Defence Current Affairs And Updates 9 July 2020

COVID-19 Positive Cases in National Defence Academy NDA sources have confirmed around 2 COVID-19 cases at NDA Pune. Earlier one cadet from Kilo Squadron was reported COVID-19 positive. As reported...

Hemanth Kasturi
July 9, 2020
3,088

COVID-19 Positive Cases in National Defence Academy

NDA sources have confirmed around 2 COVID-19 cases at NDA Pune. Earlier one cadet from Kilo Squadron was reported COVID-19 positive.
As reported by one of the local journalist, NDA has now 2 COVID-19 cases and authority is taking strong measures to control the spread.

Rajnath Singh to inaugurate 6 Bridges tomorrow

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will inaugurate six Bridges constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in Jammu and Kashmir through Video Conferencing at 10.30 am tomorrow.

Lt. Gen. Alok Singh Kler reviews Cockerel Division

Army Commander Sapta Shakti Command visited Cockerel Division & reviewed operational preparedness. He commended the formation for its professionalism and exhorted all ranks to continue to work with zeal and enthusiasm.
The 23^rd Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It fought in the Burma Campaign. It was then reformed as a division of the independent Indian Army in 1959.
The division was raised on 1 January 1942, at Jhansi in Central India. Its badge was a red fighting cock on a yellow circle. (The animal was chosen by Major General Reginald Savory, the division’s first commander, as one which would offend neither the Muslim nor Hindu soldiers of the division).
Current commander of this division: Major General RS Guraya VSM.

DRDO updates policy on development of aviation systems after 18 years

Almost two decades after it was last updated, the Policy for Design Development and Production of Military Air systems and Airborne Stores (DDPMAS) is being revised to keep pace with contemporary technical and commercial advancements in the aviation sector.
The policy, brought out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), sets out the procedure to be followed for design and development, production, modification, licence production and indigenisation of aircraft and aviation systems within the military airworthiness regulatory framework.
Rapid advancements in the Indian aviation sector over the past years with significant expansion in the design, development, and production activities, increasing accent on self-reliance and indigenisation with ever increasing public and private sector participation necessitated the current policy.
First issued in 1975 and then revised in 2002, DDPMAS outlines policy level aspect towards ensuring airworthiness of military aviation systems, defines roles, responsibilities and empowerment of all the stakeholders, lays down procedural aspects towards ensuring military airworthiness certification and describes technical airworthiness requirements and associated acceptable means of compliance based on tailored standards.
New chapters on unmanned aerial systems, air launched missiles, research systems, civil certified military air systems, continuing airworthiness, organisation approvals and exports, have now been added to the policy document.
To facilitate the private industry and boot the Make-in-India policy, organisation approvals for design, production and maintenance have been added. Airworthiness coverage to the private industry, even when no expression of interest or supply order from the government exists, has also been addressed.
Inputs from various stakeholders regarding the impediments and difficulties in following the DDPMAS have been addressed without compromising the philosophy of airworthiness.
While demarcating the requirements for air systems and airborne stores, the new document also addresses engines, materials, software, identification of parts, test rigs, tools, testers, and ground equipment separately.
The revised DDPMAS recognises that the future of military aviation will involve joint ventures and consortiums with design houses of foreign origin, which will entail mutual recognition of design and certification methodologies.
In order to facilitate international understanding, cooperation and success of the ventures leading to acquiring strategic technologies, the DDPMAS has introduced global parlance and internationally followed terminologies with one-to-one-mapping of equivalent regulatory articles wherever applicable to Indian processes and procedures.

Indian Army to resume patrolling up to PP14 in Galwan after complete disengagement

Joint verification of re-location camps will be done to see that “landform is restored” and to “build trust”, the sources added.
Till now, India was patrolling up to patrolling point 14.
The present restriction, however, was imposed after India and China agreed to avoid friction and violent incidents. To avoid any escalation, both sides agreed to create a minimum buffer zone of 3 km in the area around Galwan river.
In first signs of disengagement, the Chinese troops on Monday removed tents and pulled back by around a kilometre from the area around PP14 in the Galwan Valley.
Sources said the disengagement is taking place as per a decision arrived at during the military talks on June 30 that both sides will create a minimum buffer zone of 3 km in the area around Galwan river, and Indian troops also moved accordingly.
Government sources said India is strictly monitoring whether China was withdrawing its troops from the friction points.

60 companies of ITBP to be deployed along LAC

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is not expected to be assigned any task related to internal security in the near future as more than 60 companies of the paramilitary force are being deployed all along the LAC in the backdrop of the recent standoff with China in Ladakh, officials said on Tuesday.
Sources in the security establishment said the force is also set to get sanctions from the Union Home ministry to raise at least nine fresh battalions soon.
They said in order to bolster troop numbers along the 3,488 kms long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, as many as 60 companies have been ordered to move towards the front in various areas like Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
An ITBP company has an operational strength of about 100 personnel. Out of the 60, about 40 companies have already reached border battalion camps in various states and the troops are undergoing acclimatisation and COVID-19 quarantine before they are sent to forward bases, they said.
These units have been withdrawn from various internal security duties that they were rendering across the country, officials added.

Chinese firm signs 1.5 billion deal with Pak to set up hydropower project in PoK

A Chinese company on Monday signed a USD 1.5 billion agreement with Pakistan to set up a hydropower project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the ambitious CPEC project. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan witnessed the signing of the agreement with China Gezhouba for “Azad Pattan Hydropower Project” at a ceremony.
The project is located in Sadhanoti district of PoK on Jhelum river and is expected to be completed in 2026.
The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Originally valued at USD 46 billion, the CPEC projects were worth USD 62 billion as of 2017.

U.S. approves UH-60M Blackhawk helicopter sale to Jordan for $23 million

The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale to Jordan of one UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter and related equipment, according to a statement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
Congress was informed of the sale Tuesday, the announcement said, noting that the package will also include two T700-GE-701D engines and one Common Missile Warning System and other related elements of logistical, engineering, and program support.
The UH-60M will supplement Jordan’s existing Royal Squadron fleet of Black Hawk helicopters and be used to facilitate the movement of the Jordanian Royal Family in a safe and efficient manner. Jordan already has the UH-60M capability and will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment and services into its armed forces.
The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

Pentagon clears possible sale of Strykers to Argentina

The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of 27 M1126 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicles and related equipment to Argentina for an estimated cost of $100 million.
Stryker is a family of eight-wheel-drive combat vehicles that can travel at speeds up to 62 mph on highways, with a range of 312 miles. Introduced in 2000, the eight-wheeled, medium-weight Stryker provides versatility, survivability, lethality, and manoeuvrability.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

What is the name of the hydropower project that is going to be illegally built by China in POK in agreement with Pakistan’s CPEC?
Azad Pattan Hydropower Project
Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project
Khan Khwar Hydropower Project
Rasul Barrage Hydropower Project

ANSWER: A