The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday inducted the first fleet of indigenously-built Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), which has been developed primarily for mountain warfare after a requirement for it was felt during the Kargil war in 1999.

Developed by state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the 5.8-tonne twin-engine gunship chopper is armed with air-to-air missiles, 20 mm turret guns, rocket systems and other weapons.

The fleet comprising four helicopters was inducted into the IAF at a ceremony at the Jodhpur Air Force Station in presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and other senior military officials.

The defence minister named the helicopter as “Prachand” (fierce) and said the platform, capable of operating in day and night, will add significant edge to the IAF’s combat capabilities as it can hit enemy targets with precision.

Singh, who also flew a sortie on the LCH, said it can operate in all possible conditions, and is among one of the best globally in its class.

The helicopter, with its wide range of missiles and other weapons, can hit enemy infantry, tanks, bunkers, drones and other assets in high-altitude regions, military officials said.

In his address, Singh described induction of the indigenously-built LCH into the IAF as a “momentous occasion” for India’s defence production.

“The IAF has been playing an important role in protecting India’s sovereignty and I am confident that its overall capability will enhance further following induction of LCH,” Singh said in his address.

“We have been focusing on boosting the country’s defence production following certain developments…. security of the country has been our foremost priority and it will remain so,” he said.

The defence minister also complimented the IAF for reposing confidence in indigenously developed platforms.

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari said the capabilities of LCH is on a par with the helicopters of its class globally.

The helicopters were given a traditional water-canon salute that followed a multi-religious prayer ceremony.

The need for developing a light combat helicopter for mountain warfare was felt during the Kargil War in 1999.

“Subsequently, the IAF and HAL began exploring the possibility of developing the platform with a capacity to carry an adequate weapon load, sufficient fuel and still be capable of operating in the higher reaches of the Himalayan ranges,” said an official.

By mid 2010, the prototype of LCH completed a major flight test and it was deemed to have fulfilled the desired parameters.

In February 2020, the LCH was declared ready for production.

In March, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the procurement of 15 indigenously developed Limited Series Production (LSP) LCH at a cost of Rs 3,887 crore.

The defence ministry had said 10 helicopters would be for the IAF and five will be for the Indian Army.

The induction of the chopper comes at a time India and China are locked in a military stand-off in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh.

The LCH has similarities with Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv. It has a number of stealth features, armoured-protection systems, night attack capability and crash-worthy landing gear for better survivability, officials said.

The LCH is equipped with requisite agility, manoeuvrability, extended range, high altitude performance and all-weather combat capability to perform a range of roles including combat search and rescue (CSAR), destruction of enemy air defence (DEAD) and counter-insurgency (CI) operations.

The helicopter can also be deployed in high-altitude bunker-busting operations, counter-insurgency operations in the jungles and urban environments as well as for supporting ground forces.

The helicopter can also be used against slow-moving aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) of adversaries. Officials said it would be a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of the IAF and the Indian Army.

They said state-of-the-art technologies and systems compatible with stealth features such as reduced visual, aural, radar and IR signatures and crash-worthiness features for better survivability have been integrated into the LCH for deployment in combat roles.

Several key aviation technologies like a glass cockpit and composite airframe structure have been indigenised, they said.

The future series-production version will consist of further modern and indigenous systems, they said.

Four LCH helicopters have already been accepted by the IAF. The officials said IAF plans to procure more LCH in the near future.

The helicopter has been tested under stringent operating conditions including at sea level, in desert regions and in Siachen.

The Army has a plan to acquire 95 LCH largely for a combat role in mountains.

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav has been shifted to the ICU of Medanta Hospital here after his health deteriorated, sources said.

According to hospital sources, the 82-year-old leader is being treated under the supervision of oncologists Dr Nitin Sood and Dr Sushil Kataria.

He is under treatment in the hospital since August 22. The SP leader was admitted in the hospital in July also.

As the nation commemorates 75th year of Independence the Khushwant Singh Litfest in Kasauli bounces back in the post-pandemic times with a vision  to reflect on ” Can our ancient, unchanging land be the catalyst for this year’s Climate of Change?

The three-day litfest to be held at iconic Kasauli Club from October 14 to Oct 16 will dive deep into the subject. It is going to be a Green KSLF this time, with minimal waste generation and carbon footprint.

As we know the ecosystem of wildlife, flora and fauna, is being mercilessly torn down all around us. In Kasauli, for instance, forest fires are displacing the leopards who are compelled to come into town, looking for pets and strays for food. From Bengaluru to Varanasi, from Pakistan to Europe, there are flash floods.

Researchers have found that eight Asian countries — India, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan — housed more than 70 per cent of the total number of people currently living on affected lands worldwide. The Maldives are buying land for relocation to Australia, and we will never forget Tuvalu’s foreign minister, giving a speech, knee deep in the Pacific ocean.

Do we have a vision of where we want to be in 100 years? And what transformation can get us there? Can we take stock of where we are today and how we have changed over these years? Have we used our freedom wisely? Or have we frittered away the enormous opportunities we have in natural wealth, human resources, creativity, scientific mindsets, and other soft power?

As the world suffers even as our keynote speaker, Amitav Ghosh, does not expect Mumbai to survive for another 30 years, not beyond 2050!

The three-day Litfest will feature a distinguished panel of speakers including Booker winner Geetanjali Shree, Rajmohan Gandhi, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Tusshar Kapoor, Raj Mohan Gandhi, Sathya Saran, Mahua Moitra, Pavan Varma, Usha Uthup, Muzaffar Ali and Mallika Sarabhai.

Who among these will transport us through the changing dynamics of a complex country?

For KSLF, Khushwant Singh (KS) was eclectic with many passions. Besides ecology, women’s empowerment and education of the girl child were among his concerns. KSLF celebrates and brainstorms all these concerns during the Litfest.  Ajay Bhardwaj and Kishie Singh on behalf of Litfest said that entry to the Kasauli Literary Festival is free.

While addressing media persons Shankaracharya Swami Nityanand, strongly condemned government’s control over Hindu temples and ‘Maths’ as well as their income collected towards donations received in these religious places being misused, which according to him is unjustified as condition of most of these religious places and their economic condition is turning bad to worst and at times even these religious places are unable to purchase material to perform prayers and distribute ‘Pershad’ to visitors. He said, voice is being raised since past over 13 months to free all Hindu religious temples immediately. Shankaracharya Swami told that the amount collected towards donations at famous Tirupati Bala temple is being misused and spent over religious organizations other than Hindu temples by political leaders allegedly by Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan to attract voters which is disappointing.

Swami Shankaracharya raised a question, when there is no government control over religious places including Mosq, church and Gurudwara why and under which condition government is having control over Hindu temples and ‘Maths’ which is unjustified and should be withdrawn by the government immediately. He said question arises why government is having dual policy and control over religious places belonging to other communities. He said, there are church, mosq and Gurudwaara all over in the country being controlled by particular communities themselves then why government interference only in case of Hindu temples.

In reply to a media question that when India would become a Hindu nation Shankacharya Swami said that when we talk about Hindu nation do not speak of religion since there are nearly 204 countries across the world having Hindu population in over 54 countries and we talk about Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Communist population. Shankaracharya Swami said, ancient history reveals that ancestors of large number of communities including Hindu, Muslim and Christian were basically ‘Sanatan Arya’.

Information reveals, then Human Resources Minister Murli Manohar Joshi had a plan to include Valmiki Ramayan, Ved Vyas, Mahabharat and study of Kautalya Philosophy in educational syllabus but Congress leader Arjun Singh indicating same as communalism dropped the idea to avoid controversy. Meanwhile, Shankaracharya Swami had written three religious journals: Neeti Chalisa, Neeti Savitri and Neeti Nidhi in order to provide religious education to young generation.   

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022 exhibition ahead of the formal launch of 5G mobile telephony services in India.

After inaugurating the exhibition at Pragati Maidan here, he went around pavilions set up by different telecom operators and technology providers to get a first-hand experience of what 5G can do.

He started with Reliance Jio’s stalls, where he witnessed the ‘True 5G’ devices displayed and experienced the use case through Jio Glass.

Flanked by Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and billionaires Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel and Kumar Mangalam Birla of Vodafone Idea, he spent time understanding the indigenous development of end-to-end 5G technology.

He thereafter visited stalls of Airtel, Vodafone Idea, C-DOT and others.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is embarking on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir from October 4.

The home minister will review the security situation, address two rallies and offer prayers at Vaishno Devi temple.

On October 4, he will visit the Vaishno Devi temple in the morning and then address a public meeting at Rajouri.

Subsequently, he will launch development projects and also lay foundation stones for various projects in Jammu.

On October 5, he will review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting to be held at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar.

Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, top officials of the army, paramilitary forces, state police and civil administration will take part in the high-level meeting.

The home minister is also scheduled to address a public meeting at North Kashmir town of Baramulla.

Border security Force here today have seized two packets of heroin with a gross weight  2.180 kgs.

In a statement issued here, BSF official stated that on today during afternoon hours, forward deployed BSF troops noticed something suspicious items lying in the farming field in the area falling near village – Bharopal, under Amritsar district.

Further, during search of the area, BSF troops recovered two packets of narcotics substance suspected to be Heroin (gross wt. – 2.180 kgs), wrapped in yellow adhesive tape.