This is the first export order for the supersonic cruise missile, a joint venture between India and Russia.

India delivered the first batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to Philippines on Friday. In January 2022, Philippines concluded a $375-million deal with India for three batteries of shore-based, anti-ship variant of the BrahMos becoming the first export customer for the joint venture missile between India and Russia.

The first batch was delivered onboard transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force which landed in Philippines on Friday afternoon. Specifics of the delivery made were not immediately available. Philippines is acquiring the systems under the Horizon 2 of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Programme.

The delivery comes amid the showdown between Philippines and China in the South China Sea which has been ongoing for the last few months and will significantly augment the defensive posture of the Philippines armed forces once the systems are operationalised.

During his visit to Philippines in March , External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in a meeting with the Secretary of National Defence of Philippines Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. reaffirmed India’s commitment to upholding a rules-based international order and promoting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region. “During the high-level meeting, Secretary Teodoro welcomed India’s unwavering support for the Philippines’ position on the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea issue,” the Philippines Ministry of the armed forces said in a statement.

In January 2022, then Philippines Defence Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, who signed the contract, had said, “As the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles, the BrahMos missiles will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine our sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippine Sea.”

The contract includes the delivery of three missile batteries, training for operators and maintainers as well as the necessary Integrated Logistics Support package. The coastal defence regiment of the Philippine Marines will be the primary user of the missile systems.

From January 23 to February 11, 2023, 21 Philippine Navy personnel were trained in the operations and maintenance of the systems in Nagpur and were awarded interim missile badges by Indian Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar after they completed the operator training.

As reported earlier, several countries have expressed interest in acquiring BrahMos systems and discussions are in advanced stages with Indonesia and Thailand among others.

BrahMos is a joint venture between DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and the missile derives its name from Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers. The missile is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against surface and sea-based targets and has been long inducted by the Indian armed forces.

The range of the missile was originally capped at 290km as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime. Following India’s entry into the club in June 2016, the range has been extended to 450km and work is on to extend it to 600km and beyond.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

A total of eight Indians have featured in TIME’s ‘100 Most Influential People of 2024′.

Olympian Sakshi Malik, Indian-origin actor Dev Patel, actor Alia Bhatt, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and World Bank President Ajay Banga were among the eight Indians named in the prestigious TIME’s list of 100 most influential people in the world, which was released on Wednesday.

TIME’s ‘100 Most Influential People of 2024′ also included US Department of Energy’s Loan Programmes Office director Jigar Shah, Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics at Yale University Priyamvada Natarajan and Indian-origin restaurateur Asma Khan.

Director, producer and writer Tom Harper described Alia as a ‘formidable talent’. “Not only one of the world’s leading actors, admired for her work in the Indian film industry for over a decade — she is also a businesswoman and a philanthropist who leads with integrity,” he said.

“Alia’s superpower is her ability to mix movie-star magnetism with authenticity and sensitivity. As an actor she is luminous, and as a person she brings the grounded assurance and creativity that make a truly international star,” Harper, who directed Bhatt in his movie Heart of Stone, said.

On Dev Patel’s artistic work, Oscar-nominee actor Daniel Kaluuya wrote, “Dev radiates goodness. His humanity shines through every time he graces the screen, leaving you no choice but to root for him even when his character is doing something foul; his presence makes you understand where he’s coming from. With a career that always elevates, his latest performance in Monkey Man is my favourite. Giving us a fierce, soulful empathy, a channelled rage, shades of him we have yet to see—knowing he was so into martial arts during Skins, he’s brought it all together. Monkey Man is his moment, and an incredible directorial debut.”

Talking about Microsft’s CEO Nadella, TIME said he was “profoundly influential in shaping our future.” “Microsoft’s significant investment in OpenAI and partnership with Mistral AI puts him at the forefront of the artificial intelligence revolution. A technologist with heart, Satya sees AI as a tool that will empower humans. Still, there’s rightful concern about unintended consequences and misuse. That’s why it’s so reassuring that Satya is one of AI’s stewards. His thoughtfulness and humility should make us safer,” the magazine said in a section on Nadella’s profile.

“What began as a small, targeted protest to demand decisive government action in favour of the wrestlers ballooned instead into a yearlong battle unprecedented in Indian sport, drawing support from across the country and attention from across the world,” wrote Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Pahuja on Olympian Sakshi Malik. She described Malik as India’s “most celebrated wrestler” who protested for the immediate arrest and resignation of the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India Brij Bhushan Singh, accused of sexually harassing female athletes.

Speaking about former Mastercard CEO Banga, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, “It’s not easy to find a leader with the skill and drive to take on the monumental task of transforming an essential institution, but since becoming World Bank president last June, Ajay Banga has done just that.”  “Ajay comes to the World Bank after leading a global organization through which he brought millions of unbanked people into the digital economy. At the World Bank, Ajay set forth a new vision to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet and moved boldly to make good on it—from pioneering innovative financial tools to reimagining partnerships across the multilateral development banks and with the private sector,” Yellen added.

Virgin co-founder and British businessman Richard Branson said US government official Jigar Shah has “dedicated his life to unlocking the entrepreneurial opportunity that lies in a clean-energy transition.”

Terming Asma Khan as “Top Chef”, Indian-American writer and model Padma Lakshmi said, “Asma is not only interested in doing the right thing, she’s a shrewd businesswoman too. South Asian aunties know the cuisine best. Many Indian restaurants in the West have menus where everything kind of tastes the same. But Asma’s food is surprising. It doesn’t taste like restaurant food—and that is the highest compliment.”

On Priyamvada Natarajan, American astrophysicist Shep Doeleman said she “brought us closer to under­standing a basic mystery in astron­omy: How do the supermassive black holes that lurk at the centres of most galaxies form? She had speculated that they might have gotten a jump start in the very early universe if clouds of gas collapsed to form massive black-hole “seeds” that then grew within their host galaxies over billions of years. It took the piercing gaze of the James Webb Space Telescope to finally observe a galaxy so far back in cosmic time, and with a central black hole so massive, that what scientists saw could be explained naturally by Priya’s theory.”

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)