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Pilot son lost to MiG-21 crash, father turns to help school he saved

Flight Lieutenant Manu Akhouri’s greatest passion was flying. As a child, his only toys were planes and helicopters and he would rush out to see aircraft flying past. His father, Colonel Sanjay Akhouri, doesn’t know whether the students in a government school at Bhisiana village of Gidderbaha did the same when Manu’s plane went down nearby on September 10, reportedly as the 24-year-old made his best to ensure he didn’t crash into the building.

Three months later, he has decided to help students at the Government Senior Secondary School who may want to become pilots like Manu. He has announced monetary help for those wanting to join the defence services, provided three classes with desks and benches and will give Rs-10,000 scholarships to meritorious students of Classes X and XII.

“Eyewitnesses recount that my son took a left turn to save the school, which is when the incident happened. He chose to steer his MiG-21 aircraft away from habitation, depriving himself precious seconds in ejecting. Though a second Court of Enquiry by the Air Force has now been instituted to conclude the reasons for the crash, I would like to believe that my son sacrificed his life to save that of many others,” Akhouri says.
Manu was returning to the Bhatinda air base after a routine sortie when the accident happened. A first-year engineering student, he had left before the final exams to join the National Defence Academy (NDA). Born in Daltonganj in Jharkhand, he later underwent training on Advanced Jet Trainer Hawks in Britain and was posted to the Golden Arrows, Squadron 17 of Bhatinda, to fly MiG-21s.

The Punjab government also wants to name the Gidderbaha school after Manu. “We would like to believe that the young pilot saved the school. He lost his life in line of duty and the least we can do is honour the family’s wish to name the school after him. The Deputy Commissioner of Gidderbaha has been asked to move an application to the Education Department to change the school’s name,” says Gidderbaha MLA and Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal.

Akhouri will be visiting the school early next year to hand out the scholarship and awards. While the question marks over MiG-21 safety haunt him, he says he has no regrets. “Manu was born to fly. Most of his toys were aircraft or helicopters or other flying objects. He used to known even aircraft timings and could identify them by the signs on their tailboards,” he says.

With their son’s next birthday approaching on February 21, he fondly recalls his last one. “I was posted at Aizawl in Mizoram. Manu decided to celebrate his birthday with the tiny-tots of a school where his mother was teaching. Though he did not understand the Mizo language, they all had a ball of a time. He later told his mother that it was one of his most memorable birthdays.”
 
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GOI should be sensetive to crashes, we are losing talented people because of that.
 
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The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Northeast | Mechuka land blips on air force radar

Itanagar, Dec. 30: The air force will take possession of vast swathes of land at Mechuka in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh for the construction of an advanced landing ground.

Sources in the state’s land allotment department today said the state government yesterday asked it to allot 50,965 hectares at Mechuka for the construction of one of the proposed eight advanced landing grounds (ALGs) in the state for landing and take-off of Indian Air Force planes in case of emergency.

The West Siang district administration will issue a notification for the lease of 50,965 hectares for 99 years at an annual payment of Re 1 per square metre to the air force.

Arunachal Pradesh handed over eight airstrips, including the one at Mechuka, to the defence ministry through an MoU signed between chief secretary Tabom Bam and former defence secretary Vijay Singh in Itanagar on June 9 this year. Walong, Tuting, Vijayanagar, Aalo, Ziro, Tawang and Pasighat are the other airstrips that will be developed into advanced landing grounds soon.

The sources added that after Mechuka, two advanced landing grounds would be developed at the headquarters of West Siang district in Along and at remote Walong in Anjaw district bordering China.

Chief minister Dorjee Khandu has recently urged the defence ministry for the construction of an advanced landing ground in Tawang, bordering China.

Khandu emphasised the need for developing advanced landing grounds during a discussion with defence secretary Pradeep Kumar who visited Itanagar on December 19.

Khandu also discussed development of several unused airstrips in the state for advanced landing ground by the defence ministry to ward off external threat.

Kumar is learnt to have assured the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister that the ministry would start upgrading airstrips to augment air maintenance in the border state.
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Chindits: *Flash* - MoD Cancels EADS Airbus Refueller RFP as Finance Min Objects To High Price

*Flash* - MoD Cancels EADS Airbus Refueller RFP as Finance Min Objects To High Price
The Indian Air Force (IAF)'s proposal put up with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to purchase purchase of six flight refuelling aircraft(FRA), has been cancelled due to its high price as objected to by the Ministry of Finance. The Request For Proposal (RFP) or tender was retracted after it reached its final stages of obtaining the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) by the MoD.

The spanner in the works was put by the Finance Ministry, who did not support the proposal as the final negotiated cost of aircraft offered by EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company), a European consortium, was overpriced. The cost is said to be nearly 10 times higher than IL-78 air-to-air refuellers of Russian origin, which presently are in the IAF's inventory. The mid-air refuellers form two squadrons in the IAF, which help fighter jets to be airborne for a longer duration by refuelling them in mid-air.
 
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IAF focus on acquiring 'set of capabilities': Air Chief

New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) Asking air warriors to be "lethal, flexible and agile", Air Chief Marshal P V Naik today said the IAF's focus was to acquire a "set of capabilities" as the force was fast emerging as a strategic aerospace power.

"Our focus is on acquiring a set of capabilities, which can be applied in any conflict scenario. The IAF is fast emerging as a strategic aerospace power as a result of the vision and effort of many generations of air warriors and we will continue with this glorious legacy," he said in his message to the personnel on New Year's eve.

He said IAF's task was to protect the nation from threats arising from air and space and the "challenge before us is to operationalise our new equipment at the earliest and develop in-depth knowledge and competence, so that we can fully exploit the technological potential

Link : http://www.ptinews.com/news/448354_IAF-focus-on-acquiring--set-of-capabilities---Air-Chief
 
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Indian air force counters birdstrike threat

The Indian air force's ornithology cell has devised an eco-friendly strategy to ward off the "invasion of avian varieties" at its bases.

The initiative comes after activities with the BAE Systems Hawk 132 advanced jet trainer were hampered at Bidar air base in north-west Karnataka by Greater Short-toed larks. An investigation found that the birds had migrated from Gujarat in north-west India due to sparse rain.

Grass near the runway at Bidar was kept longer to prevent birds from crowding there, while trees further away were also allowed to grow taller.
Similar steps have also been taken in Jaipur, where parakeets had grouped near the runway after being attracted by fruit-bearing palm trees in adjacent villages. The problem was addressed by pruning the trees without disturbing the eco system.

Sqn Ldr S Srinidhi, deputy director of the ornithology cell, says current projects include tracking bird varieties beyond visual range, night-time activity studies and in-depth risk assessments. The body was set up two years ago.
 
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IAF to Use Eco-Friendly Strategy to Counter Birdstrike Threat


By Radhakrishna Rao

The Indian air force's ornithology cell has devised an eco-friendly strategy to ward off the "invasion of avian varieties" at its bases.The initiative comes after activities with the BAE Systems Hawk 132 advanced jet trainer were hampered at Bidar air base in north-west Karnataka by Greater Short-toed larks. An investigation found that the birds had migrated from Gujarat in north-west India due to sparse rain.

Grass near the runway at Bidar was kept longer to prevent birds from crowding there, while trees further away were also allowed to grow taller.Similar steps have also been taken in Jaipur, where parakeets had grouped near the runway after being attracted by fruit-bearing palm trees in adjacent villages. The problem was addressed by pruning the trees without disturbing the eco system.

Sqn Ldr S Srinidhi, deputy director of the ornithology cell, says current projects include tracking bird varieties beyond visual range, night-time activity studies and in-depth risk assessments. The body was set up two years ago.
 
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Centre cancels contract for midair refuellers for fighter aircraft - dnaindia.com

New Delhi: In a development that could severely hamper the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) ability, the government has cancelled a $1.5-billion contract for midair refuellers for fighter aircraft. Midair refuellers extend the reach and endurance of the aircraft.

Defence ministry sources said the contract was cancelled after the finance ministry raised several objections to the acquisition. The ministry’s objections, sources in the military said, were due to a lingering L1 (lowest item in a contract) syndrome in the government.

The air force pleaded hard with AK Antony to not cancel the contract after a few years of trial and evaluations, but the defence minister decided not to oppose the finance ministry.

Under the norms of contract of government of India, the cheapest item that satisfies the parameters must be bought.

The air force is upset at the cancellation. When it comes to the military, technological capabilities and sophistication make a huge difference, “but that is immaterial if the finance ministry is to be trusted”, a source in the force said. “For every bit of sophistication, we have to pay a price, and that makes a huge difference in the battlefield,” he said.“It would take us a few years now to select a tanker, unless they force us to buy the Russian tanker,” an IAF officer said.

“We need to break the logjam” on opting for the cheapest, another air force officer said. He pointed out that the contract for the purchase of 12 helicopters for transporting VVIPs, such as the president and the prime minister, was also facing resistance from the finance ministry. The ministry has argued that the deal is far more expensive than what was projected. However, since there is no “L1 trouble” in the chopper deal, it may “finally go through”, the officer said.

The finance ministry had also objected to the acquisition of the costlier Airbus 330 multi-role tanker transport aircraft six years after the air force bought the Russia-made Ilyushin-78. But, sources said, the force justified the buy in a detailed written reply, saying Airbus was technologically superior than Ilyushin-78 and that the overall cost of the European product would be competitive. IAF pointed out that Airbus was fuel efficient and most of its civilian parts could be serviced in India.
 
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Mr. Communist,

Your posts, threads and language you uses in them is offensive.

You need to tone down your language and stop your Anti - India campaign. In the democracy we can disagree but it should be in limit.

I know your are doing this from India.

If you does not get reasonable then i will be forced to inform the authorities about your

Anti India
Waging war against India
ISI agent
China agent
Defaming India over world wide web
Unlawful activities

The Police and inelegance agencies will get your IP address in no time and will locate you.

Police just have to have a cursory glance over your posts/threads/reply and they will be more than satisfied that you are a ISI agent/naxalite/Anti India.

Free Advice, according to Indian law the posts/reply/threads which you are posting over Internet comes under evidence. And its not 1 or 2 odd posts you are doing it for thousand times. Hence Indian courts will not required more proofs to declare you guilty.

Stop your unlawful anti India activities at once.

OK. So here you are again. I think I should quit this forum.
 
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Don’t approach VVIPs, VIPs for postings: IAF to personnel idrw.org

Do not approach VVIPs and VIPs for postings. This is the message of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to its officers and air warriors.

In a recently issued circular, the IAF has told its personnel that they should not approach VVIPs and VIPs to influence matters pertaining to their postings in the service.

When contacted to know the reasons behind issuing such a circular, IAF spokesperson Flight Lieutenant Priya Joshi said, “this is a routine general advisory issued by the IAF.

It was not instigated by any particular incident in the recent past.”

“Such things are even discussed and conveyed to officers and troops at the welfare meetings that take place at unit level,” she added.

The IAF spokesperson said there were well-established procedures in the service for “redressal of grievances for putting across one’s view to higher echelons.”

She added that writing directly to VVIPs for seeking favours was deemed to be an unauthorised channel of approach and seeking such direct interventions amounted to bypassing laid down channels and exerting undue pressure on decision-making authorities.
 
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Ageing IAF fleet a major concern, says EAC chief

Shillong, Jan 7 (PTI) The IAF today indicated that the ageing fleet of its fighter planes was a matter of concern and hoped that the massive deal for purchase of 126 multi-role combat aircraft would come through.

"A number of older generation aircraft like MiG-21 are operating since early sixties. We have problems with the ageing fleets and their maintenance," Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Indian Air Force's (IAF) Eastern Air Command, Air Marshal Kishan Kumar Nohwar told a press conference here.

The Soviet-era MiG 21 fighters have been in operation in the IAF since 1963 and have been involved in a spate of crashes in the recent years.

Under the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme, IAF plans to induct 126 fighter jets at an estimated cost of 12 billion USD. Currently, trials are being conducted with aircraft of six manufacturers vying for the deal.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::
 
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`LFOs remain biggest threat’: IAF idrw.org

With Low Flying Objects (LFO) continuing to be the biggest threat to any defence strategy, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is utilising human chains to report on any space violation by them which may pose a threat to India’s defence.
Air Marshal Kishan Kumar Nohwar, who took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Air, said, ”Military thinkers around the world considers LFOs as a threat to any country’s sovereignty.” ”The radars are not only the advance warning system, but human chains too are assisting to forewarn any air space violation by LFOs,” he added.
He said human chains were personnel equipped with advanced communication devices and there were the ”mobile observatories” to report about any infiltration of flying objects into Indian air space.
These human chains help the IAF to get prepared if there was any infiltration by any flying objects, he added.
On the radar here in Upper Shillong that detects any intrusion in the Eastern region, he said the process was on to upgrade it.
Air Marshal Nohwar said China was in ”reverse engineering” to build Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which could fly low.
Stating that China had got hold of UAVs and reverse engineering to get into the bottom of the technology, he said, ”These UAVs which China is building is of stealth nature.” The EAC chief said it was high on IAF’s priority list to stop any infiltration of Indian air space by such UAVs and India too was trying to develop such stealth assets.
Expressing concern over some of the IAF’s aging fleet of aircrafts, like MiG 21, which had been in service with the IAF from the 1960s, Air Marshal Nohwar said the IAF was geared up to meet the challenge by the induction of new assets.
 
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Chhattisgarh to have air base soon

Raipur, Jan 7 (PTI) The Indian Air Force has decided to build an air base in Chhattisgarh, which they consider useful due to its central location, officials said here today.

Air Marshal S Vardhaman in a meeting with Chief Minister Raman Singh and other senior officials in Mantralya discussed various options about choosing the location for the air base, they said.

About 2,500-3,000 acres of land would be needed to build the air base, the officials said.

fullstory
 
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