Since 2018 Bombardier’s proven CITYFLO 650 CBTC solution has been operating on Delhi’s 58.5-km Line 7, or Pink Line, which now handles an average daily ridership of over 200,000 passengers. Line 9’s opening brings the total of CITYFLO 650-equipped track in India to more than 60 km with a further 1.2 km stretch planned to open in 2020, also to be equipped with the technology.
MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and Scalp cruise missile will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the 36 Rafale jets being procured by India at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. “India will get new capabilities with Rafale aircraft which the country never had before. Both Scalp and Meteor missiles will be game changer for Indian Air Force,” MBDA’s India chief Loïc Piedevache told PTI here.
Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’ 51 Squadron will be awarded unit citation by Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria for thwarting Pakistan’s aerial attack and shooting down their F-16 fighter aircraft on Feb 27, earlier this year. The number nine squadron, whose Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft carried out the Balakot aerial strikes on February 26 during ‘Operation Bandar’, will also be awarded.
The IAF is also finalising with Russia the procurement of 12 more Sukhois to replace the ones lost in crashes, which will be built by defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics, as well as 21 additional MiG-29 jets that will cost around Rs 230 crore each. “The Sukhois will be upgraded in near future to further enhance their operational capabilities,” said IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria. The IAF has so far inducted over 250 of the 272 Sukhois originally contracted in batches from Russia for well over $12 billion, with the bulk of them being licensed-produced by HAL.
With over 49,000 plant species reported as of 2018, India holds about 11.5% of all flora in the world. Now, a new fossil record has shown that India is the birthplace of Asian bamboo, and they were formed about 25 million years ago in the north-eastern part of the country.
Over 3,000 people attended a mega medical camp organised by the Army on Saturday in a remote village in Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir, a defence person said
Speaking at a General Assembly Third Committee that deals with social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues, First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Paulomi Tripathi said transnational organised crimes continue to undermine efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals, and threaten international peace and security.
Asked about the threat potential of drones especially in the aftermath of such an attack on oil refineries in Saudia Arabia recently as part of the new way of asymmetric warfare, the IAF chief had anticipated such a challenge and we are also procuring sensors and other equipment to thwart any attack. He said the IAF is also aware of incidents in Punjab where drones were used to drop weapons by Pakistan.
Sqd Ldr Khanna was one of four IAF personnel to have been murdered by Yasin Malik on 25 January 1990 in the Kashmir Valley. Malik is presently being tried in a number of cases involving terror funding and also the murder of the IAF personnel. The decision to engrave Sqd Ldr Khanna’s name at the National War Memorial was taken by the IAF in the last week of September, under the former air chief marshal BS Dhanoa.
The National Election Committee (NEC) is organised the 2019 FNC Elections Visit Programme between October 4 and 6, including the main election day. As part of the programme, the committee hosted representatives of several international entities to observe the electoral process in the UAE.
