The defence ministry on Friday scrapped a scam-tainted tender worth over Rs 6,000 crore to procure 197 light helicopters from foreign vendors and decided to allow indigenous players to manufacture these choppers for the armed forces.
'Today's India is fearless and is on track to be a great power. But this is definitely not happening without women, who form 48 per cent of our population.'
>Putin's last-minute intervention with PM salvages $5.43 bn pact.
'The range of purchases throw a light on India's threat perception as also its perceived role of being a stabilising influence in the region,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'My understanding is that by the time President Xi Jinping came for the Chennai summit [2019], he had already instructed his army to undertake the action in Galwan in the summer of 2020.'
It seems that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is not in a mood to de-escalate the situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as it has continued deployment of around 40,000 troops in its front and depth areas for the Eastern Ladakh sector.
The visit is also aimed at boosting morale of the army personnel engaged in the seven-week bitter border faceoff with the Chinese troops in the region, sources added.
Bhatt said there is a shortage of 8,129 officers in the Indian Army that includes Army Medical Corps and Army Dental Corps.
General Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande viewed the Guard of Honour on Sunday, May 1, 2022, morning at South Block on assuming the office of Chief of the Army Staff.
Besides his strategic and tactical acumen, it was his amazing personality, quick wit and ability to remain unflustered under any circumstances that stood him apart from almost any leader one has read about or known, recalls Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The commanders present in Delhi gathered at the South Block in Raisina Hills area, while many others joined the deliberations virtually.
Swamy, a close friend of the Rajapaksa family, also met with Gotabaya's brother Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday evening and attended the Navratri pooja at his residence.
The two sides have also agreed for a joint mechanism to verify the progress in the disengagement process through delegation meetings as well as using unmanned aerial vehicles.
These missiles have a range of two to five km and they are capable of bringing down low flying helicopters and aircraft, they added.
Sources said the process of disengagement along the Line of Actual Control is "complex", and in such a context, speculative and unsubstantiated reports need to be avoided.
After a hiatus of nearly two decades, the government's programme to privatise state-owned firms restarted with the handing over of debt-laden national carrier Air India to the Tata Group. With the new owner shelling out Rs 18,000 crore for the buyout of the 'Maharaja', this would be the highest-ever amount garnered through privatisation, and is even more than the cumulative sum mopped up through strategic sales from 1999-00 to 2003-04. The government had in October last year inked the share purchase agreement with the Tata Group for sale of national carrier Air India for Rs 18,000 crore. Tatas would pay Rs 2,700 crore cash and take over Rs 15,300 crore of the airline's debt.
While many of them were engaged by Israeli forces, some managed to sneak back into Gaza with more than 200 civilian hostages.
Like the Shourya and Prahar missiles, the Pralay is powered by conventional solid fuel, and its payload is designed to carry only a conventional warhead.
At the talks, the Indian side insisted on complete disengagement of Chinese troops at the earliest and immediate restoration of status quo ante in all areas of eastern Ladakh prior to May 5 when the standoff began following a clash between the two armies in Pangong Tso, they said.
This is the third round of Corps Commander-level talks being held. The first two rounds had taken place in Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC.
General Bajwa remains in command as army chief and Prime Minister Imran Khan did not play any role in the reshuffle, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Did Vinod Sehgal die in Tsangdgar or was he taken PoW to Tibet or China? Why has the IAF kept so quiet for all these years, asks Claude Arpi.
The Chinese aircraft have been regularly flying close to the LAC in the last three to four weeks which is seen as an attempt to probe the Indian defence mechanism in the area.
More and more women are making their presence felt in jobs related to sciences, technology, and engineering across organisations.
Shanghai-based military analyst Ni Lexiong said the overhaul marked a significant strategic shift from having a homeland-based defensive force to one with the capacity to allow Beijing to flex its muscles beyond its national borders and to protect its interests overseas.
The PM's vision of a lean, agile, mobile and technology driven force requires more than 1.7 percent of GDP that it now gets.
'...they were shocked to learn that just 352 Indian soldiers had made 3 brigadiers, 2 colonels, 170 officers, 290 JCOs and 8,000 troops surrender to the Indian Army.'
Life in the north-eastern state of Manipur continued to limp back to normal as curfew was relaxed in 11 districts, including Imphal West, Bishnupur, Churachandpur and Jiribam, for six hours from 5 am, as no fresh incident of violence was reported, officials said on Wednesday.
'It conveys the impression that there is not enough talent available among the serving officers.' 'That does not reflect well on the professionalism of officer corps.'
Lt Gen Pande will succeed General MM Naravane, whose tenure ends on April 30.
This is the first time that a retired officer has been appointed at this position for which a gazette notification was issued to announce the change in rules for the appointment.
With the new owner shelling out Rs 18,000 crore for the buyout of 'Maharaja' this would be the highest ever amount garnered through privatisation or even the cumulative sum garnered through strategic sale in 1999-00 to 2003-04. The government had garnered roughly over Rs 5,000 crore during that five-year period by privatising 10 CPSEs.
Military affairs experts said his key challenge will be to build consensus among the three services for the theaterisation plan as the Indian Air Force has some apprehensions about its roll-out.
Helicopter Pilot Wing Commander Deepika Misra rescued 47 people in an operation that lasted 8 days in flood-ravaged Madhya Pradesh.
The answer to Chinese tactics of nibbling territory is not defence of every inch -- a military impossibility -- but instead, nibbling at Chinese territory wherever we are in a stronger position, counsels Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Ajit Doval has done a splendid job in handling the Pathankot attack and certainly helped save heavy destruction of critical air force assets,' says Abhay Jere.
The JIT will be taken to only those areas of the air force station that were accessed by the terrorists, who attacked the base in the early hours of January 2 this year.
The meeting was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General M M Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria.
'More than 1,000 schools and colleges have been identified in border and coastal districts where NCC will be introduced.'
The timing of these transfers, while being projected as routine, is significant in both strategic and political terms, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
