SOURCE: API

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said that Right now Navy has put a hold on IAC II and instead Navy is Contemplating whether it should look at a repeat order for the IAC I, given the expertise that has been developed. Kumar added that the Navy Hasn’t taken a proposal for a sister class ship based on the INS Vikrant yet to the government.

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), which construed the first indigenous carrier INS Vikrant, has urged the Navy to place an order with it for a follow-on carrier of Vikrant-class. CSL officials have said that it can deliver “A follow-on carrier” in four years.

SOURCE: API

According to air force officials close to ” Hindustan Times”, IAF is considering procuring more C-295, a medium tactical transport aircraft also as a replacement for the Soviet-era AN-32 turboprop twin-engined military transport aircraft. The C-295 is a transport aircraft with a 5-10 tonne capacity that’s also in the same league as the AN-32 Transporter which is a workhorse in the IAF.

IAF operates around 90 AN-32 and plans to start retiring them from 2030 onwards and it’s around 2032 when the production line of the C-295 that is being set up at Gujarat’s Vadodara might be nearing the end of production. IAF placed orders for 56 C-295s, out of which 16 will be made in Spain by Airbus and the rest 40 in India.

SOURCE: API

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) will be ready to have its first flight by 2026 and enter production by 2032. Kumar added that TEDBF presently is going through wind tunnel testing and the program is on track as Navy officers and ADA are looking over the program.

TEDBF when ready will be replacing the 45 Mig-29 that India has acquired from Russia. Indian Navy plans to phase out the entire Mig-29K fleet from the Indian Navy from 2035 onwards.

SOURCE: PTI

The case for the proposed procurement of a fleet of Predator drones from the US is under process, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said today. The original proposal was to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones at a cost of over USD 3 billion to crank up India’s surveillance apparatus along the frontier with China as well as in the Indian Ocean region.

“The case for the procurement is under process. We are discussing whether the numbers have to be rationalised,” the Navy Chief said while replying to a question at his annual press conference.

SOURCE: API

Following the start of the Galwan Valley standoff, several infrastructure projects, including the construction of roads and bridges, are being completed quickly. They confirmed that our troops can now reach the most critical access points, the mountain passes, often before the Chinese ground troops arrive for patrolling.

There are over 20 such passes along the border area in that sector, including the Himachal Pradesh-Uttarakhand border. This was made possible by the rapid construction of road infrastructure.

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail

Canadian security agencies take seriously any allegations of illegal funding of the Sikh secessionist movement in India’s Punjab state, says Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. India’s High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma recently told The Globe and Mail that New Delhi is concerned that some segments of the Sikh community in Canada are offering support and money to secessionists who want to separate Punjab from India. He called on Canada to crack down on diasporic funding of the Sikh independence movement that is seeking to create a sovereign homeland known as Khalistan.

Asked about the High Commissioner’s comments on Thursday, Mr. Mendicino said Ottawa has given security agencies the tools to deal with any illegal funding.

SOURCE: ANI

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar today said that the Indian Navy is keeping a close watch on all developments in the Indian Ocean, including the movement of Chinese Navy ships that operate in the region.

“There are a lot of Chinese ships which operate in the Indian Ocean Region. We have about 4-6 PLA Navy ships, then some research vessels which operate. A large number of Chinese fishing vessels operate in the Indian Ocean Region. We keep a close watch on all developments,” the Navy Chief said during an annual presser.

SOURCE: PTI

The Indian Navy has given assurances to the government that it will become ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) by 2047, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Saturday. Addressing a press conference ahead of Navy Day, he also said the Navy keeps a strong vigil over the movements of various Chinese military and research vessels in the Indian Ocean Region.

He said the Indian Navy achieved a very high operational tempo in the last one year and there has been greater emphasis on the criticality of maritime security as India marches ahead.

SOURCE: REUTERS

India’s Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), operator of the world’s largest refining complex, is snapping up Russian refined fuels, including rare purchases of naphtha, after some Western buyers stopped Russian imports, trade flows data from Refinitiv showed.

Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have led to an emergence of rare trade routes for Russian crude and refined products that were mainly sold to European countries.

SOURCE: UNI

According to German Ambassador to India Philip Ackerman, India can help bring the war in Ukraine to an end. “India maintains cordial relations with all parties.” “Perhaps India can be of assistance,” the ambassador speculated. He felt that because India is friends with both the West and the Russians, it should act as a mediator simultaneously. “You have to find the right time to come in as a mediator,” he said.

According to Ackerman, India has skilled diplomats who will presumably aid in negotiations. But, as he put it, “you have to know when to come in.”

SOURCE: PTI

The Indian Navy has given assurances to the government that it will become ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) by 2047, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said today. Addressing a press conference ahead of Navy Day, he also said the Navy keeps a strong vigil over the movements of various Chinese military and research vessels in the Indian Ocean Region.

He said the Indian Navy achieved a very high operational tempo in the last one year and there has been greater emphasis on the criticality of maritime security as India marches ahead.

SOURCE: PTI

The IMF “fully supports” the G20 agenda of India, which is planning to use the ongoing global crises as an opportunity to seek consensus on issues that require urgent attention, a senior official from the international financial body has said.

India formally assumed the G20 Presidency on Thursday. “They (India) are putting together a collective agenda for a much more prosperous future,” Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Director of the Strategy and Policy Review department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), told a group of reporters ahead of her trip to China and India next week.

SOURCE: PTI

An India Army truck caught fire about 60 km from Rajasthan’s Udaipur, ostensibly due to a technical malfunction, an official said on Friday.

The truck was part of a five-vehicle convoy en route to the military station in Udaipur. A Quick Reaction Team of the Army swung into action and cordoned off the vehicle, stopping traffic on the highway, Defence Spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said.