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SOURCE: ANI
A Kashmiri political activist has denounced Pakistan for raking up the Kashmir issue at a critical time when the whole of the world is fighting COVID-19 pandemic. On Sunday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office made public the contents of a letter written by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to the UN Secretary-General and the president of the United Nations Security Council on March 9 regarding what he described as the “dire” humanitarian situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sajjad Raja, Chairman of National Equality Party JKGBL, said all the sufferings of the Kashmiri people are due to Pakistani involvement in Kashmir and Pakistani sponsored ‘Jihad’ (holy war) and infiltration. Continue reading
SOURCE: THE DIPLOMAT
The recent attack, scattered violence in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), and recent propaganda directed toward Indian Muslims suggest a reorientation of IS strategy in an attempt to garner support by capitalizing on recent incidents of civil unrest in India. IS has always thrived on polarization between religious groups and social chaos for its activities and recruitment, and India is no exception.
This was the second ISKP attack on Afghanistan’s minority Sikh community after the 2018 suicide bombing of a convoy of Hindus and Sikhs in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, which killed 19 people. Attacking non-Muslims such as Sikhs — and even Muslims that do not adhere to its Salafi leanings, such as Shias — is a hallmark of IS ideology. Continue reading
SOURCE: DEFENCE-BLOG.COM
The Ministry of Defence of Serbia sold 282 T-55 tanks to Pakistan Army, which were from the arsenal marked as an obsolete equipment, Serbian Daily ‘Blic’ reported. The deal was agreed at the Arms Fair in Belgrade, and the contract of purchase, worth tens of millions of dollars, will be signed next week. A source from the Army told the daily that this contract is very important for the Serbian Army.
“The tanks, which had to be sold as obsolete equipment, will be modernized and sold to Pakistanis. Modernization will increase T-55 value many times. The deal was made in great secrecy because it is a contract worth tens of millions of dollars. An agreement in principle was reached in person with Pakistani Minister of Defense Industry,” said the source. Continue reading
SOURCE: SPUTNIK
In early 2020, the Uralvagonzavod plant reported that the state tests for the T-90M tank had been successfully completed. Deliveries of the state-of-the-art T-90M tank to the Russian Armed Forces will begin later in 2020, Oleg Yevtushenko, executive director of the country’s State Corporation Rostec, said on Monday.
“[…] In 2019, Uralvagonzavod completed state tests for the T-90M Proryv (Breakthrough) tank, and this year we will start to supply this armoured vehicle to the troops”, Yevtushenko pointed out.The state contract for the overhaul and modernisation of the T-90A tank, which yielded the T-90M, was clinched between the Defence Ministry and Uralvagonzavod at the Army 2019 forum in June of last year. Continue reading
SOURCE: FPJ
In recent days, the novel coronavirus pandemic has left many countries reeling. In India there have been over a thousand cases, while neighbouring Pakistan has seen around 1,625 cases.
With people being urged to stay at home to avoid the spread of the virus, governments have taken a slew of measures to provide aid. But even as relief measures are being announced allegations have surfaced that Hindus in different parts of Pakistan have been denied food and other essential supplies. Continue reading
SOURCE: PTI
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has pledged Rs 20 crore from its CSR fund to the Prime Ministers Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund.
In addition, the Bengaluru-headquartered defence PSUs employees have pledged their one day salary amounting to Rs. 6.25 crore. “This is a small step from HAL in supporting the Governments ongoing efforts in the fight against the novel Corona virus pandemic, HAL CMD R Madhavan, said. Continue reading
SOURCE: THE PRINT
RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) has urged the Narendra Modi government not to import from China any personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, eye gear, and testing kits and ventilators to fight the Covid-19 outbreak. Speaking to ThePrint, SJM national co-convener Ashwini Mahajan said China’s equipment and ventilators are not trustworthy, and that India should not rely on Chinese products in this critical time.
The SJM also wrote to the B.S. Yediyurappa government in Karnataka last week, urging it not to import “faulty” Chinese Covid-19 testing kits. Continue reading
SOURCE: DailyExcelsior
Army personnel have decontaminated the premises of Command Hospital in the city and identified those that came in contact with a doctor there who have tested positive for COVID-19, an official statement said here on Monday.People found to have come in direct contact with the doctor were relocated to a separate quarantine facility with full medical and administration support, it said.
The army doctor, who had travelled to Delhi between March 12 and 17 and participated in professional discussions in the national capital, had tested positive for COVID-19 at the Eastern Command Hospital on March 29. Continue reading
SOURCE: IANS
To cater to the requirement of oxygen supply for multiple patients during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, personnel from Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam has designed an innovative ‘portable multi-feed oxygen manifold (MOM)’ using a six-way radial header fitted to a single cylinder.
After successful trials, the dockyard has started manufacturing of the oxygen cylinder that can cater to six patients at one time. This innovation would enable one oxygen cylinder to supply to six patients concurrently, thus enabling critical care management to a larger number of COVID-19 patients with the existing limited resources. Continue reading
SOURCE: PTI
The Indian Army on Monday dismissed as “fake” certain messages circulating on social media about likely imposition of Emergency in the country next month to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. Army officials also said no effort is being initiated to rope in services of retired personnel, the National Cadet Corps and the volunteers enrolled under the National Service Scheme in the wake of the coronavirus crisis
“Fake and malicious messages are circulating on social media about likely declaration of emergency in mid-April and employment of #IndianArmy, #Veterans, NCC and NSS to assist the civil administration,” the Army’s Additional Director General of Public Information (ADGPI) tweeted. Continue reading
SOURCE: REPUBLIC TV
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday approved the first indigenously developed Coronavirus test kit by the country’s premier research and development organization DRDO. The test will cost Rs 1,200 against the present cost of Rs 4,500 per test. The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has devised several indigenous equipments including multiple-use ventilators, isolation tubes, bodysuits for doctors and N95 masks to fight COVID-19.
1. Ventilators
Since the COVID-19 virus also affects pulmonary functions, DRDO has also developed a wide range of other products like critical care ventilators. The Defence Bio-Engineering & Electro Medical Laboratory (DEBEL), Bengaluru, a DRDO lab, has identified a vendor to produce ventilators. The DRDO in a statement said that Innovation is on to create a ‘Multi patient-ventilator’ wherein several patients can be supported by a single ventilator. This innovation is expected to be available within a week. Approximately 5,000 ventilators will be produced in the first month and 10,000 subsequently. Each ventilator unit will cost around Rs 4 lakh. Continue reading
SOURCE: SIFY
The ongoing struggle against novel Coronavirus has brought to the fore the herculean task that the Covid-19 fighters are facing. Healthcare providers, essential services providers, sanitation workers etc. are central to this struggle and it is only fit that the country paused for a few minutes on 22 nd March to express their gratitude collectively.
However, not many people know that the first line of defence against Covid-19 is the Indian Armed Forces. It was the Indian Air Force (IAF) that evacuated 112 people from Wuhan on 26 th February and 58 more from Iran on 10 th March. This timely evacuation was appreciated by many countries including the US Department of State’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs that complimented the IAF for the same. Continue reading
SOURCE: PTI
The Railway Board has instructed zonal railways that they might be required to convert up to 20,000 coaches into isolation wards as part of its preparedness to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
In a letter to all the zonal general managers on Monday, the board has said that initially 5,000 coaches will be converted. It also said that the railways has held consultations with Armed Forces Medical Services, medical departments of various zonal railways, and Ayushman Bharat before taking the decision. Continue reading
SOURCE: ANITA DESAI / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG
Twin-engine Medium Class Omni-Role Combat Aircraft (ORCA) or Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) program born out of the necessity of the carrier-based requirements of the Indian Navy after it rejected plans to develop a single-engine fighter jet based on the LCA-Navy Mk2 concept which was rejected by the Navy due to various reasons but the questions remains will IAF will be part of the project which is not planned by it?
The timeline of the different developmental programs of fighter jets in India makes TEDBF/ORCA fall into two major programs which ADA along with HAL is developing for the air force, which is MWF-Mk2 and AMCA fighter jet programs respectfully. Air Force hopes MWF-Mk2 program will fill the bulk of the gap which will become void once Mirage and Mig-29 fleet could leave making it one of the prime and possibly the last 4.5 generation fighter jet initiated anywhere in the world. Continue reading
SOURCE: NEWS18
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) recently conducted maiden test flight of its Light Combat Aircraft Tejas in Final Operational Clearance-standard. The jet bearing number SP-21 was piloted by Air Cmde. K A Muthana (Retd), Chief Test Flying (Fixed Wing) of HAL. The aircraft took-off from HAL Airport and was airborne for 40 minutes.
“HAL achieved the momentous feat within a record time of 12 months after release of Drawing Applicability List (DAL) and SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) by CEMILAC”, the statement said. The FOC Tejas is said to be more advanced and was developed with improvements suggested after inducting LCA IOC in IAF. “It imbibes a lot of manufacturing improvements which were based on the operational feedback of LCA IOC (Initial Operational Clearance) fleet with IAF”, HAL said. Continue reading