Latest news with #Akash
India Gazette
2 hours ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Defence Secretary calls BrahMos a game-changer in Operation Sindoor
New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has said the Indian Armed Forces effectively used a mix of foreign-origin and indigenous weapons during Operation Sindoor that targeted terror sites in Pakistan. He called the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos a game-changer in the operation. In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Defence Secretary said, 'We were using a mix of foreign-origin and indigenous weapons effectively. And the indigenous weapons that were used did very well, and BrahMos, in fact, was probably, you could even call it a game changer.' He said that during the operation, there was a good fusion of different types of weapons, and the armed forces had done it in a very cohesive and coordinated manner. 'Indian origin weapons, some of them worked very well. I mean, BrahMos did amazing. Akash also did very well. Also, our ability to retrofit some of our older Air Defence systems with radar to improve their capability, upgrade their capabilities, particularly against things like drones and other types of low-flying threats. Those all worked very well,' he said. The Defence Secretary said the Indian Armed Forces were well prepared for Operation Sindoor. 'I think the services were very well prepared. They were very confident in terms of their capacity and their ability to access the precision standoff weapon we needed for this operation,' he said. India launched Operation Sindoor early on May 7 to hit at terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed. Indian Armed Forces also effectively repelled subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases. The Defence Secretary pointed out that the defence modernisation budget has been growing at a rate of about 7 per cent in the last 10 years, but the difficulty has been absorbing some of those outlays. 'If you're talking in general about whether there are still capability gaps that we need to fill and resource gaps that need to be plugged, I would say that at least in the recent past, in the last 10 years or so, you would find that our budget has been growing at a rate of about 7 per cent. I'm talking only about the modernisation (in) capital budget. That's been growing at about 7% a year,' he said. The Defence Secretary laid emphasis on absorbing defence outlays. 'The difficulty has been in terms of absorbing some of those outlays. And in many years, we've ended up surrendering money. This year, we actually fully utilised our revised estimate. But at the RE (Revised Estimates) stage, we did have some reduction because the trend in expenditure was not adequate. More importantly, we signed contracts worth 2 lakh crores this year, which is double what has ever been done any time earlier. The highest that was ever achieved earlier was about 1 lakh crores in 2023-2024,' he said. 'So, unless you speed up procurements, unless you do the contract signings, then get after the vendors to ensure that those contracts are fulfilled, unless you complete those steps, your absorptive capacity itself is a bigger constraint than the budgetary constraint because now that we've fully utilized RE last year, we can ask for a higher share this year,' he added. India's defence production has grown at an extraordinary pace since the launch of the 'Make in India' initiative, reaching a record Rs 1.27 lakh crore in FY 2023-24. A robust defence industrial base includes 16 DPSUs, over 430 licensed companies, and approximately 16,000 MSMEs, strengthening indigenous production capabilities. (ANI)
Time of India
a day ago
- Health
- Time of India
NGO reunites Uttarakhand man with family
Mangaluru: Snehalaya Psycho-Social Rehabilitation Centre in Manjeshwar, Kasaragod, has reunited a man from Uttarakhand who was found wandering in Udupi with his family in the North Indian state. The NGO arranged a joyful reunion as Akash Parki was reunited with his family on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Akash, found wandering and mentally distressed, was brought to Snehalaya on June 10 by social worker Vishu Shetty from Ajjarkad District Hospital, Udupi. Centre founder Joseph Crasta said Akash, who was found wandering and mentally distressed, showed symptoms of self-harm, excessive talking and emotional instability. Thanks to the dedicated care he received at Snehalaya, Akash gradually regained clarity and shared details about his home. The team of social workers at Snehalaya traced his family to Nagpur, Banbasa, at Champawat District in Uttarakhand and coordinated a reunion with his brother, Anshu Parki, he said. Akash, who studied up to class 9, left his hometown a week ago in search of a job in Ernakulam, Kerala. After finding him mentally distressed in Ajjarkad, Vishu Shetty, with the help of Udupi town police station, brought Akash to Snehalaya.
NDTV
a day ago
- Politics
- NDTV
'India's Hypersonic Glide Missile Is In Advanced Stage': DRDO Chief To NDTV
New Delhi: Indian weapons systems were a success during Operation Sindoor when India struck Pakistan during its 100-hour aerial battle, damaging enemy airfields, drones, and air defence systems. BrahMos, Akash surface-to-air missile, the D4 anti-drone system, and other systems designed and developed by the country's premier defence research and development body, DRDO, performed exceptionally well. The chief of DRDO, Dr Samir V Kamat, spoke to NDTV about the future of BrahMos, India's quest to develop a hypersonic missile and the lessons learnt during Operation Sindoor. The Future of BrahMos The world's fastest supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos, was developed in partnership with Russia and struck Pakistani airfields during the conflict. BrahMos is universal - It can be launched from land, sea and air platforms. Dr Kamat shared an update on the developments in the BrahMos programme and said the scientists are looking at extending its range and having a smaller version capable of attaching to other fighter jets apart from the Su-30MKI. "We are increasing the range of the BrahMos missile. We are also looking at making it smaller so it can be mounted on all our air platforms. Today's BrahMos can be mounted only on the Sukhoi 30. But we are working on making a smaller version of BrahMos, which we are calling BrahMos-NG, and then it can be mounted on any of our platforms," Dr Kamat said. India's Hypersonic Missiles The ongoing Iran-Israel aerial battle started with drones, long-range ballistic missiles, followed by Tehran using hypersonic missiles (capable of flying at speeds five times more than the speed of sound) that are manoeuvrable and evade enemy air defences. India is not behind in its development of hypersonic. Last year, the DRDO test-fired a long-range hypersonic missile from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha. The @DRDO_India has successfully conducted a flight trial of its long range hypersonic missile on 16th Nov 2024 from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off-the-coast of Odisha. Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh has congratulated DRDO, Armed Forces and the Industry for successful flight… — रक्षा मंत्री कार्यालय/ RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) November 17, 2024 Dr Kamat spoke about the hypersonic missile system and said the agency is developing Hypersonic Cruise Missiles, meaning missiles that can travel consistently at hypersonic speeds and Hypersonic Glide Missiles or Vehicles (HGVs). "The hypersonic glide missile is in a much more advanced state. We have done one development trial, and we expect that in the next two to three years, we will complete all the development trials, and then it will be inducted," the DRDO chief said. "In hypersonic cruise missiles, we have recently proven scramjet propulsion for more than 1000 seconds, which is a major breakthrough. We hope the government will sanction a program to convert this scramjet propulsion into a hypersonic cruise missile weapon system. I estimate that it will take about five to seven years before it can be inducted," he added. Iran recently used the Fattah-1 hypersonic missile against Israel in the ongoing conflict. These warheads can glide, with a booster, at hypersonic speeds at low altitude toward the target, making it difficult for air defences to neutralise them because of their manoeuvrability. The DRDO chief further spoke about India's other weapon systems that are in development. "We are working on a variety of air-to-air missiles. We are going for higher ranges than our present Astra, which we now call Astra Mark 2 and Astra Mark 3. We are looking at air-to-ground missiles, which are known as Rudram 2, Rudram 3 and Rudram 4, which will have increasing ranges. These are air-to-ground missiles. Then we are looking at a variety of surface-to-air missiles for air defence applications. You are aware of our program KUSHA. We are also working on a directed energy weapon for anti-drones. So, this will be based on both lasers and high-power microwaves," he said. Dr Kamat shared an update on the Zorawar light tank, which was developed in record time by the DRDO. These tanks, intended for deployment in the rugged terrain of Ladakh, Sikkim and other high-altitude areas, completed their development trials, and user trials will start soon. The need for light tanks arose when India was engaged in a direct military engagement with the Chinese PLA in Ladakh in 2020, and the latter deployed its ZQ-15 Light Tanks to counter India's T-72 Ajeya and T-90 Bhishma tanks. "Our pipeline is quite strong and in the next two to three years, several of our weapon systems and sensors will get inducted into our services," Dr Kamat said. Stealth Fighter Programme And Lessons Learnt During Op Sindoor India recently took a step forward in the direction of building an indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter jet. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the "execution model" for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) that will be developed by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in cooperation with industry partners. "We have started work on all our platforms, such as LCA Tejas Mark 1, LCA Mark 1A and LCA Mark 2, were done together, partnering with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as our production partner. But in the AMCA's case, we are looking at an expression of interest to identify a partner. This partner can be HAL, can be a private sector, or it could be a joint venture between HAL and a private sector or between two private sector companies," he said. To a question about what lessons DRDO learnt from Operation Sindoor, the agency's chief said, "It is very clear to us now that all our weapon systems have to work in an electronically denied environment. The systems will be denied GPS and will be denied their communication. We have to develop fully autonomous weapon systems, which can work in any electronically denied environment."
The Hindu
a day ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Ambani heirs have combined net worth of over ₹7 lakh crore: 360 One Wealth Creators Report
Akash and Anant Ambani took the top spot as the richest Indians in 360 One Wealth Management firm's first wealth creators list with a combined net worth of ₹7.18 lakh crore, signalling that the next generation in the elite business families is taking over. The company's list, prepared in association with Crisil, is based on publicly available data of promoter shareholding in companies and trusts. The list, which takes into account individuals with a minimum net worth of ₹5 billion, has 2,013 wealth creators, with a combined net worth of approximately ₹100 lakh crore, which is about a third of the country's GDP. Reliance, Tata and Adani were the richest groups, contributing nearly a quarter of the total promoter wealth in India.
News18
a day ago
- News18
Fire, Acid, 50°C Heat: Indian Vlogger Dives Into 'Hell On Earth', The Internet Can't Look Away
Last Updated: Indian travel vlogger Akash Chaudhary explores Ethiopia's Danakil Depression, a lava-spewing, acid-filled hellscape 125m below sea level—and it's going viral Our Earth is full of wonders. From beautiful mountains, seas, plains, trees, and scenic landscapes to places that are truly terrifying – our planet has it all. One such place is in Ethiopia and is considered the hottest place on Earth. Surprisingly, this place also lies below sea level. Recently, an Indian content creator visited this extreme location and shared shocking visuals that left people stunned. Instagram user Akash Chaudhary, who has over 6 lakh followers, is currently in Ethiopia. He has reached one of the most dangerous places in the world called Danakil Depression. This region is located 125 metres below sea level and experiences extreme heat due to its low elevation. Although the highest recorded temperature on Earth was in Death Valley, California (USA), the Danakil Depression is considered the hottest inhabited place on Earth, with temperatures often soaring above 50°C for most of the year. The area is filled with salt plains, active volcanoes, and pools of acid and sulphur. Akash has posted several videos from this region on Instagram, and the views look nothing short of otherworldly. In one of the clips, he mentions how the heat and acidic environment have made the air so harsh that staying for long can cause skin-related issues. In a recently shared video, Akash is seen standing close to an active volcano, with flames visibly erupting from within, a terrifying yet fascinating sight. All of Akash's videos from the Danakil Depression are going viral. Viewers are flooding the comment sections; some praising his courage and calling him the best travel vlogger for covering such rare places, while others are urging him to stay safe. In another video, he captured the desolate path that leads to the Danakil Depression, showing the barren, cracked land that adds to the eeriness of the region. First Published:
