Indian Air Force Inducts Indigenous Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT)

• The Indian Air Force has designed, developed, and inducted an Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT). This pod will be utilised for evacuation of critical patients with infectious diseases including COVID-19 from high altitude area, isolated and remote places.
• Requirement of an air evacuation system with facility to prevent spread of infectious aerosol from a COVID-19 patient during air travel was felt by IAF when COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic. The first prototype was developed at 3 BRD AF and has undergone various modifications.
• Supporting the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” call by Hon’ble Prime Minister, only indigenous materials have been used to fabricate this pod. This indigenously designed system has been developed at a cost of Rs Sixty Thousand only, which is very less as compared to the imported systems costing up to Rs. Sixty Lakh.
• The system has been developed as a lightweight isolation system made from aviation certified material. It has a transparent and durable cast Perspex for enhanced patient visibility, which is larger, higher, and wider than the existing models.
• The isolation system caters for suitable number of air exchanges, integration of medical monitoring instruments, and ventilation to an intubated patient. In addition, it generates high constant negative pressure in the isolation chamber for prevention of infection risk to aircrew, ground crew and health care workers involved in air transportation.
• The ARPIT utilises High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) H-13 class filters and supports invasive ventilation using Transport Ventilator. The design integrates life support and monitoring instruments (defibrillator with multipara monitor, pulse oximeter, Infusion pumps etc), long arm gloves for use by health care professionals and power pack with high endurance.
• Design requirements have been evolved and are based on the guidelines issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) and Centre for Disease Control (CDC), USA.  The IAF is inducting a total of 7 ARPITS as of now.

Indian Navy Commences evacuation of citizens from Islamic Republic of Iran under Operation Samudra Setu

• Indian Navy had launched Operation Samudra Setu to repatriate Indian citizens commencing 08 May 2020. Indian Naval ships Jalashwa and Magar have already evacuated 2874 personnel from Maldives and Sri Lanka to ports of Kochi and Tuticorin.
• In the next phase of Samudra Setu, Indian Naval Ship Shardul has evacuated Indian citizens on 08 June 2020 from the port of Bandar Abbas, Islamic Republic of Iran, to Porbandar, Gujarat. The Indian Mission in Islamic Republic of Iran had prepared a list of Indian citizens to be evacuated and has facilitated their embarkation after requisite medical screening.
• COVID-related social distancing norms have been catered onboard INS Shardul and the ship has been specially provisioned for the evacuation operation, including embarkation of additional medical staff, doctors, hygienists, nutritionists, medical stores, rations, personal protective equipment, facemasks, lifesaving gear etc.
• In addition to authorised medical outfit, medical equipment specific to dealing with COVID-19 including innovative products developed by the Indian Navy during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is also being carried onboard.
• The evacuated personnel have been provided the basic amenities and medical facilities whilst undertaking the sea-passage to Porbandar. Special isolation compartments have also been earmarked for any contingencies. In view of the unique challenges associated with COVID-19 including asymptomatic carriers, stringent protocols are stipulated during the passage.
• After disembarkation at Porbandar, the evacuated personnel will be entrusted to the care of State authorities.

Egypt sent Abrams tanks and attack helicopters to the Libyan border

• The Egyptian Armed Forces reportedly are deploying Abrams main battle tanks to the border with Libya. At-least six Egypt’s Mi-24 attack helicopters were spotted in this area.
• Egypt on Saturday unveiled a plan to end the years-long civil war in Libya, in an initiative accepted by the commander of the Libyan eastern forces that have suffered heavy losses in recent weeks.
• Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi announced the plan in Cairo, alongside Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and Agila Saleh, the chief of Libya’s allied elected parliament.
• “This initiative calls for respecting all international efforts and initiatives by declaring a ceasefire from 6pm [16:00 GMT] Monday, June 8, 2020,” President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told a news conference on Saturday. He was speaking alongside Haftar and his ally, eastern parliament speaker Aguila Saleh.
• El-Sisi urged international support for the initiative and called on the United Nations to invite Libya’s rival administrations for talks.
• The initiative, called the “Cairo declaration”, urged the withdrawal of “foreign mercenaries from all Libyan territory”, he said.

Russia, Turkey reach agreement for delivery new S-400 missile defense systems

• Ankara and Moscow have agreed on the delivery of the second batch of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. This was stated in an interview with Turkish TV channel NTV by the Head of Turkey’s Defense Industry Ismail Demir.
• “As we have always said, if some system is purchased, this is done for its operation [according to its designation]. That is it. As for putting the systems into operation, the world has passed a certain stage and the pace of work has slowed and trips have been limited. All this has affected the deployment of S-400s,” he said, commenting on the discussion ongoing in Turkey that S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems may not be activated and put on combat duty.
• Turkey signed a contract with Russia in 2017 to purchase the S-400 system.
• The first batch of S-400 defense system was delivered from Russia to Turkey in July 2019.

NATO launches massive maritime-focused exercise BALTOPS 2020 in the Baltic Region, close to Russia

• Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1) taken part in BALTOPS, the premier maritime-focused exercise in the Baltic region.
• According to the Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO Public Affairs, between June 7-16, air and maritime assets from 19 NATO allies and partner nations will participate in live training events that include air defence, anti-submarine warfare, maritime interdiction and mine countermeasure operations.
• For the first time, the exercise will be commanded ashore by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) at its headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal through its new maritime operations centre.
• To ensure the safety and health of participating military personnel, BALTOPS 2020 will take place exclusively at sea. This precaution allows units to enhance multinational operational cooperation, while ensuring that crews remain healthy and ready to provide continuous regional security.
• “BALTOPS provides the opportunity for NATO and partner nations to operate together, sharing best practices to improve real world operations,“ said U.S. Vice Adm. Lisa Franchetti, commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO and commander, U.S. 6th Fleet. “Although we’ll conduct this year’s event entirely at sea, BALTOPS 2020 will demonstrate our continuous commitment to regional security and reinforce the inherent flexibility of our combined naval force to operate together under any circumstances.”
• BALTOPS 2020 is divided into two at sea training phases: the combat enhancement training (CET) and force integration training (FIT) portion and the final tactical phase of the exercise (TACEX).
• During the first six days (the CET/FIT phase) ships and aircraft will rehearse common tactics, techniques, and procedures under a scripted programme of events, enabling them to safely operate together as a force.
• The exercise will culminate with the TACEX phase where forces will shift into a “free-play” portion, and commanders are given more freedom to run their own tactical programs. The TACEX phase is designed to better represent operating in real world situations.
• Participating nations include Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S., with 28 maritime units, 28 aircraft and 3,000 personnel.
• BALTOPS, held in the Baltic region since in 1972, is a joint, maritime-focused exercise that brings together NATO Allies and Partners in order to increase interoperability and enhance flexibility among the participants.

Russian Air Force is buying new Su-34 fighter-bombers

• Russia’s Defense Ministry awarded Sukhoi Aircraft Company contract to manufacture 20 Su-34 frontline fighter-bombers.
• Last week, a contract was signed between the Defense Ministry and the Sukhoi Aircraft Company regarding this and the report added that the contract involves standard Su-34 aircraft with certain alterations based on the experience of the operation of several dozen bombers of this type earlier purchased for the troops.
• The aircraft will integrate the latest avionics suite developed under the Sych experimental design work. The Sych experimental design work was completed in 2019 and, in particular, it envisages installing underslung reconnaissance containers on Su-34s. Also, the range of air-launched weapons, which the Su-34 will be able to employ, increases significantly in the process of this work.
• The Su-34 multirole supersonic fighter-bomber is designated to strike both ground-based and air targets day and night in any weather conditions. As its basic armament, the plane carries air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles.
• The first contract for the delivery of 32 Su-34 planes to the Defense Ministry was signed in 2008. Currently, the Novosibirsk Aviation Enterprise (a branch of the Sukhoi Aircraft Company) is completing the production of Su-34 bombers under the contract signed with the Defense Ministry in 2012 for the delivery of 92 planes to the troops.

India working on two roads in Ladakh amid border row

• India is working on two key roads near the China border in eastern Ladakh — the site of a tense weeks-long border stand-off with its northern neighbour — to provide connectivity to an important forward area that the military calls Sub-Sector North (SSN), two senior officers familiar with the developments said on Monday.
• While the first is the strategic Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi (DS-DBO) road that provides connectivity to the country’s northern-most outpost, Daulat Beg Oldi, the second road being built from Sasoma to Saser La could eventually provide an alternative route to DBO near the Karakoram Pass. The Sasoma-Saser La road axis is south-west of DBO.
• Both projects are being executed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is ferrying 11,815 workers to areas near the China border in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for building strategic roads.
• The road from Sasoma to Saser La, at a height of almost 17,800 feet, is a tough project that falls under “Hardness Index-III”, the BRO’s top-most classification for hard projects. Experts believe that the road can be extended to Brang Sa, Murgo and eventually DBO in the long term.
• “There’s a 200% need to have an alternative road to DBO in Sub-Sector North. The DS-DBO road can be interdicted at several choke points by Chinese forces during hostilities. While the road from Sasoma to Saser La can connect with DBO, it will be an engineering challenge due to the terrain. It may require construction of a tunnel too,” said Lieutenant General BS Jaswal (retd), a former Northern Army commander.
• If the DS-DBO project is blocked, the Indian Army will be forced to use aerial supply lines and also build an arduous alternative route linking Sasoma to Murgo to DBO through the glaciated Saser La. Two years ago, the BRO said the Sasoma-Saser La road would be the world’s first motorable glaciated road.
• Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd), also a former Northern Army commander, said the construction of Sasoma-Saser La road in the glaciated terrain posed a huge challenge, especially in the final patches near Saser La.
• “If we can build this road and further connect it to DBO, it could provide an alternative route during summer months. However, the all-weather DS-DBO road will remain very important for the army,” Lt. Gen. Hooda said.
• The defence ministry told Parliament’s standing committee on defence last year that the Sasoma-Saser La road was a challenging project because of its peculiarities.
• Amid the border stand-off, top officials said the BRO would complete all 61 strategic roads assigned to it along the China border by December 2022 for swifter mobilisation of troops and stores to forward areas.

News about Indo-China Ladakh Border Tension

• There hasn’t been any activity at the four standoff points along the Line of Actual Control after Indian and Chinese military commanders held a 7-hour-long ice-breaking meeting over the weekend.
• Saturday’s meeting between Lt Gen Harinder Singh, commander of Leh-based 14 Corps, and a Chinese delegation headed by Maj Gen Liu Lin, commander of the South Xinjiang military region, agreed to keep talking at the brigade and battalion commander level.
• The Indian assessment is that the shortest time frame that one could look at for a resolution is next month, if not later. That would be comparable to the time taken to end the Doklam standoff that lasted 73 days and ended only after conversations at the highest level.
• However, the Chinese chopper activity has gone up significantly in the last seven to eight days on their side of the LAC. The reason may be to aid its troops deployed on various locations along the LAC. The Chinese chopper fleet operating there includes both the Mi-17s and their local medium-lift choppers.

CDS briefs Rajnath Singh on stand-off situation in Ladakh

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and three service chiefs on Monday to review the stand-off situation at Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh.
• DM Singh was also briefed about the deliberations that took place during the meeting of military commanders of both the countries on June 6. The meeting with Defence Minister was called for an assessment on the talks and future strategy as the army prepares for a long haul.
• During the meeting, a plan is being drawn out to deal with issues that continue to be a cause of concern for India. The meeting went on for over an hour where General Bipin Rawat briefed Singh about the further course of action.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. ARPIT full form:
2. Airborne Revival Pod for Integrated Teleportation
3. Airborne Revival Pod for Integrated Transportation
4. Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation
5. Airborne Rescue Pod for Integrated Transportation

ANSWER: C

• Indian Naval Ship Shardul has evacuated Indian citizens on 08 June 2020 from which port of Islamic Republic of Iran to Porbandar, Gujarat?
• Port of Bandar Abbas
• Port of Bandar Anzali
• Port of Bandar Khomeini
• Port of Bandar Taheri

ANSWER: A

• Cairo declaration urged the withdrawal of _____ from all Libyan territory.
• Merchants
• Terrorists
• Mercenaries
• Naxalites

ANSWER: C

• Which road axis is south-west of DBO and can act as an alternate route to DBO near the Karakoram Pass?
• Chisumle-Demchok
• Sasoma-Saser La
• Khardung La
• Tanglang La

ANSWER: B