AWWA provides 3,700 food packets to the needy in Delhi

Ministry of Defence

Posted On: 31 MAR 2020 2:12PM by PIB Delhi

Army Wives Welfare Organisation (AWWA) today handed over 2,500 food packets to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi for distribution to the needy people during lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 1,200 food packets were handed over yesterday. The food packet distribution free of charge will continue for five days.

The food packets were prepared under Army’s AWWA Lunch project by families of Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks at their houses in various colonies of Delhi.

One of the largest voluntary organisations in the country, the AWWA aims for the holistic development and well-being of Army Wives, including their children, rehabilitation of war widows and differently-abled children. It also takes active participation in the activities of Central and State Governments towards improving the living conditions of the poor.

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ABB/SS/Nampi/KA/DK/Savvy

Appeal to generously donate to ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund)’

The pandemic of COVID-19 has engulfed the entire world and has posed serious challenges for the health and economic security of millions of people worldwide. In India too, the spread of coronavirus has been alarming and is posing severe health and economic ramifications for our country. The Prime Minister’s office has been receiving spontaneous and innumerable requests for making generous donations to support the government in the wake of this emergency.

Distress situations, whether natural or otherwise, demand expeditious and collective action for alleviating the suffering of those affected, mitigation/control of damage to infrastructure and capacities etc. Therefore, building capacities for quick emergency response and effective community resilience has to be done in tandem with infrastructure and institutional capacity reconstruction/enhancement.  Use of new technology and advance research findings also become an inseparable element of such concerted action.

Keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected, a public charitable trust under the name of ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM CARES Fund)’ has been set up. Prime Minister is the Chairman of this trust and its Members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.

PM Narendra Modi has always believed and shown in actions that public participation is the most effective way to mitigate any issue and this is yet another example. This fund will enable micro-donations as a result of which a large number of people will be able to contribute with smallest of denominations.

Citizens and organisations can go to the website pmindia.gov.in and donate to PM CARES Fund using following details:

Name of the Account     : PM CARES       

Account Number            : 2121PM20202                                                                               

IFSC Code                     : SBIN0000691                                                                       

SWIFT Code                   : SBININBB104                                                                        

Name of Bank & Branch : State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch                                       

UPI ID                      : pmcares@sbi

Following modes of payments are available on the website pmindia.gov.in -

1. Debit Cards and Credit Cards
2. Internet Banking
3. UPI (BHIM, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, PayTM, Mobikwik, etc.)
4. RTGS/NEFT

Donations to this fund will be exempted from income tax under section 80(G).

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VRRK/KP

(Release ID: 1608851)

Posted On: 28 MAR 2020 4:36PM by PIB Delhi

Armed Forces working on war footing with civil authorities in fight against COVID-19

Ministry of Defence

Posted On: 27 MAR 2020 7:11PM by PIB Delhi

1,073 people evacuated from affected countries presently under quarantine in Armed Forces facilities

Armed Forces have been working relentlessly to provide medical and logistics support to civil authorities in the country’s fight against COVID-19 pandemic. The Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) has deployed all resources at its disposal to aid the civilian authorities, shouldering responsibility in the time of extraordinary crisis.

Six quarantine facilities run by the Armed Forces are currently operational at Manesar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Chennai, Hindan and Mumbai. So far, a total of 1,463 people, including foreigners, evacuated from COVID-19 affected countries have been housed and observed at these centres. Of them, 1,073 persons are presently under quarantine and being provided proper care. These include evacuees from Iran, Italy, Japan and Malaysia, besides the IAF and medical crew. Three hundred ninety evacuees from China, Japan and IAF evacuation flight crew have been discharged following completion of their mandatory quarantine period.

Three positive COVID-19 cases have been reported, so far – two from Hindan and one from Manesar. They were referred to Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi for further treatment.

In addition to the active quarantine centres, more facilities have been readied and may be made operational within 48-72 hours, if needed. These facilities are at Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Dundigal near Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kanpur, Jaisalmer, Jorhat and Gorakhpur.

Interacting with media here today, Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) Lt Gen Anup Banerji said, 28 Service Hospitals have been earmarked as COVID hospitals for managing purely Corona virus cases. This will include Armed Forces as well as civilian patients transferred from state health authorities, in case their capacity is overwhelmed. He added that as of now, there are five hospitals across Army, Navy and Air Force which can carry out COVID test. These include Army Hospital Research and Referral, Delhi; Command Hospital Air Force, Bangalore and Armed Forces Medical College, Pune; Command Hospital (Central Command) Lucknow; Command Hospital (Northern Command) Udhampur. Six more hospitals are being equipped shortly with the resources to begin testing.

Lt Gen Banerji also informed that as of now, only one serving soldier has been tested positive of COVID-19. He was on leave at his home in Leh, taking care of his father who had returned recently from Iran and suffering from COVID. The soldier has recovered. The DG AFMS added that isolation wards at peripheral hospitals have been activated at Army formations along Line of Control and Line of Actual Control. “Intensive information, education and communication campaigns are going on for serving personnel. Leave extension of those on leave as well as curtailment of leave to bare minimum have been imposed. Segregation facilities have been set up to observe troops already back from leave from various states,” he said.

A 14-member team of medical officers and paramedical staff of Army Medical Corps was sent to the Maldives for capacity building measures and assist in setting up their own testing, treatment and quarantine capacities. The team stayed in the Maldives for 10 days and returned back on March 23, 2020. Lt Gen Banerji said, apart from the Maldives, AFMS is ready to dispatch a Rapid response Team to Nepal for assisting them with the COVID situation there. He added that other assistance for other countries will be provided as and when required.

On the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the DG AFMS said, it is a challenge at national as well as global level, adding that advisory for rational usage of PPE has been issued to the Services. “The AFMS is presently geared up with adequate PPEs for use in our hospitals. Additional procurement is also being planned to tide over crisis foreseen during the coming weeks and months since the Armed Forces have been directed to augment medical resources for the civil health set up also,” he added.

The AFMS has suggested setting up of medical facilities within train coaches in case of any eventuality. Various advisories have been issued by AFMS on social distancing, cancellation of courses and training, use of masks, preventive measures to be taken at workplace and guidelines on COVID surveillance and contact tracing.

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Balakot airstrikes Message

Ministry of Defence

Balakot airstrikes was a message that cross-border terrorism will not be a low-cost option for the adversary, says Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh;
Diplomatic and financial pressure is working but Pakistan has to do more: Rajnath Singh

Posted On: 28 FEB 2020 2:52PM by PIB Delhi

The surgical strike of 2016 and Balakot airstrikes of 2019 were not just military strikes but a strong message to the adversary that terror infrastructure across the border cannot be used as safe haven to wage low-cost war against India. This was stated by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh while addressing a seminar titled “Air Power in ‘No War No Peace’ Scenario”, organised by Centre for Air Power Studies on the first anniversary of Balakot airstrikes, here today.

Recalling sacrifices of Armed Forces in the service of the country and paying tributes to the martyrs of Pulwama attack, he said the Nation will never forget their sacrifices.

Raksha Mantri said India’s out-of-the-box response reflected in the Balakot airstrikes forced the rewriting of many doctrines across the LoC and the adversary has to think 100 times for any future misadventures. He added that the responses displayed India’s defence capability and affirmed its right to defend itself against terrorism.

Shri Rajnath Singh described Balakot airstrikes as a singular event of military precision and impact, saying that it teaches the leadership to think strategic rather than tactical. “Our approach to terrorism was and will remain a judicious combination of clinical military action and mature and responsible diplomatic outreach,” he said. Raksha Mantri assured the nation that the Government will respond appropriately to any threat to India’s national security in the future as well. He said, the Government has initiated major structural changes to tackle any future threats and it will take some time for the entire set up to be fully operational. He urged all stakeholders to contribute in making these changes effective and efficient.

Raksha Mantri highlighted that the world stands shoulder to shoulder with India in fighting the terrorism. Stressing the importance of collective diplomatic and financial pressure to thwart cross-border terrorism, he said, “We have recently seen the impact of collective diplomatic and financial pressure on Pakistan. Terrorists like Hafiz Saeed who were treated like VIPs and heroes, have been put behind bars. We realise that this is not enough and unless Pakistan is made accountable, it will continue with its previous policy of duplicity and deceit. All attempts are being made to work in this direction.”

Shri Rajnath Singh termed hybrid warfare a reality, saying that a mix of kinetic and non-kinetic tools is a genuine threat. He emphasised the need to reorient the training of soldiers to meet the challenges posed by hybrid warfare, assuring Government support in this regard. Referring to various aspects of hybrid warfare, namely expanding battle space, time compression and technology infusion, he said, “In such a scenario, artificial intelligence, high-speed weapons and space-based sensors & tools will have a significant impact.” He stressed on the need to imbibe new technologies and use existing capabilities in innovative ways.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said, geopolitics around the globe is changing and India is witness to a number of skirmishes in the region. He called for maintaining credible deterrence in land, air and at sea at all times, saying that the three Services must work together concurrently to deal with any potential threats. “Credible deterrence comes from the will of the military leadership and intent of the political class while taking tough decisions. This was amply shown after Kargil, Uri and Pulwama attacks,” he added.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria said, in 2019, the Government took bold decision to strike at the heart of terrorist training camps inside Pakistan. Use of air power in a sub-conventional scenario was a paradigm shift, he said. He lauded the political and diplomatic efforts to quickly deescalating the situation. He described Pakistan’s response after 30 hours as an effort to satisfy the domestic audience. Appreciating the coordination among various organisations in carrying out the successful airstrikes, he said, there was a calibrated effort to ensure that there were no civilian casualties. He lauded the political leadership for equipping the Indian Air Force with latest technology in recent times. “We had an edge over Pakistan Air Force in terms of Beyond Visual Range Missile capability at the time of Kargil. We allowed that to slip and thereafter it took a decade and half in our struggle to acquire better capabilities,” he said. He also stressed on building indigenous capabilities.

The focus of the seminar was on employability of the air power in situations that necessitate exertion of national will against an adversary, in a no war no peace scenario. Secretary Department of Defence and R&D Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Director General of Centre for Air Power Studies Air Marshal K K Nohwar (Retd), former Chiefs of Air Staff, scholars, serving and retired officers attended the event.

ABB/SS/Nampi/KA/DK/Savvy/ADA

First Anniversary of Balakot Air Strikes

Ministry of Defence

Posted On: 26 FEB 2020 8:28PM by PIB Delhi

On the first anniversary of Balakot air strikes, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria PVSM AVSM VM ADC, Chief of the Air Staff flew a five aircraft mission at Srinagar Air Base along with aircrew from Squadrons that had participated in the operations on 26^th and 27^th February last year. The CAS flew a MiG-21 Type 69 aircraft along with the Commanding Officer of 51 Sqn, Gp Capt Kamran Nazeerin a formation comprising of one MiG-21, two Mirage-2000s and two Sukhoi-30 MKIs.

26 February 2019 was a momentous day as it bore testimony to the professionalism and operational preparedness of men and women of the IAF who successfully executed a very complex mission and achieved their objectives under extremely challenging conditions.

On this day, the IAF salutes the spirit, tenacity and sacrifice of its brave Air Warriors and assures the Nation of its unstinted resolve.  The IAF stands shoulder to shoulder with other Defence Services   in discharge of its sacred duty of defending the nation’s sovereignty and integrity.

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AB/THANGA/JAI