Defense

Northern Army commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh was part of the seven-member crew, including two pilots on board the ALH Dhruv helicopter. All on board are said to be safe.The Northern Army Commander was returning from a forward location in the 16 Corps area of operations near the Line of Control (LoC) when the incident took place, reported news agency ANI.

“The AGH has been wiped out but some elements who are overground workers (OGW) are there. They suddenly crop up and join militant ranks… But, as of now, the AGH has been wiped out from Kashmir,” Singh said.
The three terrorists killed in Tral have been identified as Hameed Lone alias Hamid Lelhari, Naveed Ahmed Tak and Junaid Rashid Bhatt, all residents of Pulwama district.

In a release, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed that the first two projects include the manufacturing of the third-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and the auxiliary power units (APUs) for the T-72 and T-90 Tanks. The third project involves the development of discrete electronic warfare (EW) systems for the mountain and high-altitude terrain.

This is the fifth bilateral Indo-Oman joint exercise, ”Eastern Bridge” between the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force of Oman. The exercise is being conducted at the Masirah Air Base in Oman. The upgraded versions of India”s MiG 29 aircraft are participating in the exercise with Eurofighter Typhoon, Hawk and F-16 of Oman.

“The timeline we had finalised to complete the medium refit and life certification (MRLC) for the submarine was 27 months. We are right on track with the work,” HSL Chairman and Managing Director Rear Admiral (retired) L.V. Sarat Babu told. Incidentally, HSL has undertaken major works like installation of indigenous sonar, indigenous fire control system and extensive renewal of mainline cabling professionally during a normal refit, for the first time in the country.

“The cost negotiating committee is almost finished with the price negotiations of the aircraft. Once it is done, IAF will enter into a deal with the HAL,” a senior IAF official told IANS. As per sources, the deal for 83 Tejas LCA, which are of the Mark 1A variant, is expected to cost the IAF in the range of ₹45,000 crore. The aircraft will have improved serviceability, faster weapon-loading time, enhanced survivability, a better electronic warfare suite and Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar that will significantly enhance its capability.

The country allows up to 49% foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence in the automatic route and it needs government approval to go beyond the cap. This round of liberalisation is expected to raise the limit for automatic clearance to 74% along with relaxation in other conditions. “We are examining what we can offer. What kind of relaxation can be taken up,” the official said.

According to sources, Indian intelligence agencies had been given a clear-cut directive: stop terrorist infiltration to Kashmir at any cost as the cross-border militant groups would try to push in as many cadre as possible in these months. The Army had destroyed three such terror launch pads in the Neelam Valley of PoK with heavy artillery fire and caused significant damage to a fourth one, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said on Sunday.

Al-Qaeda affiliated Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) had named Hameed Lelhari as its new commander after Zakir Musa’s death in May, 2019. Hamid Lelhari and two of his local associates were killed in an encounter in Awantipora on Tuesday evening. The encounter began in the outskirts of Awantipore as the security forces launched a cordon and search operation following inputs about the presence of terrorists.

Hundreds of Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, generated by ISI’s cyber group, have also been traced by Indian intelligence agencies. A list of such FB pages and Twitter accounts have been forwarded by the Ministry of Home Affairs to the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology (MEITY). Reliable sources said that MEITY’s cyber laws and e-security group is holding meetings with representatives from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp to track and block URLs and groups active in an anti-Indian campaign and activities.