THE SPOKESPERSON

 New Delhi: India will formally commission its first home-built aircraft carrier on Friday, the culmination of 17 years of construction and tests as the country seeks to catch up with China and its far larger naval fleet. The INS Vikrant however will not have its own fleet of fighter jets on deck and instead will rely on a few Russian-designed aircraft borrowed from India's only other carrier, the INS Vikramaditya. France's Dassault and Boeing are locked in a race to provide the government with over two dozen jets earmarked for the Vikrant, a 262 metre-long vessel built at the state-run Cochin Shipyard.Indigenous aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’ is set to commission on September 2, 2022 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The aircraft landing trials on INS Vikrant will begin in November and will be completed by mid-2023. The carrier should be fully operational by the end of 2023. Key Facts  about INS Vikrant It is also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier One

  New Delhi:  The government is reportedly holding discussions on providing aid to Pakistan, where devastating floods have killed over 1,000 people and affected a population of nearly 3 crore. According to a report by The Indian Express, talks are being held at the government's highest levels, but no decision has been taken yet. NDTV has learnt that Pakistan is yet to officially reach out to India for help, even though one of its ministers has reportedly said that Islamabad may consider importing food material from India.The discussions on providing aid to Pakistan come against the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his condolences to the families of those killed in the calamity. "Saddened to see the devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, the injured and all those affected by this natural calamity and hope for an early restoration of normalcy," the Prime Minister tweeted

  The demand for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas in the world military market is increasing due to their unique features.  As equivalent aircraft from other countries are expensive and require high-maintenance, Tejas is gradually getting ready to thunder in the sky around the world. After Malaysia, Colombia and several other countries, now South American nation Argentina has shown interest in buying Tejas. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar   confirmed   this during his visit to the country. External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar acknowledged Argentine interest in the Tejas fighter aircraft and highlighted the importance of the proposal in enhancing the strategic quotient of bilateral relationships. A joint press statement issued by both countries after the Joint Commission Meeting said, “EAM, acknowledging Argentine interest in the Made in India TEJAS fighter aircraft for Argentine Air Force, highlighted importance of the proposal in enhancing strategic quotie

  Organised by an Indonesian Islamic think tank, G20 Religion Forum (R20) aims to 'prevent political weaponisation of identity'. It will be held in Bali 2 weeks before G20 summit. New Delhi: In a first-of-its-kind event, Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country, will host a global summit of religious leaders modelled on the Group of Twenty (G20) intergovernmental forum. Called the ‘G20 Religion Forum’, or R20 for short, it will be a parallel event to the annual G20 summit that Indonesia will host this year, and is being seen by scholars as an attempt to “quell the ideas of radical Islam and extremism and promote moderatism”.Organised and hosted by one of Indonesia’s most influential Islamic think tanks, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the two-day R20 summit will take place on 2 and 3 November in Bali, around two weeks before the G20 summit is scheduled to be held there on 15 and 16 November. In an exclusive email interview with ThePrint, Muhammad Najib Azca, vice-secretary general

New Delhi:  Amid rising tensions with China, India and US will come together for two weeks of high-altitude military exercise in Uttarakhand’s Auli, less than 100 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Central Sector.  The Indo-US joint exercise is known as ‘Yudh Abhyas’ and it will be the 15th edition this year.Sources in the defence and security establishment said the joint exercise is being planned from 14 to 31 October where the two forces will carry out “maneuvers to exploit the full scope” of high-altitude warfare. Sources also said the location (at 10,000 feet) where the exercise will take place falls in Stage 1 of acclimatization for high altitude. “This time it is a very important exercise because the Indian side will be showcasing their high-altitude warfare strategies, while the Americans will be showcasing a number of technologies that can be used in such scenarios. This exercise has been planned in such a way that both sides come together for any scena

Man-Packed Fire Support System is a next-generation fire support and intelligence solution for dismounted forces, designed to shorten the sensor-to-shooter cycle while engaging fire effectively and accurately. The HattoriX solution offers the dismounted team an independent intelligence collection-and-analysis capability for immediate and accurate target engagement, while minimizing collateral damage. By integrating several technologies into one comprehensive solution, HattoriX exploits Elbit Systems’ ISTAR assets more efficiently than ever before, enabling precise and rapid execution of complex ISTAR missions. HattoriX is designed for dismounted operational users, including Forward Observers (FO), Forward Air Controllers (FAC), Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC), reconnaissance, field intelligence and Special Forces

  A captured Pakistani militant was tasked to attack Indian forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) by a Pakistani intelligence officer in the Pir Panjal’s Rajouri, the Army said on Wednesday as it foiled two infiltration bids and killed two infiltrators in the past 48 hours in Rajouri. The Pakistani terrorist, identified as Tabarak Hussain, a resident of Sabzkot village, Kotli of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), was arrested on August 21 in Jhangar sector of Naushera.The Army stated that alert troops spotted the movement of two or three terrorists on their side of the LoC. One terrorist came close to the Indian post and tried cutting the fence, when he was challenged by the alert sentries, it added.“The terrorist tried to flee but was brought down by effective fire, incapacitating him. Two terrorists, who were hiding behind, fled the area by taking cover in the dense jungle and broken ground. The injured Pakistani terrorist was captured alive and provided with immediate m

Technology Experiment Satellite  or (TES) is an experimental satellite to demonstrate and validate, in orbit, technologies that could be used in the future satellites of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). [16]  The Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) has a  panchromatic  camera capable of producing images of 1 meter resolution for remote sensing. [17]  The launch of TES made India the second country in the world after the United States that can commercially offer images with one meter resolution. [17]  It is used for remote sensing of civilian areas, mapping industry and geographical information services. RISAT-2 , or Radar Imaging Satellite 2 has a primary sensor, the  synthetic aperture radar  from  Israel Aerospace Industries  (IAI). [18]  RISAT-2 is India's first satellite with a  synthetic aperture radar . It has a day-night, all-weather monitoring capability and has a resolution of one metre. [19]  Potential applications include tracking hostile s

  Sudarshan Close-in Weapon System Protection For Critical Assets with the ability to counter drones or UAVs. Consists of  🔸Fire Control radar 🔸Search Radar & Command Control Unit  🔸40 mm Air Defence Gun with Programmable Ammunition.  A close-in weapon system is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of larger modern warships are equipped with some kind of CIWS device. There are two types of CIWS systems. A gun-based CIWS usually consists of a combination of radars, computers, and rapid-firing multiple-barrel rotary cannons placed on a rotating turret. Missile-based CIWSs use either infra-red, passive radar/ESM, or semi-active radar terminal guidance to guide missiles to the targeted enemy aircraft or other threats. In some cases, CIWS are used on land to protect military bases. In this case, the CIWS can

UPI, India’s second most popular payment method after cash, is now being adopted by many other nations, allowing Indians to travel to such countries cashless. Unified Payments Interface (UPI), created by the National Payments Corporation of India is an immediate real-time payment system.  The interface facilitates inter-bank peer-to-peer (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulates it, and it operates by instantly moving payments between two bank accounts using a mobile platform. UPI Goes International Liquid Group, a cross-border digital payment service provider, signed an agreement with NIPL in September 2021 to launch a UPI-based QR code payment system in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan beginning in 2022.On March 8, 2022, NIPL entered into an agreement with the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) to connect UPI with the Buna Payment Platform, which is linked to t