President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday conferred Distinguished Service Awards, including 52 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, on 84 serving and retired personnel of the armed forces and the Indian Coast Guard.
The accident occurred at 7:45 pm while the pilot was attempting to land the B737 Air India Express from Dubai at the tabletop runway of the Karipur International Airport.
Who else do we know who meditated so with such impeccable timing (much of the Lok Sabha elections over and with only the last phase to go) and hordes for unsolicited defence of the grand meditation at public expense? asks Shyam G Menon.
When the IAF veterans' bail petition came up for hearing, in an unprecedented move, senior serving and retired Air Marshals and Air Vice Marshals rallied behind the accused officers and appeared before the court to give sureties for each, something that has never happened ever before.
"A number of older generation aircraft like MiG-21 are operating since early sixties. We have problems with the ageing fleets and their maintenance," Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Indian Air Force's (IAF) Eastern Air Command, Air Marshal Kishan Kumar Nohwar told a press conference in Shillong.
Defence sources said the issue is likely to be solved within a week.
The plane went missing on Friday while flying from Chennai to Port Blair with 29 people on board.
The plane went up in flames as it crashed with an explosion and thick smoke billowed from the spot, leaving passersby and residents living around the airport in a shock.
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and Air Marshal Manvendra Singh who headed the tri-service investigation into the crash apprised Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the findings of the probe on Wednesday.
The entire base must be spic and span with flags fluttering along the roads. Everything that moves will be washed and bedecked with the best while everything that is static will be painted afresh, observes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
'We should have seen these signals and reacted earlier.' 'We miss out on a certain strategic advantage by arriving late on the scene.'
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 target is 2022. It is absolutely on target. I mentioned earlier. Except for one or two aircraft, minor delays because of COVID related issues, but, in fact, some deliveries have been ahead of time. So, broadly, we are absolutely on target on the Rafale induction plan," he said.
A contingent of about 500 commandos, snipers and VIP security personnel drawn from various Central Armed Police Forces have been stationed in Delhi.
"Though falling squadron strength is a cause of worry," Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command Air Marshal P S Ahluwalia said that IAF had the resources and platforms to get the better of any threat from the western sector.
Boeing said the first batch of the Apaches arrived in India and an additional four choppers will be delivered to the IAF next week.
The disengagement plan was discussed between the two sides during the 8th Corps Commander-level talks which were held on November 6 in Chushul.
Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria flew a Tejas single-seater light combat aircraft MK1 FOC fighter during his visit to IAF and flight test establishments and facilities of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru.
It said Pakistan does not have any other fighters capable of firing an AMRAAM missile.
On June 8, 2006, President APJ Abdul Kalam became the first Head of State to fly a fighter plane, when he flew the Sukhoi-30 MKI at the Lohegaon Air Force Base in Pune.
Chief of defence staff Bipin Rawat on Thursday said the controversy about the Chinese coming into the Indian territory and building a new village is 'not true,' and that the villages were well within the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control.
In all likelihood, the next conventional Chinese attack on India would be preceded by a massive cyber attack designed to cripple Indian networks and interfere with our disaster-relief programmes.
The national flag will fly half-mast on the day of the funeral in Delhi.
The 1971 war reaffirmed the importance of inspirational senior leadership in battle and heralded the emergence of a new fighting class amongst officers and men of India's armed forces.
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