Defence Current Affairs And Updates 18 November 2020

Hemanth Kasturi
November 18, 2020
955

Nations Supporting Terrorists Should Be Held Guilty: PM Modi at BRICS Meet

Asserting that terrorism is the “biggest problem” facing the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said there is a need to ensure that countries supporting and assisting terrorists are held guilty, in an oblique reference to Pakistan. Addressing a summit of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping via videoconferencing, Modi also said there was a need to tackle the problem of terrorism in an organised manner.
The 12^th BRICS summit, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“Terrorism is the biggest problem the world is facing. We have to ensure that the countries that support and assist the terrorists are also held guilty,” Modi said. Although Modi did not name any country, his reference is seen as directed at Pak.
BRICS is known as an influential bloc that represents over 3.6 billion people, or half of the world’s population.
The BRICS countries have a combined GDP of $16.6 trillion.
The BRICS members are known for their significant influence on regional affairs.
Official languages of BRICS: Portuguese, Russian, Hindi, Mandarin, English.
In his address, Modi also underlined the need for reform of the United Nations Security Council as well as multilateral bodies like the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund.
Talking about the COVID-19 crisis, Modi said India’s vaccine production and delivery capabilities will work in the interest of humanity. The Prime Minister also highlighted reform initiatives undertaken by his government under the ‘self-reliant India’ campaign.
“We have started a comprehensive reform process under the ‘Self-reliant India’ campaign. The campaign is based on the belief that a self-reliant and resilient India post-COVID can be a force multiplier for the global economy and make a strong contribution to the global value chains,” he said.
The BRIC grouping’s first formal summit held in Yekaterinburg, commenced on 16 June 2009, with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dmitry Medvedev, Manmohan Singh, and Hu Jintao, the respective leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, all attending.
Afghanistan, Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey have expressed strong interest in full membership of the BRICS, while Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria and most recently Pakistan, Bangladesh and Greece have also expressed interest in joining BRICS.
Currently, there are two components that make up the financial architecture of BRICS, namely, the New Development Bank (NDB), or sometimes referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). Both of these components were signed into treaty in 2014 and became active in 2015.
Since 2012, the BRICS group of countries have been planning an optical fibre submarine communications cable system to carry telecommunications between the BRICS countries, known as the BRICS Cable. Part of the motivation for the project was the spying of the National Security Agency on all telecommunications that flowed across the US.

L&T Delivers Booster Segment for Gaganyaan’s GSLV Mk-III Rocket to ISRO

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said it had delivered ahead of schedule a key component of the Gaganyaan, the launch vehicle for India’s planned human flight programme, despite all COVID-19 restrictions.
Larsen & Toubro has delivered the first hardware, a booster segment, for the Gaganyaan Launch Vehicle to ISRO ahead of schedule in a virtual flag-off ceremony presided over by K Sivan, Chairman, ISRO.
Notwithstanding the limitations imposed by Covid-19, the middle segment of the world’s third-largest solid propellant rocket booster — ‘S-200’ — has been delivered ahead of schedule with zero-defects. The segment was produced at L&T’s Powai Aerospace Manufacturing Facility meeting the enhanced quality and timeline requirements for India’s maiden manned mission.
L&T has been involved in the production of a range of hardware for every mission of ISRO, including the acclaimed Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions.
Terming this maiden delivery as a magnificent Diwali gift to the nation, Sivan complimented the ISRO and L&T teams and said: “Both the teams have relentlessly worked on realising the flight hardware ahead of schedule while maintaining the highest quality standards required for a Human Space Flight Mission.”

India successfully test-fires QRSAM for second time in 4 days

India on Tuesday successfully test-fired its Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system from a base in Odisha for the second time in four days, defence sources said. The missile accurately hit an airborne target and neutralised it.
The test was conducted around 3.42 pm from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha.
It was carried out against high-performance jet unmanned aerial target ‘Banshee’, which simulates an aircraft, they said.
The radars acquired the target from a long range and tracked it till the mission computer automatically launched the missile. Continuous guidance was provided through a radar data link, an ITR statement said.
The QRSAM weapon system, which can operate on the move, consists of indigenously developed subsystems. All objectives of the test were fully met. The launch was carried out in the presence of the users from the Army, it said.
A number of range instruments were deployed which captured the complete flight data and verified the performance of the missile, the statement said.
The first QRSAM test was conducted on November 13.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO scientists on the successful flight test of QRSAM.
DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy congratulated all the teams that worked on the QRSAM project for the second successful test.

Japan PM Suga Says Broad Agreement Reached On Military Pact With Australia

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday Japan and Australia had reached a broad agreement on their bilateral defence pact.
The pact called the Reciprocal Access Agreement is a legal framework to allow their troops to visit each other’s countries and conduct training and joint operations.
Suga made the comments during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison who is visiting Tokyo.
The countries have been negotiating the defence deal for years to bolster their security ties as China increases its influence in the region. The agreement still needs to be ratified by lawmakers.

Pakistan Deploys Additional Forces Along LOC

Pakistani army has deployed additional snipers along the Line of Control (LoC). Around 7-8 Pakistan Army soldiers were killed, and 10-12 were injured after Indian Army retaliated to the ceasefire violations done by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on November 13. The Indian Army destroyed bunkers across the Line of Control in multiple locations. The bunkers consisted of cache of ammunitions. According to Indian Army, large numbers of Pakistan Army bunkers, fuel dumps, and launch pads have also been destroyed.
Pakistani army has deployed additional snipers along the Line of Control (LoC). Around 7-8 Pakistan Army soldiers were killed, and 10-12 were injured after Indian Army retaliated to the ceasefire violations done by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on November 13.
The Indian Army destroyed bunkers across the Line of Control in multiple locations. The bunkers consisted of cache of ammunitions. According to Indian Army, large numbers of Pakistan Army bunkers, fuel dumps, and launch pads have also been destroyed.

QUICK REVIEW

S-200, which is the middle segment of the solid propellant rocket booster of Gaganyaan’s GSLV Mk-III rocket is made by which private company?
Tata Defence
Adani Defence
L&T Defence
Reliance Defence

ANSWER: C