19 April 2022 Daily Defence Current Affairs And Updates [DOWNLOAD PDF]

In today’s 19 April 2022 Defence current affairs we are going to see the latest national and international defence current affairs. These defence current affairs questions and major events will...

Divyanshu Pandey
April 19, 2022
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In today’s 19 April 2022 Defence current affairs we are going to see the latest national and international defence current affairs. These defence current affairs questions and major events will be really helpful for your upcoming NDA, CDS, AFCAT, TA, INET, MNS, ACC exams and other SSB interviews and AFCAT interviews like SSC Tech, TGC, TES, NDA, CDS, AFCAT and more. Download the Defence current affairs PDF file at the end of this article.

Daily Defence Current Affairs 19 April 2022

Fallen Objects from Space in Chandrapur Are Parts of Chinese Long March Rocket

PUNE Preliminary investigation by a team of two scientists from ISRO that visited the Sindewahi tehsil in Chandrapur district on April 15 has found that the objects that fell from the sky in Chandrapur are not from Space but are parts of a Chinese long march rocket.
On April 2, locals of Sindewahi tehsil were shocked to see six metallic spheres, metal balls and a metallic ring falling from the sky. Similar objects fell from the sky simultaneously in parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. They are allegedly the space debris of a Chinese long march rocket that was launched on February 4, 2021. The ISRO team comprised scientists M Shahajahan and Mayuresh Shetty who visited the Sindewahi police station in Chandrapur where these objects had been kept.
“The two scientists who came from ISRO spent a day at Sindewahi with the objects found at various spots in the Chandrapur district. They took photographs and videos of the objects and interacted with the Ladbori village people about the objects. They collected as much information as possible from the local people. As per their discussions, these objects are believed to be space debris from the Chinese long march rocket. What type of fuel was there in the cylinders can be said only after it is checked by the laboratory,” said the president of the NGO, Sky Watch Group, Suresh Chopne, who, along with his team, has been at the site from day one.

Tejas MK-2 rollout likely in Jan 2023

Significant progress has been made in the assembly of the first Tejas Mk2 aircraft including validation of the flight control software for the program, while HAL continues to procure ground tools for assembly of the fuselage of the new jet
A ceremonial rollout that was already being pushed from August this year to December might happen sometime in January next year that might see a public display of a full-scale mock-up Mk2 at Aero India 2023 that will happen next year in February.
With deliveries of LCA Mk1 nearing completion, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is focusing on the LCA MK-1A program and plans the rollout of the first Flying Test Bed by end of May this year followed by the first flight in June, which will keep HAL busy for another year to come since it has a tight delivery schedule for the program.
Mk2 will commence Low speed and High-speed taxi trials in August or September 2023 and if most of the pre-flight tests are demonstrated under safety margins then the first flight might take place by December or early 2024. HAL has planned to manufacture 5 Mk2 aircraft that will be exclusively used for flight and developmental trials of the new aircraft before it is cleared for production sometime in 2029-30.

50% of Army Soldiers May Retire Within 5 Years of Recruitment Under Proposed Recruitment Model

A recruitment model first proposed in 2020 with the initial purpose of reducing officers’ shortage in the Army while tackling the growing defense pension bills is likely to be modified to recruit only soldiers on a short-term contract basis.
- The recruitment process of soldiers in the Army has halted two years ago after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020. Aspirants looking to join the defense forces staged a protest on Tuesday at Jantar Mantar against the suspension of recruitment rallies, among other things.
- As per the sources, the present draft of the scheme states that all soldiers in the Indian Army would eventually be recruited under the Tour of Duty model. Around 25% of them would serve in the Army for three years and 25% of troops would serve for five years.
- It has also been proposed that 50% of soldiers who would be released at the end of three and five years be included in the National Pension Scheme and be given certain medical benefits, applicable to Armed Forces veterans, for a fixed period.
- The source quoted above added that this proposed recruitment model may not be applicable to officers and only soldiers could be employed under it. The Army has a shortage of 7,476 officers as per data presented in Parliament in December last year.
- The scheme might later be extended to the Navy and IAF.
- a deficiency of 1.1 lakh soldiers has cropped up in the last two years after recruitment rallies were stopped in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is increasing by about 5,000 troops every month.

Army To Decide on EV Induction in Fleet

The 12-lakh strong Indian Army now plans to go green wherever operationally possible. The force is fine-tuning a roadmap for the phased induction of a “limited number” of electric vehicles in ‘peace stations’ across the country in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint.
“Introduction of e-vehicles” will be discussed during the General MM Naravane-chaired Army commanders’ conference from April 18 to 22, in addition to the operational situation, infrastructure build-up, and capability development along LAC with China in the backdrop of the almost two-year-long military confrontation in eastern Ladakh.
On the e-vehicles front, the Army has conducted a study on the induction of such vehicles, beginning with headquarters in peace stations, in keeping with the government’s drive to encourage e-vehicles to reduce fossil fuel consumption and decrease air pollution. The induction of e-vehicles will be carefully evaluated for practicality due to the challenging terrains and extreme weather conditions in which the Army operates, especially along the long unresolved borders with China and Pakistan.

INS Vagsheer, India’s final Scorpene-class submarine, to be launched on 20 April

The Indian Navy will get a further boost as it will receive INS Vagsheer, the last of the Scorpene-class submarines, on 20 April. The Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd will launch this ultra-modern submarine, which is the last submarine of the P75 Scorpene project.
The INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, and INS Vela have already been commissioned while sea trials of the Vagir are underway.
INS Vagsheer is a diesel-electric submarine, measuring about 221-feet-long and 40-feet high. This submarine is primarily an attack submarine or ‘hunter-killer’ type which means it is designed to target and sink adversary naval vessels.

What’s the P75 Scorpene project?

The Project-75 (P-75) was conceptualised at the time of IK Gujral as prime minister in April 1997. The then government had passed the order for the acquisition of 25 submarines.
Initially, the P-75 was a 30-year submarine building plan in which India was to build 24 submarines — 18 conventional submarines and six nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs).
In 2005, India and France signed a $3.75 billion contract for building six Scorpene-class submarines. The executing company on the Indian side is Mazagon Docks Ltd, and on the French side, it was DCNS, which is now called Naval Group.
So far, four submarines of this class — INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, and INS Vela have been commissioned. INS Kalvari was launched on 27 October 2015 and commissioned on 14 December 2017. INS Khanderi was launched on 12 January 2017 and commissioned on 28 September 2019.
INS Karanj was launched on 31 January 2018 and commissioned on 10 March 2021. INS Vela was launched on 6 May 2019 and commissioned on 25 November 2021. Vagir was launched on 12 November 2020.

Government Appoints Lt Gen Manoj C Pande as Next Chief of Army Staff

Government has appointed Lt Gen Manoj C Pande, presently Vice Chief of the Army Staff, as the next Chief of the Army Staff with effect from the afternoon of April 30, 2022. Born on May 06, 1962, Lt Gen Manoj C Pande was commissioned on December 24, 1982, in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) of the Indian Army.
The Command appointments of Lt Gen Manoj C Pande include Command of an Engineer Brigade in the Western Theatre, as part of Strike Corps and an Infantry Brigade along with Line-of-Control in Jammu & Kashmir.
Other important Command appointments include a Mountain Division in the high-altitude area of the Western Ladakh and Command of a Corps, deployed along the LAC and in the Counter Insurgency Operations area of Eastern Command.
In the rank of Lt General, the officer has held important appointments including that of Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Command and as the GOC-in-C of the Eastern Command at Kolkata before getting appointed as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.
Lt Gen Manoj C Pande is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and has undergone courses at Staff College, Camberley (UK), Army War College, Mhow, and National Defence College, New Delhi.

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