“National Hero in Life and Death” – Havildar Hangpan Dada, Ashok Chakra(Posthumous), Assam Regiment. This movie titled – ” The Warriors Spirit” is a tribute to this #BraveSonOfIndia .
Hav Hangpan Dada was born on 02 Oct 1979 in village Borduria, near Khonsa in District Tirap of Arunachal Pradesh. Hav Dada was from 4 ASSAM REGIMENT. He was always known as a soft spoken, god fearing gentleman with resolute will, daring courage and sharp soldierly skills to his friends. Driven by his deep calling for adventure and challenging operational life, he volunteered to serve in Rashtriya Rifles.
While deployed in High Altitude Area on a post, he in a hand to hand combat with total disregard to personal safety, singlehandedly eliminated three terrorists. Undeterred by the grave injury he sustained while doing so, he still chose to continue and was instrumental in eliminating the fourth terrorist trying to infiltrate . In the process he laid down his life in the highest traditions of #IndianArmy. For his conspicuous act of bravery and raw courage, he was awarded with ASHOK CHAKRA (POSTHUMOUS). This movie is dedicated to this immortal Hero Hav Hangpan Dada, Ashok Chakra of 4 ASSAM REGIMENT.
Indian Army is always at dispatch at the time of need. While tackling pelting of stones at one side of J&K, they saved lives of 9 people struck in an ambulance due to landslide at the other side.
The Struck Ambulance in Kupwara, J&K
A pregnant lady and a 15-year old boy were among the 9 people rescued from the stranded ambulance at Nastachung Pass in Kupwara District of J&K. The ambulance was struck due to a landslide on the evening of 21st February.
The 15-year old boy was Madsoor Ahmed who was being moved after undergoing surgery for a stomach ailment. Waheed Mir, the 24-year old women was being treated for anaemia in her advance stage of pregnancy.
The ambulance could not move because of landslides on either side. The dropping temperatures at an altitude of 10,000 feet were affecting the patients severely and could have been fatal for the anaemic patient. But not that day, due to the swift reaction by the Army Rescue Team.
The remote mountains of Tangdhar, J&K
Tangdhar is a remote mountainous area in Kupwara district and is located along the Line of Control.
Taking to social media, the Northern Army Command shared the pictures and the post on Facebook the next day.
The team not only cleared the way for the Ambulance to return to Tangdhar but also administered medical attention to the patients.
The pregnant lady being moved to medical attention
Along with the survivors, we, on behalf of SSBCrack express our gratitude to the army and salute the rescue team for salvaging them from a helpless situation.
The last in the series of 20 indigenous Fast Patrol Vessels or FPVs, Indian Coast Guard Ship, ICGS Ayush was commissioned recently on 18th of February 2017. The ship was designed and built by M/s Cochin Shipyard Limited.
About ICGS Ayush:
‘Ayush’ means longevity. ICGS Ayush is the last ship to be commissioned in the series of 20 indigenously built FPVs.
It was commissioned at Kochi, Kerala by Vice Admiral AR Karwe, FOC-in-C, Southern Naval Command.
Inauguration of ICGS Ayush by Vice Admiral AR Karwe
The FPV is 50-metre long and is equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, communication and navigational equipment.
ICGS Ayush is propelled by three advance diesel engines coupled with three Rolls Royce Jets to achieve a maximum speed of 33 Knots.
Interior of ICGS Ayush
It has an endurance of 1500 nautical miles at an economical speed of 14 knots.
The special features of the ship include an Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Machinery Control System (MCS) and an indigenously built Gun Mount with fire control system.
The ship is an ideal platform for undertaking multifarious close-coast missions such as surveillance, search and rescue, interdiction and maritime law enforcement.
It will also play a secondary role of providing a communication link and escort coastal conveys in times of war.
Now based at Krishnapatnam in Nellore, the ship is commanded by Commandant (JG) Asheesh Sharma. It has a capacity of 5 officers and 35 men.
FPVs secure Indian waters by patrolling within the Exclusive Economic Zone and helping fisheries protection.
But why is there a mandatory clean shave for soldiers at first place?
It is all based on maintaining discipline and uniformity. Not only beards, the military does not even allow its men to have longer hairs that cover the ears or longer than ‘moderate length’.
Facial hair in the military has been common, prohibited, or an integral part of the uniform, all at the same time. Take, for instance, the Dogra regiment which asks its men to keep moustache which covers their cheeks.
But why Sikhs are allowed, you ask?
Sikhs are permitted to keep a well-maintained beard and untrimmed hair across the services. However, these permissions differ across services and regiments.
Having a beard is among the ‘fundamental tenets’ of Sikhism. The Army is a disciplined force and denominational differences among its members based on religion, caste etc. cannot be permitted.
Sikhs imply the basis of their religions with the 5 Ks – Kesh, Kangha, Kara, Kachcha and Kirpan. And Kesh (uncut hair) is one among it.
Yes, this means that if a Sikh does not want to have long hairs and sport a beard, he has to do so as long as he is enrolled as a Sikh in the services. He has to wear the same turban on short hairs just as other Sikhs. Here is the Air Force rule pointing to that:
So, why not Muslims? Keeping beard is Sunnah for them?
Unlike Sikhism, the Muslim religion doesn’t forbid shaving off the face of its member since all Muslims men do not sport a beard. The practice of sporting a beard is Sunnah, which means it is not forced and is not a compulsory (farz) norm in Islam.
Non-Sikh personnel are allowed to grow whiskers and moustaches, with the only regulation being that it “should be of moderate length”.
The practice of wearing a beard claimed on the basis of religion goes against Regulation 665 of the Defence Service Regulations, and is not conducive to the discipline of the Forces.
Are there any exceptions?
Unless you are a Sikh or are in Para SF, MARCOS or one of the Navy personnel who is allowed to grow beards subject to the permission of the respective Commanding Officer, no, there is no exceptions. The rule stands same for all.
However, the regular army on active duty is sometimes exempt from the facial hair regulations for the duration of their ‘tour’ if their task makes access to such facilities difficult.
Should this be the case?
Many armies allow their men to have a beard. In fact, most armies of the middle east have separate regiments for the ones who want to sport a beard.
Do you think keeping everyone’s sentiment in mind and having one such regiment is a good idea? Or do you think army should just let its soldiers decide what to do with their beards?
AFCAT 2 2018 is the second opportunity in 2018 for all Indian Air Force aspirants. The exam is the gateway for many departments of the Indian air force and allows several candidates of different educational qualification and age group to join the Indian Air Force as the officer. The exam is simple as compare to other defense exams like CDS and NDA. The exam is just a few days ahead and candidates would be busy in preparing for it. So aspirants, we are here to help you in attempting the exam papers in a more effective way. The tips given below will help you in taking a last minute thrust for the exam.
Go Through The Formulas For Maths – The last minute tips for maths is to go through the formulas of important topics. Apart from this, try to go through the variety of the questions to get the idea of the types of questions that can be faced.
Refresh Your Current Affairs – General awareness section of the exam has a significant part of current affairs. The candidates must go through the current affairs in order to raise their marks in the section that is perceived as the hurdle by many candidates. These will be easy to commemorate and can be prominently asked in the exam.
Practice For The Week Section In English – English is also a big problem for several candidates. So the candidates have to practice for the antonyms, synonyms and error spotting. Don’t commemorate the rules at the last minute. Go through the questions as much as you can get the idea of basic errors in the error spotting. Practice for the passage to know the theory of finding the correct answer of the questions.
Solve Sample Papers – Solving previous year papers and sample papers play a crucial role in making strategy for attempting the exam. Go through the sample papers and previous year papers to get the hint about the pattern of the Exam.
Make A Strategy To Attempt The Paper – The most important thing before going to attempt any exam is to make a strategy of how to attempt the exam. The candidates must attempt the question paper as per their aptitude. Solve the simple section first and then go for the tougher sections.
Smart tips to attempt AFCAT 2 2018
Don’t stuck on the difficult questions, go to the next and solve the unattempted questions only after you get time after completing your paper.
There is no sectional cut-off. So try to give your best in your favorite subject.
Stay calm in solving the exam, don’t be in a hurry. The time is sufficient for attempting all questions.
Conclusion – The exam will come with average difficulty and following your strategy of attempting the exam will help you in scoring high. Preparing in an unorganised way and going through bulk data at the last moment will take to a confusing end. So be smart in preparing in these crucial days. Stay focused, make a timetable and follow your decided goals.
India is taking tough steps to focus on the defense export of the nation to increase its involvement in the international weapon race. On one hand, India has gone up in importing the arms from foreign nations as compared to its other rival nations, while on other hand it is approaching the level of exporting arms. India’s neighbor and top rival, China has turned itself from importing to the indigenous production to make the nation more self-reliant in weapon manufacturing and technically more developed. India is one of the top weapons exporters and is on the way to induct more weapons in future. According to the stats, China and Pakistan were 4th and 7th arms importers with 4.5% and 3.2% of their arms being imported.
The exporter regime of India is taking a giant leap. Bharat Dynamic Limited has been reported to be coming out as a defense weapons exporter. The plan was taken out to export Akaash Surface To Air Missile and Anti-Tank Guided Missiles. Several nations like Vietnam, Turkey, Egypt, Kazakhstan and other nations have been seen curious in getting weapons from India. India has put 15 weapons in the export list, which include Arjun mark 2, Astra BVRAAM missile, Sonar, Light Combat Aircraft, AEWCS, Prahaar missile, expandable high-speed aerial target Abhayas, Brahmos Supersonic missile and others in the list. As per the reports, India is eyeing to raise its weapon export by 6 times to $ 2 billion by 2019. The Indian government has given the instructions to PSUs to cap 10% of their production for export in order to bring the export level up.
India is currently importing a significant part of its weapons from some of the top arms exporters. Russia is the top exporter of arms to India, followed by the US, Israel, UK and other nations. The reason why India is importing weapons are
India is unable to produce competitive weapons to counter the developed neighbors like China.
Delays in weapon production, leading to extended weapon commissioning.
Lack of technology.
Requirement of more and advanced arms in less time.
India has been in the game of exports from a long time, but on the lower levels. India has exported its homemade assault rifle INSAS to Oman and Nepal. HAL Dhruv was exported to Ecuador, Israel and Nepal in military and commercial variant. Mauritius has imported MCGS Barracuda from India for its coast guards. Apart from these, India has exported Cheetah helicopter to Afghanistan, bullet proof jackets to Nepal, Sukhoi 30 avionics and MIG spare parts to Malaysia and Jaguar avionics and spares to Oman. India has made a strong market of it in the arms export and now heading to a more stable and bold status in the arms exports. US, Russia and China accounts for 62% of the total arms exports going on, which is far ahead then India’s level. Some allegations of Egypt and some other nations showing their interest in Tejas Mk 1 are being reported. But it all depends on the Indian government to release the deal or not. The membership of the MTCR will also affect the arms exports of India. The future of arms exchange will go high in the immediate future with private player going into the game.
Quora is the never-ending ocean of knowledge – full of curious people with their questions and boiling with more people to answer them. Though the life of a soldier in any army is not forgiving, people do have misconceptions that while NCOs just “pass their days at fields somehow” and officers in the army enjoy a luxurious life than their subordinates. This was clarified by an army officer on this Quora post.
Yes, financial aspects of being an officer in the army do look like an officer leads a luxurious life, but he presents you a different take on the whole thing – the life which an officer lives the same as his subordinates.
The officer has been in field locations for 70% of his service. His postings were mainly in the northern and north-eastern part of the country. Here is how he describes living a “luxurious” life there:
Image of a Bunker for REPRESENTATION ONLY
Living Area:
According to him, he had a “spacious” bunker to live in, not more than 10’x10′ with a bathroom located 50 mts away.
He shared his bunker mostly with rats, who stole his meagre and only supplies of maggie and biscuits. There wasn’t a single commercial establishment for 40 km in any direction.
According to him, he had two beds in his “room”, for when somebody was visiting along with a table. He had a cloth pinned to the roof to prevent mud from falling onto the floor.
Beating the cold:
In winters, situations used to get worse trying to use kerosene heaters for warmth. The heater which was meant to stave off the cold gave out more fumes than warmth. Eventual death was inevitable either due to cold or the fumes of the heater. Turns out, death through the fumes would take more time, hence, he managed it with it.
Electricity:
Coming to the most basic essential of any establishment – electricity. Turns out, there was no electricity.
The only generator they had was used to work for two to three hours in a day to charge the batteries. The other alternatives were a solar lantern, which would give a very low light that it cannot be used.
He recalls reading books at night using a kerosene lantern because they had to stay awake the entire night to ensure nobody infiltrated across.
He also slept with his shoes on for three years because rushing out into the nights to check any infiltrations was inevitable.
Mess:
There are no messes in field locations, as all are separated from the HQs. Officers and men ate the same food, basically dal, rice and roti. Every day, for three years of duty.
Communication Networks:
Mobile phone network and the Internet, which most people take for granted, was non-existent there. They had two STD lines for approx. 700 people, which was connected to all the posts.
An officer never misused his rank to get extra privileges on the phone. According to him, he used to speak to his mother once in a month. Ruling out the possibility of a girlfriend, he says that it is very difficult to have a relation with somebody who speaks to you once a month and who you see twice a year.
People, at times, could not even able to attend even the last rites of their parents because they were in some cut off post and couldn’t be brought down in time. There are posts in both J&K and the North East where people remain cut off for 5 months at a time. Survival is purely on tinned food and a helicopter drops off letters and rations maybe once a month if the weather is good. The only connection they had was a radio that they “switch on once a day to tell them you’re alive”.
Hygiene:
There are places where they took bath once in three months because taking a bath at those altitudes and temperatures can kill you. And most baths used to be with just one bucket of water.
Taking a dump, shaving, brushing and have a reasonable bath in half a bucket of water was no great task for them.
An officer-led army:
Being a part of the army, there is a constant risk to life and limb, it’s what they signed up for. But, the Indian army has always been an officer-led-army (fortunately or unfortunately), unlike the western armies, where NCOs lead a lot of operations. This can be amply seen from the Kargil war in which 29 officers died, which is a very high fatality rate for officers.
The Final Words:
He says –
“As soldiers, we don’t expect you to appreciate us, or thank us or revere us. This is a job and I chose to do it on my own volition. We are no greater than the doctors saving lives or the engineers building bridges or the actors entertaining you on the screen”.
Hello, I am Bhushan and I belong to Nagpur, Maharashtra. This was my first attempt for SSB at 11 SSB Allahabad after my 4th attempt for written which I cleared for NDA 138. I passed my class 12th in the year 2016 and was preparing for my JEE entrance exam which i never wanted to do but went with engineering as a back up.
After written results were announced i consulted my friend who got recommended for 137 course of NDA and he suggested me to go for coaching so I took coaching for SSB. As it was my first SSB i was really confused but as i always wanted to become a Army Officer i took no chance and was preparing for my SSB with full dedication. Our reporting was on 17 Jan and we got our documents verified that day.
SCREENING
OIR was easy and i answered every question in that as it had no negative marking. Next was PPDT and the picture shown to us was very hazy but i wrote a story on a college boy who helps a lady. My narration was not EXCELLENT but GOOD and discussion was a fish market.
PSYCHOLOGY
I was able to complete all stories in TAT and attempted all words in WAT, 42 SRT’s and completed my SD, so i was satisfied with my psyc test.
GTO
We had a healthy GD the fish market thing was still there but not that much and it was ok. Next we had GPE and i was able to finish my individual plan and we our successfully gave our group plan. My lecturette did not go well and i spoke for only 2 minutes. Rest everything i performed good in my GTO series.
Me with +
INTERVIEW My interview was held on 4th day after GTO and it was good except the part he embarrassed me when he asked me about my favourite subj i said CS and Physics. His first ques was what is bubblesort and i was like what just happened because i was not expecting that but i answered somehow about sorting but he said bhushan this is sorting just tell me what is bubble sort that time i said i don’t know sir then he was smiling and i was also smiling on my foolishness but i prepared ques related to myself so i was confident when he was asking those questions.
After my interview i thought that i would not get recommend so i informed my parents that i might not get recommend due to that fav subj part so i told them to d my reservation and my father said i’ll not do it and don’t wry you’ll make it.
CONFERENCE
Now we went on with a horrible closing address but during conference i was asked how was my stay, then i was asked that which technique i think that i need to improve on ? So i said Sir, Interview. So he asked me why ? so i said that there were some questions i was not able to answer so he asked me to pick one ques and answer it so i did it. The last question was any suggestions to improve the facilities here. I said no and my conference was over.
As i heard that the one whose conference is not long he is either recommended or not recommended so i thought i will not make it and when during the result the officer asked that who thinks they will make it raise their hand everybody raised their hands except me.
But when i he announced the result chest no. 23. I stood up called my roll no and name and was very happy.
SSBCrack has been always motivated me and it plays equal role in my success as i used to practice my psyc from it thank you for all the suggestions and motivation.
Indian Navy’s survey vessel INS Sarvekshak became the first naval ship to go green by installing a solar power system on board. The ship is based at the Southern Naval Command, Kochi.
With this, INS Sarvekshak is the first ship in the world to use solar energy on board. The flexible lightweight panels were imported from the US.
About this development aboard INS Sarvekshak:
It has innovatively deployed the zero-maintenance solar power system, capable of generating 5.4KW electricity and replacing the ship’s traditional 4.4KW emergency diesel alternator.
It has light weight, extra-thin and flexible unbreakable solar panels imported from the US along with no-fume solid electrolyte batteries. They are found to be performing well in all light conditions and are shade-tolerant.
Imported Flexible solar panels aboard INS Sarvekshak
The solar power generating system has been installed by customising and installing ‘razor-thin, flexible’ solar panels on the canopy of its telescopic (retractable) helicopter deck.
The flexible panels can be installed in any place where sunlight is available. It requires a 1 sq. metre panel to produce 100 watts of electricity.
They also have a maintenance free life for 24 years making it maintenance free. The system is 100% reliable for a power source that can be used for communication equipment, general lightings onboard and battery charging round-the-clock with battery outputs during night.
The system installation cost was about ₹19 lakh, and the generation cost is ₹12 per KW/hour. The remaining energy, after consumption, is stored in batteries
Comparing this with the existing diesel generator, which consumes one litre of diesel to generate five units of electricity, the estimated savings in 15 years of service life is approximately ₹1 crore and after 25 years is ₹2.7 crore.
Also unlike the existing diesel generator that produces 165 kg of carbon gases daily, the new system is environment-friendly.
Solar power in a marine environment is a great challenge. The world is looking for clean, renewable and sustainable sources of energy in order to protect and reduce the harm caused to the environment.
The Indian Navy’s second ocean-going sailboat, INSV Tarini was inducted on 18 February 2017.
The sailboat is being inducted into the Navy and is slated to be the platform for First Indian All Women Circumnavigation of the Globe expedition of the Indian Navy.
About INSV Tarini:
Adm Sunil Lanba interacting with the All Women Circumnavigation Expedition members on board INSV Tarini
INSV Tarini is a sloop built by M/s Aquarius Shipyard Pvt Ltd at Divar, Goa.
The boat has been built to a stock design by Van de Stadt, Netherlands called Tonga 56. The hull is made of wooden core fibreglass sandwich construction for a better performance than aluminium and steel.
INSV Tarini carries a suite of six sails including the Mainsail, Headsails (Genoa and staysails), Downwind sails and a Storm sail. Her mast is 25 meters tall and has been custom built for sailing in extreme conditions.
She also boasts a Raymarine navigation suite and an array of latest satellite communication systems through which she can be contacted anywhere in the world.
The trials of INSV Tarini:
The trials of the newly built INSV Tarini were successfully completed on 30 January 17 and all the learning experience from INSV Mhadei has been incorporated in this vessel right from the start.
The successful construction of both the INSV Mhadei and INSV Tarini in Goa are a tribute to the Government’s ‘Make in India’ policy.
INSV Tarini is almost identical to the iconic Mhadei which has sailed over 1,15,000 nautical miles in the past eight years.
This includes path-breaking voyages like the first Indian solo circumnavigation undertook by Capt Dilip Donde (Retd) in 2009 and first solo, non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation by Cdr Abhilash Tomy in 2013.
About First Indian All Women Circumnavigation of the Globe expedition:
In order to promote ocean sailing activities and to encourage women empowerment, the Indian Navy conceptualised the idea of the First Indian All Women Circumnavigation of the Globe.
A team of six women Officers led by Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi was selected for this project.
These officers have done basic sail training courses at INWTC Mumbai followed by Navigation, Seamanship, Communication and Meteorology courses at various naval training schools at Kochi.
After completion of theoretical courses, the officers sailed INSV Mhadei to Vizag for the International Fleet Review 2016 and thereafter to Mauritius and back. Following that, they sailed the boat on a gruelling voyage to Cape Town in December 2016.
The crew members of the boat are, its captain, Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi and her team, Lieutenant Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lieutenant Aishwarya Boddapati, Lieutenant Patarapalli Swathi, Lieutenant Sh Vijaya Devi and Lieutenant Payal Gupta.
The extremely challenging expedition by her All Women Crew is slated to commence in August 2017.
![Indian Army Havildar Hangpan Dada, Ashok Chakra [MOST VIEWED]](https://www.ssbcrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Indian-Army-Havildar-Hangpan-Dada-Ashok-Chakra-MOST-VIEWED.jpg "Indian Army Havildar Hangpan Dada, Ashok Chakra [MOST VIEWED]")
Along with the survivors, we, on behalf of SSBCrack express our gratitude to the army and salute the rescue team for salvaging them from a helpless situation.
