15 minute read
District Agriculture Officer Staff Phek
from August 10, 2020
NEW DELHI, AUG 9
(PTI): In a major push to promote the domestic defence industry, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday announced restrictions on import of 101 weapons and military platforms including light combat helicopters, transport aircraft, conventional submarines and cruise missiles by 2024.
Advertisement
Making the announcement on Twitter, the defence minister estimated that the domestic defence industry would receive contracts worth almost Rs four lakh crore within the next five to seven years as a result of the decision to prune the import list.
Singh said the defence ministry is now ready for a “big push” to boost indigenous defence manufacturing in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (SelfReliant India).
According to officials, the list of 101 items includes towed artillery guns, short range surface to air missiles, cruise missiles, offshore patrol vessels, electronic warfare systems, next generation missile vessels, floating dock, anti-submarine rocket launchers and short range maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The list also includes basic trainer aircraft, lightweight rocket launchers, multi-barrel rocket launchers, missile destroyers, sonar systems for ships, rockets, ASTRA-MK I beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, light machine guns and artillery ammunition (155 mm) and ship-borne medium range guns.
Singh’s announcement came a week after a draft defence procurement policy of the defence ministry projected a turnover of Rs 1.75 lakh crore (USD 25 billion) in defence manufacturing by 2025. India is one of the most lucrative markets for global defence giants. The country figured among the top three importers of military hardware in the world for the last eight years. According to estimates, the Indian armed forces are projected to spend around USD 130 billion in capital procurement in the next five years. “This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. It also offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items in the negative list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed and developed by the DRDO,” Singh said.
In another relevant step, he said the defence ministry has bifurcated the capital procurement budget
Rajnath Singh
for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes.
A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year, the defence minister added.
Singh said all necessary steps would be taken to ensure that timelines for domestic production of equipment identified under a negative list for import are met, adding the measures will include a co-ordinated mechanism for hand-holding of the industry by the defence services.
“The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 and 2024. The aim behind promulgation of the list is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the armed forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation,” he said.
The defence minister said the list of 101 items was prepared by the ministry after several rounds of consultations with all stakeholders, including the three services, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), defence public sector undertakings, ordnance factory board and private industries.
“Almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the tri-services at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore between April 2015 and August 2020. With the latest embargo on import of 101 items, it is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs four lakh crore will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next five to seven years,” Singh said.
“Of these, items worth almost Rs 1,30,000 crore each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force, while items worth almost Rs 1,40,000 crore are anticipated by the Navy over the same period,” he added.
Singh said the list also includes, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which the Army is expected to contract almost 200 at an approximate cost of over Rs 5,000 crore.
“Similarly, the Navy is likely to place demands for submarines with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which it expects to contract about six at an approximate cost of almost Rs 42,000 crore,” he said. “For the Air Force, it is decided to enlist the LCA MK 1A with an indicative embargo date of December 2020. Of these, 123 are anticipated at an approximate cost of over Rs 85,000 crore,” he added.
According to a government document, import restrictions on 69 items will come into force from December 2020, while the embargo on another 11 items will be applicable from December 2021.
A separate list of four items has been identified for import restrictions from December 2022, while the ban on two separate sets of eight items will be applicable from December 2023 and December 2024.
The import ban on long range land attack cruise missiles will come into force from December 2025.
The defence minister said more such equipment for import embargo would be identified progressively by the department of military affairs in consultation with all stakeholders.
VIJAYAWADA (AP),
AUG 9 (PTI): As many as 10 patients died at a star hotel converted to a coronavirus treatment centre here on Sunday when panicstricken inmates tried to flee a fire suspected to have been caused by a short circuit, the government said.
Ten people were killed in the mishap, Vijayawada Police Commissioner B Srinivasulu said.
All the victims were patients undergoing treatment there, according to Deputy CM (Health) A K K Srinivas. Twenty people have been rescued. The hotel leased by a private hospital to treat coronavirus patients had “violated” safety rules, according to Fire Safety Director Jairam Naik.
It will face action as investigation has been initiated, he said.
The Andhra Pradesh government announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 50 lakh each to the kin of the 10 victims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy over the phone and enquired about the incident. Reddy told Modi that a private hospital had taken the star hotel on lease to treat COVID-19 patients. The PM assured all possible help and support to the families
Police personnel and other officials inspect the hotel, turned into Covid-19 care centre, where a massive fire broke out early morning, in Vijayawada, Aug. 9. (PTI)
‘PM to present new outline for
STATE
DIMAPUR: Troops of Assam Rifles of the victims, a release from the CMO said. State Home Minister M Sucharita said an electrical short circuit appeared to be the possible cause of the fire mishap in the wee hours of Sunday.
There were 40 coronavirus positive persons undergoing treatment at the private facility. There were 10 staff members of the private hospital that was running the COVID Care Centre (CCC).
According to sources in the AP Disaster Response and Fire Services Department, the fire apparently broke out due to an electrical short circuit in the hotel’s front lobby and spread to the first and second floors.
As there was only one main stairway, the panicked patients tried to escape to safety using the stairway after they noticed the smoke.
“They should have actually used a different stairway on the rear side and that would have saved their lives. Unfortunately, they used the main one in a panicky situation and got caught in the fire,” a Fire official said.
Since there was no other option, the Fire and NDRF personnel used ladders to bring down other people, stranded inside the
NEW DELHI, AUG 9
(PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present a new outline for a self-reliant India in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday.
The defence minister said various departments and ministries of the government are working seriously to implement Modi’s initiative for a self-reliant India and that it is an attempt to give a fresh dimension to Mahatma Gandhi’s push for ‘Swadeshi’.
Singh was speaking at an online event organised to pay tributes to revolutionary freedom fighter Udham Singh. Talking about the ‘Atmanirbhar’ initiative, the defence minister said that
Narendra Modi
the coronavirus pandemic has shown that a country may not be able to effectively protect its sovereignty if it is not self-reliant.
“Our government will not allow any harm to India’s self respect and sovereignty at any cost,” he said.
“PM Modi will present before the nation a new outline for a self-reliant India in his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the Independence Day,” Singh said. Referring to the defence ministry’s decision to ban import of 101 military weapons and platforms, Singh said major and tough decisions are being taken to promote self-reliance in defence production. He said big weapons systems will now be produced in India and the country will look for their export to make it a hub for defence manufacturing. In a major push to promote the domestic defence industry, Singh on Sunday morning announced restrictions on import of 101 weapons and military platforms including light combat helicopters, transport aircraft, conventional submarines and cruise missiles by 2024.
What happened at Kerala airport in the first 5 minutes after crash
KO Z H I KO D E , AU G
9 (AGENCIES): When Flight IX-1344 went down at Kerala’s Calicut International Airport on Friday, authorities and locals swerved into action to save as many lives as possible. NDTV has accessed a blow-by-blow account of what happened in the critical first five minutes from sources in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards the country’s airports.
At 7:40 pm when the Air India Express Boeing 737 aircraft from Dubai with 190 people skidded off the table-top runway in heavy rain and went down a 35-metre slope, the first call was made by an officer of the CISF, sources said.
Assistant Sub Inspector Ajith Singh who was present at crash gate number 08 sent the first walkie-talkie message to the CISF control room at 7:40 pm, seconds after seeing the plane go down, sources said. Crash gates at airport landing and take-off points are meant for emergency responses.
At 7:41 pm, the CISF control room called the Air Traffic Control and CISF Quick Response Team.
At 7:42 pm, the Airport Fire Station was alerted.
At 7:43 pm, the CISF called the Airport Health Department.
At 7:44 pm, the CISF control room contacted the terminal manager of the airport, airport director and made a second call to Airport Health.
At 7:45 pm, the CISF control room informs local police and the agency’s unit lines. Within five to seven minutes of the accident, residents in the area too
Air India Express flight that skidded off the runway while landing, in Kozhikode, Friday, Aug. 7. (PTI)
had reached the crash gate said CISF sources. near which the plane went Though it was India’s down. worst passenger aircraft
Seeing the number of accident since 2010, the passengers involved, the number of casualties was deputy commandant of significantly lower than the Calicut International Airone in Mangaluru when port allowed a restricted another Air India Express number of locals inside the flight from Dubai overshot crash gate to help with the the table-top runway and rescue, a timely decision, slid down a hill, killing 158
people.
Eighteen people died in Kerala and more than 150 were injured. All survivors were admitted to various hospitals and were also tested for COVID-19, authorities have said.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri visited the site of the accident on Saturday.
“It (the plane) overshot the runway while trying to land amidst what were clearly inclement weather conditions prevailing at that time,” Mr Puri told a news conference, adding that it would be premature to speculate on the precise cause of the accident.
He said authorities managed to rescue most of the passengers because the plane did not catch fire while descending the slope
NPYC felicitates IYC on 60th foundation day
DIMAPUR: Nagaland Pradesh Youth Congress (NPYC) on the occasion of 60th foundation day of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) extended warmest congratulations to the IYC, which was established in 1960.
In a message to the IYC, the NPYC president Vilhousielie Kenguruse conveyed utmost gratitude to IYC under the visionary leadership of Srinivas president and colleagues, who had stood with the Indian youths in all the circumstances faced by the youth of today. He further urged that as the voice of the voiceless, “we should walk every milestones and make a breakthrough for the country.” He also said that foundation day marks the toughness of the past leaders through the years and reminded every member of the IYC/NPYC to do their part not just to preserve the legacy but to surpass it. NPYC president also paid tribute to the pioneers and senior leaders of IYC, calling it a historic day.
NPYC president also demanded answers from BJP led Modi government on the future for Indian youth as promised by the government and where the 2 crore jobs were as promised in 2014. He pointed out that unemployment rate was the highest under Modi government while 2 out of every 5 young India were unemployed with no access to education or training. In addition, he stated that as per centre monitoring India economy data, 41% of people aged between 15 and 29 were unemployed in May 2020, while more unemployed persons committed suicide in 2017-2018 than farmers. Citing that 5 crore people have been unemployed in the last 5 years, escalated further by demonetisation and failed GST, the NPYC president questioned as to why Modi was silent over these issues. The message further stated that IYC and NPYC will continue to fight till justice was delivered to the Indian youths.
WSYF welcomes new DC Dimapur
DIMAPUR: Welcoming the new DC of Dimapur Rajesh Soundararajan, the Western Sumi Youth Front (WSYF) also extended full support and cooperation in his endeavour towards service to the public.
In a press release, the WSYF media cell expressed hope that as an experienced administration, the new DC would put his best efforts towards new progress and development of the district and that the pandemic situation would be handled in an effective manner. WSYF also appreciated the former DC, Anoop Khinchi for his tireless efforts during his tenure at Dimapur.
Webinar on social developments of NE India
DIMAPUR: Don Bosco College Kohima (DBCK) in association with Kohima Educational Society (KES) organised a two-day multi-disciplinary international webinar on social formation and cultural developments of Northeast India and the neighbouring regions on July 24 and 25.
A press release by DBCK and KES stated that, special invitee professor M. Aleminla Ao, pro-vice chancellor Nagaland University, Kohima Campus underlined that North East India and its neighbouring regions have its own unique and diverse history of social systems, tradition and rich culture. She expressed regret that process of modernization and the subsequent developments have impacted societies and the valuable heritage was diminishing.
Highlighting that most historical events were orally narrated without comprehensive research and documentation, she opined that these drawbacks have led to distortion and contradictory statements. She called upon practitioners, researchers and academicians to come together and deliberate with new insights, data, interpretation and new answers to make it right on the social history and preserve its rich cultural heritage.
Dr. Visier Sanyii, president, Overseas Naga Association (ONA) in his keynote address highlighted on retrieval and evolution of the cultures of Northeast India and the neighboring region. Speaking on the webinar theme, he expressed that while oral traditions vary from place to place, “we must employ methodologies that are ethical, preserve human dignity, and are in search of the truth.” He further stated that since oral traditions in North East region were in the process of being freshly documented, there was need for patience and discernment in this process. The two-day long webinar witnessed 37 papers presentations and extensive deliberations in five technical sessions presented by scholars, academicians from NE India including Dhakha and UK. Prof. Rajib Handique, Gauhati University, Guwahati, prof. Amrendra Kumar Thakur, NEHU, Shillong, Meghalaya, prof. N. Venuh, Nagaland University, Kohima, prof. Jano L. Sekhose, Nagaland University, Kohima and Dr. Krishna Kalita, KBV Sanskrtit & Ancient Studies University, Nalbari, Assam were the moderators for the sessions.
Earlier at the inaugural programme, Fr. Dr. P. Suresh, principal Don Bosco College Kohima and Dr. P Ngullie, chairman Kohima Educational Society welcomed the gathering. The programme was convened by Dr. Lanukumla Ao coordinator, Research Cell Don Bosco College Kohima and Dr. Imtinaro Longkumer, head of Education Don Bosco College Kohima. Technical support was provided by National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology, Kohima.
Assam Rifles seize illegal liquor in Mokokchung
at the end of the runway. seized illegal liquor from general area Longmisa junction, Mokokchung on August 3.
According to PRO (defence), based on specific intelligence regarding illegal activities, Assam Rifles, along with police representative established a Mobile vehicle check post at general area Longmisa junction and intercepted Mahindra Bolero carrying 99 cases of Mc Dowells Rum amounting to Rs 4,00,000/-.
In this connection, two individuals, namely Imlisunep and Zulutemjen, were apprehended and handed over to Mokokchung Police Station-1 along with seized liquor for further investigation.
APOLOGY
I, Shri. WOBEMO JAMI, s/o Eliyamo Jami, a resident of Lower Etsutchukha Colony, Wokha Town humbly apologise to Shri. TSEMOMO TUNGOE, Colony GB for tarnishing his name and image in the social media the matter of which has been amicably settled along with Council Members.
WOBEMO JAMI, Lower Etsutchukha Colony, Wokha Town
HIYAM DIMAPUR SUMI COUNCIL Dimapur - 797112 : Nagaland Akimiji : "Akimichi eno Amikucho" FELICITATION
The Dimapur Sumi Council (DSC) extend our hearty congratulations to Shri. Richard Yanthan for his grand success in the prestigious UPSC examination 2019 and bringing laurels to the Nagas.
It is after a gap of 3 years that a candidate from Nagaland has cracked the Civil Service Exam. While congratulating him for his success, it is also desired that he will inspire other aspiring candidates to give their best to bring fame and name to Nagaland.
We wish him more success and pray that Almighty God guides him in his future endeavors. (KUHOI ZHIMOMI) (TUKUKA H. AWOMI) DP-3407 President General Secretary
