been done. "It is normal for the armed forces to remain on alert even in normal times," Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in Delhi, after reports started circulating that the Indian Air Force was put on an alert in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The clarifications came after media reports on Saturday quoted officials as saying that R&D work on Trishul will be stopped in December.
Indian Air Force's C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft on Saturday took off from the Hindon airbase in New Delhi carrying National Disaster Relief Force personnel and relief material to Nepal in the wake of the devastating earthquake that has hit the Himalayan country.
The ace cricketer, who had written to the Army authorities to undertake the training, will do five parachute jumps once he finishes his course. He reported to the Para Brigade, Agra for initial training in Para Jump by Para Training School on August 5.
The Indian Air Force flew 12 sorties to bring back Indian nationals, including many children.
The search for the missing Coast Guard Dornier aircraft and its three member crew continued for the seventh consecutive day on Monday with the involvement of multiple government agencies.
A number of senior faces from the outgoing cabinet including Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar and Prakash Javadekar are expected to figure in the new cabinet.
India on Monday signed a nearly USD 3 billion (around Rs 198 crore) deal for purchase of 22 Apache attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers with American aviation giant Boeing and the US government.
Survey ship Sandhayak picks up signals likely from missing Coast Guard aircraft
Modi has appointed P K Sinha, who superannuated as cabinet secretary on Friday, as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), he said.
The Dornier flight with three crew members, all deputy commandants, went missing on June 8 after a routine maritime surveillance sortie along Tamil Nadu coastline.
Spread out over 1000 acres, INS Vajrakosh, Indian Navy's latest establishment which was commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday, would be the home base for a bulk of the Indian Navy's strength on the western coast.
Indian Air Force and the army flew 2,223 sorties, shifted about 11,200 people to safer places and transported and dropped about 1,700 tonnes of relief material.
India has flown in relief material, rescue teams and medical supplies to quake-hit Nepal.
'Reports in a section of media regarding Union Minister Shri Arun Jaitley's health condition are false and baseless. Media is advised to stay clear of rumour mongering,' Government Spokesman Sitanshu Kar tweeted.
The funeral of late former President A P J Abdul Kalam will be held in Rameswaram, his birth place in Tamil Nadu, on July 30 with full military honours.
The long-pending One Rank One Pension Scheme for ex-servicemen was tonight brought into force with government issuing a notification which will benefit over 25 lakh veterans and war widows.
The public agitation launched for the demand of OROP on June 6 completes 100 days.
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