Daily Current Capsules
17th August 2022

Defence/Indigenisation of technology
Made in India F-INSAS, Nipun, LCA handed over to Indian Army
What's the NEWS

• Defence minister Rajnath Singh handed over the much-awaited indigenously manufactured Future Infantry Soldier as a System (F-INSAS) to the Indian Army.
• The latest anti-personnel mine Nipun, the Made in India Landing Craft Assault (LCA) as well as a drone system were also handed over.

• The F-INSAS project aims at modernising infantry and enhancing the operational capability of the soldier.
• Under it, soldiers are to be equipped with modern systems which will be lightweight, all-weather-all-terrain, economical and would require low maintenance.
• It looks to transform the soldiers deployed in the border areas into 'a self-contained fighting machine'.
• The F-INSAS system includes an AK-203 assault rifle - a Russian-origin gas-operated, magazine-fed, select fire assault rifle with a range of 300 metre - as well as a ballistic helmet, ballistic goggles, a bulletproof jacket, elbow-pads, and knee pads.
• The helmet and bulletproof jacket offers protection against lethal weapons such as a 9mm bullet even from point blank range and from AK-47 rifle
• Infantry soldiers will also be provided holographic vision mounted on their rifles to aid with target and acquisition with a 200 metre range.
• F-INSAS also includes a hands-free head-set which will help enhance the operational capabilities of an infantry soldier and improve communication effectively
• The F-INSAS will be manufactured in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi in a joint venture between Indian and Russian entities.
• Project conceptualised in the early 2000s by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

• The anti-personnel Nipun landmines are a replacement for the vintage NMM 14 mines.
• Anti-personnel mines are to be used against humans as against anti-tank mines which are aimed at heavy vehicles.
• They are smaller in size and can be deployed in larger numbers.
• The Nipun landmines have been developed by the combined efforts of the Armament Research and Development Establishment, Pune, and the Indian industry.

• Anti-personnel mines are small explosive devices placed under, on or near the ground.
• They are " victim-activated " and designed to detonate when a person steps on, handles or comes near it, regardless of whether that person is a soldier or a civilian man, woman or child.

• The Landing Craft Assault (LCA) is a replacement for the boats with ‘limited capabilities' operating in Pangong Tso lake.
• The LCA is much more versatile and has overcome the limitations of launch, speed and capacity.
• It has enhanced the capability to operate across the water obstacles in Eastern Ladakh.
• LCA has been indigenously developed by M/s Aquarius Ship Yard Limited, Goa.

• Keel laying for the third ship of Diving Support Craft (DSC) project was held at M/s Titagarh Wagons Ltd., Kolkata.
• The contract for procurement of Five Diving Support Craft (Yards 325 to 329) for the Indian Navy was signed on 12 Feb 21 with M/s Titagarh Wagons Ltd.
• The ships will be commissioned in the Indian Navy to provide diving assistance for ships inside and close to harbour, for underwater repairs, maintenance and salvage.
• The ships will be fitted with state of the art diving equipment and tools for performing diving operations.
• With major main and auxiliary equipment sourced from indigenous manufacturers, these ships are proud flag bearers of Make in India initiatives of the Ministry of Defence.

Factoids
Veer Gatha

What's the NEWS

• Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh felicitated 25 winners of the ‘Veer Gatha' contest (SUPER-25).
• Veer Gatha, one of the unique projects launched as a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', was organised to inspire & spread the awareness among children about the gallant deeds and sacrifices of the Armed Forces.
• In the nation-wide contest, held between October 21-November 20, 2021, over 8.04 lakh students from 4,788 schools were encouraged to share inspirational stories through essays, poems, drawings and multimedia presentations. After several rounds of evaluation, 25 students were selected and declared as ‘SUPER-25'.

Defence
Udarashakti

What's the NEWS

• A contingent of the Indian Air Force left for Malaysia to participate in a bilateral exercise named 'Udarashakti'.
• Indian Air Force is participating in the air exercise with Su-30 MKI and C-17 aircraft while the RMAF will be flying Su 30 MKM aircraft.
• The Indian contingent departed for their destination, the RMAF base of Kuantan.
• The exercise will give an opportunity to IAF contingent members to share and learn best practices with some of the best professionals from RMAF, while also discussing mutual combat capabilities.
• The four days of exercise will witness conduct of various aerial combat drills between the two Air Forces.
• Ex Udarashakti will fortify the long standing bond of friendship and enhance the avenues of defence cooperation between the two Air Forces, thereby augmenting security in the region.

• The Special Secretary (Internal Security) released "Cyber Pravah Newsletter of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Cyber and Information Security Division (CIS) of the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi today.
• The Quarterly Newsletter - "CyberPravah", covers information related to the various initiatives taken by I4C, MHA and States/UTs in order to tackle cyber crime.
• The Newsletter will help State/Central agencies working in the area of cyber security and cyber crime.
• The I4C was set up under the CIS Division in 2018, as an Agency for coordinating at the Central level and to support States/UTs by providing a common framework in their fight against cybercrimes.
• I4C is also spreading mass awareness through various social media handles in the name of ‘CyberDost' by providing cyber safety tips at frequent intervals for the public.

• India ranks globally 3rd in Start-Up ecosystem and also in terms of number of Unicorns.
• As per the latest data, there are currently 105 unicorns, out of which 44 were born in 2021 and 19 in 2022.
• India in its 75th year of Independence is now home to as many as 75,000 StartUps.
• India's startups today are not limited to only metros or big cities and added that 49 per cent of the start-ups are from tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
• Sartups emerging in the fields like IT, agriculture, aviation, education, energy, health and space sectors.
• The ministry also released 4 publications featuring promising Start-ups under various components of NIDHI including flagship program of Technology Business Incubator (TBI) and a coffee table book of 51 CAWACH funded start-ups.
• India ranks third among the most attractive investment destinations for technology transactions in the world as it has a strong focus on science and technology.
• India is among the topmost countries in the world in the field of scientific research, positioned as one of the top five nations in the field for space exploration
• India has created a massive jump in its global ranking of Global Innovation Index (GII) from 81st in the year 2015 to 46th in 2021 among 130 economies of the world.

• Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH) program carved out in a record time by DST just when Covid hit, was the first program by any department of Government of India to support Startups working on Covid products and solutions.

NIDHI program

• The NIDHI program of DST has swiftly processed the much-needed support to start-ups, catalysing the active support of Business Incubators and other business support providers.
• 75 impactful incubated startups supported under NIDHI from across the country from various sectors were showcased in 50 physical as well as 25 digital mode in the DST Startup Expo (5 Startups from NM-ICPS Technology Innovation Hubs were also part of 50 Stalls of Startups).

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