SOURCE: PTI

Silence hangs over the hillocks adjoining Hidur and Kalpar villages in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district where 29 Maoists were gunned down by security forces in an encounter. Hours after the biggest encounter ever in the state ended, bullet marks could be seen on the trees at the site on Wednesday. Bloodstains were also visible on the ground which is covered by a thick carpet of fallen bamboo leaves.

In the nearby villages, local tribals, most of them women, could be seen outside, but they were reluctant to speak about what they saw or heard during the encounter on Tuesday.

SOURCE: AFI

India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has announced a series of test flights leading up to its first-ever human space mission, Gaganyaan, according to ISRO Chief S Somanath.

Somanath stated that “two more uncrewed missions will happen next year” followed by the “manned mission, if everything goes well, by the end of next year.” “The airdrop test will happen on April 24. Then two more uncrewed missions will happen next year and then the manned mission, if everything goes well, by the end of next year,” Somanath said.

SOURCE: PTI

A state-of-the-art premier testing and evaluation hub for sonar systems meant for the Indian Navy was inaugurated by DRDO chairman Samir V Kamat on Wednesday, officials said. Submersible Platform for Acoustic Characterisation and Evaluation (SPACE) was inaugurated at Underwater Acoustic Research Facility, Kulamavu, in Idukki, Kerala, the defence ministry said in a statement.

Set up by the Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory of the DRDO, SPACE has been designed as “a premier testing and evaluation hub for sonar systems destined for Indian Navy, onboard various platforms including ships, submarines and helicopters,” it said.

SOURCE: ANI

The US has offered support for reforms to United Nations institutions, including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

When asked about Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s statement regarding India’s lack of a permanent seat at the UNSC, Vedant Patel said, “The President has spoken about this before in his remarks to the UN General Assembly, and the Secretary has alluded to this as well. We certainly support reforms to the UN institution, including the Security Council, to make it reflective of the 21st-century world that we live in. I don’t have any specifics to offer on what those steps are, but certainly, we recognise that there is a need for reform, but I will leave it at that for now.”

SOURCE: PTI

The government has notified amendments to the foreign direct investment policy in the space sector to attract offshore investors in satellite manufacturing and satellite launch vehicles segments.

Amendment made in the FDI policy for space sector through a gazette notification dated April 16, 2024, prescribes liberalized entry route and provides clarity for FDI in satellites, launch vehicles and associated systems or subsystems, creation of spaceports for launching and receiving Spacecraft and manufacturing of space-related components and systems.

SOURCE: PTI

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said that India’s boundaries with its neighbours, including China and Pakistan, were “completely secure”. 

The senior BJP leader Singh made the statement in an apparent reference to the Congress allegations that China has occupied around 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory, taken over 26 out of 65 patrolling points in Ladakh and built complete villages 50-60 km deep inside Arunachal Pradesh. 

SOURCE: ANI

The Indian ambassador to Ukraine, Harsh Jain, paid a visit to Ivano-Frankivsk on Tuesday and met with governor Svitlana Onyshchuk as well as members of the Indian diaspora in the city. The Indian envoy also visited Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University, met with the university’s Rector, Roman Yatsyshyn and interacted with the Indian students.

The Indian embassy in Ukraine took to X, stating, “Amb. Harsh Jain visited Ivano-Frankivsk on April 16. He met Governor Svitlana Onyshchuk, Rector of Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University Roman Yatsyshyn, interacted with the Indian students and met with the members of Indian diaspora in the city. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy.”

SOURCE: ANI

A civilian, hailing from Bihar, was shot dead by the terrorists in the Bijbehara area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday evening. According to Kashmir Police, the civilian, hailing from Bihar, identified as Raja Shah, was fired upon by the terrorists in Bijbehara. Taking to social media handle X, Kashmir Zone Police posted, “Terrorists fired upon and critically injured one person identified as Raju Shah, a resident of Bihar, at Jablipora Bijbehera, Anantnag.

” He has been evacuated to the hospital for treatment, and the area was cordoned off soon after the incident, said police. The police further informed, that the injured person, who was shot at by terrorists, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. “The injured person, who was shot at by terrorists, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

SOURCE: PTI

Sweltering conditions, a rough terrain and unavailability of drinkable water were some of the challenges faced by the security personnel during their encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district, a police officer said on Wednesday. But their toil and struggle did not go to waste as 29 Maoists were killed in the operation that took place near Binagunda village under Chhotebethiya police station limits, he said.

Around 200 personnel of the state police’s District Reserve Guard and the Border Security Force were involved in the operation that took place on Tuesday.

SOURCE: PTI

Two terror suspects were arrested from Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday following the recovery of arms and ammunition from their possession, the Army said.

“On specific Intelligence input, a joint operation was launched by #IndianArmy & @JmuKmrPolice on 17 Apr at Naina, Bijbehara in Anantnag. Two suspected individuals have been apprehended along with the recovery of one Weapon, one Hand Grenade and other war-like stores,” Srinagar-based Chinar Corps of the Army posted on X.

SOURCE: ANI

India’s Premier Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Exhibition, AeroDef India 2024, in its 4th edition is set to take place in New Delhi from April 18-20, 2024 – Organised by Sustainable Development Leaders Council (SDLC), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable manufacturing and equitable growth Aerodef’s New Delhi edition will aim to support the sourcing needs of the new UP Defence Corridor.

The high focus on self-reliance and boosting domestic defence production is leading to a heightened focus on strengthening supply chains and ensuring that innovation at MSME’s is aligned with the needs of defence OEM’s to assist manufacturers in sourcing components, input materials, assemblies, and sub-assemblies from the burgeoning defence MSME sector in India. Such interactions do encourage a lot of R&D which in general remains a challenge for smaller enterprises.

SOURCE: PTI

The Indian Army has been monitoring the Israel-Hamas conflict so that its soldiers are trained to tackle similar situations on the border if terrorist attacks are launched from Pakistan or any other country, the general heading the Army Training Command said here on Tuesday.

“We are also closely watching the Russia-Ukraine war for three years to know how the drones and new technologies are impacting the war,” Lt Gen Manjinder Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Shimla base Army Training Command also said.

SOURCE: Bloomberg

Indian leaders seem confident they can ride out the diplomatic furor after their government was accused of complicity in the assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada. Perhaps they’re right. But they should consider the potential costs of that decision nonetheless.

On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian investigators were “pursuing credible allegations of a potential link” between Indian agents and the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, outside a temple in British Columbia last June. Trudeau said he had raised the issue directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called on India to cooperate in the investigation, emphasizing that “any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.” Canada also expelled a senior diplomat, said to be India’s top intelligence official in the country.

SOURCE: ANI

 In a significant step forward in strengthening bilateral ties between India and Uzbekistan, General Manoj Pande, the Chief of the Army Staff, inaugurated a high-tech IT Laboratory at the Uzbek Academy of Armed Forces

The Army Chief is in Uzbekistan on a visit from April 15-18. This development marks a milestone in the defence cooperation between the two nations, following a commitment made during the Defence Ministers’ meeting in September 2018.

SOURCE: PTI

Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Wednesday questioned the intention behind the CPI(M)’s poll manifesto promise to dismantle the nuclear weapons in the country and demanded to know the stand of the Congress on this issue.

Singh alleged that talks of dismantling India’s nuclear weapons amount to playing with national security. He also alleged that there was a “deep rooted conspiracy to weaken the country”.