New Delhi, Feb 7,2024: India’s installed nuclear power capacity will increase to 22800 megawatts by 2031–32, the central government announced on Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said, “The present installed nuclear power capacity is set to increase from 7480 MW to 22800 MW by 2031–32.”
The government is taking policy measures to generate electricity through atomic energy as well as other sources to promote these, he said.
To increase the share of nuclear power in total electricity generation in the country, the government has taken several steps, including administrative approval and financial sanction, to set up 10 indigenous 700 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) in fleet mode, the minister said.
The creation of the Indian nuclear insurance pool (INIP) for the implementation of the civil liability for nuclear damage (CLND) act and amendment of the Atomic Energy Act will enable joint ventures of public sector companies to set up nuclear power projects and enter into agreements with foreign countries for nuclear power cooperation, including the supply of fuel, he added.
New Delhi , June 27,2023: The Tibetan troops recruited by the Chinese Army for helping them in high-altitude areas are now visible as part of the People’s Liberation Army border defence patrols along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, according to the sources.
Soon after the aggression along the LAC in 2020, China started recruiting these soldiers to help them sustain in high-altitude areas as part of their long-term deployment plans there.
“The Tibetan soldiers are now visible as part of the patrols of their border defence troops but the majority continue to be the mainland Chinese soldiers,” sources in security forces said.
The Chinese have faced issues with their regular mainland troops to sustain themselves in high altitude areas and also have seen how the Indian Special Frontier Force troops including many Tibetan troops performed during the capture of high peaks in the Kailash ranges by the Indian Army, sources said.
As per reports, China had issued instructions to their senior commanders to induct at least one soldier from each Tibetan family and turn them loyal towards the country as well as keeping a check on their families.
However, sources said the move by China has seen a lot of resentment from the affected families.
India and China have been in a military standoff since April-May 2020 and deployed heavily in the border areas.
India has also deployed an almost equal number of troops along the Eastern Ladakh sector to counter any possible misadventure by the Chinese in the future.
The Army has also reoriented its focus towards the northern borders and deployed new formations along with dual tasking some of them for facing the two-front threat scenario.
North Korea test-fired four strategic cruise missiles during a drill designed to demonstrate its ability to conduct a nuclear counterattack against hostile forces, its state media said on Friday.
The exercise on Thursday involved an apparently operational strategic cruise missile unit of the Korean People’s Army, which fired the four “Hwasal-2” missiles in the area of Kim Chaek City, North Hamgyong Province, towards the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, state news agency KCNA said.
Other units conducted firepower training at hardened sites without live firing, it added.
The four strategic cruise missiles hit a preset target after travelling the “2,000km-long (1,243 mile) elliptical and eight-shaped flight orbits for 10,208 seconds to 10,224 seconds,” the report said.
The drill demonstrated “the war posture of the DPRK nuclear combat force bolstering up in every way its deadly nuclear counterattack capability against the hostile forces,” KCNA said, using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The missile launches were not announced by South Korea or Japan, which are often the first to detect and publicly report such launches.
South Korea’s defence ministry said the launch was monitored but there were “differences” between what it and the United States detected and the North’s statement, without elaborating.
The launch came as U.S. and South Korean officials took part in a tabletop, or simulated, exercise that focused on the possibility of North Korea using a nuclear weapon.
In a separate dispatch, Pyongyang’s foreign ministry criticised Washington and its allies for calling a meeting of the UN Security Council over its spate of recent missile tests.
North Korea has accused the United Nations has been “unfair” on its military activities while keeping mum about U.S. and South Korean joint military exercises.
Dec 23,2022:Sixteen army personnel, including three Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs), were killed in a road accident at Zema in North Sikkim on Friday morning, 23 December, when their vehicle skidded off while navigating a sharp turn, the army said.
The truck was part of a three-vehicle convoy that was on its way from Chatten to Thangu.
“Deeply pained” over the loss of lives of the personnel, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in a tweet, “The nation is deeply grateful for their service and commitment. My condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for the speedy recovery of those who are injured.”
Four injured soldiers were air evacuated. Three Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and 13 soldiers have been confirmed dead, a defence statement said.
The truck was part of a three-vehicle convoy that had moved from Chatten in the morning towards Thangu.
The mishap took place at 8 am at Zema 3, about 15 kms away from Lachen.
The Army vehicle was heading towards the border posts with 20 occupants. The vehicle seemed to have veered off the road while negotiating a curve in the Zema 3 area and crashed hundreds of feet down. All 16 bodies have been recovered from the crash site.
Aug 05,2022:China has resumed its largest-ever military exercises in the waters around the self-ruled island of Taiwan, with the territory’s defence ministry saying numerous warships and fighter aircraft had crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line.
The exercises, which on Thursday included firing ballistic missiles and deploying fighter jets, follow the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the democratic island, which Beijing claims as its own.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said that multiple Chinese “warships and warplanes” had conducted exercises in the Taiwan Strait as of 11am (03:00 GMT) on Friday, crossing the median line of the waterway that separates China and Taiwan.
The ministry said China’s military activities were “highly provocative” and that it was monitoring the “enemy situation” closely.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the military exercises – which also included firing missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone – as a “significant escalation”.
“China has chosen to overreact and use Speaker Pelosi’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” Blinken said at a news conference following a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Friday.
New Delhi,June 13,2022: India-Russia defence Joint Venture BrahMos Aerospace is capable of making hypersonic missiles and will be able to have its first such missile in five to six years, BrahMos Aerospace informed on Monday.
“BrahMos Aerospace is capable of making hypersonic missiles. In five to six years, we will be able to have our first hypersonic missile by BrahMos,” said Atul Rane, CEO and MD, BrahMos Aerospace while speaking at an event over the commencement of ‘Silver Jubilee Year’ celebration (1998-2023) to mark the incredible journey of one of India’s most successful, cutting-edge military partnership programmes that has produced the world’s best, fastest and most powerful modern precision strike weapon BrahMos.
Coinciding with India’s 75 years of Independence, BrahMos Aerospace on Monday commenced the ‘Silver Jubilee Year’ celebrations (2022-2023) to mark the incredible journey of one of India’s most successful, cutting-edge military partnership programmes that has produced the world’s best, fastest and most powerful modern precision strike weapon BrahMos.
The supersonic cruise missile has been successfully operationalised in all three Services of the Indian Armed Forces (in the Indian Navy in 2005; in the Indian Army in 2007; in Indian Air Force in 2020).
After charting one after other incredible milestones and spectacular successes, the world-class BrahMos brought the first and foremost major breakthrough in India’s military exports front by becoming the first full-scale weapon to be exported to a responsible, friendly nation.
On January 28, BrahMos Aerospace signed a historic contract with the Republic of the Philippines to deliver a shore-based anti-ship BRAHMOS system to the Philippine Navy. As a proud flag-bearer of ‘Make-in-India’ and ‘Design-in-India’, BrahMos Aerospace is now going to ‘Make-for-the-World’ -a first for the JV entity and a proud first for India.
The multi-million-dollar BrahMos export deal has paved the way for India’s aspiration to emerge as a top-notch military manufacturer and exporter in the world in the next few years.