Morning Brief: India-Russia To Seal FGFA Deal; RSS Member Hacked To Death; Soldier Killed In Pakistani Firing
Good Morning, Swarajya Readers! Here's What You Need To Know Today.
India And Russia To Sign FGFA Deal
India and Russia are set to sign a multi-billion dollar deal for joint development and manufacturing of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). The deal, which will involve the transfer of high-end Russian technology to India, will be signed by year-end. Under the new offer, India will have to pay about $3.7 billion for the technological know-how and three prototypes of the FGFA.
In 2010, India had agreed to pay $295 million for the preliminary design of the fighter. A work share agreement on the aircraft has also been finalised.
RSS Member Hacked To Death
BJP and RSS functionary Rudresh R was hacked to death by two motorcycle-borne youths in full public view on a busy stretch less than a kilometre from MG Road in the heart of Bengaluru on Sunday morning.
The 35-year-old, who was mandal president of the Shivajinagar Shakha of the RSS and secretary of the BJP Shivajinagar, was returning on his bike after participating in a patha sanchalana near RBANMS Grounds. A real estate agent, Rudresh was also into milk business. He was a resident of Milkmans Colony in Shivajinagar.
Naxal Attack Averted In Delhi
The Uttar Pradesh police’s anti-terrorism squad arrested 10 Naxalites from New Delhi’s satellite town of Noida. More than 550 live cartridges, an INSAS assault rifle, two other rifles and three self-loading rifle magazines were seized along with a huge quantity of explosives and detonators.
The arrested Naxals were active in eastern UP and adjoining parts of Bihar and had made Noida their base. According to media reports, the group was planning major attacks in different parts of the national capital region.
Soldier Killed In Pakistan Firing
An army man was killed in unprovoked Pakistani firing on Indian army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in the border district of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir. The soldier, identified as Sudesh Kumar of 6 Rajput Regiment, was killed in sniper firing.
According to a senior Army officer, there have been over 25 ceasefire violations along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir after surgical strikes by Army troops in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to dismantle terror launching pads.
Battle For Mosul Begins
A long-awaited offensive to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul that is currently controlled by the Islamic State (IS) has been launched. Mosul is Iraq's second largest city and has been under IS control since June 2014.
Ahead of the campaign, Iraqi military air-dropped information items and booklets for the residents of the city. Reclaiming Mosul is seen as essential to the broader battle against the terror outfit.
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Taking Stock Of India's Reforms: The Modi government has done a good job of implementing many ideas already in the system. Now it has to come up with some new ones and step up the pace.
Two Is Company, Three Strength: The inescapable conclusion for New Delhi is that the new model of international relations for Asia-Pacific would come about sooner than expected, with China, Russia and Pakistan as its indispensable members. Ignoring it can have consequence for India.
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SWARAJYA SPECIAL
Note To Abdullahs: J&K Is More Than Just Kashmir: It is not helping matters in Kashmir that the Abdullahs are following a Kashmir-centric line and completely ignoring Jammu and Ladakh.
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