NewsBytes

India-Indonesia joint maritime exercise at Visakhapatnam till Oct 17

The Indian Navy is hosting an Indo-Indonesian bilateral maritime exercise at Visakhapatnam from October 14-17, aimed at enhancing interoperability, strengthening mutual understanding and sharing best practices between the two navies, officials said on Wednesday. The participating units include INS Kavaratti, an anti-submarine warfare corvette of the Eastern Fleet under the aegis of Eastern Naval Command (ENC), and the Indonesian Navy Ship KRI John Lie, a corvette (with an integral helicopter), which arrived at Visakhapatnam to a warm welcome by the ENC, the defence ministry said. Exercise Samudra Shakti highlights the shared commitment of both nations towards maintaining stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific region, the official said. It is a key bilateral engagement aimed at enhancing interoperability, strengthening mutual understanding and sharing best practices between the two navies, the defence ministry said in a statement.

World Food Programme warns donor cuts pushing millions more into hunger

The United Nations’ food aid agency said Wednesday that severe funding cuts from its top donors are hurting its operations in six countries and warned that nearly 14 million people could be forced into emergency levels of hunger. The World Food Programme, traditionally the UN’s most-funded agency, said in a new report that its funding this year “has never been more challenged” — largely due to slashed outlays from the US under the Trump administration and other leading Western donors. It warned that that 13.7 million of its food aid recipients could be forced into emergency levels of hunger as funding is cut. The countries facing “major disruptions” are Afghanistan, Congo, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, it said. “We are watching the lifeline for millions of people disintegrate before our eyes,” Executive Director Cindy McCain said. WFP said it expects to receive 40% less funding this year, leading to a projected budget of $6.4 billion — after receiving some $10 billion last year.

India-EU carry out joint counterterrorism training

The European Union (EU) and India jointly carried out a first-of-its-kind counter-terror training to protect critical infrastructure and soft targets against emerging threats from hostile drones. The three-day exercise that concluded in Gurugram on Wednesday brought together senior officers, instructors and technical experts from India's National Security Guard (NSG) and the EU's High Risk Security Network (HRSN). The rapid proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and their misuse by state and non-state actors pose serious security challenges, an EU readout said. Commercial drones have advanced rapidly in both technology and accessibility, making them inexpensive and adaptable tools, it said, adding that violent extremists have exploited these devices for purposes ranging from surveillance to carrying out attacks. The India-EU counter-terror training focused on the use of advanced UAS and counter-UAS (C-UAS) capabilities.

Crewed Moon mission by 2040; maiden human spaceflight to launch in 2027: ISRO

ISRO chairman V Narayanan on Wednesday said the space agency has set a target of landing Indians on the Moon by 2040, while its maiden human spaceflight mission ‘Gaganyaan’ is on track for launch in 2027. Narayanan said a slew of ambitious space projects and sector reforms were currently underway, including a national space station by 2035 and three uncrewed ‘Gaganyaan’ missions by 2026, with the first one that includes a half-humanoid robot ‘Vyommitra’, targeted for December 2025. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a guideline for an indigenous crewed lunar mission by 2040, under which we have to land our own citizens on the moon and bring them back safely. A Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM) has also been approved to study the planet,” Narayanan said. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief said the Bharatiya Antriksh Station (BAS) is expected to come up by 2035 and initial modules in space are expected as early as 2027.