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With the Indian Air Force purportedly erecting a boundary wall around the memorial of noted litterateur Chandradhar Barua in Jorhat district, the Assam government on Friday said it will initiate negotiations with the stakeholders concerned. State Revenue Minister Jogen Mohan gave the assurance in the state Assembly after the matter was raised by BJP legislator Hitendra Nath Goswami during the Question Hour. We will ask the Jorhat DC to call for a meeting with the IAF and other stakeholders at the earliest and negotiate the matter, Mohan said. Barua (1874-1961) was a writer, poet, dramatist and lyricist and the second president of the Assam Sahitya Sabha. Goswami pointed out that Barua's family had donated land to the IAF in the Rowriah area of Jorhat to set up its base. An area was earmarked in the name of Rowriah Tea Garden Pvt Ltd on which Barua's memorial was erected by the family in the 1960s, the minister said. However, the portion has now been included within the IAF premi
The Indian Air Force's 'Kargil Courier' service airlifted over 3,000 stranded passengers during the closure of the 434-kilometre-long Srinagar-Leh National Highway this winter, an official said on Tuesday. The 'Kargil Courier' service started from January 18. In all, 3,228 passengers availed the services of the AN-32 and the IL-76 aircraft provided by the Indian Air Force for the residents of Ladakh, the official said. Among them, 39 passengers were airlifted from Jammu to Kargil in an AN-32 sortie on Tuesday, he said. While the AN-32 aircraft operated between Kargil and the twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar, IL-76 sorties were arranged between Srinagar-Leh and Jammu-Leh for stranded passengers, the official said. In addition, several hundred stranded passengers were airlifted from Chandigarh to Leh in the IL-76 aircraft on the personal intervention of Ladakh Lt Governor Brig (Retd) BD Mishra, he added.
The defence ministry on Thursday signed two contracts worth over Rs 3,700 crore with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for radars and receivers, which will enhance the operational capabilities of the Indian Air Force. The first contract worth over Rs 2,800 crore pertains to the supply of Medium Power Radars (MPR) 'Arudhra' for the IAF, and the second, at an overall cost of around Rs 950 crore, relates to 129 DR-118 Radar Warning Receivers (RWR). Both projects are under 'Buy IndianIDMM (Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured)' category. The projects are aimed at enhancing surveillance, detection, tracking and electronic warfare capabilities of the air force. "These essentially embody the spirit of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' and will help facilitate the realisation of the country's journey to achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing," the Indian Air Force (IAF) said in a statement. MPR (Arudhra) radar has been indigenously designed and developed by the Defence Research and
The Indian Army and the Indian Air force conducted a multi-domain air-land exercise 'Vayu Prahar' in the eastern theatre to validate plans to execute synergised operations, sources said on Thursday. The exercise was held in the second week of March. The sources said the scope of the joint exercise included rapid mobilisation of an earmarked rapid reaction force from the hinterland to undertake air-landed operations at a nominated advance landing ground. The air-landed force further executed contingency tasks according to a realistic exercise scenario in challenging high-altitude terrain conditions. "The conduct of Exercise Vayu Prahar enabled coordination and rehearsal amongst various agencies for quick mobilisation, transportation and deployment of forces within a theatre which can be executed across theatres," a source said. The exercise validated and refined procedures quintessential for synergised joint operations. Army formations, special forces along with the Indian Air Forc
The defence ministry on Tuesday sealed a deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to procure 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft at a cost of over Rs 6,800 crore for the Indian Air Force. The ministry also finalised a contract with the Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) for acquisition of three cadet training ships worth over Rs 3,100 crore. Both the procurement proposals were cleared by the prime minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on March 1. "The ministry of defence on March 7 signed contracts with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) for procurement of 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft and three cadet training ships respectively in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh," the ministry said. While the HAL will provide 70 HTT-40 aircraft over a period of six years, the delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from 2026. Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, along with other senior civil and military officials of the ...
A group of ex-servicemen moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre that arrears of the One Rank-One Pension scheme be paid to all eligible pensioners in one installment instead of four installments. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala is scheduled to take up the application filed by Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) through advocate Balaji Srinivasan for hearing on February 27. The military veterans association has also sought the setting aside of the Centre's communication dated January 20, 2023 issued by the Ministry of Defence. The communication had said that "arrears on account of revision of pension from July 1, 2019 till date of its implementation shall be paid by the Pension Disbursing Agencies in four yearly installments. However, all the family pensioners including those in receipt of special/liberalized family pension and all gallantry award winners shall be paid arrears in one installment". The ex-servicem
The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Sunday airlifted 388 stranded passengers from Jammu to the Union Territory of Ladakh, a defence spokesman said. The IAF provided the facility of IL-76 aircraft which airlifted 388 citizens of Ladakh from Jammu to Leh, the spokesman said. He said two IL-76 aircrafts landed at the Air Force Station Jammu and airlifted the stranded passengers under "operation Sadbhavana" (goodwill).
The Indian Air Force has come out with an innovative solution that would help pilots to deal with bad weather and also provide them jammer-proof uninterrupted communication with the base station. Known as 'Vayulink', the data link communication uses the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) that is also known as NAVIC, to send radio communication to the base station when the signals are low, an IAF officer involved in the project said. The important aspect of the technological solution is that it prevents fratricide or friendly fire, he added. The IAF has put up a gallery on Vayulink to provide information about its platform at the India Pavilion in the ongoing Aero India 2023 here. "Vayulink is an ad-hoc data link communication system, which when installed in an aircraft, gives position of other aircrafts close by, encrypted traffic data over secured channel," Wing Commander Vishal Mishra told PTI. When the planes are flying close to any friendly forces on grounds .
The DRDO-developed Medium Altitude Long Endurance class unmanned aerial vehicle TAPAS-BH (Tactical Aerial Platform for Advanced Surveillance - Beyond Horizon) will make its flying debut at 'Aero India' here next week. The TAPAS-BH will showcase its capabilities and there will be static as well aerial displays on the business days of the five-day aerospace and defence exhibition which starts on February 13, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said. "TAPAS is DRDO's solution to the tri services ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) requirements. The UAV is capable of operating at altitudes up to 28000 feet, with an endurance of 18 plus hours," according to DRDO. TAPAS-BH, which would make its first public flight, can carry a variety of payloads up to a maximum of 350 kg, DRDO officials said. Meanwhile, DRDO said with an endeavour to integrate various stakeholders of the defence R&D ecosystem in the country, it has planned an .