International Archives - Defence Monitor

06 Dec

Framework deal signed in Sudan to end political stalemate

Khartoum, Dec 6 (IANS) Sudan's military and civilian leaders have signed a political framework agreement to end the political impasse and institute a two-year transitional authority. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, incumbent President and Commander-In-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces, signed the deal on Monday on behalf of the military, reports Xinhua news agency. Meanwhile, representatives of the Forces of the Freedom and Change Alliance, the Revolutionary Front, other political organisations, workers' unions, and civil society organizations signed the agreement on behalf of the political forces. The agreement determines four levels for the…

27 May

Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre gets bigger with induction of Sri Lankan naval officer

New Delhi: Sri Lanka has appointed its first International Liaison Officer to the New Delhi-based Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) earlier this week. Lieutenant Commander Indika Wijesinghe of the Sri Lanka Navy was inducted into the IFC-IOR in the presence of Milinda Moragoda, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India; Rear Admiral KM Ramakrishnan, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Cyber Security and Network Centric Operations); Captain Soumyajit Mohanty, Director IFC-IOR and the ILOs from Australia, France, Japan, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom and the US. The appointment took place just days before the four-member…

17 Jun

NASA’s space station programme manager set to retire

Washington: NASA has said its Manager of the International Space Station Programme, Kirk Shireman, is retiring on June 26 to take a position in private industry, marking the second high-profile exit from the agency within a month. Shireman has been in the position since 2015. Joel Montalbano, who has served as Deputy Program Manager since 2012, will serve as Acting Manager of the International Space Station Program, NASA said on Tuesday.Shireman's exit comes barely a month after NASA's head of human spaceflight, Doug Loverro, abruptly stepped down from his position at the agency, citing a "mistake" that happened earlier this year.…

04 Mar

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon docks with ISS

Washington: The Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday on its debut unmanned flight.After making 18 orbits of Earth since its launch, the spacecraft attached to the ISS via "soft capture" at 5:51 a.m. EST (10:51 GMT), Xinhua news agency reported. Flight computers guided the spacecraft directly into a docking port, unlike the previous cargo Dragon spacecraft that were attached to the space station after captured by a robotic arm.The crew members are expected to open the capsule's hatch and hold a welcome ceremony for the spacecraft, which will remain docked to the…

04 Dec

Astronomers discover over 100 new exoplanets

Washington: An international team of astronomers have discovered more than 100 extrasolar planets (exoplanets) -- that revolve around stars other than the Sun -- in only three months, using a combination of ground- and space-based telescopes.These planets are quite diverse and expected to play a large role in developing the research field of exoplanets and life in the Universe. The team involving researchers at the University of Tokyo and Astrobiology Center of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences investigated 227 exoplanet candidates based on data from second mission of NASA's Kepler Space Telescope (K2 mission), as well as using other space…

21 Sep

GIRLS IN AVIATION DAY CELEBRATED IN GOA BY WOMEN IN AVIATION AND LOCKHEED MARTIN

Goa: Women in Aviation International, India Chapter and Lockheed Martin Indiain association with Airport Authority of India (AAI) today celebrated Girls in Aviation Day at Goa Airport. With the vision to encourage girls to take up STEM subjects and explore career opportunities in related industries, the initiative is aimed at showcasing opportunities in the aviation and aerospace sectors. This initiative also aligns with the Government of India’s Skills India initiative. As part of the program, Women in AviationInternational (India Chapter) invited 60 students from various schools for a tour of Goa Airport. Visiting students were given an opportunity to explore, learn,…

13 Dec

Why India is important for Asean

Title: The ASEAN Miracle: A Catalyst for Peace; Authors: Kishore Mahbubani and Jeffery Sng; Publisher: Oxford University Press; Pages: 264; Price: Rs 750 As India prepares to host the leaders of the 10 ASEAN nations for a commemorative summit next month, a new book says that the election of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister has brought about a change to the relationship between India and the regional grouping and that New Delhi can provide strategic balance in the bloc given the geopolitical rivalry between Washington and Beijing. "The election of Prime Minister Modi created a unique window of opportunity to…

18 Sep

Telling Putin’s side of the story, from Crimea to Trump and more

Title: The Putin Interviews; Author/Interviewer: Oliver Stone; Publisher: Hot Books/Skyhorse Publishing; Pages: 289; Price: Rs 699 What do we make of Vladimir Putin? There are those who deem him an astute statesman who has brought Russia back from the brink to a state of domestic stability, economic prosperity and international influence, while others are convinced he is a despotic and even totalitarian leader, who rocks the stable world order with land grabs, backing "unsavoury" regimes and influencing key elections. Either perspective may arise from the news you are accustomed to hearing and believing. The latter view, though, is more likely…

26 Aug

DEFENCE MINISTER INAUGURATES BEL ACADEMY FOR EXCELLENCE

The Defence Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, inaugurated today an Academy for Excellence and two state-of-the-art testing facilities — EMC Test facility and Near Field Antenna Test Range at the Bengaluru Unit of Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Secretary (Defence Production) Shri Ashok Kumar Gupta Chairman & Managing Director, BEL Shri Gowtama MV and other senior officers of BEL were present. The BEL Academy for Excellence with sprawling complex spread over six acres is built at a cost of Rs. 47 crore. This Academy of Excellence is envisaged to address the training needs of not only BEL employees, but…

04 Aug

SpaceX targets August 13 for next resupply mission to ISS

Washington: SpaceX is targetting August 13 for the launch of its 12th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will boost a Dragon spacecraft filled with almost 2,721.5 kg of supplies from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the US space agency said. The payloads include crucial materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 52 and 53. About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit and deploy its solar arrays. A carefully choreographed series of thruster…