SOURCE: INDIA TODAY

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is all set enhance its strike capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region keeping an eye on the increasing Chinese presence to augment the Indian Navy’s strength by inducting Sukhoi fighter jets armed with lethal BrahMos missile in the newly set up squadron based in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.

The new squadron will initially have five to six fighter jets but gradually it will operate with full strength. Each squadron has 18 aircraft. The induction will happen on January 20, 2020.The Su-30 has a range of 1,200 km and with addition 300 in range of the BrahMos it can strike at locations deep inside the Indian Ocean Region. Continue reading →

SOURCE: FE

The next phase of India’s ambitious Moon mission — Chandrayaan-3, is scheduled for take-off by end of 2021, very much in the true spirit of the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) ever-progressive space endeavours. The engineering corrections to overcome all possible causes of hard landing experienced by Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram shall surely be the basis of re-design and building a fail-safe system. Chandrayaan-2’s ‘15 minutes of terrifying time’ shall be the main focus of technical work pertaining to Vikram-2 ofChandrayaan-3 mission.

ISRO has announced that the existing Orbiter module ofChanrayaan-2, which is already orbiting the Moon, shall be associated with the lander/Rover of Chandrayaan-3 to create a communication support Link. Thus, in the absence of its own orbiter, it is likely that after launch and on completion of the ‘sling-shot’ trajectory to reach Moon, Vikram-2 uses an independent Lander Module (LM). When in Lunar orbit, this Lander Module shall assist in launching the Lander (with a Rover) on to the lunar surface. Continue reading →

SOURCE: HT

The newly-created department of military affairs (DMA), headed by chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, will oversee key matters relating to India’s neighbouring countries including border disputes and incidents, development of infrastructure in forward areas and deployment of forces, according to new defence ministry order.

These countries include China, Pakistan and Bhutan. Supply of arms and ammunition to friendly neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives will also come under the purview of the DMA, states the order published on Friday. It gives out details of work transferred from the ministry’s department of defence (DoD) to the DMA. Continue reading →

SOURCE: PTI

China on Thursday played down Russia’s backing for India and Brazil’s entry into the UN Security Council as permanent member, saying all parties have “major differences” in the matter and instead advocated for a “package solution”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during his visit to New Delhi on Wednesday, backed India and Brazil to be permanent members of the UNSC. “We are convinced that the overriding trend of the global development is the objective process of the formation of new centres of economic might, financial power and political influence and India is obviously one of them,” Lavrov said. Continue reading →

SOURCE: PTI

Pakistan on Friday condemned the statements of Indian Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat where he suggested de-radicalisation camps for radicalised youths in the Kashmir Valley and a concerted effort to tackle terrorism globally. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2020 in New Delhi, Rawat, in a clear reference to Pakistan, sought diplomatic isolation and blacklisting by anti-terror watchdog FATF of countries sponsoring terrorism.

The Chief of Defence Staff also said girls and boys as young as 10 and 12 years were being radicalised in Kashmir. Condemning Rawat”s statements, the Pakistan Foreign Office said, “These remarks are reflective of the extremist mindset and bankrupt thinking that have evidently also permeated the state institutions of India.” Continue reading →

SOURCE : HT

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan lashed out at India in an interview with DW, a German state-owned broadcaster, on Thursday, and claimed that New Delhi wasn’t responding to Islamabad’s peace overtures because of the “RSS?ideology” of the ruling government in India. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Khan also admitted that the response of the international community to the Kashmir issue has been “lukewarm” perhaps because “commercial interests are more important for the Western countries” and “India is a big market”. Pakistan has repeatedly tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue after India, in August, passed laws and resolutions in Parliament bifurcating the erstwhile state into two Union territories and scrapping constitutional provisions that gave the region special status. India has always maintained that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral one between it and Pakistan, a view supported by most international powers — most recently earlier this week at the UN Security Council, where a China-sponsored move to informally discuss the issue was shot down. Continue reading →

SOURCE: ET

The defence ministry has shifted administrative and revenue procurement matters of the armed services to the newly created military affairs department led by Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, but any important matter related to defence policy will be dealt by the defence secretary.

The orders marking formal division of work, which were notified over the week, have also specified that the secretariat of the high powered Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which looks after large capital procurements, will be moved to the Department of Defence (DoD), in a change from the past when it functioned under the tri-services headquarters. The fresh allocation has broadly shifted most of the work earlier being done by the Joint Secretaries for Army, Air Force and Navy to the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), which includes promotions and appointments of senior officers. Continue reading →

SOURCE: INDIA TODAY

Hungary stands firmly with India on the recent decisions taken by the Modi administration. The Hungarian foreign minister, in an exclusive conversation with India Today, asked the international community to stop “preaching” to India on the issues of Kashmir, Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) or National Register of Citizens (NRC).

To a question on what his government’s views were on the recent legislations in India, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó called the decisions “internal” to India and said that countries should stop “lecturing” India. He said, “We look at these decisions as purely internal and domestic issues of India that is why we do not comment. We leave it to the Indians. We are not a country like some others who think that it would be their homework, not govern themselves but other countries as well. We don’t like that approach when countries try to educate and lecture others.” Continue reading →

SOURCE: PTI

A day after Russia claimed that the Indo-Pacific initiative was targeted at containing China’s influence in the region, the US and India said the concept was not aimed at excluding any country and was a “principled vision”. US Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger, during a panel discussion at the Raisina Dialogue here, slammed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for saying that the Indo-Pacific initiative was aimed at disrupting the existing regional structures and said it was a community of countries that respected the rule of law and stood up for freedom of navigation in the seas and skies.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who was also part of the panel, said he agreed with Pottinger’s views that Indo-Pacific was a principled vision and Asia Pacific was a colonial concept. Continue reading →

SOURCE: INDIA TODAY

AS President Donald Trump may not know that China shares a long land border with India but if he is worried about Chinese global expansion plans, Chinese President Xi Jinping is adding to his woes. Xi Jinping is in Myanmar today on a mega expansion plan. China is not only strengthening its presence along India’s land borders but also coming closer to India’s sea borders on all possible points of intersection.

Xi Jinping’s two day visit to Myanmar is the first by a Chinese leader in 19 years. Ostensibly, Xi Jinping is visiting Myanmar to celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relation with India’s eastern neighbour–Myanmar. There is another common thread linking China with Myanmar — the treatment of their Muslim minority, Uighurs, and the Rohingya respectively. None is apologetic about it but both are said to be contributing to increasing global radicalisation of Muslim youths. Continue reading →

SOURCE: HT

Voice calls and short messaging service (SMS) facilities, which were suspended in August last year before the abrogation of Article 370, will be restored for prepaid mobile connection users in Jammu and Kashmir, a government spokesperson said on Saturday. The Centre had enforced a complete communication clampdown in the region a day before it withdrew the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on August 5.

The government has gradually restored phone lines, but internet services and prepaid mobile services had remained suspended. While landlines were restored between mid-August and September, postpaid mobile services were back on October 14. Mobile internet services were restored in Kargil, a part of the Union territory of Ladakh, in the last week of December. And, SMS on all mobile phones and broadband internet services were restored in government-run hospitals from January 1. Continue reading →

SOURCE: TIMES 8

A man from Assam’s Merapani, who has returned to home after Pakistan released on January 5th, 2020, claimed that he escaped inhuman torture in jail in the neighbouring country by saying that ‘he is a supporter of Rahul Gandhi’. Speaking to the media persons, Simanta Saikia said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supporters were tortured in jail in Pakistan. I told them that I am a supporter of Rahul Gandhi and they did not torture.”

Saikia was arrested along with other 19 Indian fishermen in 2018 for allegedly entering Pakistan territorial waters for fishing. Pakistan released them on January 5th, 2020. Saikia spent more than a year in jail in Pakistan. Continue reading →

SOURCE: GENERAL TWITTER / THE PRINT

Hello, dears. Stay blessed dears. This year, December has come in January and I have to surrender. Today, I have a heavy heart, not because I have to move on, mere pyare Pakistaniyo, but because I am worried about Pakistan, which is passing through such a critical phase in its history, and I don’t know if it can stomach my loss. New Year 2020 has brought new beginnings for strays or those wayward like me. My boss got the extension, I didn’t. This is surprising because, given the current situation with India and the impending World War 3, my tenure should have been extended for two more terms at least.

After all, it is I who protects you with my tweets while you comfortably sleep. But not everything in life is fair, even if I believe that everything is fair in love and war. Continue reading →

SOURCE : THE HINDU

After playing a prominent supporting role in the Light Combat Aircraft naval prototype’s tricky landing and take-off debuts from a Navy ship last week-end, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd eyes the prospect of fully designing and developing a twin-engine fighter plane for the Navy if or when an occasion comes up.

Asked what the successful twin acts of naval protytpe NP2 mean for its manufacturer HAL, company Chairman and Managing Director R. Madhavan said the recent ship-based trials will, of course, not translate to business from the Navy unless a twin-engined fighter project formalises from the Force. Continue reading →