The Indian Weekender - Kiwi-Indian Hall of Fame Special - 07 October 2022

40
WORLD
Made-in-India
attack helicopters
inducted; special
Friday, 7 October, 2022
Read online www.iwk.co.nz
moment: PM Modi
The formal induction of
the LCH comes months
after the Cabinet
Committee on Security, chaired
by the Prime Minister, approved
in March the procurement
of 15 LCH Limited Series
Production (LSP) at a cost of
Rs 3,887 crore.
THE Indian Air Force
Monday formally inducted the
indigenously developed multirole
Light Combat Helicopter
(LCH), Prachand, which is
suitable for operating in highaltitude
battlefields, and Combat Helicopter (LCH) "Prachand" into the Indian Air Force, in Jodhpur, Monday. (PTI)
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally inducts the indigenously developed Light
capable of destroying enemy
air defence and engaging in
Speaking at the ceremony in
counter-insurgency operations.
Jodhpur, Rajnath Singh said the
The first batch of 10 LCH —
induction illustrates that “the
four arrived Monday — is being
way the nation trusts the Indian
inducted into the IAF’s 143
Air Force, the Air Force too
Helicopter Unit at the Jodhpur
trusts indigenously developed
Air Force Station. Defence
weapons and systems”. The
Minister Rajnath Singh presided
Defence Minister also went on
over the induction ceremony
a sortie in the helicopter after
along with the new Chief of
the induction.
Defence Staff (CDS) General
“For a long time after
Anil Chauhan and Chief of Air
Independence, indigenous
Staff Air Chief Marshal V R
technology for the development
Chaudhari. The name, Prachand
of the attack helicopter was
(fierce), was announced during
not given enough attention.
powered by rotors, engines
the ceremony.
As a result, the IAF had to
and blades but also by the
The LCH is a 5.5-tonne class
depend on foreign-origin attack
dedication, courage and
dedicated combat helicopter
helicopters…not just for our
patriotism of the scientists,
designed and developed by
own operations but also for UN
engineers and others who
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
peacekeeping missions in other
worked on it,” he said.
(HAL). According to the IAF,
countries,” he said.
“I have been told the LCH
the induction marks India
Singh said the need for
has been designed for the
becoming the seventh country
indigenous attack helicopters
requirements of the modern-day
to make attack helicopters.
was felt “even more intensely”
battlefield. In its developmental
Taking to Twitter,
during the 1999 Kargil War.
stages, the LCH proved its
Prime Minister Narendra
“LCH is a result of the twodecade-long
research and
capabilities in all types of
Modi described the induction
challenges. The platform ably
as “a special moment for the
development since then. And
fulfills requirements of our
collective resolve of 130 crore
its induction is an important
Armed Forces in all types of
Indians to make our nation
milestone in our journey of
terrains. This makes an ideal
strong and self-reliant in the
indigenous defence production.
platform for both Army and Air
defence sector”.
LCH’s glorious flight is not just
Force,” he said.
Summit is global, but voice is local: PM Modi after launch
of 5G services
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, while launching 5G
telephony services and
inaugurating the India Mobile
Congress in New Delhi on
Saturday, said that although the
summit was global, the thought
process and voice behind it was
definitely local.
During his address at the
event, the Prime Minister said,
“With 2G, 3G and 4G, India was
dependent on other nations.
However, with 5G, India has set
the global standard in telecom
technology.”
Highlighting the development
the current BJP-led government
has brought about in India,
PM Modi said that before
2014, India just had two mobile
manufacturing units while now
it is home to over 200 factories.
“Our nation focused on cost of
devices and data tariffs to drive
digital penetration.”
India got 5G mobile services
— almost five years after the
country took its first steps
towards the launch of the
next generation of mobile
telephony. The 5G coverage
will progressively cover the
entire country over the next
couple of years. The cumulative
economic impact of 5G on India
is estimated to reach $450
billion by 2035.
PM Narendra Modi launches 5G services with Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and
billionaires Mukesh Ambani of Reliance and MoS Devusinh Jesingbhai Chauhan.
After inaugurating the
exhibition at Pragati Maidan
here, PM Modi went around
pavilions set up by different
telecom operators and
technology providers to get a
first-hand experience of what
5G can do.
The Prime Minister started
with Reliance Jio’s stalls,
where he witnessed the ‘True
External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar speaks during a press conference
with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in Washington
India-US relationship
not narrowed to bilateral
gains: Jaishankar
India and the United States,
the world’s two largest
democracies, do not share
a narrow relationship only
devoted to bilateral gains, but
the one that impacts the rest
of the world, External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar has said.
He said both countries
have recognised that this is a
relationship of great capability
and potential and there is still a
lot of room for it to grow.
“If you look at the India-US
relationship, it’s not a narrow
relationship only devoted
to each other’s gains. Our
relationship today impacts the
rest of the world, definitely does
the Indo-Pacific,” Jaishankar
told a group of Indian reporters
on Wednesday as he concluded
his four-day official trip to the
American capital.
Starting with an interaction
with the diaspora on Sunday,
Jaishankar over the next
four days met his American
counterpart Secretary of
State Antony Blinken, Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin,
Commerce Secretary Gina
Raimondo, National Security
Advisor, Jake Sullivan: and five
lawmakers including Senator
Mark Warner and Congressman
Ami Bera.Jaishankar also had
meetings with the American
business community. He
described his visit as a very
comfortable one during which
5G’ devices displayed and
experienced the use case
through Jio Glass.
Flanked by Telecom
Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and
billionaires Mukesh Ambani
of Reliance, Sunil Bharti
Mittal of Bharti Airtel and
Kumar Mangalam Birla of
Vodafone Idea, he spent time
understanding the indigenous
he had good conversations.
“There are a lot of countries
who look to us individually or
bilaterally, some part of the
betterment, which they hope
for, the solutions which the
world is searching for, in many
respects,” he said.
“Bilateral, a very solid,
positive, productive bilateral
conversation, but framed in
the context of larger global
challenges. There’s a high
degree of convergence on how
we look at those challenges,
we may articulate it a little bit
differently,” he said.
“It’s natural our position’s will
not be identical, our priorities
may sometimes be a little
bit different. But again, the
good part of the relationship
is today, that we understand
that we have to make space
for each other, and that we
can work with each other, even
if we do not entirely agree on
every aspect of every issue,”
said the minister.
Jaishankar said overall the
India-US ties are in a good place.
“If you look, our trades
been doing well, our political
exchanges have been very solid.
There might be some process
issues on visas, but in terms
of actual movement of people,
it’s on a longer timeframe
again, being quite positive,” he
said, adding that the student
numbers are also strong.
development of end-to-end 5G
technology.
He thereafter visited stalls
of Airtel, Vodafone Idea,
C-DOT and others. During the
event PM Modi also interacted
with students in Maharashtra,
where Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde was also present.
The Prime Minister then
interacted with a worker in a
tunnel in Delhi where
Minister of State for
Communications, Devusinh
Jesingbhai Chauhan, opened
the stage by thanking the Prime
Minister for the inauguration of
the event and the launch of 5G
services in select cities.