GENERAL NEWS INDIA – MARCH 2009

Sunday, March 01st 2009
Maritime security for the Indian coastline
The government seems to have woken up to the need to bolster naval security measures especially in the aftermath of the 26/11 terror attacks. New operation centers for maritime security will be set up at Mumbai, Vishakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair. However the government has not considered the suggestion to have an apex federal maritime body. A suggestion to constitute a maritime security advisory board (MSAB) with a maritime security advisor as its chief has been put on hold for the moment. According to the safety measures taken, the navy will be the "designated authority'' responsible for overall maritime security, with both coastal and offshore security under its control. There will be better networks for national command, communication and intelligence which will link the operation rooms of the navy and the coast guards at all levels. The navy is to get a new specialized force called 'Sagar Prahari Bal' which will have around 1000 personnel and 80 fast interception craft. The coast guard will also get new ships and better security systems as part of the security measures.

Tuesday, March 03rd 2009
Lok Sabha elections on April 16th
The Election Commission has given the date for the much anticipated Lok Sabha elections. The elections would be held in five phases beginning from April 16 and would run up to May 13. The counting of votes will take place on May 16 and the 15th Lok Sabha would be constituted by June 2, 2009. 

Thursday, March 05th 2009
BrahMos successfully test fired
A new version of the 290 Km- range supersonic BrahMos cruise missile was successfully test fired in Pokhran on Wednesday. The BrahMos had earlier failed in its task of striking a target. In Wednesday's test the missile took two and a half minutes to strike its target in the Pokhran range. The first batch of the BrahMos missiles will be delivered to the army in two years.

Monday, March 09th 2009
BJD to have a vote of confidence
Orissa's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) which lost its majority in the Orissa state assembly after its ally the BJP withdrew support will have a vote of confidence on Wednesday. The withdrawal of support by the BJP took place after BJD announced the move to cut all ties with the former party over sharing of seats for the upcoming general and state elections.

Wednesday, March 18th 2009
$2.1b arms sale to India approved by US
The billion dollar arms sale which has been approved by the Obama administration will be the single largest arms transfer to India till date. The $2.1b will buy India eight Boeing P-81 maritime patrol aircraft which is meant to ramp up India's maritime defensive and offensive capabilities. The US government informed the US congress that the transfer has been done under 'political, military, economic, human rights and arms control' considerations.

Wednesday, March 18th 2009
Chile supports India
Chile and India reaffirmed their support for an expansion of the Security Council to make the United Nations more representative, legitimate and effective. The visiting Chilean president Michelle Bachelet in her meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressed and agreed on the need to have continued efforts by the member states to have meaningful intergovernmental negotiations which are result oriented. The official statement issued after the meeting between the two heads said that Chile pledged its support to have India as a permanent member of the expanded UN Security Council. The statement also confirmed a reciprocal support between both the nations for its non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for 2011-12(India) and 2014-15(Chile).

Thursday, March 19th 2009
Meghalaya put under central rule
After the controversial vote of confidence in the Meghalaya state assembly, the union cabinet has decided to put the state under central rule and also keep the legislature under suspended animation. This decision was taken after senior NCP leader P A Sangma who is also the chief architect of the UDP led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance(MPA) approached the supreme court for a redressal.

Monday, March 23rd 2009
World's cheapest Car to hit the road
The Tata Motors' sensational economic initiative - the 'Nano,' also hailed as the common man's car – will be available for consumers starting today. The ten feet Nano car will sell for Rs1 Lakh. The four-door five-seater car has a 33bhp, 624cc engine at the rear. It has no airbags, air conditioning, radio, or power steering. It will be launched in Mumbai today.

Monday, March 23rd 2009
IPL not be held in India
The second season of the Indian Premier League will finally take place in either England or South Africa at the earlier proposed time. The BCCI made its decision after a quick meeting on Sunday that the league will be held outside India. The tournament is set to begin on April 10 and will conclude by the 24th of May. The decision to have the matches outside India is owing to concerns regarding adequate provision of security by the government during the tournament, as the schedule for the IPL was too close to that of the General Elections. 

Thursday, March 26th 2009
LeT behind mini-incursion in J & K
The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has claimed responsibility for the incursions into Indian Territory and the resulting five-day gun battle with the Army in the dense forest area of Kupwara district in North Kashmir. The encounter had left 25 people dead which also included an Army major and 17 terrorists. The gun battle ended on the 25th, the army has seized a large number of weapons. 

Thursday, March 26th 2009
DRDO's modern bridge
The scientists of the Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), a laboratory of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Pune have claimed that their new bridge project is the first of a kind in the world. The scientists are developing a light weight, carbon fiber 'smart' bridge. This bridge will be strong enough to hold a fully loaded battle tank. The bridge is 5 meters long. As of now the bridge is undergoing various tests in the Lab, the final test of strength of the bridge will be carried out in July. The eight member team of scientists and technicians has been working on the project for the past five years. 

Friday, March 27th 2009
LeT plans infiltration through Punjab, Rajasthan
According to reports in the media, the terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba is said to have planned to send its trained cadres through the fenced border in Punjab and Rajasthan to dcarry out some action during the forthcoming general elections. Security forces have always focused on the usual infiltration routes along LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. Home Minister P Chidambaram rushed to these two states on Thursday to see the preparedness of BSF.

Monday, March 30th 2009
Indian Embassy target for Chinese hackers
According to media reports a vast cyber spy network which is controlled from China is said to have infiltrated government and private computers in 103 countries which also includes the Indian embassy in Washington and the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Canadian researchers based at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto have concluded that the computers based exclusively in China are controlling the network and are stealing documents.

Tuesday, March 31st 2009
Israel is now No.1 military supplier to India
Israel signed weapons contracts worth more than $1 billion with India in both 2007 and 2008, making it the leading military supplier to India, ahead of Russia, contracts with whom averaged $875 million for these two years. Israeli Maj Gen Udi Shani, director of the defence ministry's Sibat export agency also revealed during a February visit to New Delhi that the two countries were also discussing several new defence projects focussing on reconnaissance and air defence. According to many officials, the turning point, as far as new contracts were concerned, was the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 26 November 2008.

Tuesday, March 31st 2009
The Army gives BrahMos the green signal
The army gave its nod for the induction of the new version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile which has been developed to act as a precision-strike weapon in a 'clustered urban environment'. The 290 Km -range BrahMos missile had a successful test on the 29th of March 2009, it had earlier failed in January this year. The process of induction will begin soon and three more filed trials will also be carried out.