Defence Current Affairs And Updates 12th June 2020

New Chief of Staff for Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, AVSM, YSM, VSM assumes the charge as Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command (ENC), Visakhapatnam. VAdm Biswajit Dasgupta...

Hemanth Kasturi
June 12, 2020
1,075

New Chief of Staff for Eastern Naval Command

Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, AVSM, YSM, VSM assumes the charge as Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command (ENC), Visakhapatnam.
VAdm Biswajit Dasgupta is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy. He was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1985 and is a specialist in Navigation and Direction. He has commanded four frontline ships, including the missile corvettes INS Nishank, INS Karmuk, stealth frigate INS Tabar and the aircraft carrier INS Viraat.
He has held other operational, training and staff appointments such as Commander Workup at Headquarters at Indian Naval Workup Team (Kochi), Directing Staff at the Defence Services Staff College (Wellington), Officer-in-Charge of the Navy’s Navigation and Direction School, Naval Assistant to the Chief of the Naval Staff and Fleet Operations Officer of the Western Fleet.
On promotion to Flag Rank, he was appointed as Chief Staff Officer (Operations) at Headquarters, Western Naval Command at Mumbai. During 2017-18, he held command of the prestigious Eastern Fleet at Visakhapatnam and was, thereafter, appointed as Additional Director General at NCC Headquarters, New Delhi.
On promotion to the rank of Vice Admiral and prior to his return to Visakhapatnam as the Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command, he was the Controller Personnel Services at Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Navy) at New Delhi. VAdm Biswajit Dasgupta is a graduate of Defence Services Command and Staff College, Bangladesh, Army War College, Mhow and National Defence College, New Delhi.
The Flag Officer is a recipient of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service. He was also awarded the Yudh Seva Medal for coordinating evacuation operations from strife-torn Yemen in 2015 under Operation Raahat.

South-Western Command’s GOC-in-C visits HVF Avadi

Army Commander of Sapta Shakti Command visited Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi to assess the overhauling and spares availability of tanks. He complimented the HVF staff for their contribution to nation building.

Not just in Ladakh, India, China moved troops in all three sectors last month

As India and China discuss the process of lowering tensions along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, Indian Army sources Thursday said both countries had moved troops forward from their usual positions across the entire length of the Sino-Indian boundary at the height of the faceoff in May.
Army sources said the troop movement, not similar to the deployment in eastern Ladakh, took place in the depth areas of all three sectors — western, middle, and eastern – of the 3,488-km boundary that India shares with China.
While the faceoff has been restricted to eastern Ladakh, which is in the western sector, armies on both sides, sources said, have augmented their military strength even in the middle and eastern sectors.

Two Lashkar Terrorists Arrested in Punjab

The Punjab Police arrested two Jammu & Kashmir based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists on Thursday. An AK-47 rifle with two magazines, ten hand grenades and 60 live cartridges have also been seized from LeT terrorists. They were identified as 26-year-old Aamir Hussain Wani and 27-year-old Wasim Hasan Wani. Both are residents of Shopian, J&K.
Pathankot police caught both these terrorists after they intercepted a truck at the Amritsar-Jammu highway which was active in the task of transporting automatic weapons and grenades from Punjab to the Kashmir Valley. The terrorists were going to the Kashmir Valley from Punjab.
According to Punjab Police, both terrorists were instructed to collect weapons consignment from Punjab by Ishfaq Ahmed Dar alias Bashir Ahmed Khan, a former J&K constable now Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist.
During interrogation, Arrested terrorist Aamir Hussain Wani revealed that he had collected more than Rs 20 lakhs of hawala money on his earlier trips to Punjab in his truck.
According to Punjab Police, these terrorists had ferried two Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Punjab to the Kashmir valley, both the terrorists are now dead.

Chinese army gets most advanced vehicle-mounted howitzer amid India-China border standoff in eastern Ladakh

As Indian and Chinese military commanders are busy in talks to end the border standoff in eastern Ladakh, a Global Times report has revealed that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) 75th Group Army recently received delivery of a batch of new weapons.
These new weapons include China’s most advanced vehicle-mounted howitzer, the PCL-181, as identified by Chinese military enthusiasts in photos showing the commissioning ceremony when its troops were conducting exercises in northwestern China amid border tensions with India, according to Global Times, which cited the official WeChat public account of the 75th Group Army.
A brigade under the PLA 75th Group Army is reported to have held a commissioning ceremony of new weapons and equipment during field exercises in northwestern China’s desert areas, Nanjiang Haojiao, or Horn of the Southern Border. The official statement released on Tuesday also attached photos of several PCL-181 vehicle-mounted howitzers.
The public debut of this type of 155-millimeter caliber wheeled howitzer was done during the National Day military parade in Beijing on October 1, 2019. China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the new weapon weighs only 25 tons, making it much lighter and faster and with longer endurance than the previous self-propelled howitzer, which uses crawler tracks and weighs more than 40 tons.

After losing Jawan in ceasefire violation, Indian Army destroys Pakistan military posts across LoC

The Indian Army on Thursday launched an attack at Pakistan Army posts in the Rajouri sector in retaliation to the ceasefire violation from across the Line of Control (LoC) which resulted in the death of an Indian soldier.
According to reports, the Army inflicted heavy damage at Pakistan Army posts across the border.
Earlier on Wednesday night, Pakistan initiated ceasefire violation by firing with both small and heavy weapons and shelling with mortars on Indian soil between 10 pm to 11 pm.
The attacks were carried out in Manjakote, Keri, Balakote and Karol Maitran sectors in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua districts.
Army sources confirmed that at least one Indian soldier lost his life in the ceasefire violations. In retaliation to the attack, the Indian Army launched a series of accurate and effective firing and destroyed several Pakistan Army posts in the Rajouri sector.
However, this is not the first time the Indian Army has carried out precise attacks on the Pakistan military, which is notorious for targeting the civilian population on the Indian side of the LoC.

U.S. Army to receive first Israeli-made air defense system in December

The U.S. Army is expected to begin inducting a first Iron Dome missile defense system in December 2020, according to a recent service news release.
Deliveries of the first two Israeli-made Iron Dome air defense system on order for the U.S. Army are expected to commence in December 2020 and February 2021.
The Army plans to begin phased testing of the systems, as the missiles, launchers and radar go from the assembly line in Israel to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to undergo an equipment fielding and training program, said Brig. Gen. Brian Gibson, Air and Missile Defense Cross-Functional Team director.
The rigorous testing of each system will end with a live-fire engagement to shoot down a surrogate cruise missile target, Gibson explained. After this, the Iron Dome batteries will officially stand up at Fort Bliss, Texas, and be available for operational deployment by September 2021 and December 2021, respectively.
After lawmakers made the provision in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act for interim cruise missile defense capability, the Army awarded a contract to the Israel Missile Defense Organization, or IMDO, for two batteries of Iron Dome.
The Iron Dome system is a battle-proven, highly accurate weapon and for years it has helped safeguard locations around Israel from rocket fire. It is an effective, truck-towed, multi-mission mobile air defense system developed to counter very short-range rockets, artillery and mortar threats.

Spectacular POPs to be Conducted in IMA, OTA

Spectacular and Impressive Passing Out Parade of IMA, Dehradun will be telecast live on DD News at 6 am on 13 Jun 20.
Magnificent and Grand Passing Out Parade of OTA, Gaya will be telecast live on DD News Patna at 5:40 am on 13 Jun 20. Watch OTA Gaya Passing Out Parade Live Coverage at 5:40 am on 13 June 2020 on official YouTube channel of Indian Army too (OTA GAYA POP JUNE 2020).

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, AVSM, YSM, VSM assumes the charge as Chief of Staff
Eastern Naval Command (ENC)
Western Naval Command (WNC)
Southern Naval Command (SNC)
None of the above

ANSWER: A