New Delhi:  IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Tuesday said that it should be made clear to the world that “today’s India has the capability and more importantly, the will, to respond at a level that we deem appropriate and to define our own escalation matrix.” Speaking at the All India Management Association event on ‘The Future of Air Warfare: Securing the Skies and Beyond’, the IAF Chief said that as a nation, there is a need for strong and robust strategic communication. Talking about the Russia Ukraine conflict, the IAF Chief said, “At the other end of the spectrum are the hypersonic weapons and there are reports of some of these being used in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.” He said that due to very high speeds, these missiles are difficult to intercept making existing air defence systems redundant. “The Air Force is actively involved in research and development for such weapons and in developing counter measures,” he added. The Air Force Chief elaborated upon various aspects of the modern warfare and the need to develop capabilities in all the domains. “Cyber and Information have become the modern tools for shaping the battlefield. A well created narrative in the information domain to adversely affect the enemy, can have devastating effects. As we become more and more interconnected, a cyber-attack on our networks can cripple command and control structures,” he said. He said that in the next war, the enemy might not be a country or an organisation. “We may never know the perpetrators of a Distributed Denial of Services attack and we will not know when and from where the attack will take place. In the future, we could be attacked on all fronts, ranging from economic strangulation to diplomatic isolation and military standoffs to information black outs in the form of attacks by Distributed Denial of Services. All this will happen well before the first bullet is fired or the first aircraft goes across the border,” he said. He said that traditionally, wars have been fought on the land, at sea,in the air and to some extent, in space but in the past two decades, this spectrum has increased to encompass cyber and information domains. “The first four domains are classically physical and the other two are virtual. The overarching effect of cyber and information on the conduct of conventional wars has created a new, hybrid and multi domain spectrum of conflict resulting in older tactics and strategies becoming passé,” he said. The IAF Chief said that traditionally we all look at a Soldier on the battlefield, a Sailor on a ship and an Airman in an aircraft as combatants who will fight wars. Talking about the way the shifting pattern of modern warfare, the IAF Chief said, “A College student creating memes, a 25 year old sitting in front of a computer, a banker analysing the fiscal health of a company, a diplomat making foreign policy and a politician, all of them and many more would also be combatants waging tomorrow’s wars alongside the soldier, sailor and airman.” “This brings me to the term Comprehensive National Power which is the sum total of the Diplomatic, Information, Military and Economic heft of a country. In modern warfare, the Comprehensive National Power of a country must be brought to bear on the adversary if we want decisive victory,” he said. The IAF Chief also spoke on India’s efforts towards indigenization of defence forces and its importance. We are hugely cognizant of the fact that no nation can be truly sovereign without meeting its basic needs from indigenous sources, this applies greatly to the defence needs, he said.

Srinagar: Northern Army Commander, Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, on Tuesday reviewed the situation on the Line of Control, operational preparedness and measures instituted to “thwart the adversary’s designs”, officials said.

“On the final day of his visit to Kashmir Valley, Northern Army Commander, Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, spent the morning hours interacting with soldiers at forward locations and reviewing the security situation along the Line of Control with the Formation Commanders,” a defence ministry spokesman based here said in a statement to GNS.

The Army Commander, who arrived here on a 3-day visit to Valley on Sunday, was accompanied by Lt Gen DP Pandey, GOC Chinar Corps during the visit, the spokesman said.  “The local Commanders briefed the Army Commander on the security situation on the Line of Control, operational preparedness and measures instituted to thwart the adversary’s designs,” he said, adding, “Local Commanders also briefed about the development defence works being carried out at their respective locations.” The Army Commander, while interacting, laid special emphasis on being vigilant and maintaining the sanctity of the Line of Control.

“He was appreciative of the measures and Standard Operating Procedures instituted by the units and formations to meet the challenges posed by the inimical elements,” he said, adding, “During his interaction with the soldiers, the Army Commander was appreciative of the sharp vigil and alertness along the Line of Control and high morale of the troops.”

Later in the day, he said, the Army Commander visited Radio Chinar, the Community Radio Station at Mazbug and interacted with youth employed at the Radio Station. “He appreciated the wide variety of programmes being broadcast, while meeting the aspirations of listeners of all age groups,” the spokesperson said, adding, “He urged them to include more programmes, which would essentially benefit the youth of the area.”

Visits far flung areas of Kangan to assess outreach of free Dish service

GANDERBAL:  Union Secretary, Information and Broadcasting (I&B), Apurva Chandra, today visited far flung areas of Kangan Sub Division to assess outreach of DD Free Dish in the area.

During the visit, Union Secretary was accompanied by Joint Secretary, Union Ministry I&B, Vikram Sahay, Principal Director General News, All India Radio, N V Reddy, Director General, Doordarshan, Mayank Agrawal, Additional Director General, Press Information Bureau Srinagar, Rajinder Choudhry, Joint Director Information Kashmir, Inam-ul-Haq Siddiqui, Deputy Director News DDK Srinagar, Qazi Salman, SDM Kangan and other officers of district administration.

To achieve the goal of reaching out to people living in far-flung and border areas through the platform of DD Free Dish, Union Secretary said that the Government has proposed to distribute 1.5 lakh free Dish in such areas where cable service is not available for which tendering is under process and will be completed soon.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Secretary complemented Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar for performing its duties efficiently despite many challenges in the past. He said that the Kendra is aptly representing the local culture and traditions through its programmes reaching the people with authentic information.

On the occasion, Union Secretary also interacted with the people using DD Free Dish at Margund Kangan who shared their feedback about the programmes available on various channels especially DD Kashir. They thanked the government for providing free Dish Service which has become vital in developing and promoting regional languages and meeting the aspirations of the people especially those living in far-flung areas as it has wide range of channels including entertainment and news available free of cost.

Asks Board to launch helpline, app for sharing real-time information

JAMMU: The Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta today chaired the 11th meeting of the High Level Committee of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) to review the preparations being made for a safe and hassle-free Shri Amarnathji Yatra 2022.

Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Medical Education Department, Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, Principal Secretary, Public Works (R&B) Department, CEO, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, Administrative Secretaries of departments of General Administration, Forest, Ecology & Environment, Jal Shakti, Planning, Monitoring & Development, Tourism besides Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir & Jammu, concerned Deputy Commissioners and Additional CEO SASB participated in the meeting.

The Chief Secretary observed that this year, the Yatra may see significant increase in footfall of pilgrims and as such, the holding capacity equipped with all essential services, across the concerned districts, needs  to be enhanced and augmented. The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir was asked to oversee and monitor creation of additional holding and lodging areas at Manigam, Shadipora, and nearby areas.

Further, both the Divisional Commissioners were asked to monitor the arrangements being put in place in transit camps along the Yatra route. They were asked to ensure the functionality of toilet blocks throughout the National Highway and at all transit camps, with proper signage to be installed within a week. They were further asked to prepare respective traffic management plans within a week, and ensure time-bound movement of yatra convoy on the national highway by enforcing traffic rules and norms.

Furthermore, Dr. Mehta emphasized undertaking a media campaign to promote adherence to the registered travel dates, timings, and other yatra norms, among all devotees. The Board was asked to launch a helpline number/ mobile-based application for sharing real-time information on the availability of nearest lodging facility, langar, and other public utilities vis-à-vis the pilgrim’s live location.

For maintaining hygienic conditions at the camp sites, the Board was asked to explore the possibility of installing bio-digesters and strictly enforcing solid waste management protocols. Dr. Mehta also directed keeping all the pathways spic and span through a dedicated cleanliness plan.

Regarding the preparations for weather vagaries, the Chief Secretary directed installation of snow/rain shelters on the higher reaches of the yatra, besides ensuring telecom connectivity and fire & emergency services along with a dedicated disaster mitigation and management SOP. He directed integration of isolated surveillance systems and organization of mock drills for establishing response clarity among various agencies.