The Indian Air Force is set to conduct a mega airshow on Marina Beach in Chennai on the occasion of the 92nd Air Force Day on October 6.
Taking objection to the training being imparted to Sri Lankan Air Force personnel at an Indian Air Force base near Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalaithaa on Thursday urged the Centre to immediately cancel the programme and send back the personnel to the island nation.
If I were to explain stealth to a layperson, I'd ask them to think of the game chupan-chupai (hide and seek) we played as children, explains Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
"The water level in the city has gone down considerably after initial days of flooding. Since Saturday evening all aerial rescue and relief operations have been called off. There are no further communications from either Tamil Nadu government or Centre to carry them out as the city is slowly returning to normalcy," a top IAF official told PTI on Sunday.
Defence aircraft as also a couple of civilian ones ferried people to Delhi and Hyderabad since morning even as the Indian air Force flew sorties to bring more people to the naval base that has played a critical role in the overall operations.
Rescue and relief operations continued in full swing in Chennai with over a hundred people taken to safety by teams of Army, IAF and NDRF, including a seven-month pregnant woman who was airlifted on Thursday from one of the worst-affected areas in the flooded city.
The plane went missing on Friday while flying from Chennai to Port Blair with 29 people on board.
In a precarious mission, Wing Commander Charles Simon and Squadron Leader S Venkatramanan and crew rescued a woman in labour from atop a water tank in Chennai. She delivered twins! Archana Masih/Rediff.com spoke to the pilots about that dramatic day.
Meanwhile, the search and rescue team is seeking satellite imagery to find any clue of the plane that lost contact over the Bay of Bengal.
The 125 Helicopter Squadron (Gladiators) since its formation in November 1983 has enhanced its operational capability over the years and earned accolades for its valour and strike capabilities when deployed internally as well as abroad.
Battling choppy weather, power crisis, inundated streets and the odds, the students, with a few girls among them, survived through the tough times, keeping each other strong.
Residents of this hamlet have been thronging the house of 24-year-old Airman Pritam Chand since the day the IAF aircraft went missing.
An emotionally overwhelmed Karthik, father of the twins, is in awe of the IAF now, and says, "I salute these brave men."
Over 600 people including more than 130 university students and an old French couple were taken to safety on Friday by a coordinated team of defence and NDRF personnel.
Pride was writ large on the faces of naval staff at Arakkonam Base that is playing a stellar and critical role in carrying out the rescue and relief operations for people affected by the torrential rains in Chennai.
This is perhaps the first categorical statement by the government on the fate of the 29 people on board the IAF workhorse.
5 planes and 13 ships are out trying to track the aircraft, which was carrying 29 people on board.
Commissioned on December 14, 1974 in the fighter stream of the IAF, Raha has held various command, staff and instructional appointments in his 39-year-old career.
Air Marshal Arup Raha, an ace fighter pilot, on Tuesday took over as the Indian Air Force chief succeeding Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne.
'This week will be crucial and we are prepared.'
Muthukrishnan was one of the passengers on the IAF flight that has gone missing in the Bay of Bengal.
Defence Minister A K Antony is flying down to Bangalore to award the Tejas its initial operational certificate on Friday. The Sitara's success in intensive flight-testing this year means that he could soon be making another trip to award an identical certification to the Sitara.
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