General Awareness

DEFENCE - October 2019

Oct 2019

Jun 18, 2021

China, India and Pakistan Expanding Nuclear Arsenal

According to a study by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China, Pakistan and India have 350, 165 and 156 nuclear warheads respectively as of January 2021 and the three countries appear to be expanding their nuclear arsenals.
It also said as per its assessment, Russia and the US together possess over 90 percent of the estimated 13,080 global nuclear weapons.
There are nine countries in the world that have nuclear weapons: the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.

Defence Minister Inaugurates 12 Strategic Projects of Border Roads Organisation (BRO)

Enhancing road infrastructure is key to ensuring connectivity in border areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh while inaugurating 12 border roads.
He said that the roads that were being inaugurated hold "strategic and socio-economic importance" as they will play an important role in strengthening national security as well as promoting development of the Northeastern states.
These border road projects are part of India's 'Act East Policy' wherein special emphasis is being laid on the overall development of border areas.

Jun 17, 2021

Ordnance Factory Board Scrapped

In a major decision of the Union Cabinet, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), first set up by the British in 1775, now under the Ministry of Defence will cease to exist.
Seven separate companies are planned to be created, each doing a specific manufacturing role. The existing 41 factories under the OFB will be subsumed under one or the other of the seven new companies, all 100 per cent government owned public sector undertakings (PSU).
The seven new – yet to be named—PSU entities will cover a separate sector. One will be the 'Ammunition and Explosives group'. This will engage in production of ammunition of various calibre and explosives, not only for the Make in India initiative but also for exports.
The 'Vehicles group' would engage in production of defence mobility and combat vehicles such as Tanks, Trawls, BMP and Mine Protected Vehicles.
'Weapons & Equipment group' would engage in production of small arms, medium and large calibre guns and other weapon systems. This was expected to increase the share in the domestic market through meeting domestic demand as well as product diversification.
The other four companies would be 'Troop Comfort Items group', 'Ancillary group', 'Opto-Electronics group' and 'Parachute group'.

Jun 16, 2021

India Opens Vacancies for Nepali Women in Military Police

In a first, the Indian Army has opened vacancies for Nepali women in Military Police. The announcement comes at a time when there are calls to abrogate the recruitment of Nepali youths in the Indian Army. The Army says that it wants to continue the recruitment of Nepali youths, both male and female, in a bid to widen the scope for the youngsters.
The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has released the announcement calling for eligible Nepali females to submit their application through the online.
As per the criteria those who have passed class 10, aged between 16 and 21 years or those who were born between October 1, 2000, to between April 1, 2004, and height above than 152 cm can apply.

Mazagon Dock to Deliver INS Visakhapatnam by October

- Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDSL) will deliver the first of the four stealth guided missile destroyers to the Indian Navy by October and a Scorpene-class submarine by the end of the fiscal year.
- The state-run company under the defence ministry, which has an order book of nearly Rs. 50,000 crore, will hand over Visakhapatnam-class (Project 15B) destroyer INS Visakhapatnam to the navy in the next 3-4 months.
- INS Visakhapatnam is the first of the four destroyers MDSL is building at its site in Mumbai, which is also one of the largest that the Indian Navy will possess.
- While INS Visakhapatnam is currently undergoing sea trials, three other destroyers of the same class – INS Mormugao, INS Imphal, INS Porbandar – are under various stages of development at MDSL.

Jun 15, 2021

NATO Countries Ready to Collectively Respond to Attacks in Space

NATO leaders will expand the use of their all for one, one for all, collective defense clause to include attacks in space.
Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty states that an attack on any one of the 30 allies will be considered an attack on them all.
So far, it's only applied to more traditional military attacks on land, sea, or in the air, and more recently in cyberspace.

India Sets Eyes on Russian Sprut Light Tanks

India has set its eyes on procuring the Russian-made Sprut-SDM1 light tanks, to counter China in the mountainous terrain along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and will also take part in the trials of the system starting late summer.
This will be a first for Russia because no other country has witnessed trials of a product that is under development.
India is keen on the 18-tonne Sprut because it shares the gun of the T-90 tank and fires the same kind of ammunition. India is currently operating T-90 and T-72 tanks, which are also Russian-origin, besides Arjun.
This will mean logistics and maintenance systems of the Sprut tanks will not have to be drastically different for the Armoured Corps.

China, India, Pakistan Expanding Nuclear Arsenal

The number of nuclear warheads which are ready and deployed to fire have increased globally, while closer to home, China is in the middle of a significant modernisation and expansion of its nuclear weapon inventory.
As per the reports, India and Pakistan also appear to be expanding their nuclear arsenals.
Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released its "Yearbook 2021", which assesses the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security. In this report is an 80-page detailed reference on nuclear weapons.
The world has nine declared nuclear-armed states — the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and the North Korea — which together possess an estimated 13,080 nuclear weapons at the start of 2021. This marked a decrease from the 13,400 that SIPRI estimated these states possessed at the beginning of 2020.

Jun 14, 2021

498 cr. for Innovations for Defence Excellence Challenge Approved

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the budgetary support of 498.8 crore to Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) challenge under the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) for the next five years.
The iDEX framework and establishment of the DIO by the Department of Defence Production (DDP) is aimed at promoting innovation and indigenisation in the aerospace and defence sector at the start-up level.
"The scheme, with budgetary support of 498.8 crore for the next five years, is aimed at providing financial support to nearly 300 start-ups, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), individual innovators and 20 partner incubators under the DIO framework," the Ministry said. It aims at empowering a culture of technology co-creation and co-innovation in the sector and boosts innovation among the start-ups and encourages them to be a part of the ecosystem.

A Year After Galwan Clash, China Beefing up Positions Along LAC

A year since the violent clash between the Armies of India and China in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has built additional accommodation in the depth areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on its side and is preparing for the long haul, official sources said.
"PLA has built additional accommodations, both permanent and temporary, in Rudok, Kangxiwar, Gyantse and Golmud areas. Construction of field hospitals and procurement of additional snow mobility vehicles by the PLA also indicate that they are preparing for the long haul and permanent winter occupation of these posts," a source said.

Rajnath Singh Approves New Policy for Declassification of War History

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved a policy on archiving, declassification, compilation and publication of war and operations histories by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
However, declassification of older wars like the 1962 war is not automatic and will be taken up on case by case basis by a committee to be constituted under the new policy.
"According to the policy, records should ordinarily be declassified in 25 years. Records older than 25 years should be appraised by archival experts and transferred to the National Archives of India once the war/operations histories have been compiled," the Ministry said.

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