Ch Sushil Rao

As a tangible demonstration of the growing Indo–Israeli technological cooperation, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Directorate of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D), Ministry of Defence, Israel have entered into a Bilateral Innovation Agreement (BIA) to promote innovation and accelerated R&D in startups and MSMEs of both countries for the development of dual use technologies.

The agreement was signed between and Secretary, Department of Defence, R&D & Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy and Head of DDR&D, Israel BG (Retd) Dr Daniel Gold in New Delhi on November 9, 2021.

A controversy has erupted in Tollywood as the Movie Artistes Association goes to polls on October 10. Actor Prakash Raj, contender for the president’s post, has alleged that the Manchu Vishnu panel was trying to influence voters by paying for the postal ballots for the use of senior citizens who may not be able to come to cast their vote physically. As per the norms, Rs 500 fee has to be paid for the ballot paper to be sent to the artistes’ house in the address that they would.

In this conversation Chengal Reddy expresses his views on the incident in Uttar Pradesh in which four farmers were killed, about farm laws, the role of political parties, about leadership of farmers and the intervention of judiciary to bring the agitation over farm laws comes to an end.

Farmers and farmers organisations across Telangana have taken to the roads to protest the killing of four farmers at Laxmipur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. The four protesting farmers were among eight who were run over by SUVs in a convoy of union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra on September 3. I spoke to farmers organisations leader in Telangana, Vissa Kiran Kumar of the Rythu Swarajya Vedika about the demands of the farmers, the violence and the situation in Telangana.

An Indian Navy mountaineering expedition to Mt Trishul, Uttarakhand was caught in an avalanche near the summit today. All out efforts are on for Search and Rescue (SAR) by the ground team and helicopters from Indian Army, Indian Air Force and & State Disaster Response Force.

The 20 member expedition was flagged off from Mumbai on September 3, 2021. Ten climbers had started their climb to the summit this morning, but were caught in an avalanche short of the summit. While 5 of the 10 are safe Search and Rescue for remaining 5 is in progress, a spokesperson of Indian Navy informed.

A shepherd in Mancherial district of Telangana has suffered injuries in a tiger attack. For the wounds that the 63-year-old man sustained, he was first taken to a local primary health centre and then shifted to a private hospital. Elmulla Shankar of Oddagudem village in Vemanapally mandal took his goats for grazing in the nearby forest area on September 30. Shankar told officials that he saw a tiger prey upon his goats. He said he defended himself against the tiger attack as he had an axe in his hand and it escaped into the forest area.

Caught in a piquant situation over actor and Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader Pawan Kalyan criticising the YSRCP government alleging neglect of the film industry, the Telugu film chamber of commerce in a swift response dissociated itself with the comments Pawan Kalyan had made. Without, however, taking the actor’s name, Narayandas Kishandas Narang, president of TFCC said the chief ministers of both the Telugu states, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ‘have been proactive and always extended their encouragement and support to us’.

An SOS request was received from the administration on September 27th around 5:30 pm. The request was to provide a naval helicopter for Search and Rescue (SAR) of a stranded villager who was marooned in the middle of River Suvarnamukhi due to flash floods. The Eastern Naval Command immediately deployed an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) from INS Dega for the mission. After arriving at the reported location (approx 120 Km from Dega) the aircraft could not locate the villager due to severe weather, heavy rain and pitch dark conditions.

The flight test took place from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, Odisha today around 4:30 pm. The missile intercepted and destroyed an unmanned aerial target mimicking enemy aircrafts, in its maiden flight test after improvements. In comparison to the existing Akash System, Akash Prime is equipped with an indigenous active RF seeker for improved accuracy. Other improvements also ensure more reliable performance under low temperature environment at higher altitudes. Modified ground system of the existing Akash weapon system has been used for the current flight test. The range stations of ITR comprising Radars, EOTS and Telemetry stations monitored the missile trajectory and flight parameters.