Page 12 - Defence Sector

India, Brunei stress navigation freedom, discuss defence cooperation

India and Brunei on Wednesday committed themselves to respecting freedom of navigation and overflight consistent with international law, a joint statement said here after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. Prime Minister Modi also expressed deep appreciation to Brunei Darussalam for continuing to host Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s Telemetry Tracking and Telecommand (TTC) Station that has helped India's ongoing efforts in the space sector, the statement said. Prime Minister Modi and the Brunei Sultan also discussed enhancing defence and maritime cooperation through joint exercises, it said. Both leaders reiterated their commitment to maintaining and promoting peace, stability, maritime safety and security, as well as respecting freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded lawful commerce, consistent with international law, notably the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, it said. During the ..

NIA conducts searches across 7 states to probe leakage of defence secrets

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has conducted searches at locations across seven states to probe the case of classified defence information leakage through a Pakistani espionage racket, according to an official statement issued on Thursday. The premises searched on Wednesday by NIA teams were linked with suspects who had received money from Pakistan to undertake spying activities in India, it said. "Extensive searches were conducted at 16 locations in Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana in the case related to leakage of classified defence information through a Pakistani ISI espionage racket," the NIA statement said. Twenty-two mobile phones and a host of sensitive documents were seized during the searches conducted by the NIA, which had in July 2023 taken over the instant case, originally registered in January 2021 by the counter-intelligence cell of Andhra Pradesh. The case involved the leakage of sensitive vital information pertaining t

Railways, defence should be above politics, says Union Minister Vaishnaw

Facing political heat over railway accidents, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said the national transporter should not be a subject of political blame game as it is the lifeline of the nation. Vaishnaw said some disturbing trends have emerged in some incidents and the railways was carrying out a detailed inquiry in each and every incident. He was responding to questions on incidents of derailment of trains due to placing of boulders and rods on the railway tracks. "There are some disturbing trends in some incidents, which should be taken seriously," Vaishnaw said. "Railways and defence are organizations which should be above politics. I don't believe that railways should be a subject of political blame game," the minister said in an interaction with reporters after the cabinet meeting. Vaishnaw said the railways was the lifeline of the country and if anything negative happens, every effort should be made to ensure that trains run in a very efficient manner. Respon

India-US can ensure global peace, prosperity, stability: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on an official visit to Washington, on Friday said India and the US, together, are a formidable force which can ensure peace, prosperity and stability in the world. While interacting with the Indian diaspora here, Singh described India and the US as "natural allies", which are "destined to be strong partners", and this collaboration is growing continuously. "India and the US are the two forces which can bring peace, prosperity and stability in the world," the defence minister said. Singh, who arrived here on Thursday on a four-day official visit, re-asserted the fact that under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's stature has grown on the global stage. Earlier, India's words at international fora were not heeded; but today, the whole world listens carefully, he said. Singh pointed out that before 2014, India was among the Fragile Five' nations, as coined by investment firm Morgan Stanley, and today it finds itself

Donald Trump anxiety spurs investment in European defence startups

In June, the $1.1 billion Nato Innovation Fund (NIF) announced partnerships with venture capital firms and defence startups across Europe, aiming to bolster security on the continent

World in most violent phase since second world war: CDS Gen Anil Chauhan

Gen Anil Chauhan noted that the world is passing through an era of big global disruptions, ranging from technological to environmental, peace, security and other issues

'Committee has suggested certain reforms to overhaul functioning of DRDO'

A committee has suggested "certain reforms" to "overhaul" the functioning of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the government informed Rajya Sabha on Monday. Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth said this in a written response to a query whether the government has plans to completely overhaul the functioning of the DRDO. He was also asked whether the government had formed a high-level committee of technocrats on this subject and whether it is planning to raise the budget allocation for different research projects at the DRDO. "Yes, Sir. A committee headed by Dr Vijaya Raghavan suggested certain reforms to overhaul the functioning of DRDO," Seth said in his response. The expenses for the different projects are met from the regular budget of the DRDO and the standard increase in the DRDO budget. Asked whether the government has any plans to enhance the research staff capacity at DRDO, he said, "Yes, Sir. DRDO has plans to enhance the research staff capac

BEML Q1 results: Net loss narrows to Rs 70 cr, income rises to Rs 631 cr

Defence PSU BEML on Monday reported a narrowing of its consolidated net loss to Rs 70.47 crore for the quarter ended on June 30, 2024. The company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 75.01 crore in the year-ago period, BEML said in a filing to BSE. The consolidated income of the company during the April-June period rose to Rs 634.61 crore over Rs 5,78.11 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, the filing said. BEML Ltd is a diversified company supplying products, services and support to defence and aerospace, mining and construction and rail and metro.

Large language models: GenAI that works for India's defence sector

Security agencies need GenAI for intelligence gathering, logistics and autonomous combat systems

Agniveer scheme will keep our forces battle-ready, young: FM Sitharaman

During the Budget discussion in Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the Opposition for attempting to "politicise" Agniveer scheme

Budget 2024 is an economists' Budget, says Citigroup MD Samiran Chakraborty

Focus of Budget 2024 is not restricted to railways, defence and infra, but expands to manufacturing and employment to aid human capital growth, said Citigroup MD at 'Budget with BS: The Fine Print'

MoD, NSE sign agreement to help MSMEs, emerging firms in defence sector

The Defence Ministry and the National Stock Exchange on Monday signed an agreement that seeks to help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and emerging companies in the defence sector to scale up their business operations, explore new markets and fund their research and development activities. The Memorandum of Understanding has been signed to facilitate capital market access to the MSMEs. It intends to facilitate MSMEs in the defence sector to raise productive capital for their growth plan efficiently and transparently through the NSE platform 'NSE Emerge', the defence ministry said in a statement. The platform offers new and viable options for raising equity capital from a diversified set of investors, it said. The MoU was signed by the additional secretary the Department of Defence Production (DDP) and managing director, NSE in the presence of Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane. "The MoU will be in force for a period of five years, during which, DDP and NSE would conduct an ...

US to provide consultancy to India to build UAVs under $3 bn drone deal

India and the US have been holding discussions for the MQ-9B Predator drone deal for the last few years, under which the three services will get the 31 drones

Budget Frontlines: A long shot from the 2% goalpost for defence funds

A deep dive into the defence budget allocations and strategic challenges, kicking off a three-part analysis

Union Budget 2024-25: No major shift in defence sector's allocation

Current defence allocation's impact on overall spending still unclear

Budget 2024: Rajnath Singh thanks FM for highest allocation to defence

This Budget is unique in many ways and by clearly outlining the NDA Government's 9 key priorities for all-round and inclusive development, defence minister Singh added

Delhi-based Velmenni wins grant to develop submarine communication

The grant was awarded last year, but since the disbursement is milestone-based it is still being paid out

This smallcap defence electronics stocks has zoomed 111% from June low

Shares of Avantel hit a new high of Rs 223.80, up 9% in intra-day trade on Tuesday; the stock has surged 21% in past three trading days.

Bharat Electronics receives orders worth Rs 3,172 crore from AVNL

Navratna Defence Public Sector Undertaking, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed a contract valued at Rs 3,172 crore with Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) on Friday at AVNL Headquarters in Chennai. According to an official statement, BEL, which is headquartered in Bengaluru, stated the project entails the supply and installation of an advanced, indigenously designed and developed Sighting and Fire Control System (FCS) for the upgrade of BMP 2/2K tanks of the Indian Army, along with a comprehensive engineering support package. "Additionally, BEL has secured other orders valued at Rs 481 crore following the last disclosure on May 22, 2024 which comprises doppler weather radar, classroom jammers, spares and services etc. With these, BEL has received accumulated orders totaling Rs 4,803 crore in the current financial year," it stated.

Rajnath Singh takes charge as defence minister; MoD's 100-day plan on track

Welfare of serving and retired soldiers and increased self-reliance in producing weapons and defence systems to be major focus areas of the Ministry of Defence's 100-day action plan