SOURCE: Bloomberg 

The US is preparing a military aid package for India to deepen security ties and reduce the country’s dependence on Russian weapons, people familiar with the matter said. The package under consideration would include foreign military financing of as much as $500 million, according to one person, which would make India one of the largest recipients of such aid behind Israel and Egypt. It’s unclear when the deal would be announced, or what weapons would be included. 

The effort is part of a much larger initiative by President Joe Biden’s administration to court India as a long-term security partner, despite its reluctance to criticize Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, according to a senior US official who asked not to be named.  

SOURCE: DHNS

The indigenously built aircraft carrier Vikrant—which is expected to be commissioned into the Indian Navy in August this year—will increase the blue-water force’s reach from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh termed Vikrant a “major milestone” in the Indian Navy’s path of ‘Aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance). Vikrant—also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC-1) and named after the decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant—has been built by the Cochin Shipyard Ltd.

SOURCE: PTI

‘HANSA-NG’, a two-seater flying trainer aircraft, design and developed by CSIR-NAL, has successfully completed in-flight engine relight test at DRDO’s Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) facility at Challakere on Tuesday.

Flight test was carried out at an altitude of 7,000-8,000 feet with the speed range of 60 to 70 knots by Wg Cdr K V Prakash and Wg Cdr NDS Reddy, Test Pilots from Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), Indian Air force (IAF), NAL said in a release.

SOURCE: NEWS18

While India faces a growing threat from enemy drones, especially for sensitive and high-profile buildings, airports, and other areas, the country’s elite anti-terror force National Security Guard (NSG) is preparing itself to neutralise this danger.

News18 has learnt that the force is now gearing up to conduct anti-drone operations in civil areas just like any other counterterror exercise. The NSG is also preparing itself to secure sensitive areas during special occasions from any drone attack.

SOURCE: Foreign Policy

India may be nowhere near turning its partnership with the United States into any sort of formal or informal military alliance, but their growing strategic engagement dominates China’s discourse on India. Next week’s Tokyo summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad—a loose grouping of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States—is therefore bound to be of special concern in Beijing.

On the face of it, China’s persistent campaign against India’s ties with the United States, its characterization of the Quad as an “Asian NATO,” and its blistering attacks against the Indo-Pacific geopolitical construct embraced by New Delhi and its partners in the Quad seem unnecessarily alarmist. Its top diplomats have castigated the Quad members for “ganging up in the Asia-Pacific region, creating trilateral and quadrilateral small cliques, and [being] bent on provoking confrontation.

SOURCE: PTI

India is facing multiple security challenges in a highly complex and unpredictable geo-political environment, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said on Tuesday and called upon the armed forces to be fully prepared to handle any challenge and repel any security threat firmly.

Also, Venkaiah Naidu, who is the first Vice President to visit the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, in the district, in 52 years, said taking into account new and emerging areas of conflict, the armed forces should develop the Indian military into a “future force.”

SOURCE: PTI

A top army official on Tuesday said that Indian troops are fully alert along the Line of Control to foil any infiltration bid, asserting that terror camps are still operational across the border.

“Our troops deployed on the LoC are fully alert. If any infiltration bid is made by the enemy, we will foil them 100 per cent,” the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 16 Corps, Lt General Manjinder Singh, told reporters in Reasi on the sidelines of the unveiling of a sports calendar for 2022-2023.

SOURCE: PTI

Four spherical metal balls fell from the sky in some villages in Gujarat over the past few days, which some experts said were likely the debris of a Chinese rocket or fuel storage tanks of space launch vehicles.

The hollow metal spheres, each of about 1.5 feet in diameter, fell between May 12 and 13 in Dagjipura, Khambholaj and Rampura villages of Anand district, and Bhumel village of neighbouring Kheda district, Anand’s Deputy Superintendent of Police BD Jadeja said.

SOURCE: PTI

US Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues Uzra Zeya will travel to India and Nepal this week to deepen cooperation on human rights and democratic governance goals with the two nations, the State Department has announced.

Zeya, the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights and an India-American, is expected to visit Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh during her visit to India. Dharamsala is home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

SOURCE: Asianet News

The Indian Army has dropped the idea of creating a separate squadron for girl cadets in the Dehradun-based National Defence Academy. As per the initial proposal, the squadron was to be named ‘Sierra’. 

A total of 19 girl cadets had cracked one of the toughest examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission last year. The training of these selected cadets will commence next month. 

SOURCE: PTI

A Maoist couple, involved in several deadly attacks and together carrying a reward of ? 7 lakh, surrendered before the security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district today, police said.

Hurra Kunjam and his wife Budhari Madvi turned themselves in before senior police and CRPF officials, citing disappointment with the hollow Maoist ideology and exploitation of lower-rung cadres by senior ultras, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Siddharth Tiwari said.

SOURCE: ANI

Colonel Dharamvir, the hero of the Battle of Longewala in the 1971 war with Pakistan, died on Monday in Gurgaon. He had commanded 23 Punjab between 1992 and 1994. His role in the movie ‘Border’ based on the Battle of Longewala was portrayed by actor Akshaye Khanna.

Colonel Dharamvir was a young officer during the 1971 war. During a border patrol on December 4 from Longewala post, he heard the sound of Pakistani tanks moving towards India and alerted his seniors. The Indian Army and Air Force took necessary measures after receiving the crucial information.

SOURCE: NDTV

One person was killed and three others were injured after suspected terrorists threw a grenade inside a wine shop in Baramulla town of Jammu and Kashmir. The dead man has been identified as Ranjit Singh, a resident of Rajouri. The 35-year-old was working at the newly opened wine shop in the garrison town.

Condition of one of three injured is stated to be critical. They have been shifted to hospital. The wine shop is located right next to police and security forces facilities at Dewan Bagh neighbourhood in Baramulla.