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Army pushes hard for fast-track purchases to regain combat edge

April 9, 2012

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New Delhi, April 9: Having jolted the government over the critical operational gaps in its military capabilities, the Army is now pushing hard for fast-track policies and acquisitions to "enhance its combat ratio versus China" as well as "upgrade its combat edge" against Pakistan.

The defence ministry, too, is responding with alacrity for a change. Defence minister AK Antony has called another review meeting with Army chief General VK Singh and his top brass later this month, after holding two such meetings on February 28 and April 2.

It was between the earlier two meetings that the Army chief's confidential letter to the PM, about the "hollowness'' in military preparedness, found its way into the public domain much to the government's consternation.

For starters, the cases for one more regiment of the 300-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, two "troops'' of Israeli medium-altitude, long endurance Heron UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), and several types of ammunition ranging from Konkurs anti-tank guided missiles to Invar missiles for T-90S main-battle tanks, will be finalized in this fiscal's first quarter, top sources said.

Interestingly, the new BrahMos regiment will have the missile's Block-III version, which has "steep dive capability'' to take out targets hidden behind a mountain range. After the western front, the government has approved deployment of these missile systems in Arunachal Pradesh to counter China's huge buildup of military infrastructure all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control.

Other projects in the pipeline for Army, which has over 100 of them at different stages, include advanced assault rifles, close-quarter battle carbines, bullet-proof jackets, ballistic helmets and light vehicles for the infantry's 359 battalions.

The mechanized forces' list stretches from TIFCS night-vision devices for T-72 tanks, upgrade of BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles and AFV (armoured fighting vehicle) protection to missiles and ammunition for all of them.

Air defence regiments, in turn, want procurement of three surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems - quick-reaction, medium range and man-portable short-range - to replace obsolete Russian-origin Kvadrat, Strela and other systems. Self-propelled air defence gun and missile systems as well as an upgrade of L-70 guns is also on the cards, in addition to the two indigenous Akash SAM regiments already ordered for Rs 14,180 crore.

The over Rs 20,000 crore 155mm artillery programme will get underway with induction of 145 ultra-light howitzers, to be followed by 1,580 towed, 180 self-propelled wheeled and 100 self-propelled tracked guns, as also more Russian Smerch multi-launch rocket systems.

In terms of infrastructure, apart from a new mountain strike corps, the Army wants completion of the earmarked development in the eastern theatre at a cost of Rs 9,243 crore by 2016-2017 as well as the Rs 26,155 crore "capability development in the northern borders'' by 2020-2021.

The force is also pushing for development of 14 strategic railway lines for "troop mobilization and logistics sustenance''. They include Murkongseld-Pasighat-Rupai, Misamari-Tawang and North Lakimpur-Along-Silapathar lines in the eastern sector.

The central sector lines are Rishikesh-Karanprayag-Chamoli, Dehradun-Uttarkashi, Tanakpur-Jauljibi and Tanakpur-Bageshwar, while the northern one includes Jammu-Akhnoor-Poonch, Pathankot-Leh and Srinagar-Kargil-Leh ones.

Then, the Army wants faster construction of the 73 all-weather roads (totaling 3,808 km) identified for construction along the three sectors of LAC -- western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal) - since only 15 of them have been completed till now.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Idukki, Aug 8: Nine more bodies have been recovered from the landslide ravaged Pettimudi near Munnar in Idukki on Saturday. With this the death toll in the tragedy reached 26. Around 40 are feared to be still trapped under the debris or washed away.

The rescue operation by NDRF and Fire and Rescue Services that was stopped by Friday evening due to poor light and bad weather resumed by Saturday morning.

Horrifying scene prevailed in the area as relatives of the missing people screamed around in search of their beloved ones. As it is nearly 48 hours since the incident happened, the chances of recovering missing persons alive from the debris is becoming bleak. Three of the bodies recovered on Saturday could not be identified till evening.

Kerala Revenue Minster E Chandrasekharan, who visited the area on Saturday, said that search operation would be carried out until all the missing are recovered.

It was by around 11.30 pm on Thursday that landslide had hit the Nayamakkad estate of Kannan Devan Hills and Plantations. Settlement clusters of plantation workers where 83 persons were staying were reduced to debris as the huge rocks came bulldozing. Five of the residents were reported to be not in the spot while the mishap occured.

Meanwhile, heavy rains led to floods at many parts of the state. Red alert has been issued at Idukki, Malappuram and Wayanad districts for Sunday also. A total of 11,446 persons of 3,530 families were shifted to relief camps across the state, of which major chunk is at Wayanad.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that water level at most dams is increasing swiftly.

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Agencies
April 23,2020

More and more Indians have become better prepared in the last one month, as far as stocking of their ration, medicine or money is concerned, according to the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker.

With the second leg of the lockdown half way through and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying it's a long haul, 57.2% respondents said they have less than three weeks of stock while 43.3% said they have a stock that will last beyond that

However, if one breaks into weeks, most respondents said they are prepared for a week's time. 24.5% respondents said they have ration, medicine or money to last a week. This is closely followed by 21.9 % respondents saying they are ready for a month.

Meanwhile, 20.4 % said they are ready for a couple of weeks. There are 15.8 % who said they are ready for more than a month with food, ration and medicine. A tiny 5.6 % said they are ready with three weeks of stock.

However, there is 12.3% who still seem to live on the edge with less than a week's preparation.

But, the biggest takeaway from the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker is that in the last one month, a massive segment of society realised that the fight is long and the preparation should also be to last that long.

o put things into context, on March 16 when the tracker started, a whopping 77.1% said they have stock to last for less than a week. More than a month later on April 21, that number jumped to just 12.3%, which essentially means, people have become better prepared for a long-hauled lockdown period.

Similarly, on April 21, a sizable 21.9% respondents claimed they are ready with ration and medicine that will last them a month. On March 16, not even one respondent could claim they have a month's stock. In fact till March 22, just ahead of the announcement of the first lockdown, no respondent the IANS-CVoter tracker said that they have a month's preparation.

Similarly, when the tracker started, 9.9% said they simply ‘don't know'. As on April 21, that number is a big zero.

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News Network
June 24,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 24: Kerala on Tuesday was among those honoured for tackling the Covid-19 pandemic when the United Nations celebrated the Public Service Day.

The function, held on a virtual platform, saw the participation of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other top UN dignitaries who applauded all the leaders which included state Health Minister K.K. Shailaja for effectively tackling Covid-19.

Speaking on the occasion, Shailaja noted that the experiences of tackling Nipah virus and the two floods - 2018 and 2019 - where the health sector played a crucial role, all helped in tackling Covid-19 timely.

"Right from the time when Covid cases got reported in Wuhan, Kerala got into the track of the WHO and followed every standard operating protocols and international norms and hence, we have been able to keep the contact spread rate to below 12.5 per cent and the mortality rate to 0.6 per cent," she said.

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