609 air warriors inducted into the Indian Air Force following a 67-week rigorous training

• As many as 609 personnel were inducted into the IAF following a 67-week rigorous and intensive training at Mechanical Training Institute at the Airforce station.
• Air Commodore Charles Andrews, Air Officer Commanding Air Force Station Jalahalli reviewed the parade.
• In his address, he urged the air warriors to make sustained efforts towards continuous enhancement of their technical knowledge and skills by keeping themselves abreast with the latest changes, the release said.
• “He also advised the newly inducted air warriors to maintain exemplary conduct at all times, in keeping with the ethos of the service. In view of COVID-19 conditions he emphasised the trainees to take all precautions while moving to new units,” it added.

SC gives time to Centre for granting permanent commission to women officers in Navy

• The Supreme Court Thursday extended till December 31 the deadline for implementation of its judgement on grant of permanent commission (PC) to women SSC officers in the Indian Navy. The top court had on March 17, maintaining that women and men officers should be treated equally, cleared PC for women in the Navy and asked the Centre to complete the modalities within three months.
• A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee said that it is extending time till December 31 for grant of PC to Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers in the Indian Navy.
• The Centre moved the application in June for extending the deadline by six months citing the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The bench also asked the Centre to provide Rs 25 lakh compensation each in four weeks to five Naval women officers, who were not considered for the PC besides the pensionary benefits, which had already been given to them.
• Pursuant to the top court’s verdict in February, the Centre has started the process for granting permanent commission to all women SSC officers in Indian Army.
• On March 17, in a major verdict, the top court had paved the way for granting permanent commission to women officers in Indian Navy, saying a level playing field ensures that women have the opportunity to overcome “histories of discrimination”.
• The battle for gender equality is about confronting the battles of the mind and history is replete with examples where women have been denied their just entitlements under law and the right to fair and equal treatment in the workplace, the top court had said.
• “A hundred and one excuses are no answer to the constitutional entitlement to dignity, which attaches to every individual irrespective of gender, to fair and equal conditions of work and to a level playing field,” the top court had said, giving three months to the Centre to work out the modalities.
• It had said the Centre’s contention that certain sea-going duties are ill-suited to women officers is premised on sex stereotypes that male officers are more suited to certain duties by virtue of the physiological characteristics and to accept it would be to “approve the socially ascribed gender roles which a commitment to equal worth and dignity of every individual belies”.

• The top court had quashed the prospective effect of the Centre’s controversial September 2008 policy, which restricted the grant of permanent commission to certain categories only.
• “The stipulation in the policy letter dated September 6, 2008, making it prospective and restricting its application to specified cadres/branches of the Indian Navy shall not be enforced,” the top court had said, while setting aside the implementation guidelines issued on December 3, 2008.
• “The statutory bar on the engagement or enrolment of women in the Indian Navy has been lifted to the extent envisaged in the notifications issued by the Union Government on October 9, 1991 and November 6, 1998 under Section 9(2) of the Navy Act of 1957,” it had held.
• The 1991 notification envisaged that the restriction on the appointment or enrolment of women was lifted for specified cadres/branches of the Navy, while the 1998 notification made women eligible for appointment as officers in all the branches of the Indian Navy.
• The top court said that all the SSC officers in the education, law and logistics cadres of Navy, who are presently in service, shall be considered for the grant of PC.
• The top court said that the period of service after which women SSC officers shall be entitled to submit applications for the grant of PCs shall be the same as their male counterparts.
• “A level playing field ensures that women have the opportunity to overcome their histories of discrimination with the surest of responses based on their competence, ability and performance,” it said, adding that in the context of the Armed Forces, specious reasons have been advanced by decision makers and administrators, which range from physiology, motherhood and physical attributes to the male dominated hierarchies.
• Referring to the verdict of February 17, in which PC was granted to women officers in Indian Army, the top court had said it was held that there was a need to change mindset if equality for women is to be achieved in the Armed Forces.
• It had rejected the submissions of the Centre that certain avenues such as sea-sailing duties are ill-suited for women officers as there is no return to the base, unlike in the Army and the Air Force.
• The top court had also termed as “illusory and without any foundation”, the argument that in vessels of a Russian origin which are deployed by the Indian Navy, no provision has been made for women as sailors and there are no bathrooms to accommodate them.

Cochin Shipyard, Italy’s Fincantieri sign deal for business development

• Cochin Shipyard Limited and Fincantieri of Italy have signed an agreement to cooperate in shipbuilding, repairs and training, said the companies on Tuesday.
• Bejoy Bhasker, director (technical) of Cochin Shipyard, and Achille Fulfaro, senior vice president (sales) of Fincantieri, Naval Vessel Business Unit, signed the agreement.
• Cochin Shipyard, with facilities on the East and West coasts of India, is a leader in commercial and defence shipbuilding and repairs. Fincantieri is one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, by virtue of building more than 7,000 vessels and operating 18 shipyards in four continents.
• The agreement between the two organisations sets the ground for a partnership aimed at business development and cooperation in line with Indian government’s plan to promote domestic manufacturing.

Parliament panel wanted to visit Leh, Defence says ‘not advisable’

• The Defence Ministry has objected to a visit by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to Leh next month to study the working conditions of soldiers deployed in forward locations in the high-altitude areas.
• In a letter sent on Wednesday, the Ministry said “it may not be advisable” for the MPs to visit, given the standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
• In another letter sent only a day earlier, however, the Ministry had made no mention of such concerns.
• The PAC, headed by the Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, had last month got clearance from Speaker Om Birla to visit Ladakh to meet the soldiers. The PAC wanted to visit Leh since it is examining a CAG report which had earlier this year said that the troops stationed in areas like Siachen and Ladakh faced an acute shortage of high-altitude clothing and equipment, including snow goggles, because of delays in procurement.
• The PAC had initially decided to visit Ladakh on October 28 and 29. But some MPs on the panel sought a change in dates, citing the Assembly elections in Bihar, by-elections in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, and the prevailing Covid-19 situation.
• The PAC then revised its plan, and decided to visit Leh from November 8 to 10, instead. It sent the revised schedule to the Defence Ministry, Army, and Lok Sabha secretariat.
• But the Defence Ministry has informed the PAC that it may not be advisable to visit Ladakh now, since the Army is fully engaged with the situation on the border.
• “The present situation with soldiers from both sides in close proximity; all officers and men are involved in ensuring full preparedness, to prevent any escalation in the situation. Accordingly, it may not be advisable for such a delegation comprising VVIPs to visit Leh, Ladakh at this juncture. A fresh date will be intimated as and when there is some disengagement on the ground,” a letter dated October 28 from the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) of the Ministry of Defence said. The DMA is headed by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat.

• Interestingly, a letter from the DMA just a day earlier had not objected to the MPs’ visit. This first letter, dated October 27, mentioned inputs obtained from the Army Headquarters regarding weather and temperature. It said while the weather “appears to be clear”, temperatures during the period of the visit could be in the range of 2 degrees and minus 10 degrees at Leh, and that the members would require acclimatisation when travelling to forward areas.
• Based on these inputs, the visit is “considered feasible” provided the weather is stable, the letter said.
• According to the earlier itinerary, the MPs were to have informal discussions with representatives of the Defence Ministry and the Northern Army Command in Leh on “provisioning, procurement and issue of high-altitude clothing, equipment, ration and housing” on the first day of the visit. The panel was supposed to visit the Defence Institute of High-Altitude Research (DIHAR) of the DRDO in Leh, and then make a field visit to a forward area.

QUICK REVIEW

1. AFS Tambaram is located in
2. Mangalore
3. Goa
4. Visakhapatnam
5. Chennai

ANSWER: D

• The Supreme Court said that it is extending time till what date for grant of PC to SSC women officers in Indian Navy?
• December 05, 2020
• December 31, 2020
• January 05, 2021
• January 31, 2021

ANSWER: B

• Recently Cochin Shipyard has signed deal for business development with which shipyard?
• Fincantieri Shipyard of Italy
• Abeking & Rasmussen of Germany
• Almaz Shipbuilding Company of Russia
• Alabama Drydock of USA

ANSWER: A