The Indian Navy has received a replacement MQ-9B Sea Guardian drone from General Atomics after one of its leased drones crashed into the Bay of Bengal in September 2023. The new drone replaces the one lost in a "controlled ditching" due to a technical snag. The Indian Navy has also leased two MQ-9B drones from General Atomics in 2020, and India has signed a deal to procure 31 Predator drones from General Atomics for USD 4 billion. The supply of these drones will begin in January 2029. The Navy is also pushing for another indigenously-built aircraft carrier to replace INS Vikramaditya, which is expected to have a lifespan of another 10 years.
The Indian Navy, which was earlier looking towards the US for design expertise, technical know-how and operational practices, is now considering the advantages of working with the Royal Navy.
rediffGURU Rohit Gupta, co-founder and COO of College Vidya, provides a list of competitive exams that can help you land a job in the public sector.
India will display its military prowess and cultural heritage at the 76th Republic Day celebrations on Kartavya Path in New Delhi. The parade will feature 16 tableaux from states and Union Territories, 15 from central ministries, and a tri-services tableau showcasing the spirit of "jointness" among the armed forces. The event will also include a flypast featuring 40 IAF aircraft and three Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, as well as a display of cutting-edge defense platforms including BrahMos, Pinaka and Akash.
'A crucial role in bolstering the Indian Army's firepower by enabling precise and long-range strikes.'
The Maldives government has set a target of attracting 300,000 Indian tourists in 2025, aiming to regain its position as a top destination for Indian travelers. The country's tourism sector has been impacted by strained relations between Male and New Delhi, which led to a decline in Indian tourist arrivals in 2024. To revive the Indian tourist market, the Maldives is planning a major campaign, including a brand ambassador, cricket summer camps, and expanded flight routes from more Indian cities.
India will showcase its military prowess and rich cultural heritage on Kartavya Path in New Delhi on January 26 to mark the 76th Republic Day. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will be the chief guest at the event, which will also see the participation of a marching contingent and a band contingent from Indonesia. The theme of the parade is 'Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas', focusing on the platinum jubilee of the enactment of the Constitution. The parade will feature a number of cutting-edge defense platforms, including BrahMos, Pinaka and Akash, as well as the Army's Battle Surveillance System 'Sanjay' and DRDO's surface-to-surface tactical missile 'Pralay'.
Russian forces have made minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days and they continue to suffer heavy losses, the UK's ministry of defence said on Thursday.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited " from the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, ending days of speculation of when and how he will be extradited, officials said. The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives. Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.
The defence ministry on Sunday said the decision is in line with Singh's vision of "inclusive participation" of all women in the armed forces, irrespective of their ranks.
A series of Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan's Barmal district of Paktika province has resulted in the death of 46 people, with six people left injured so far, with the majority of victims being women and children, as reported by Khaama Press, citing reports from Taliban authorities.
The air defence command is proposed to be set up alongside the Central Command Headquarters of the IAF which controls important air bases including Agra, Gwalior and Bareilly.
Indo-Canadian Anita Anand and Delhi-born Kamal Khera are part of new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's cabinet. Anand is the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry while Khera is Minister of Health. Carney's cabinet with 13 men and 11 women is smaller than Trudeau's 37-member team.
If the fiscal deficit target of 4.9% of GDP has to be met for 2024-2025, which the government must in view of the uncertainties and challenges emerging both domestically and globally, the finance ministry may see in the composition of the current year's capex a sliver of hope, notes A K Bhattacharya.
the defence ministry told Parliament on Monday that foreign procurement in defence has risen to Rs 50,061 crore (Rs 500.61 billion) in 2021-2022 from Rs 37,030 crore (Rs 370.30 billion) in 2017-2018.
Seventy-two women officers from the Indian Army have issued a legal notice to the defence ministry over strict compliance with the Supreme Court order on granting permanent commission to females in the force. "The notice has been sent on behalf of 72 women officers who are fully entitled to be granted permanent commission on the basis of a clear and unambiguous order of the Supreme Court on 25 March this year," counsel of the women officers Major Sudhanshu Pandey said.
China also removed Finance Minister Liu Kun and appointed Lan Fo'an in his place. Liu is the third senior Cabinet minister to be replaced without any explanation.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it a 'brazen assault' on the Constitution and part of the BJP's strategy to keep society in a 'permanent state of polarization.' She also spoke out against the One Nation, One Election Bill, calling it a 'subversion of the Constitution.' Gandhi further accused the Modi government of ignoring the women's reservation bill and other demands for reservation, and of 'dragging the country into an abyss' where the Constitution will only exist on paper. She also criticized the government for limiting the speaking time of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and for not allowing discussions on important issues like the working of the defense and external affairs ministries and the challenges posed by China on the border.
It would be the prime minister's first bilateral visit to the US after Trump became president for a second term.
The ministry said "local designations" assigned to both service and civilian officers in Service Headquarters/ Inter Service Organisations is also withdrawn.
In a year bookended by intractable conflicts and geopolitical fragmentation, India focused on ramping up military prowess by broadly firming up defence procurement worth Rs 4.22 lakh crore even as Indian and Chinese militaries completed pulling back their troops from border face-off points in eastern Ladakh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for enhancing trade and investment ties between their countries and committed to further deepening their engagement in the Indo-Pacific. They discussed a full spectrum of bilateral relations, including key global and regional issues, and stressed the urgent need for reform in the United Nations Security Council. The leaders also underscored their commitment to ensuring the global AI sector can drive positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
The Kirti Chakra awardees are Major Digvijay Singh Rawat of 21st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), Major Deependra Vikram Basnet from the Sikh Regiment's fourth battalion and Havildar Pawan Kumar Yadav from the 21st battalion of the Mahar Regiment, according to the defence ministry.
Jaitley can make his innings -- notwithstanding its likely length -- to be a watershed tenure, or just add to the image of the MoD drifting rudderless, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
This will be the first full-year Budget of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government since it came to power for a third consecutive term in July last year.
The indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) and the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will not be part of the upcoming Republic Day flypast in India due to the grounding of the entire fleet of ALH-Dhruv helicopters following a crash earlier this month. The grounding of the helicopters is a result of a Coast Guard ALH crash in Porbandar, Gujarat on January 5, which claimed the lives of two pilots and an aircrew diver. The decision to exclude the ALH-Dhruv and Tejas from the flypast comes as a high-level probe panel investigates the cause of the crash.
He said that in recent times, based on the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, China and India have maintained close communication on the border situation through diplomatic and military channels and achieved great progress.
China on Tuesday retaliated US President Donald Trump's imposition of 2nd round of ten per cent tariffs on its export by slapping an additional 15 per cent tariffs on American goods and initiated legal action against Washington in WTO while leaving the door open for talks to address each other's concerns.
India's rich cultural diversity, military prowess, economic progress and the strides it has taken in sectors, such as science and technology, were on full display at the 76th Republic-Day celebrations on Kartavya Path on Sunday, in the presence of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to work towards a 'trusted' partnership with a focus on boosting India-US cooperation in areas of trade, energy and defence in their first phone conversation since the American leader's inauguration last week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has concluded his visit to France, which included co-chairing an AI summit and bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. He is now headed to the US for a bilateral meeting with President Trump. Modi's visit to France included discussions on trade, defense, energy, and cultural linkages. He also inaugurated India's new consulate in Marseille. During his visit to the US, Modi will also interact with business leaders and members of the Indian community.
Warship building projects worth at least Rs 630 billion have ground to a standstill. The defence ministry has halted tendering in wait for a government decision on whether to allow, or to exclude, Anil Ambani's shipbuilding firm from those contracts.
Following Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan's Barmal district of Paktika province, which left 46 dead and six injured, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan on Wednesday summoned the Charge d'Affaires of the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul.
India and China have agreed to work towards a "roadmap" for rebuilding mutual trust following the border standoff in eastern Ladakh, according to a statement from the Indian Defence Ministry. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun in Vientiane, Laos, on the sidelines of a regional security conclave. Singh called for drawing lessons from the "unfortunate border clashes" of 2020 and emphasized the need for cooperation rather than conflict. Both sides agreed to work towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding, and a meeting of the Special Representatives and Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism will also take place soon.
An internal audit report ordered by the defence ministry has raised questions over the functioning of the DRDO and the grant of Rs 2.8 crore by its chief V K Saraswat to a society under him.
The United States has imposed sanctions on 275 individuals and entities, including 15 from India, for allegedly supporting Russia's military-industrial base.
The jackets have been developed at the DRDO Industry Academia Centre of Excellence at IIT-Delhi, the ministry said in a statement.
Bangladesh has summoned the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka over border tensions, accusing India of violating a bilateral agreement by constructing fences at five locations along the Indo-Bangla border. The development comes after Bangladesh officials alleged that India had halted construction of barbed wire fencing due to strong opposition from the Border Guard Bangladesh and local residents.
Singh and Shoigu held extensive talks, covering the regional security situation and key aspects of bilateral defence relations, including industrial partnership, at a meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in New Delhi.
India on Tuesday pressed Russia to release all the Indians recruited by the Russian military, following the death of another Indian national in the Russia-Ukraine conflict zone, taking the death toll to 10.
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