CONTENTS
- EXERCISE LA PEROUSE
- BABU JAGJIVAN RAM
- ADVANCED CHAFF TECHNOLOGY
EXERCISE LA PEROUSE
Focus: GS III- Defence, Prelims
Why in news?
Indian Navy Ships INS Satpura and INS Kiltan along with P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft are participating, for the first time; in multi-lateral maritime exercise La Pérouse, being conducted in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region from 05 to 07 Apr 2021.
About Exercise La Pérouse:
- The Indian Navy ships and aircraft will exercise at sea with ships and aircraft of French Navy (FN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and United States Navy (USN) during the three day exercise at sea.
- Exercise La Pérouse will witness complex and advanced naval operations including surface warfare, anti-air warfare and air defence exercises, weapon firing exercises, cross deck flying operations, tactical manoeuvres and seamanship evolutions such as replenishment at sea.
- The exercise will showcase high levels of synergy, coordination and inter-operability between the friendly navies. Participation by the Indian Navy in the exercise demonstrates the shared values with friendly navies ensuring freedom of seas and commitment to an open, inclusive Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order.
About INS Kiltan
- It is the indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette.
- It has been recently inducted into the Indian Navy.
- It is the latest indigenous warship after Shivalik Class, Kolkata Class and sister ships INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt.
- It is India’s first major warship to have a superstructure of carbon fibre composite material resulting in improved stealth features.
- The ship derives its name from one of the islands in Aminidivi group of the Lakshadweep and Minicoy group of islands.
About INS Satpura
- INS Satpura (F48) is a Shivalik-class stealth multi-role frigate built for the Indian Navy.
- This class is an improvement over the preceding Talwar-class frigates with increased stealth and land attack features.
- INS Satpura was built at the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.
BABU JAGJIVAN RAM
Focus: GS I- Modern History
Why in news?
The Prime Minister has paid tributes to Babu Jagjivan Ram on his Jayanti.
About Jagjivan Ram:
- Jagjivan Ram was born on April 05 1908
- He was born in Chandwa in Bihar to a Dalit family.
- His father was in the British army but later left it and acquired farming land in his native place.
- He pursued his schooling at the nearby town of Arrah where he faced discrimination for the first time. He was considered ‘untouchable’ and had to drink water from a different pot. Jagjivan Ram protested against this by breaking the pot. The principal then had to remove the separate pot from the school.
- In 1925, Jagjivan Ram met scholar Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and was greatly inspired by him. On Malaviya’s invitation, he joined the Banaras Hindu University and faced discrimination there too. He also organised the scheduled castes to protest against injustice.
- He was noted by Subhas Chandra Bose because of his organisational skills. In 1935, he assisted with the formation of the All-India Depressed Classes League. He joined the Congress Party where he was appreciated as a brilliant spokesperson for the Depressed Classes.
- In 1935, he proposed at a session of the Hindu Mahasabha that drinking water wells and temples be open to untouchables.
- He took part in the freedom movement as well and was imprisoned during the Quit India Movement.
- When Jawaharlal Nehru formed the provisional government, Jagjivan Ram became its youngest minister.
- After independence, he was appointed the country’s first labour minister.
- Jagjivan Ram was a member of the Parliament uninterrupted from 1936 to 1986 and this is a world record. He also holds another record for being the longest-serving cabinet minister in India (30 years).
- He was a champion of social equality and equal rights for the Depressed Classes.
- He passed away on 6 July 1986. His memorial at his cremation place is named ‘Samata Sthal’.
ADVANCED CHAFF TECHNOLOGY
Focus: GS III- Defence
Why in news?
DRDO develops Advanced Chaff Technology to safeguard naval ships from missile attack
Details:
- Defence Laboratory Jodhpur (DLJ), a DRDO laboratory, has indigenously developed three variants of this critical technology namely
- Short Range Chaff Rocket (SRCR)
- Medium Range Chaff Rocket (MRCR)
- Long Range Chaff Rocket (LRCR).
- The successful development of Advanced Chaff Technology by DLJ is another step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.
- Recently, Indian Navy conducted trials of all three variants in the Arabian Sea on Indian Naval Ship and found the performance satisfactory.
About Advanced chaff technology:
- Chaff is a passive expendable electronic countermeasure technology used worldwide to protect naval ships from enemy’s radar and Radio Frequency (RF) missile seekers.
- The importance of this development lies in the fact that very less quantity of chaff material deployed in the air acts as decoy to deflect enemy’s missiles for safety of the ships.
- The Chaff technology will be helpful in meeting the futuristic threats from adversaries especially China that has been assertive in international waters.
- The technology is being given to the industry for production in large quantities.
