31 December 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

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Year End Review – 2018 Ministry of Defence

Department of Defence Production

• Government of India took policy decision to set up two Defence Production Corridors, one each in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Tamil Nadu. These would go a long way in making India self-reliant in defence production through ‘Make in India’ initiatives.
• The 10th edition of ‘DefExpo’ was organised and was formally inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It for the first time projected India’s Defence manufacturing capabilities to the world. This was also reflected in the tagline for the Expo i.e. ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’.
• Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) a scheme of Department of Defence Production (DDP), formulated in collaboration with Start Up India and Atal Innovation Mission, with the objective of bringing Start-ups to solve problems of defence production, innovate new technologies required by defence forces and reduce dependence on imported technology was launched.
• 3rd Scorpene Submarine of Project-75, ‘Karanj’ was launched by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL).
• Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman launched ‘Defence India Startup Challenge’ with the overall objective of making India self-reliant for meeting the requirements of national defence.
• Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman launched ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ on November 27, 2018. The main idea behind this is to migrate from the culture of seeking Transfer of Technology (ToT) from foreign sources to generating Intellectual Property in India, to achieve the goal of self-reliance in Defence sector.
• Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman launched ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ on November 27, 2018. The main idea behind this is to migrate from the culture of seeking Transfer of Technology (ToT) from foreign sources to generating Intellectual Property in India, to achieve the goal of self-reliance in Defence sector.

Military Exercises of Indian Army

• HARIMAU SHAKTI – 2018: The first ever joint exercise between Indian and Malaysian armies aimed at training of troops in counter insurgency operations in jungle terrain.
• SURYA KIRAN – XIII – lndo-Nepal Joint Military Exercise focused on counter terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.
• MAITREE – lndo-Thai Joint Military Exercise was aimed at training the troops in counter insurgency & counter terrorism operations under the United Nations mandate. Both sides jointly trained, planned and executed a series of well-developed tactical drills for neutralization of likely threats that may be encountered in urban warfare scenario.
• YUDHABHYAS 2018 – The 14th edition of lndo¬ US Joint military Exercise was conductedThe two week-long event saw both the armies hone their tactical and technical skills in countering insurgency and terrorism in a UN peacekeeping scenario involving a combined deployment at a brigade level.
• KAZIND 2018 – The third edition of joint military training exercise between Indian Army and Kazakhstan Army was held. Both sides jointly trained, planned and executed a series of well developed tactical drills for neutralisation of likely threats that may be encountered in urban warfare scenario.
• MILEX-2018 – Military field training exercise for BIMSTEC nations, MILEX-2018, was conducted. Aim of the exercise was to collectively train BIMSTEC nations in planning and conduct of counter terrorist operations in a semi urban focus of the exercise was to train and equip the contingents to undertake joint counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in urban and semi-urban terrain.
• DHARMA GUARDIAN 2018 – The first of its own kind, an lndo-Japan joint military exercise was conducted. The primary aim was to in and equip the contingents undertake joint counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in urban and semi urban terrain.
• INDRA- Tenth edition of lndo-Russian joint military Exercise was conducted. The aim of the exercise was to practice joint planning and conduct to enhance interoperability of the two armies in peace keeping and enforcement environment under the aegis of United Nations.
• EKUVERIN 2018- Ninth edition of lndo-Maldives joint military exercise was conducted. The primary focus of the exercise was to train and equip the contingents to undertake joint counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in rural/ urban environment.

Indian Naval Operations

• Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS): The IONS presently has 24 member countries with eight countries with observer status. Iran is the current ‘Chair’ of IONS. During the Conclave of Chiefs held in Tehran in April 2018, it was decided to conduct the IONS Anti-piracy exercise by Iran in 2019 and India assumed Chairmanship of IWG Information Sharing and Interoperability (IS&I).
• MILAN-18- A Table-Top Exercise focussing on ‘Enhancing Regional Cooperation for Combating Unlawful Activities at Sea’ and a seminar on the theme ‘In pursuit of Maritime Good Order – Need for Comprehensive Information Sharing Apparatus‘ was conducted during the ‘Harbour Phase’. In the ‘Sea Phase’ participating ships undertook various exercises aimed at harnessing inter-operability in a variety of maritime scenarios including ‘Search and Rescue’ and ‘Maritime Interdiction Operations’.
• Navika Sagar Parikrama: INSV Tarini returned to India on May 21, 2018, on completion of the first Indian all-women circumnavigation of the globe. This is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. The vessel covered 22,300 Nm during the voyage and met all the following criteria of circumnavigation. The expedition was in consonance with the National policy to empower women to attain their full potential. It also depicted ‘Nari Shakti’ on the world platform and helped discard the societal attitudes and mind set towards women in India by raising visibility of their participation in challenging environs.

Defence Research and Development Organisation

• Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile: Astra’ possessing high single shot kill probability has been developed by DRDO to engage and destroy highly manoeuvring supersonic aerial targets.
• Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM): MPATGM is a 3^rd generation ATGM with ‘Fire & Forget’ and ‘Top Attack’ capabilities, which can be day and night. Design & development of MPATGM weapon system is undertaken for deployment by Infantry and Parachute Battalions of the Army.
• USHUS – 2: Is submarine sonar to be installed on board four EKM submarines considering the long term requirements of the submarine arm and to combat the component obsolescence in the existing Russian sonars on board these submarines.

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