Picture for representational purpose only.
New Delhi, January 4
The Navy’s Boeing P-8I aircraft used for long-range maritime reconnaissance have commenced operations from the west coast of India. The planes will be based at INS Hansa, Goa. The Navy said two aircraft arrived on December 30. — TNS
Indian soldiers pose with the Tricolour as part of New Year celebrations at Galwan valley in Ladakh. pti
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 4
Within days of Chinese claims of unveiling their country’s flag at Galwan valley, it turned out that the Indian troops too had unfurled the Tricolour there on the New Year’s Day.
Edit: China at it again
Sources in the security establishment released a set of pictures that show fully armed troops of the Indian Army carrying US-made Sig Sauer rifles and holding a large Tricolour as part of New Year celebrations at Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh.
Sri Lanka clears pact with india for oil tanks
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a milestone deal to modernise most of its strategic Trincomalee petroleum storehouses jointly with India. The development comes before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Colombo after bad blood due to a soured deal for fertilisers.
The move is seen as a flag-for-flag response to a video by the Chinese state media purportedly showing PLA soldiers unfurling their national flag in the region three days back. The two armies had exchanged sweets and greetings on January 1 at 10 spots along the 3,488-km-long undemarcated boundary. Sources say the Chinese flag unveiling and sloganeering was not at Galwan valley where troops of both sides had clashed in June 2020.
The video could have been shot anywhere along the Galwan river valley bed on the Chinese side. There are no geo coordinates to indicate that it was shot at the LAC, claim the sources. The image of Chinese troops shows white-coloured markings on the mountain. There is no marking visible on the mountains at the spot where the Galwan river enters Ladakh from Tibet.
The Galwan river enters India after a sharp westward bend and some 7 km downstream joins the Shyok river for its onwards journey into the Indus. The LAC is close to the bend where the river takes a westward turn. Part of the valley is on the other side of the LAC and some part is in India. The images, which the Indian side clicked, showed a fully occupied post and small platoon of men clothed in winter clothing, snow boots and fully armed.
Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 12 others were killed in helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi, January 5
No technical snag or sabotage and bad weather leading to a phenomenon called Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) is believed to have been identified as the prime reason for the crash of the IAF helicopter near Coonoor that killed CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and 13 others, people familiar with the development said on Wednesday.
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and Air Marshal Manvendra Singh who headed the tri-service investigation into the crash apprised Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the findings of the probe on Wednesday.
The people cited above said the investigators have ruled out any possibility of technical snag or sabotage in the crash of the Russian-origin twin-engine Mi-17V5 helicopter that was flying from Sulur airbase to Wellington on December 8.
According to experts, the CFIT refers to a phenomenon when an aircraft under control is piloted into the ground, water or other terrains largely due to bad weather or pilot error.
The CFIT generally takes place in bad weather conditions or when a flight is landing.
There is no official comment on the probe report either by the Indian Air Force or by the defence ministry.
According to the IATA (International Air Transport Association), CFIT refers to accidents in which there was a collision with terrain, water, or obstacle, without indication of loss of control of the aircraft.https://c956867aa86e2c5796f39f6b9272cd3a.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
“The critical distinction in these types of accidents is the fact that the aircraft is under the control of the flight crew,” it said.
The Federal Aviation Administration of the US government described CFIT as an unintentional collision with terrain (the ground, a mountain, a body of water, or an obstacle) while an aircraft is under positive control.
“Most often, the pilot or crew is unaware of the looming disaster until it is too late,” it said.
The people cited above said a sudden cloud cover could have resulted in the CFIT.
“At times, a pilot may lose situational awareness when there is a visual disruption,” said an aviation expert.
Visuals of the helicopter captured by locals before the crash had shown that the chopper was flying at a low altitude.
The chopper had crashed around eight minutes before its scheduled landing at Wellington.
The people said the probe team examined all likely scenarios for the crash including possible human error or whether it was a case of disorientation by the crew when the helicopter was preparing for landing.
Gen Rawat’s wife Madhulika, his defence advisor Brigadier LS Lidder, staff officer to the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Col Harjinder Singh and decorated pilot Group Captain Varun Singh were among 13 others killed in the crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.
Air Marshal Singh, who headed the probe team, is currently serving as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Bengaluru-headquartered Training Command of the IAF.
He is known to be one of the best air crash investigators in the country.
Before taking the reins of the Training Command, the Air Marshal was the Director General (Inspection and Safety) at the Air headquarters and developed various protocols for flight safety while serving in the post.
Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and a number of senior officials of the ministry were present when the IAF officials briefed the defence minister. PTI
