Indian Army readies Bofors guns for operations amid tensions with China
• The Indian Army is readying its formidable Bofors howitzers for operations amid the ongoing tensions with China over the transgressions by its troops Eastern Ladakh.
• The Bofors gun was inducted into the artillery regiment in the mid-1980s. The guns are capable of firing both at low and high angles. The guns will be deployed in Ladakh once they will be serviced.
• The Bofors gun requires periodical servicing and maintenance to keep roaring for which technicians have been deployed to keep it in working.
• Bofors played an instrumental role in India’s past battles including Operation Vijay, the Indian operation to push back infiltrators during the Kargil War. The gun was deployed by India to destroy the bunkers and bases built on high altitude mountains with ease and causing heavy damage to the Pakistan Army. The gun was recently displayed in Dras in Jammu and Kashmir.
DRDO investigating Howitzer accident says incident not a setback for project
• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has ordered a detailed investigation into the accident involving its under-development Howitzer gun, which took place in Rajasthan's Pokharan last week during the trial.
• The DRDO is developing the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS) with private sector firms Tata and Bharat Forge. The accident involving the gun took place in Pokharan, Jaisalmer on September 12, 2020.
• The ATAGS gun has shown the capability to fire shells at distances beyond 50 km and once inducted, it would be one of the most advanced and capable guns of its kind in the world.
• The ATAGS would be one of the major systems developed by DRDO with the private sector defence industry.
Indian Navy tracks Chinese research vessel in Indian Ocean
• In a significant development, Indian Navy warships were constantly tracking a Chinese research vessel that entered the Indian Ocean Region last month. The Chinese vessel entered the Indian Ocean Region at a time when tensions rose between the two nations along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.
• The Chinese Yuan Wang class research vessel entered the Indian Ocean Region from Malacca straits last month. The vessel returned to China a few days ago after being under the constant watch of Indian Navy vessels, as per sources.
• According to sources, such research vessels have been coming regularly from China and they try to gain sensitive information about Indian maritime territory.
Not prepared to sign any deal with TikTok: Trump
• US President Donald Trump said recently that he is not prepared to sign off on any deal regarding the sale of the Chinese video app TikTok until he sees the proposal. Trump said that the deal has to be 100 percent as far as national security is concerned.
• Trump further said that he would be presented with a report on the status of the transaction of TikTok on September 17, 2020.
• Trump had signed an executive order banning any US transactions with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance on August 6, 2020. The order is set to take effect in 45 days.
• Trump had issued another executive order on August 14 requiring ByteDance to divest its interests in TikTok's operations in the US within 90 days.
India’s four major cities drop in ranking in Global Smart City Index
• India’s four major cities- New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad witnessed a drop in their rankings in the Global Smart City Index. The index was topped by Singapore.
• The Smart City Index 2020 was released by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in collaboration with Singapore University for Technology and Design (SUTD). The index is based on key findings on how technology is playing a role in the COVID-19 era.
• While New Delhi was ranked 86th on the 2020 Smart City Index, down from 68 in 2019, Hyderabad was placed 85th position (down from 67 in 2019), Bengaluru at 95th (79 in 2019) and Mumbai was at 93rd rank (down from 78 in 2019).
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