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In the confession video, one of the terrorists said he and his companion were trained in Pakistan’s Kacherban for a week to cross the LoC from Rawalpindi. Addressing the reporters, Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon said that the arrest of two terrorists associated with the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba showed that Pakistan is desperately trying to unleash violence in Jammu and Kashmir.
Talks were taken forward on a military logistics sharing pact, which will be on similar lines of agreements with the US and France. “The ministers welcomed that negotiations on the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) have shown progress,” a joint statement issued after the talks said.
Defence think tanks have also suggested monetisation of unused and under-used land belonging to the ministry in order to raise revenues. The ministry is further working on a proposal to corporatise the family of 41 state-owned arms factories that are functioning under the Ordnance Factory Board.
Estimated at Rs 300 crore, the ‘mountain radar project’ is part of the ‘national defence modernisation’ plan aimed to ‘enhance air Defence capability in the mountainous terrain of northern and eastern part of the country’. The Board, however, in its meeting held recently here under the chairmanship of Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, made it clear that eco-fragile areas of Gulmarg will not be tampered with as demanded by the State Government.
Sources have confirmed that on Sept 28, in the presence of defense minister Rajnath Singh the submarine which has completed all necessary acceptance trials successfully will be commissioned. The third Scorpene-class submarine INS Karanj is in the advanced stages of its trials and if it clears all trials successfully it will be able to join the Indian Naal fleet end of this year or early next year.
About the company’s participation in the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative on Apache manufacturing, Gupte said there is a facility in Hyderabad which would become the hub for manufacturing of fuselages for AH-64 Apache helicopters, not just for India but also for global customers.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)’s Defence Bioengineering and Electro-medical Laboratory (DEBEL) has been for some time collating data for Simulation and Analysis of Musco-skeletal parts, like lower limb simulation (while the soldier is standing), etc. The private sector companies too are doing R&D for the Exo-suit design for the Indian soldier, which will be customised according to the different environmental challenges.
The Army headquarters is readying a ‘terms of reference’ that will guide the induction of women. The terms of reference — that will lay down qualifying parameters for promotions like fitness levels, courses to be completed and exams to be cleared — will be announced soon, sources said. In March, the government had announced its decision to allow women in newer areas, but awaited terms of reference before opening up the force for women.
The eight choppers had been delivered in India in two batches over the months of July and August. Boeing, the US-based manufacturer of Apache helicopters, had delivered the first batch of four choppers on July 27 at the Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad.
Before taking charge as vice chief of the Army Staff, Lt Gen Naravane was heading the Eastern Command of the Army which takes care of India’s nearly 4,000-km border with China. In his 37 years of service, Lt Gen Naravane has served in numerous command and staff appointments in peace, field and highly active counter-insurgency environments in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
