Year End Review – 2018 Ministry of Defence

Posted On: 31 DEC 2018 4:20PM by PIB Delhi

It was an eventful year for Ministry of Defence. 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. It was also a year of another milestone for women empowerment in the country when the first-ever all-women crew circumnavigated the globe in an indigenously built 56-foot Indian Navy Sailing Vessel, ‘INSV Tarini’. The achievement can be gauged from the fact that Prime Minster Shri Narendra Modi started his address to the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort on the 72nd Independence Day this year mentioning the feat only. He aptly said, “We have been celebrating this festival of independence, at a time when our daughters from states of Uttarakhand, Himachal, Manipur, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have come back after circumnavigating the seven seas. They have come back amongst us by (unfurling tricolour in seven seas) turning the seven seas into the colour of our Tricolour.”

The 10th edition of biennial 'DefExpo' was organised from April 11-14, 2018 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu successfully. It was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on April 12, 2018.  The tagline of the event was ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’. India joined the elite group of nation which have developed the Air-to-Air refuelling system for military class aircraft when Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas' successfully completed mid-air refuelling trial by wet (actual) engagement, transferring 1,900 kgs fuel from IAF IL78 mid-air refuelling tanker on September 10, 2018. 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.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the Combined Commanders’ Conference at Air Force Station, Jodhpur on September 28, 2018 and also launched ‘Parakram Parv’, there. Ministry of Defence enhanced financial decision-making powers of the Vice Chiefs of the three Services by five times to Rs 500 crores in order to expedite the decision making process involved in the revenue procurements of the Armed Forces. Raksha Mantri took this important decision to augment the arms and ammunition reserves of the Armed Forces to enhance their operational preparedness.Minister of External Affairs Smt Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Defence Smt Nirmala Sitharaman and Secretary of State of the United States Mr Michael Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mr James Mattis had inaugural India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue in New Delhi on September 6, 2018.

The four span of temporary bridge on the old Ferozpur-Lahore highway over river Satluj River (Hussainiwala Barrage) connecting Hussainiwala Enclave from Ferozpur has been replaced by constructing a new bridge. The bridge was dedicated to the nation by Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman on August 12, 2018. Hussainiwala is the place where freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who made supreme sacrifice for their motherland, were cremated.

Whenever the nation has faced calamities, the Armed Forces have been standing firm with helping hand in trying times. This year was no different. Armed Forces played pivotal role in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) during natural disasters that include cyclone‘Titli’, Kerala floods, cyclone ‘Gaja’ saving many lives, livestock and property.

Department of Defence Production

1. Government of India has decided to set up two Defence Production corridors, one each in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Tamil Nadu. The Prime Minister during the UP Investors Meet held on February 21 to 22, 2018 alsoannouncedsettingup of onesuchcorridorintheBundelkhandRegionofUP.Forsettingup oftheproposedCorridorinUP, six nodalpointshavebeenidentifiedviz.Aligarh,Agra, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow. The proposed corridors in TamilNadu are: Chennai, Coimbatore,Hosur,SalemandTiruchirappalli. The scheme envisages support to 06 to 08 Defence Testing Infrastructure (DTI), depending upon the requirement of the lab, to be set up with a total assistance grant ofRs 400 crore. The assistance for individual DTI set up under the scheme shall be 75 per cent of the approvedprojectcost.TheimplementationoftheschemewillbethroughaSpecialPurpose Vehicle(SPV)whichwillcarryoutthebusinessofsettingup,operatingandmaintainingthe DTIorthroughaGovernmentagency.
2. The 10th edition of 'DefExpo' was organised from April 11 to 14, 2018 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The DefExpo 2018 was formally inaugurated by the Prime Minister on April 12, 2018. 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 EmergingDefenceManufacturingHub’.
3. 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 by the PM during DefExpo 2018 on 12.04.2018. iDEX is aimed at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, Start-ups, Individual Innovators, R&D institutes and Academia and provide them grants/funding and other supporttocarryoutR&D.
4. Asregardslandsystems,OFBunveiledits155mmx52CalibreMountedGunSystem (MGS) and also showcased it prime product 155mm x 45 Calibre 'Dhanush' Artillery gun, Tank T-90, T-72 Bridge Layer Tank as part of live demonstration equipment. OFBdisplayed its various weapon systems along with ammunition and related accessories. The other attractions of OFB pavilion was its AK-630 Naval gun, CRN-91, 20mm Anti Material Rifle "Vidhvansak", 7.62x51 mm Assault Rifle, 7.62x39mm Assault Rifle "GHAATAK", JVPC, 12 Bore Pump Action Gun, Assault Rifle 5.56mm INSAS IC, .32 revolver and dummy of large,mediumandsmallcalibreammunitionaswellasspecialprotectiveclothing.
5. A Defence Investor Cell has been made functional in Department of Defence Production (DDP).Itwill playanimportantroleinactingasone-step solutionforalltypesof defence production related queries. Nodal Officers have been designated, subject wise to respondtothequeries.
6. A new and simplified Make-II procedure has been launched in January 2018 for simplification of collaboration between Government and Private Indian Industry for indigenousdesign,developmentandmanufactureofdefenceequipment.
7. Maiden flight of indigenously developed Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) integrated on LCH has been conducted successfully by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on January 31, 2018. The flight was of 20 min duration and engagement of this system wasflawlessthroughouttheflight.
8. TheimproveddesignofHTFE-25(Core-2)enginerunwassuccessfullycarriedoutby HAL on January 10, 2018. The HTFE-25 Core-2 light up was flawless in the very first attempt. Its engine has an improved HP Compressor spool configuration to cater to upcomingtwin-spoolFullEnginedevelopment.
9. 3rd Scorpene Submarine of Project-75, 'Karanj' was launched by Mazagon Dock ShipbuildersLimited(MDL)on31.01.2018.
10. DDPhasdeclared236itemsasNon-coreintwophaseswhicharebeingproducedby OrdnanceFactoryBoard(OFB).Incontinuationtothesame,39moreitemshavebeenadded to the list on 16.01.2018. Therefore, we have now 275 items in total which have been declared asNon-coreandtheseitemscanbeprocuredbytheIndianDefenceForcesdirectly from the trade without seeking No Objection Certificate (NOC) from OFB.
11. AoN (Acceptance of Necessity) has been accorded for procurement of 7.44 lakh nos of Assault Rifles, 3.64 lakh nos of Close Quarter Carbines and 0.41 lakh nos of Light Machine Gun from the Indian Defence Industry. Twenty-five per cent of the above quantities have been reserved for OFB and the remaining 7 per cent will be procured from Indian Defence Industry throughcompetitivebiddingwhereinOFBwould beallowedtoparticipate.
12. Raksha Mantri and Telangana Minister for Industries and Information and Technology, Shri KT Rama Rao inaugurated the Tata Boeing Aerospace facility, a joint venture between Boeing Corporation and the Tata Group firm Tata Advanced Systems (TASL), for manufacturing of the fuselage for the AH-64 Apache combat helicopters at Hyderabad on March 1, 2018. The Company expects to begin commercial supply from its newly-opened facility by the end of the year.
13. The 3rd submarine of the Scorpene/Project-75 (Karanj), was launched by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) on January 31, 2018.
14. Prime Minister of Sri Lanka commissioned GSL built 'SLNS Sindurala' in Sri Lanka Navy on 19 April 2018 at Colombo Port. With delivery of this vessel on 22 March 2018, GSL has successfully completed this prestigious export project for constructing two largesizedAdvancedOffshorePatrolVessels(AOPVs)forSriLankaNavy.
15. All the DPSUs have migrated their website from.(dot)com to.(dot)in.
16. An Intellectual Property Rights Facilitation Cell has been created in DGQA with members drawn from OFB and DPSUs to facilitate innovations from the Ordnance FactoriesandDPSUs. It is established to create a structured mechanism and to boost IP culture which would enhance the intellectual capital i.e., vital for encouraging in house R&D in these organisations. Some of the role and responsibilities of the IPF Cell are to provide general advisory about IPRs, such as patents, trademarks, designsandcopyrightsetc.Forinitiating,theIPRtrainingandlecturesarebeing conducted.
17. As per provisional figures, Value of Production in respect of OFB and DPSUs has been increased by 8.21 per cent CAGR in Financial Year 2017-18 to Rs 58,759 crore against Rs 55,357 crore last FY

(Rs in crore)

SI.	DPSU	2016-17	2017-18	CA GR
1	OFB	14825	14,829	9.28%
2	HAL	17104	17,200	1.83%
3	BEL	9244	10,667	17.01
4	BEML	2624	3,196	7.12%
5	BDL	4661	4,584	18.28%
6	MDL	3523	4,250	5.76%
7	GRSE	928	1,343	-5.92%
8	GSL	1030	1,370	33.95%
9	HSL	618	590	27.90%
10	MIDHANI	800	730	4.48%
TOTAL	55357	58,759	8.21%

18. All DPSUs have registered on Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platform which enables buyers to negotiate better terms with MSME vendors and facilitates financingofTradereceivablesofMSME.
19. AcomprehensiveCyberSecurityFrameworkforDDPhasbeenformulatedtoensure a strong, robust and resilient Cyber Security environment within DDP and organizations under it. The Framework is based on a comprehensive risk management approach and its governancebyconsideringCyberSecurityrisks.Asacapacitybuildingactivity,workshopforCISOsofvarioussubordinateoffices ofDDPisproposedtobeconductedonNovember 19,2018in NewDelhi.
20. On 26/06/2018, the Department of Defence Production notified a simplified procedureforissueofAuthorisationforexportofdefenceitems.Thesimplificationsinclude thefollowing:-
    1. In repeat orders of same product to the same entity, consultation process has been done away with and permission is issued immediately.
    2. Fortherepeatorderofsameproducttodifferententity,theconsultationearlierdone withallstakeholdersisnowlimitedonlywithMEA.
    3. In Intra-Company business (which is especially relevant for outsourcing of work by defence related parent company aboard to its subsidiary in India), the earlier requirement of getting End User Certificate (EUC) from the Government of importing country has been done away with and 'Buying' Company is authorized to issue theEUC.
    4. The legitimate export of the parts and components of small arms and body armour for civil use are now being permitted after prior consultation with MEA.
    5. For export of items for exhibition purposes, the requirement of consultation with stakeholders has been done way with (except for select countries).
    6. Delegation of powers to DRDO, DGOF, and CMD's of DPSUs for exploring export opportunities and participation in globaltenders.
21. Ordnance Factory in Avadi, Chennai 'Engine Factory Avadi (EVA)' has successfully indigenised two tank heavy vehicle engines viz. 1000 HP engine V92S2 engine for T-90 Bhisma Tank and V-46-6 engine for T-72 Ajeya Tank and its variants which were hitherto imported. The cost ofindigenised engine is nearly 50 per cent of imported engines andbasedoncommitteddemandofIndianArmy.Thiseffectisexpectedtosave Rs800 croretoGovernmentovernext10years.
22. Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman launched 'Defence India Startup Challenge' in Bengaluru on 4, August 2018 with the overall objective of making India self-reliant for meeting the requirements of national defence. In addition, following initiatives were launched by RM in thisevent.

o SPARK: Support for Prototype & Research Kickstart (in Defence)

o Framework for iDEXPartners

o 'PromotionofStartupsunderMake-IIprocedureof DPP2016'

23. As a major boost to Defence export, the Department of Defence Production notified an Scheme for Promotion of Defence Exports on 04.10.2018. The Scheme provides two options:

0. Ministry of Defence will certify products "Fit for Indian Military Use" if technically qualified during procurement process but not eventually selected for procurement.
1. Potential Defence Exporters can get certification of products by Ministry of Defence (against a given set of specifications) even if product is not required by Indian Defence Forces. The scheme is expected to address a long-standing demand of defence and aerospaceindustry.
23. It has been decided to hold the 12th edition of "Aero India 2019" at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, Bengaluru, from 20 to 24 February, 2019. This five-day event will combine a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with public air shows. Aero India is a flagship event of MoD held every two years. As envisaged in Digital India Programme of Government of India, Aero India portal www.aeroindia.gov.inis the single window online facility for all interfaces with industry and public. It has made an arrangement for registration by participants, booking of space by exhibitors, bookings of meetings/venues, etc. completely online through website (https://aeroindia.gov.in/Aero­India).The payments being received for these booking are totally online and the exhibitors are able to monitor online the space booked by them. This has made the system easy and transparent with no room for interference from any one, which is similar to other world famousinternationaleventsbeingorganisedthesedays.Till31^st October,almost70 per cent ofthe space available at the venue is already booked. Since, early bird discount was offered up to that date.
24. HAL's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas' has successfully completed mid-air refuelling trial by wet (actual) engagement, transferring 1900 kgs fuel from IAF IL78 mid-air refuelling tanker on  September10, 2018. The refuelling was carried out at an altitude of 20,000 feet and aircraftspeedof270knotstorefuelalltheinternaltanksanddroptanks.Withthis,Indiajoinsthe elite group of countries who have developed the Air-to-Air (AAR) refuelling system for military class ofaircraft.
25. In order to simplify Defence Exports, DDP has further amended the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on 01.11.2018. This is third such amendment which has significantly enhanced ease-of-doing business in defence exports. A new software for submission of application by the Industry and for processing the application in the Department has also been launched in the month of October, 2018. The digitally signed export authorisation is accessible to the exporters. The new online system also provides for online consultation with the stakeholders including MEA, DRDO, Indian Army, Air Force andNavy.
26. Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman launched ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ on November 27, 2018. It is part of the ongoing initiatives to enhance self-reliance in defence, the Department of Defence Production has instituted a new framework titled ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ which aims to provide a boost to the Intellectual Property Rights culture in indigenous defence industry. 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.
27. Ministry of Defence enhancedfinancial decision-making powers of the vice chiefs of Tri-Services by five timesin order to expedite the decision making process involved in the revenue procurements of the Armed Forces. With the new delegation, the Vice Chiefs will be able to exercise financial powers upto five times more than the existing powers with an enhanced ceiling of Rs. 500 crores. This is likely to give another fillip to the capacity of the three Armed Forces.Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman took this important decision to augment the arms and ammunition reserves of the Armed Forces to enhance their operational preparedness.
28. Minister of External Affairs Smt Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Defence Smt Nirmala Sitharaman and Secretary of State of the United States Mr Michael Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mr James Mattis had inaugural India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue in New Delhi on September 6, 2018. Celebrating over 70 years of diplomatic cooperation, they reaffirmed their view that India and the US, as sovereign democracies founded on the values of freedom, justice and commitment to the rule of law, must continue to lead global efforts to promote peace, prosperity and security. Recognising their two countries are strategic partners, the Ministers committed to work together on regional and global issues, including in bilateral, trilateral and quadrilateral formats. The Ministers reaffirmed the strategic importance of India’s designation as a Major Defense Partner (MDP) of the United States and committed to expand the scope of India’s MDP status and take mutually agreed upon steps to strengthen defence ties further and promote better defence and security coordination and cooperation.

Indian Army

1.         Internal Security Situation in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K): The security situation in J&K despite a lot of challenges has been brought under control. Relentless operations by the Army both, along the Line of Control (LoC) and in the hinterland have thwarted the designs of giving a fillip to the proxy war being waged against India. Army along with CAPF and JKP continues to put in pressure to bring back normalcy to the Kashmir Valley.

2.         Internal Security Situation in North East: Intelligence based operations have been launched along the Inda-Myanmar border to maintain peace in the region and to effectively neutralise the terrorists. Indian Army has continued the people friendly operations to help the locals.

3.         Situation along LAC: Indian Army is well poised all along the LAC and status quo is being ensured.

Training Events & Military Exercises

4.         lndo-French Joint Military Exercise: lndo-French joint military exercise was conducted at Mailly Le Camp, France from January 28 to February 04, 2018. The aim of the exercise was to acquaint both forces with their operating procedures for counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations under UN mandate.

5.         lndo-Malaysian Joint Military Exercise: The first ever joint exercise between Indian and Malaysian armies 'HARIMAU SHAKTI - 2018' was held from April 30 to May 13, 2018 in the forests of Sengai Perdik Hulu Langat, Malaysia. 4 grenadiers from Indian Army and 1 Royal Ranger Regiment and Royal Malay Regiment participated in the exercise. The first ever such exercise between the two countries aimed at training of troops in counter insurgency operations in jungle terrain. It has laid the groundwork for future editions.

6.         lndo-Nepal Joint Military Exercise: 'SURYA KIRAN - XIII' was conducted in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand from May 30 to June 12, 2018. The battalion level exercise focused on counter terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.

7.         lndo-Thailand Joint Military Exercise: lndo-Thai Joint Military Exercise 'MAITREE' was held in Thailand from August 06-19, 2018. The 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.

8.         Multinational Joint Military Exercise SCO Peace Mission 2018: India participated for the first time in the fifth edition of the joint multinational military exercise SCO Peace Mission between August 24-29, 2018. The joint exercise exhibited the combat power and dominance of the participating armies over extremist groups in simulated realistic situation.

9.         lndo-US Joint Military Exercise: The 14th edition of lndo¬ US Joint military Exercise 'YUDHABHYAS 2018' was conducted at Chaubatia, Uttarakhand from September 16 to 29, 2018. The 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. The Indian contingent was represented a battalion from Garud Brigade, Surya Command while the US contingent was from 1st Infantry Battalion of 23 Infantry Regiment, 2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team and 7 Infantry Division.

10.       lndo-Kazakhstan Joint Military Exercise: The third edition of joint military training exercise between Indian Army and Kazakhstan Army was held at Otar Military station, Kazakhstan. Ex KAZIND 2018, a 14 day long joint exercise was conducted from September 10 to 23, 2018. The Kazakh contingent was represented by Military Base 85395 while the Indian side was represented by 5 Ladakh Scouts Regiment. 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.

11.       Multinational Joint Exercise of BIMSTEC Nations: Military field training exercise for BIMSTEC nations, MILEX-2018, was conducted between September 10-16, 2018. Aaim 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. Training contingents comprised of platoon strength from 1st Gorkha Rifles of the Army and 32 Regiment from Japanese ground Self Defence Forces.

12.       lndo-Japan Joint Military Exercise: The first of its own kind, an lndo-Japan joint military exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN 2018 was conducted at CIJWS, Vairengte from November 01 to 14, 2018. The primary aim was to in and equip the contingents undertake joint counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in urban and semi urban terrain. The training contingents comprised of platoon strength from 1st Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army and 32 Regiment from the Japanese ground Self Defence Forces.

13.       lndo-Russia Joint Military Exercise: Tenth edition of lndo-Russian joint military Exercise INDRA was conducted at Sabina Military station from November 18 to 28, 2018. 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.

14.       lndo-Maldives Joint Military Exercise: Ninth edition of lndo-Maldives joint military exercise EKUVERIN 2018 was conducted at Maafilaafushi, Maldives between December 14-29, 2018. The Indian Army contingent comprised of officers and troops from the MADRAS Regiment while Maldives was represented by officers and marines of MNDF. 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.

15.       Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai training Afghan lady officers: As part of a continued effort of training being imparted by the Army to women officers from abroad, the women officers of the Afghan Army and Air Force were trained on basic military aspects including physical training, weapon training, tactics, communication skills and leadership at OTA, Chennai from November 26 to December 22, 2018.

16.       lndo-China Joint Military Exercise: 7th Sino -India joint exercise Hand-in-Hand 2018 was held from December 10 to 23, at Chengdu, China. Company size contingents of 11 SIKHLI from Indian Army and a regiment from Tibetan Military District of People's Liberation Army participated in the exercise. The Indian contingent was led by Col Puneet Pratap Singh Tomar, Commanding Officer, 11 SIKHLI, while the Chinese contingent was led by Col Zhou Jun. The exercise will consist of a balance of indoor classes and outdoor training activities: The aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries and to enhance ability of the joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command. The exercise will involve tactical level operations in an international counter insurgency/counter terrorism environment under UN mandate.

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief

17.       Floods in North Eastern States of India (June 2018): Army columns were deployed for rescue and relief operations during floods and landslides in the north eastern states of Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. Approximately six lakh people were affected by the floods. A total of 430 people in Manipur and 930 people in Tripura were rescued by Assam Rifles and Indian Army.

18.       Kerala Floods (August 2018): Army columns were deployed for rescue and relief operations in the devastated flood affected areas Kerala's Kannur, Wayanad Kozhikode Malappuram, ldukki and Ernakulam districts. Indian Army deployed ten columns and ten Engineering Task Force (ETF) teams with 60 boats and 100 life jackets. Army also constructed 13 temporary bridges to reconnect 38 remote areas and evacuated 3,627 people.

Sports & Adventure

19.       Asian Dragon Boat Championship: Naib Subedar Suraj Singh Negi participated in the 5th Asian Dragon Bat Championship at Dali, China between May 05-08, 2018 as captain of 10 metre mixed 500 metre event and won bronze medal for the country.

20.       Youth Olympic Games: Jeremy Lalrinnuga, trained in Boys Sports Company, Army Sports Institute Pune created history by lifting total of 274 kilogramme of weight and winning first ever Gold medal for India in 62 kg weight category in the 3rd Youth Olympic Games at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

21.       Asian Yoga Sports Championship: Gunner (Operator) Sandeep Chate of Artillery Regiment bagged a Gold representing India and beating 15 other participants from different countries at 8th Asia Yoga Sports Championship held at Thiruvananthapuram between September 27-30, 2018.

22.       Junior Asian Athletics: Recruit Ajeet Kumar of Madras Engineers Group, Bangalore won Gold in 5,000 meter race in Junior Asian Athletics Championship held at Gifu.

Miscellaneous Events

23.       President awards Padma Shri Sepoy Murlikant Rajaram Petkar (Retd): President Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented Padma Shri to Sepoy Murlikant Rajaram Petkar, retired war veteran of victorious 1965 war on March 20, 2018, who later won Paralympic Gold in 50 metre free style swimming. He sustained grave injuries, including multiple gunshot wounds but trained relentlessly and achieved inspiring glory.

28.       Visit of President to Siachen Glacier: President Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Supreme commander of armed forces, visited the world's highest battlefield, Siachen Glacier on May 10, 2018. He addressed troops at the Siachen Base camp and profusely praised the efforts of the soldiers deployed in the harsh climatic conditions assuring that their interests are paramount in the heart of the nation.

24.       Army's Kashmir Super-30 (Medical) Initiative: On June 12, 2018; a prestigious centre for Kashmir Super 30 (medical) project was inaugurated by the Chinar Corps commander, Srinagar. The project has been conceptualised by the Army which is a residential programme providing coaching and guidance to children for medical coaching and guidance to children for medical entrance exam for 12 months.

25.       Samba Super 40: Samba Super 40 Project under the aegis of Gurj Div was initiated to provide quality training to young NOA/CDS aspirants of Samba area as per UPSC curriculum. The project involved identification, screening and selection of potential candidates. Extensive interactions were done by Army officers of Samba brigade at Samba, Vijaypur and Kathua schools and colleges. 36 students were shortlisted out of which two boys and one girl have cleared the written exam. They will now be coached further for SSB.

26.       Rescue by Indian Army in Arunachal Pradesh: Indian Army rescued locals and tourists in 320 vehicles who were stuck in sub-zero temperature on March 12, 2018 in an unexpected heavy snowfall near Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh. Three teams of Indian Army worked relentlessly till the last person and vehicle were brought to safety.

27.       Celebration of Parakram Parv:Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the Combined Commanders Conference at the Air Force Station in Jodhpuron September 28, 2018 and also launched ‘Parakram Parv’ there.He also paid homage to martyrs at Konark War Memorial in the city. In the visitors’ book, the PM wrote that the country is proud of the Armed Forces who are dedicated and committed to protecting the Motherland. Raksha Mantri Shrimati Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated 'Parakram Parv' celebrations at India Gate on September 29, 2018. The ceremony was attended by military and civil dignitaries and large number of school children and NCC cadets. Similar celebrations were observed at various locations around the country.

Indian Navy

Overseas Operations

1. Western Fleet (WF) Overseas Deployment (OSD): Western Fleet ships comprising Mumbai and Trikand were deployed for Western FleetOverseas Deployment from April 15 to May 23, 2018. During the deployment, the ships along with P8I aircraft participated in Phase III of EX-VARUNA, at/off Reunion Island, from May 01-07, 2018. Western Fleet ships comprising Kolkata and Trikand participated in exercise IBSAMAR at Simons Town, South Africa from October 01-13, 2018.
2. Malabar 18 and RIMPAC:      Eastern Fleet ships comprising Sahyadri, Kamorta and Shakti were deployed for Eastern Fleet Overseas Deployment. The ships along with P8I aircraft participated in Exercise Malabar at Guam. On completion of Malabar 18, Kamorta and Shakti returned Visakhapatnam on July 07, 2018. Sahyadri thereafter participated in exercise RIMPAC at Hawaii and Kakadu at Darwin and finally arrived at Visakhapatnam on September 29, 2018.
3. International Fleet Review at Jeju:Eastern Fleet ship INSRana was deployed for Eastern FleetOverseas Deployment from September 17 to November 24, 2018. The ship participated in International Fleet Review at Jeju, South Korea between October 08-15, 2018. The ship participated in IND-INDO Bilateral exercise at Surabaya, Indonesia from November 12-16, 2018.
4. Overseas Deployment of 1 Training Squadron (1TS): Ships of 1 Training Squadron consisting of IN Ships Tir, Sujata, Sudarshini, Shardul and ICG Ship Sarathi were deployed in South-East Asia as part of training deployment from September 20 to October 22, 2018. The ships visited Lumut, Malaysia, Singapore and Jakarta, Indonesia. During the deployment IN ships Tir, Sujata and Shardul were diverted off Palu, Indonesia, to provide relief assistance to the Tsunami affected Island of Sulawesi.

Naval Operations/activities

5. Mission Based Deployments:  Mission Based Deployments were implemented by Indian Navy (IN) in a phased manner, with an aim to safeguard national maritime interests and maintain continuous/near continuous presence in areas of significant maritime importance in the IOR. These deployments are in consonance with the PM's vision of 'Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)'. Since the inception of Mission Based Deployment in June 2017, IN ships and aircraft are being regularly deployed in the Gulf of Oman/Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aden/Red Sea, South and Central Indian Ocean Region (IOR), off Sunda Strait, Andaman Sea/ approaches to Malacca Strait and Northern Bay of Bengal.
6. IN Operational Exercises: In order to remain combat ready at all the time IN conducted Command level operational exercises ENCORE-18 (Eastern Naval Command), XPL-18 (Western Naval Command) and SHIKSHA-18 (Operational level war gaming exercise). These exercises also saw participation from the Army, Air Force and Coast Guard. The exercises facilitate refining of IN war plans, address Op Logistics issues and provide platform for smooth transition from peace to conflict.

Foreign Cooperation

7. 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. The construct has become an important Maritime construct to promote maritime cooperation amongst the member countries. 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). Indian Navy also conducted commemorative activities for IONS 10^th anniversary between November 13-14, 2018 at Kochi. Events included commemorative Seminar, Tall ship sail together from Kochi to Muscat and release of Special Day cover. Chiefs of 11 navies and 27 countries participated in the event.
8. MILAN-18:  MILAN-18 was conducted at Port Blair from March 06-13, 2018. More than 30 delegates from 16 countries and 11 ships from eight countries participated in the MILAN. 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’.
9. Supply of 2^nd Dornier to Seychelles:  Second Dornier aircraft was handed over to Seychelles Air Force on June 25, 2018 at a ceremony held in New Delhi. Deputy Chief of Naval Staff represented IN along with other Flag Officers during the ceremony. The first Dornier was supplied to Seychelles in January 2013.
10. 37^th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica: Hydrographic survey team consisting of one Long Hydrography course qualified officer and one Hydrographic sailor participated in the 37^th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica from December 2017 to March 2018 for surveying India Bay area.

Important Events of Interest

11. MLAs/MPs/State Government Officials Day at Sea: Prime Minister during Combined Commanders’ Conference 2015 directed IN to conduct day at sea for MP/MLA and State Government officials of the Coastal states of India. Till date, familiarisation sorties have been conducted for the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. MLAs/ MPs/State Government officials ‘Day at Sea’ for Maharashtra was conducted on April 08, 2018, off Mumbai. A total of 146 MPs/MLAs/State Government officials including the Chief Minister embarked five IN ships for the ‘Day at Sea’.
12. North Indian Ocean Hydrographic Commission: The 18^th North Indian Ocean Hydrographic Commission (NIOHC) Conference was conducted from April 09-12, 2018 at Vasco-da-Gama, Goa by the Indian Naval Hydrographic Department (INHD). The Conference was chaired by VAdm Vinay Badhwar, NM, Chief Hydrographer and Chairman NIOHC. A total of 64 foreign delegates from International Hydrographic Organisation, Member States/countries and industries participated.
13. Artificial Intelligence:In pursuance of Govt. of India’s initiative for harnessing technological advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a Task Force to study strategic implementation of AI for National Security and Defence was set up by MoD/DDP in February 2018. The Task Force consisted of eminent personalities from DRDO, BARC, IITs, Defence PSUs, industry and members from the three services. The Task Force report, which was submitted to Raksha Mantri on June 30, 2018, broadly included AI ‘Use Cases’ for implementation by three services, allocation of a portion of defence budget for AI projects, building up AI expertise and setting up AI command structure. INon its part has divided the AI use cases on the basis of short, medium and long term basis for implementation and is progressing four AI based proof-of-concept projects.
14. 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 was flagged-in by Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman at Goa. The crew met Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiin New Delhi on May 23, 2018 and President at Rashtrapati Bhawan on June 01, 2018. 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 mindset towards women in India by raising visibility of their participation in challenging environs. Also, the indigenously built 56-foot sailing vessel, INSV Tarini showcased the ‘Make in India’ initiative on the International forum.

SAR and HADR

15. Diving and Rescue Assistance:  The Navy continued to provide rescue assistance to local authorities for Search and Rescue (SAR) of personnel having fallen into water bodies or drowned therein. In the on-going year, assistance has been provided for 110 requests. For SAR of a boat capsized in Godavari river on May 15, 2018, extensive air searches were provided by two Chetak helicopters, one UH3H and one DO.
16. CycloneBerguitta – Mauritius:  A Tropical depression ‘Berguitta’ crossed Mauritius on January 18, 2018. Based on request from HCI, Mauritius and MoD directives, INS Sarvekshak handed over relief materiel comprising provisions, clothing items and medicines to the Government of Mauritius on January 27, 2018.
17. Transhipment of Humanitarian Aid to Chittagong:IN ship Airavat was deployed for transhipment of Humanitarian aid to Chittagong from 05 – 14 May 18. A total of 345 tons of relief material was handed over to the Bangladesh Government.
18. Very Severe cyclone'Titli':  On October 11, 2018, information was received at Eastern Naval Command, Vishakhapatnam regarding landfall of Very Severe cyclone'Titli' at Srikakulam. Based on assistance sought by the State Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, IN provided HADR and SAR assistance including air dropping of 3,000 food packets and 5,500 kgs of relief material at various locations, in coordination with the State administration. The IN teams were de-inducted on October 15, 2018.
19. Golden Globe Race:  Commander Abhilash Tomy participated in the Golden Globe Race 2018, which is a 30,000 nautical mile solo sailing race around the world. It was started on July 01, 2018 from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France. On September 21, 2018, whilst Cdr Abhilash Tomy was contesting in the 3^rd position, his yacht ‘SV Thuriya’ dismasted in rough seas in the Indian Ocean, injuring him. He was stranded 3,200 km off the coast of Western Australia after the incident. In a joint rescue operation (India, France and Australia), led by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Canberra, Cdr Tomy was rescued on 24 Sep 18 by the French fishing vessel Osiris and brought to Ile De Amsterdam for receiving medical care. IN ship Satpura embarked Cdr Tomy from Ile De Amsterdam and brought him back to India.

International Level Sports Championships

20. Hong Kong Gymnastics Championship: Rakesh Patra, (CPO PT), participated in Honk Kong Gymnastics Competition held between January20-21, 2018 and won 03 Gold medals.
21. President Cup:NT Lalbiakkima, SEA II (GS), of Navy Boxing team represented the country during President Cup held between June04-11, 2018 at Astana, Kazakhistan and won Bronze medal.
22. International Masters, Dubai: Rohit Kumar, PO ELA (R) and Surjeet, PO (GS), of Navy Kabaddi team represented the country in International Masters, Dubai from June 22-30, 2018 and won Gold medal.
23. Asian Wrestling Championship: Sachin Rathi, Sea II (GW), of Navy Wrestling team won Gold medal during the Junior Asian Wrestling Championship held from July 20-22, 2018 at New Delhi.
24. 2018 World Wrestling Championship: Vijay, SEA II (GW), won silver medal the World Wrestling Championship held between September 17-23, 2018 at Tranav, Slovakia.

Mountaineering Adventures

25. All Women Expedition to Mt Deotibba: An all women Naval Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Deotibba was successfully conducted from May 28, 2018. Mt Deotibba is the second highest peak (6,001 mtr) in the Pir-Panjal range of Himachal Pradesh. The expedition has laid foundation for all women mountaineering team to scale many more challenging peaks in the near future. The team summited the peak on June 10, 2018.
26. Mt Menthosa (6,443 mtr) Expedition:   A ten member mountaineering expedition to Mt Menthosa was flagged off from Kochi on Sep 21, 2018. The team successfully submitted the peak on Oct 16, 2018. The team comprised of three officers and seven sailors.

THE INDIAN AIR FORCE

Acquisition

1.         Rafale:  Rafale is an omni-role fighter aircraft which will provide long range capability to engage targets in depth and will provide a strong weapons and systems capability edge over our adversaries. The weapon package includes air-to-air Beyond Visual Range (BVR) METEOR missile and long range SCALP precision guided air-to-ground weapon. In addition, the Rafale for IAF has specific enhancements, including capability for high altitude engine start for undertaking high altitude operations.

2.         Hercules C-130J-30:C-130J is a medium sized, all weather transport aircraft capable of inter theatre and intra theatre airlift operations. It is capable of delivering combat troops/personnel or cargo by airdrop or air-landed operations.  IAF has also enhanced the night operational capability of the aircraft by procuring latest generation Night Vision Goggles.

3.         Chinook Heavy Lift Helicopters:Fifteen Chinook Heavy Lift Helicopters will be delivered to the IAF from March 2019 onwards.  A team of aircrew and ground crew have commenced training on the Chinook in USA.

Upgrades

4. Mirage-2000 Upgrade:Upgrade of Mirage-2000 aircraft is being undertaken by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The upgrade programme includes a new, more powerful upgraded radar, new avionics suite and integration of weapons. The upgrade was undertaken in two phases. Initial Operation Clearance (IOC) Design and Development (D&D), was completed at OEM facilities’ in France and the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) D&D was completed in March 2018.

5.         MiG-29 Upgrade:The MiG-29 Upgrade Contract was signed with the OEM for upgrade and life extension of MiG-29 aircraft. The first phase of the project was Design & Development (D&D), which was completed on six aircraft in Russia. The second phase was Series Upgrade of the remaining aircraft at the Base Repair Depot of the Indian Air Force. The upgraded aircraft are now being used for routine operations in frontline squadrons. The upgraded aircraft is equipped with state of the art avionics, an array of smart air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons and in-flight refuelling.

6.         UAV Upgrade: A combined case for upgrade of Heron UAV systems for three Services (IAF-10) is in progress and IAF is the lead service. Identification of Friend or Foe and Traffic Collision Avoidance System are some features that will be part of the upgrade. Contract negotiations have been concluded.

Operations

7.         Aircraft Accident Rates:   The annual aircraft accident rates, calculated as number of Cat I accidents per 10,000 hours of flying during the financial year, have shown a progressive decline over the years. Cat I accident rates observed over past forty eight years are as follows:

8.         Flying Effort:  There has been an increase in flying effort and reduction of accident rate, which indicates proactive safety measures undertaken by the IAF. Financial year wise flying efforts by IAF for the past ten financial years are as follows:

Make Projects

9.         AEW&C (Indigenous):The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) sanctioned the Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) Project on October 06, 2004. Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) was designated as nodal agency to indigenously design and develop operational AEW&C systems for IAF. The AEW&C System is a system of systems consisting of Primary Radar (PR), Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR), Electronic Support Measures (ESM) system, and Communication Support Measures (CSM) system, Self-Protection Suits (SPS), Mission Communication System (MCS) and Data Links on board Embraer-145 aircraft. The aircraft is capable of air-to-air refuelling for achieving extended endurance.

10.       AWACS (India): Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS-India) consists of sensors mounted on a transport aircraft for locating airborne and sea surface targets and picking up hostile emissions. The aircraft sensors provide comprehensive information to the onboard mission controllers and ground stations through a sophisticated communication data link. The system provides advance warning for approaching low flying hostile targets.

Exercise

11.       Ex Gagan Shakti:IAF conducted PAN India Exercise Gaganshakti 2018 between April 08-22, 2018. The aim of the exercise was real time coordination and employment of air power in a short and intense battle scenario. A major highlight of the exercise was a very high availability and reliability of all combat assets including aircraft, missile systems and radars. High tempo operations also enabled the IAF to ascertain sustainability of the logistics chain.

12.       Ex Pitch Black-2018(OUT EX): Ex Pitch Black (Ex PB) is a biennial exercise conducted by Royal Australian Air Force. Ex PB-18 was the inaugural exercise for IAF conducted from Jul 19 to August 18, 2018, at Darwin, Australia. IAF participated with 04 x Su-30MKI, 01 x C-17 and 01 x C-130J aircraft along with 145 IAF personnel. Hop exercise was conducted at Subang, Malaysia during the transit to Malaysia.

13.       International Army Games-2018 (OUT EX): Two observers (each) represented IAF in “UAV Competition” at Kazakhstan from 06-08 Aug 18 and in “Ex Aviadarts (Air to Ground firing competition)” at Russia from August 03-04, 2018.

14.       Ex Aviaindra-2018 [Phase-I (IN Ex) & Phase-II (OUT Ex)]:  The exercise was planned in two phases. Phase-II was held at Lipetsk, Russia between September 17-28, 2018 and Phase-I was held at Jodhpur, India from December 10-21, 2018. Russian IAF participated with 30 members during the exercise.

15.       Ex Cope India-18:  United States Air Force and Indian Air Force participated in an exercise, ‘Cope India’. It was conducted at Kalaikunda and Panagarh from December 03-14 18. USAF participated with 12X F15 C/D and 03XC-130. Observers from Japan Air Self Defence Force also participated in the exercise.

HADR

16.       HADR Seminar:  HQ Western Air Command conducted a seminar on Human Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) in May 2018. It was attended by representatives of the Army, HQ Integrated Defence Staff and State Disaster Management Authorities of J&K, HP, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi.

17.       Annual Jt HADR Exercise:Based on the directions of Prime Minister, Annual Jt HADR exercise was conducted at Allahabad between September 25-26, 2018. Scenario of earthquake along Dehradun, Bareilly and Gorakhpur axis was simulated as part of the exercise. The exercise was conducted by IAF and various agencies involved in HADR operations including NDMA, NDRF, state govt and other civil agencies till the municipal level participated in the exercise. 

18.       Flash Floods Maharashtra:On 07 Jul 18, helicopter undertook rescue of five stranded civilians near Chinchoti waterfall in Palghar, Maharashtra.

19.       Flood Relief in Kerala.  IAF launched rescue and relief operations after the devastating floods in Aug 2018. Fortyseven aircraft (05xC-17, 03xIL-76, 05xC-130 and 10xAn-32 and 24 helicopters) took part in the rescue and relief operations in Kerala. During the HADR mission, IAF ac airlifted 4,209 passengers and 1,554 T of load and flew 1,121 sorties and 1404 hrs.

Publicity Efforts

20.       Maintenance of Career Website: IAF maintains a career website www.careerindianairforce.cdac.in, which contains all the induction and selection related information. The website is used for online registration and conduct of online examination. Information regarding various stages of selection process i.e., from releasing of advertisement to final merit lists are upgraded regularly on the website.

21.       Print Advertisement:  Advertisement for all the entries is released in Employment News, various magazines and also as newspaper advertisement in vernacular language on pan India basis.

Training

22.       e-Training.  In line with Digital India initiative of Government of India, IAF has taken a lead to bring about a paradigm change in the present training methodology for ab-initio air-warriors. Towards this, a pilot e-training project was introduced for 400 ab-initio trainees of Elect fit trade at Electrical and Instrumentation Training Institute (E & ITI) at Air Force Station Jalahalli, Bengaluru. Trainees and instructors were provided with ‘tablets’, integrated through a wireless network. Users are able to refer to training material loaded into a central server at their own place, within the Wi-Fi coverage area of the unit. The Pilot Project (Phase I) to implement e-training has proven to be very successful and is planned to be implemented at all training establishments and training institutes.

Women Empowerment

25. Induction of Women Pilots in the Fighter Stream.  The IAF has been at the vanguard of providing greater opportunities to women and has pioneered the entry of women as officers in the flying and ground duty branches.  Since 1993, women are being inducted as Short Service Commissioned officers in all branches and streams of the IAF except the fighter stream. The IAF has recently revised Short Service Commission (SSC) scheme to induct women into the fighter stream on an experimental basis for a period of five years. The first batch of three women officers were commissioned into the fighter stream in 2016.  These three women fighter pilots are posted to frontline fighter squadrons.

Miscellaneous

26.       Vintage Flight.  IAF maintain and operates Tiger Moth, Harvard and Dakota vintage aircraft. These aircraft represent an important part of Indian aviation and IAF heritage. These aircraft are presently operating in IAF colours and have regaled audiences all over the country, as they have been an integral part of most flypasts and air displays of National importance. Their presence over Indian skies serves to remind Indian Citizens of our rich aviation heritage and motivates countless youngsters to become a part of the IAF.

28        ATF Online Payment.  CDA (AF) has started releasing payment online to M/s IOCL against the ATF bills received through ‘ATF DIP’ (OJAS) software and the same has been successfully implemented by IAF.

Indian Coast Guard

Operations

1.         Extended EEZ surveillance: In addition to undertaking maritime surveillance in Maritime Zone of India, ICG ships and aircraft are also deployed for undertaking maritime surveillance of littoral states. In 2018, ICG undertook three extended EEZ deploymentsin the Maldivian EEZ, by ICG ship Sarathi in February-April, 2018 and ICGS Samarth in April-May, 2018 followed by one ICG Dornier Aircraft in July-August 2018.

Coastal Security

2.         Coastal Security Exercises:   Indian Coast Guard, in coordination with Navy, has been undertaking patrolling and surveillance of the entire coastline.  Since 2009, a total of 180 Coastal Security Exercises have been conducted for ensuring effectiveness of the coordinated patrolling and validation of Standard Operating Procedure.

3.         Coastal Security Operations:   With the sustained impetus on Coastal Security total of 351 Coastal Security Operations have been conducted since 2009, in coordination with all stakeholders.

Search and Rescue

4.         Indian Coast Guard is the national coordinating agency for maritime search and rescue in the vast 4.6 million square kiolometres of Indian Search and Rescue Region. Director General Indian Coast Guard is the Chairman of National Maritime Search and Rescue Board which is responsible to coordinate M-SAR related matters.

5.         Distress Beacon Exercise:   In order to enhance efficacy of M-SAR construct, series of Beacon exercises are being conducted. The 14^th and 15^th exercise was conducted on May, 23-25 and September, 26-28, 2018 respectively. Active participation was witnessed from Defence and Civil and a total of 96 beacons were tested in 2018.

6.         SAR Exercises:With imperatives to validate the National Maritime SAR plan and to exercise the resource agencies for enhanced operability towards collaborative approach for strengthening the maritime SAR mechanism, Maritime Search and Rescue exercises were conducted under the aegis of NMSAR Board. Large scale participation of National Maritime SAR Board Member agencies, stake holders, resource agencies, national and international observers was witnessed during the exercises conducted in 2018 which are as under:-

(a)        National Maritime Search and Rescue Workshop & Exercise (SAREX-18) conducted between January 16-17, 2018 off Chennai. The SAR exercise was in series of the biennial exercise conducted by ICG. 

(b)        Regional Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise Mar 19 & 21, 2018 off Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

7.         Maritime SAR Workshop & Interactive Sessions:   Under the aegis of NMSAR Board, ICG took the initiative of conducting Maritime SAR Workshop & interactive session for mariners, fisherman and stake holders. These initiatives were aimed towards building up a collaborative approach for strengthening safety of fisher-folks and mariners and enthusing safety consciousness among coastal communities.

8.         SAR Communication Exercise:With a view to reinforce our operational linkages with leading Maritime SAR service providers in the Indian Ocean Region, MRCC (Mumbai), MRCC (Chennai) and MRCC (Port Blair) conducted Search and Rescue Communication  Exercises (SARCOMEX) with friendly countries in the year 2018, that include Oman, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar, South Korea, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Australia.

9.         XVII National Maritime Search and Rescue (NMSAR) Board Meeting.The XVII National Maritime Search and Rescue (NMSARB) meeting was held at Vigyan Bhawan Annex, New Delhi on Jul 05, 2018 under the chairmanship of Director General, ICG and Chairman, National Maritime Search & Rescue Board, Shri Rajendra Singh.The meeting was attended by all the board members alongwith other special invitees alongwith Fisheries department representatives from five States.  Various issues related with safety of fishermen and mariners were reviewed and discussed.  During the meeting annual NMSAR awards were also distributed by the Chairman, NMSAR Board. The ‘ICG SAR Award for Fisherman’ was awarded to Shri Milan Shankar Tare, Owner & Master of fishing boat ‘Dharti’ for saving 12 lives from sinking fishing boat ‘Shivneri’ 33 NM off Tarapur, Maharashtra.

Aid to Civil Authority

10.       Ganesh Utsav-2018:   During immersion ceremony of idols of Lord Ganesh along the Mumbai coast, CGRHQ (West) conducted 'Operation Utsav' from 13 - 23 Sep 18 to carry out surveillance and provide SAR cover during the ceremony. ICG ships and aircraft provided search and rescue cover to the devotees on September 14, 17, 19 and 23, 2018.

11.       Assistance to Civil Authority - Kerala Flood:In response to the Kerala floods in August 2018, ICG launched a large scale Disaster Response & Relief Operation code named 'Op Rahat'. ICG mobilised eight ships, four Dorniers and three helicopters during the operation. Thirty six Disaster Response Teams, each comprising 7-9 ICG personnel were deployed in the flood affected districts of Kerala.

12.       ICG Efforts Towards cyclone ‘LUBAN’ in Arabian Sea:   Consequent to formation of cyclone Luban in South East Arabian Sea on October 01, 2018, ICG launched a large scale rescue and relief operation. CG Disaster Response teams were formed at Kochi and Gemini, life boats were kept standby for deployment at short notice. On an average 10-12 Ships, 05-06 Dornier aircraft and 01-02 helicopter were deployed for warning/ sensitizing fishermen at sea and guiding them to return harbour.

13.       ICG Efforts Towards cyclone ‘Titli’ in Bay of Bengal: ICG again launched a large scale rescue and relief operations during the onset of cyclone 'Titli', which formed in the Bay of Bengal on October 08, 2018. Three CG Disaster Response teams were employed at Gopalpur while 04 CGDRTs at Paradip and 06 CGDRTs at Haldia were kept standby. On an average 08 Ships and 03-04 Dornier aircraft were deployed for warning/ sensitizing fishermen at sea and guiding them to return harbour.

14.       ICG Efforts Towards cyclone ‘Gaja’:   Consequent to formation of low pressure in North Andaman sea around November 08-09, 18, Indian Coast Guard initiated series of pre-emptive measures from November 09, 2018 onwards to ensure safety of fishermen operating at sea.

International Cooperation

15.       Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs).  India has acceded to various international conventions dealing with maritime safety and security and marine environment protection. Accordingly, ICG endeavours for making seas safe, secure and clean with its international partners. ICG has signed MoUs with the Bangladesh CG, Japan CG, Korea CG, Royal Oman Police CG, Sri Lanka CGand Vietnam CG for cooperation on CG-relevant maritime issues. In addition ICG and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency have established a communication link as part of MoU between the Ministries of Defence of both Governments. Bilateral Interactions

16.       Signing of MoU between ICG and SLCG: A Memorandum of Understanding between ICG and the Coast Guard of Sri Lanka was signed on May 09, 2018 in Colombo for the establishment of a collaborative relationship to combat transnational illegal activities at sea and develop regional cooperation between the ICG and Sri Lanka Coast Guard.

Joint Exercise

17.       Joint Exercise with Bangladesh Coast Guard: BCG ship Tajuddin visited Chennai between May 25-28, 2018 for joint exercise under the provisions of MoU. The ship also visited Vizag from May 30 to June 02,  2018 for professional interaction with ICG. 

18.       Joint Exercise with Japan Coast Guard: ICG-JCG annual joint exercise was conducted off/at Chennai between January 16-17, 2018. The JCG ship Tsugaru ship alongwith integral helicopter participated in the joint exercise.  

Marine Environment

19.       Signing of MoU for Cooperation on the response to Oil and Chemical Pollution in the South Asian Seas Region:    Director General ICG on behalf of Government of India has deposited instrument of consent to Director General, South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP), Colombo, Sri Lanka on               May 12, 2018 in respect of MoU for cooperation on the response to oil and chemical pollution in the South Asian Seas Region (comprising of maritime nations – India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka).

20.       International Coastal Cleanup Day – 2018:  Towards ongoing efforts of the Government for the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ and Prime Minister’s appeal for mass cleanliness and sanitation campaign, through “Swachhta Hi Seva”, the Indian Coast Guard conducted International Coastal Cleanup Day-2018 (ICC-2018) in all Coastal States/Union Territories on September 15, 2018. Nationwide, a total of 22,026 volunteers participated in the ICC-2018 campaign, which resulted in collection of 71,220 kilogrammes of marine litter.

Fisheries Protection                                

21. Apprehension of Foreign Fishing Vessels:   Coast Guard apprehended 04 foreign fishing boats alongwith 26 foreign crew under the provisions of the MZI Act, 1981 since January 2018.

22.       Repatriation of Indian and Foreign Fishing Boats:   The repatriation operations are directly coordinated by the Coast Guard Headquarters which involves extensive committed liaison with MEA, the Indian High Commission in the respective countries, State Fisheries departments and District Administration. Coast Guard repatriated 11 Sri Lankan and 26 Pakistani fishermen from India and 155 Indian fishermen from Sri Lanka have been undertaken since January 2018.

Aviation

23.       16 Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) MKIII: Contract towards supply of 16 ALH MK-III has been concluded with M/s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on March 29, 2017 and successful ground run of first Green aircraft has been carried out in June 2018. Integration and certification of systems is in progress and delivery of first two helicopters is scheduled in March 2020. These helicopters are equipped with state-of-the-art technology and are capable of surveillance, interdiction, standoff support for ship boarding parties and pollution response from ships.

Defence Research and Development Organisation

1.         Long Range Surface-to-Surface Ballistic Missile ‘Agni-5’: During the year, Agni-5 was successfully flight tested thrice in Jan, June& December 2018. A total of seven flight trials have been conducted so far and all the missions have been successful.

2.         Ballistic Missile Defence (Programme AD):Interceptor missiles have been developed by DRDO as a strategic weapon against ballistic missile attacks. Successful trials of endo interceptor missile (AAD) and exo interceptor missile (PDV) were carried out in August 2018 and September 2018 respectively.  

3.         Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile ‘Astra’: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. A series of flight trials of the missile by IAF were conducted at ITR, Balasore as part of final development trials of the missile in September/October 2018.

4.         New Generation Anti-Radiation Missile (NGARM):DRDO is involved in the design and development of NGARM having a range of 100 km. AKU-58 launcher after suitable modification will be used for missile integration on Su-30 MKI aircraft. Successful static firing of integrated P-I & P-II rocket motor was conditioned at high & low temperatures in Jun & Jul 2018 respectively. Captive Flight Trials were also successfully conducted in September 2018.

5.         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. During the year, sub-systems for control flight trial were acceptance tested and lined up for missile integration which was followed by successful Program Control Flight Trials of the missile system in September 2018.

6.         Stand-off Anti-Tank (SANT) Guided Missile: During the year, SANT Guided Missile mission-01 campaign was conducted during May 2018 at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan during which successful firing of SANT from Mi-35 helicopter platform was demonstrated. SANT Release Flight Trials (RFT) with mathematical model of seeker was also conducted in Nov 2018 wherein safe separation from Mi-35, transfer alignment algorithm, launch release sequence and latex/roll control auto pilot algorithms was demonstrated.

7.         Smart Anti Air Field Weapon (SAAW):SAAW is long-range, stand-off, precision air-to-surface weapon capable of engaging ground targets. Impact trial of SAAW was conducted in May 2018 to access penetration capability of SAAW in full configuration mode. Three tests of SAAW were also carried out during August 2018 from IAF aircraft. The weapon has undergone eight developmental flight trials till date. 

8.         Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) ‘TAPAS BH’:TAPAS-BH, a multi-mission UAV is being developed with an endurance of 24 hours to carry out the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles for the three Armed Forces. It is being designed to operate at 30,000 ft Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL) altitude and is capable of carrying Electronic Warfare and Electro-Optic & Synthetic Aperture Radar (EO & SAR) payloads. During the year, a total of 63 taxi trials (LSTT & HSTT) have been completed. The first block of User Configuration flights commenced in February 2018. As on date, 25 User configuration flight trials have been completed.

9.         Guided Pinaka Rocket System:Guided Pinaka Rocket system is being developed by DRDO to engage targets from 20 km to 80 km range. The rocket uses propulsion system developed for Pinaka Mk-II rocket and has canard based aerodynamic control and Inertial Navigation System (INS)/Global Positioning System (GPS) based guidance. The system was successfully test fired from PXE, Chandipur in May 2018 and met all its mission objectives.

10.       New Family of Munitions (NFMS):Six types of munitions are being designed and developed by DRDO viz. Soft Target Blast Munition 'NIPUN', Anti-Tank Point Attack Munition 'VIBHAV', Anti-Tank Bar Munition 'VISHAL', Directional Fragmentation Munition 'PARTH', Anti-Tank Munition 'PRACHAND' and Jumping Fragmentation Munition 'ULKA' to improve the existing munitions and enhance its performance. During the year, PSQR based User Trials of PRACHAND was completed.

11.       Arjun Armoured Recovery and Repair Vehicle (Arjun ARRV):ARRV is intended for carrying out recovery, repair and replenishing functions pertaining to MBT Arjun in operational areas under a wide variety of field conditions. During the year, 1^st prototype was successfully demonstrated during DRDO internal trials and 2^nd prototype is under developmental trials.

12.       Advance Light Towed Array Sonar (ALTAS):ALTAS is an efficient sensing system for detection, localization and classification of submarines operating especially in the below surface layer ocean conditions. It is useful in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) operations and is the apt sensor for warships to locate silent submarines capable of launching high speed torpedoes. User Evaluation Trials of the system onboard INS Sharda are under progress. Almost 75 NSQR parameters including parameters pertaining to towing characteristics and functions of launch/recovery unit have been demonstrated during the trials.

13.       USHUS – 2:USHUS-2 is submarine sonar to be installed onboard four EKM submarines considering the long term requirements of the submarine arm and to combat the component obsolescence in the existing Russian sonars onboard these submarines. Design and development of engineered model of USHUS-2 is carried out in NPOL and produced at M/s. BEL, Bengaluru. During the year, Sea Acceptance Trials (SATs) Phase-1 of USHUS-2 onboard INS Sindhukesari was completed successfully in Russia.

14.       Portable Diver Detection Sonar (PDDS):DRDO/NPOL is involved in the design and development of a PDDS system that is capable of detecting small targets such as divers and diver delivery vehicles in and around harbours. It will be deployable and retrievable as and when required. During the year, PDDS deployment system has been developed. Field evaluation of the deployment system will be by early 2019.

15.       Advanced Light Weight Torpedo (ALWT):ALWT is an anti-submarine torpedo launched from ship, helicopter or fixed wing aircraft. It has dual speed capability and endurance of 25 km at low speed (25 knots) and 12 km at high speed (50 knots). During the year, discharge test of 70 kw battery was conducted with full torpedo assembled. Static test was conducted at sea off Vizag to prove operation of recovery aids used in ALWT viz. STRS, IPRS, Noise maker and BSAT. Automated electrical firing of it from single tube launcher and dynamic sea trials was conducted wherein torpedo made full run as per mission sequence.

16.       Software Defined Radio (SDR):The development of a family of network-enabled, interoperable and modular SDRs is to provide wireless secure communication capability to both mobile and fixed forces as required by the Navy are: Naval Combat (SDR-NC), Tactical (SDR-TAC), Airborne (SDR-AR), Manpack (SDR-MP) and Hand held (SDR-HH). During the year, Acceptance Test (ATP) and User Evaluation Trials of SDR-TAC were completed on five ships at Vizag. Flight trials of SDR-AR for selected bands were also completed.

17.       Air Defence Fire Control Radar (ADFCR) ‘Atulya’:ADFCR ‘Atulya’ in conjunction with anti-aircraft guns, forms a ground based air defence system whose main purpose is effective point defence against all air threats at short and very short ranges during day and night. During the year, DRDO evaluation of the radar system was completed and integrated test firing of ADFCR with guns and targets were carried out. 18.          Air Defence Tactical Control Radar (ADTCR):ADTCR has been developed for Army AD for surveillance, tracking and Identification of Friend/Foe (IFF) of aerial targets and transmission of data to multiple Air Defence command posts/weapon systems. During the year, DRDO internal evaluation of ADTCR system was completed. All the PSQR parameters were complied and verified by demonstration/analysis. The system is ready for User trials.

Border Roads Organisation

Landmark events/achievements pertaining to Border Roads Organisation are as under:  

At present, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is working on 883 roads of length 27,404.18 kilometres, out of which 352 roads of length 7,991.98 kilometres are under maintenance only and balance roads are under construction/improvement to double lane. BRO is also maintaining seven airfields besides snow clearance of 126 roads (4,800 kms) to ensure connectivity of border regions with rest of the country.

(1)        Achievements of work targets: BRO has achieved the following targets of road construction during the period from January 2018 to November 2018.

Item     A/U      Achievement upto November 20, 2018

Formation Works                                Kms     Eqvt Cl-9          843.40

Surfacing Works                                  Kms     Eqvt Cl-9          1,716.24

Resurfacing Work                               Kms                             1,945.37

Permanent Works                               Lakhs                           1,19,248.28

Major Bridges                                     Mtr                              2,290.18

Tunnel                                                 Lakhs                           31,531.28

2.        Details of Important works undertaken during this FY are as under:

(a)        Connectivity on Op Critical ICBR up to Bidak (Km 16) on Tama Chung-Chung- Maja Road: A significant boost was given for this task last year by launching 200 ft Bailey bridge at Gelensiniak (the first single span bridge over the River Subansiri on October 24, 2017) which provided additional attack points to speed up the pace of work. Accordingly road connectivity to Bidakh established on January 30, 2018.

(b)        Launching of 60 ft Bailey Bridge: Launching of 60 feet Bailey bridge at Km 31.36 on road Tama-Chung-Chung-Taksing was completed on January 31, 2018 by air lifting stores weighing almost 40 MT from Limeking, now the road will remain through for traffic even during the monsoon season.

(c)        Re-launching of 190 ft TDR: Existing 190’ Double Double Bailey bridge   (Cl-24) at Gangori Garh at Km 31 on Dharasu-Gangotri road on NH-34 collapsed on April 01, 2018 due to plying of heavy loaded civil  vehicles. The alternative diversion was made operational using Hume pipes within 12 hrs and traffic was restored. Now Triple Double Reinforced 190 ft BB of Cl-40 was launched on April 20, 2018.

(d)        Inauguration of Kawaranglui Bridge: Construction of Multi Span PSC Box Girder permanent bridge 72.50 m span over river Kawaranglui on road Lawngtlai-Dirtlang-Parva has been completed and inaugurated by Governor of Mizoram Lt Gen (Retd) Nirbhaya Sharma, on February 12, 2018.

(e)        Inauguration of Theng Tunnel: To negotiate frequent landslides at Km 86.00 on road Gangtok-Chungthang, a Horse Shoe shaped tunnel of NHDL specification having length 542 m has been completed. This tunnel has been dedicated to the nation by Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr Subhash Bhamre on June 07, 2018.

(f)        Inauguration of Damchu-Chukha Road in Bhutan: The Damchu-Chukha Road, 29.20 Km to Assian Highway Standards constructed by BRO, was formally inaugurated by His Excellency Lyonchhen Dasho Tshering Tobgey, Prime Minister, Royal Government of Bhutan on July 18, 2018. New road will reduce the travel time between Phuntsholing –Thimphu by one hour and reduce journey by around 19.5 Km of steep uphill driving.

(g)        Inauguration of Hussainiwala Bridge: The four span of temporary bridge on the old Ferozpur-Lahore highway over river Satluj River (Historical Hussainiwala Barrage) connecting Hussainiwala Enclave from Ferozpur has been replaced by constructing a new bridge with load class 70 R at the cost ofRs 238 Lakh. The bridge was dedicated to Nation by Raksha MantriSmt Nirmala Sitharaman on August 12, 2018.Hussainiwala is the place where freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who made supreme sacrifices for the motherland, were cremated. A memorial has been built as a mark of respect for these brave hearts, whom the whole nation can never forget.

(h)        Approval of Alignment Plan Akhnoor – Poonch Road: Alignment Plan of the road has been approved by MoRT&H vide letter No RW/NH-12037/1214/Misc-New NHs/2014/NH-I/Zone-II dated 05 Sep 2018 Approved final alignment plan with feasibility report submitted by consultant to BRO on September 06, 2018.

(i)         Launching of Composite Bailey Bridge: A composite br (BSB 400 ft+140 ft DSRBB & 2X130 ft DSRBBs) across the Lohit River was launched at Meshai/in Lohit Valley of Arunachal on Sep 25, 2018.

(j)         Sela tunnels: Administrative Approval for design and construction of two tunnels of length 0.475 kilometre and 1.79 kilometre at Sela Pass along with the approach Roads of length 9.775 Km on B-C-T Road for Rs 687.11 crore has been accorded and further tendering action is under process.

(k)        Chardham Projects: Prestigious Chardham Pariyojana Projects have been started. Preparation of DPRs for 18 packages on Chardham Roads through EPC Mode are under process. Out of which BRO has awarded contracts for 8 packages and balance are under progress.

(l)         Progress on Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs):   Out of 61 ICBRs of length 3,418 kilometre have been entrusted to BRO, 28 roads have been completed. Work on the balance roads are in different stages of completion. However, out of 3418 kilometre overall completed length of ICBR is 2316.62 kilometre (68 per cent) and connected length is 3144 kilometre (90 per cent). The package wise status of connectivity of ICBRs are as under:

3.         Moreover, Border Roads Organisation has taken initiative for updating the data of personnel by launching GREF Abhilekh Application. Lt Gen Harpal Singh, AVSM, VSM, DGBR implemented and launched the Mobile App ‘GREF ABHILEKH’ which will immensely benefit the 36,000 GREF Personnel serving in remote areas of our country. The Mobile App will provide real time personnel and career management information to all serving GREF Personnel. The App is compatible with all Android / Window / ioS based mobile phone.

Ex-Servicemen Welfare

Resettlement

1.         Employment Generated by DGR: The details of employment generated by the DGR under various schemes during 2014 to 2018 (Till Nov 2018) are as under:

Location	Date	Participation	Job Vacs (Approx)
Secunderabad	20 Jan 2018	35	1552	1493
Kochi	08 Mar 2018	32	1400	765
Chandigarh	26 Jun 2018	30	1307	525
Mumbai	24 Oct 2018	35	1095	1874
Chennai	14 Nov 2018	49	1056	6025
Nagpur	29 Nov 2018	36	567	3280
Pune	06 Dec 2018	31	9001	709
Bangalore	26-28 Dec 18	Scheduled to be organised.

2.         Achievements in DGR Resettlement Training Courses

The details of resettlement training imparted for Officers & JCOs/OR during   the last five years (FY) are as under:

Sl No.	Category	2018-19
(a)	Officers	360
(b)	Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks	3,434
	Total	3,794

* Courses at Regimental Centres being conducted by Service HQs.

3. ESM Healthcare

· Orders issued for empanelment of 85 medical facilities with ECHS vide letter No. 22B(l5)/2017/WE/D(Res-I) dated January 04, 2018.

· Sanction issued for shifting of polyclinic from Shimla to Ranrnur with the approval of Raksha Rajya Mantri vide letter No.22D(29)/2017/WE/D(Res) dated March 26, 2018.

· Orders shifting the PCs from Along and Khonsa to Tenga and Twang in Arunachal Pradesh issued vide letter No. 22D(29)/2017/WE/D(Res-I) dated May 7, 2018.

· The Orders regarding supply of medicines to ECHS beneficiaries was amended making it easier for empanelment of Authorised Local Chemists in smaller towns & cities, rural areas and remote and far flung areas vide letter No. 22D(02)/2016/WE/D(Res-I) dated June 25, 2018.

· Vide letter No. 18(54)/2018/WE/D(Res-I) dated August 2, 2018 the system of referral was changed by the Government to exclude name of the empanelled centre of ECHS and enable ECHS beneficiaries to go to any ECHS empanelled centre of their choice.

· Vide letter No. 22D(l8)/2017/WE/D(Res-I) dated Aug 7, 18 the travelling allowance Rule for medical treatment of ECHS beneficiaries was liberalised to include journeys by the private car and taxis.

· Vide letter No. 22B(06)/2017/WE/D(Res-I) dated August 8, 2018 ECHS beneficiaries have been permitted to avail medical facilities under the alternative system of medicines Ayush in Government Ayush Hospitals/Colleges/National Institutes of Ayush/all government dispensaries/Distt. Hospitals/Sub Distt. Hospitals/PHC/CHC/Municipality Hospitals funded by Central/States/Local Government and having facility for treatment in Ayush system of medicines.

· Vide letter No. 18(77)/2017/WE/D(Res-I) dated September 18, 2018 sanction of the competent authority was granted to make the provisions of the OM No.4-24/96-C&P/CGHS(P)/EHS dated May 7, 2018 of MoH&FW applicable to ECHS beneficiaries in r/o dependent unmarried sons of ECHS beneficiaries beyond 25 years of age w.r.t. definition of 'permanent disability'.

· Vide letter No. 18(107)/WE/D(Res-I) dated September 28, 2018 approval of the Government was granted for establishment of a new type D ECHS polyclinic at Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

· Raksha Rajya Mantri inaugurated the Polyclinics at Tenga and Tawang on October 16, 2018. With operationalisation of both PCs all 426 PCs sanctioned by MoD will have become functional.

Welfare Measures

4.         Financial Assistance

An amount of Rs. 46,16,84,000/- (Rupees forty six crores sixteen lakh eighty four thousand only) was disbursed to 14,205 beneficiaries under the welfare schemes of the RMEDF in the year 2018-19. This has resulted in much higher user satisfaction amongst the ESM, and much fewer complaints.

· 57,545 beneficiaries were disbursed an amount of Rs. 146.99 crore during 2014-15 to 2017-18 under PM's Scholarship Scheme (PMSS). 11,572 beneficiaries were disbursed Rs 29.79 crore (March-December 2018) under PM's Scholarship Scheme (PMSS).

· Disbursal of Central share to States/UTs amounting to total of approx. Rs 25.67 crore (March-December 2018) out of Defence Services Estimates.

5.         Pension

(i)         Inclusion of Line of Actual Control (LAC) for the purpose of Liberalised family pension:

Vide Govt. order No. 2(3)/2012/D(Pen/Pol).Vol. II dated 7.3.2018, following amendments have been carried out under Category D of Para 1 clause (iii) of Ministry's letter No. 2(1)/2011/D(Pen/Policy) dated 3.2.2011:

"Accidental death/injury sustained due to natural calamities such as flood, avalanches, landslides, cyclone, fire and lightening or drowning in river while performing operational duties/movement in action against enemy forces and armed hostilities in operational area to include deployment on International Border or Line of Control or Line of Actual Control."

(ii)        Enhancement of Ex-gratia ad-hoc allowance:

Vide Govt. order No. 1(5)/2017/D(Pen/Policy) dated April 9, 2018, it has been decided to sanction enhancement, on compassionate grounds, ex-gratia ad-hoc allowance to following category of pensioners/ family pensioners from Rs 3,500/- per month to Rs 9,000/- pm with effect from January 1, 2016.

1. Armed Forces pensioners/family pensioner migrated from Pakistan.
2. Burma Army pensioners/family pensioner who are Indians and drawing their pension in India.
3. Burma Army pensioners of Nepalese origin who are drawing pension in Indian and Indian Embassy, Pension Paying Offices in Nepal.

(iii)       Revision of Non-practicing Allowance (NPA):

Vide Govt. order No. 1(7)/2014-D(Pen/Policy) dated May 24, 2018, it has been decided that all kind of pension/family pension in respect of Medical officers of Armed Forces who retired/died during January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 and were drawing NPA at old rates on the date of retirement/death, shall be further revised w.e.f. 1.7.2017 by adding NPA@ 20 per cent to the basic pay on the date of retirement.

(v)       Orders for delinking of qualifying service in the cases of PSU Absorbee:

Vide Govt order No. 1(04)/2007/D(Pen/Pol) dated June 20, 2018, it has been decided that while determining the revised pension of those Defence pensioners who had drawn lump sum payment on absorption in Public Sector Undertaking/Autonomous Bodies after expiry of commutation period of 15 years from the date of payment of 100 per cent lump sum amount, with effect from January 1, 2006, the pension/family pension shall also be revised in accordance with the provisions contained in this Ministry's letter dated September 30, 2016.

National Cadet Corps

Activities & Achievements

1.         Training of the cadets is the core function of National Cadet Corps (NCC). Training curriculum has been designed to achieve the objectives, which have been delivering desired results. However, in the recent past there has been a growing perception that our training philosophy has to be suitably modified to accommodate the changing aspirations of our youth, and expectations of our society from our youth.  The activities of the NCC as follow:

2.         Institutional Training: This forms the major portion of the total training peculiar to Army Wing, Naval Wing and Air Wing and is carried out in schools and colleges. Respective services provide all facilities for contact programmes/affiliated training.

3.         Camp Training: Camp training constitutes the most important part of NCC training. Every cadet in the NCC is expected to attend at least two camps. Therefore, nearly 70 per cent of the enrolled strength gets this opportunity every year. Various camps conducted during the year are Annual Training Camps (organised at state level), Centrally Organised Camps including 35 Ek Bharat Shrestitha Bharat (EBSB) camps, Six  Leadership Camps, Thal Sainik Camp, Vayu Sainik Camp, Nau Sainik Camp, Eight  Rock Climbing Camps and the Republic Day Camp (RDC).

4.         Army Wing Activities: There are 677 Army units covering all the States and Union Territories. In addition to Institutional Training, NCC Army Wing cadets are also given an opportunity to live and work in regular service units in the form of Attachment Training. Every year 440 officers and 20,000 cadets including 60 women officers and 560 senior wing girl cadets get attached to various units of the Army for a duration of two weeks. Around 1,000 senior wing girl cadets are also attached with various military hospitals every year. In addition, every year 120 SD cadets are given attachment training with Indian Military Academy, Dehradun and 48 SW girl cadets are given attachment training with Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai. This year during the ThalSainik Camp, conducted at New Delhi between September 17-28, 2018; a total of 1,360 cadets (680 SD and 680 SW) participated.

5.         Naval Wing Activities: There are 62 Naval Units covering all States and Union Territories. Naval training activities conducted during the year included Sea Training and attachment, Naval Academy attachment, scuba diving, sailing expeditions, technical camps for engineering and electrical students at Technical College of Navy and the All India Yachting Regatta (INS, Chilika, Orissa). A Nau Sainik Camp is conducted to train 600 naval cadets each year at Karwar.  This year a special training camp for yachting was organised in Goa.

6.         Air Wing Activities: At present, there are 61 Air Squadron, including 50 Flying Squadron and 11 Technical Squadron. These Air Squadron cover most of our States and Union Territories. The major Air Wing activities include Microlite Flying, Aero Modeling and attachment training. A Vayu Sainik Camp conducted each year at Jodhpur to train 600 Air Force.

7.         Social Service & Voluntary Community Development Programmes: The aim of Social Service and Community Development programmes is to sensitise the youth to the problems faced by society and help them to contribute positively towards solving them. The various Social Service and Community Development activities in which the cadets take part are:

(a)        Environment Protection Project: Drives to generate awareness about ill effects of using plastic was conducted by all Directorates during the year, wherein NCC cadets actively participated in Tree Plantation drives/door to door campaigns/interaction with local residents to spread awareness. Over 1.25 lakh saplings were planted.

(b)        Anti Drugs/Tobacco Programme: As part of National Drive approx. 78,000 NCC cadets participated in various Anti Drugs activities on June 26.

(c)        Mission Indradhanush: To assist in the national goal of immunising children in the affected districts pan India NCC cadets have ensured this year atleast 14,700 children have been immunised.

(d)        International Yoga Day:In keeping up with its set tradition this year also on June 21 on International Yoga Day over 7 lakh cadets participated in the event in around 6000 different venues.

(e)        Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: A massive focus is laid each year on swachhta based programmes throughout the different states.  From September 15 to October 02, this year over 10.5 lakh cadets took part voluntarily in various cleanliness drives.

(f)        Swasth Bharat Yatra: To commemorate 150 yrs of Mahatma Gandhi birth centenary, ‘Swasth Bharat Yatra’, a pan India Cyclothon and related events is being organised by FSSAI. The event is partnered by 14 Ministries of the UOI including MoD and the related departments of all State Govts and UT Administration. The “Yatra” envisages covering a distance of 18,000 kilometre split over six cycling legs of about 3,000 kilometre each. Each leg of yatra will cover approximately 50-60 kilometre each day with 25 cyclists each. The yatra will commence simultaneously from each of the six legs on Octber 16, 2018 and culminate simultaneously on January 27, 2019 at New Delhi.

(g)        Disaster Relief: NCC has always extended a helping hand during natural and other calamities. Over the years, NCC cadets have rendered a yeoman service during floods, earthquakes, cyclones and other natural disasters. NCC cadets were actively involved in assisting the civil administration in relief operations during the Kerala floods and the damage due to cyclone in Kerala.

8.         Youth Exchange Programme (YEP): The aim of YEP is a country to country exchange of cadets belonging to NCC/equivalent Govt/Youth Organisations of friendly countries and participation in NCC activities of the host country to create an increased awareness among participants and appreciation of each other's socio-economic and cultural realities. The exchange program acts as the 'third tier of diplomacy' by supplementing the efforts of our diplomats and leaders in building bonds with other friendly nations. Presently, the NCC has youth exchange with Eleven countries (Nepal, Bhutan, Singapore, Vietnam, Russia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Maldives and Kyrgyzstan) on reciprocation basis.

9.         Sports: (a) All India Mavalankar Shooting Championship (2018). Firing being one of the core training activities of NCC, shooting discipline enjoys special place in NCC sporting activities. NCC conducts inter NCC State Directorate competition to select the NCC team which participates in the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) events like All India GV Mavalankar Shooting Competition (AIGVMSC). The NCC shooting teams have been performing well in this event for several years. This year 55 cadets participated and NCC shooting team won following medals in all India GV Mavlankar shooting Championship Competition 2018 :-

(i)         Gold                             -           03

(ii)        Silver                           -           05

(iii)       Bronze                         -           01

            Total                                        09

(b)       Subroto Cup Football Tournament: NCC teams in Jr Boys, Sub-Jr Boys and Junior Girls categories participated in the prestigious Subroto Cup Football Tournament 2018, where they played against some of the best National and International teams. This year, our Under 14, sub Jr Boys team from Odisha reached the finals.

(c)        Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Cup: NCC teams in Junior Boys, Junior Girls and sub Jr Boys participated in the tournament.  This year in Jr Boys category our team from Odisha also reached the finals.

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Nampi/DK/Rajib/HS

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