There are various facets of international defence and military cooperation as part of the larger defence diplomacy and security cooperation, which can be employed to create a peaceful security environment.
It is an institutional means of engaging foreign militaries and Defence Ministries which could weather political upheavals while affording many means of developing mutual understanding, leading to trust, reduction of threats and conflict prevention. These go a long way in impacting on the defence and security, and economic and social development of a nation.
In this context, it is interesting to comprehend the conduct of international defence and military cooperation of other countries and then in that light, analyse the Indian approach.
More power to those who dream with their eyes open, navigate through every challenge and eventually emerge as winners.
Flt Lt Punya Nanjappa, Indian Air Force
Nari Shakti being the theme of India’s 75th Republic Day celebration, the grand parade on Kartavya Path, in the heart of the National Capital, New Delhi, displayed a spectacular combination of military feat and cultural vibrancy on January 26, 2024.
IAF showcased a breath-taking performance with a flypast featuring 51 aircraft during the Republic Day celebrations. This impressive line-up included 29 fighter aircraft, 8 transport planes, 13 helicopters, and one heritage aircraft. When 51 Indian Air Force (IAF) aircrafts zoomed over the Kartavya Path, piloting one of the fighter jets in the flypast was a young woman pilot from Mysuru. Flight Lieutenant (FLT LT) Punya Nanjappa was piloting the MiG-29 fighter and was among the eight female pilots who flew in various formations at the Republic Day parade. It was indeed a proud moment for India.
Breaking barriers is nothing new for Punya Nanjappa. She was the only girl in her batch training with 40 male cadets and the only female cadet from Karnataka to be selected as a trainee pilot for the flying branch training at the Air Force Academy, becoming the second woman from the state of Karnataka to be a fighter jet pilot after Meghana Shanbough from Chikkamagalur to do so. The training for cadets who are selected for the flying branch is divided into three stages. Punya completed Stage 1 training at the academy in Dundigal and was selected to join the fighter stream. Commissioned into the IAF in December 2020, FLT LT Punya is from the No. 47 Squadron of the IAF.
“ Flight Lieutenant (FLT LT) Punya Nanjappa was piloting the MiG-29 fighter and was among the eight female pilots who flew in various formations at the Republic Day parade. It was indeed a proud moment for India”
The sky is literally the limit! While choosing a career path, not many students are able to pursue their dreams and turn them into reality. Mysuru-based Coluvanda Punya Nanjappa is one such dreamer who followed her childhood passion to be a fighter jet pilot and worked hard towards achieving it. Not only is it a personal and professional achievement for Punya, but a social one too, a rare distinction for a woman who has her roots in Kodagu, a land of many ‘defence personnel’. Though the district basks in the glory of producing a Field Marshal, a General, and innumerable Lieutenant Generals, Brigadiers, and Majors in the Indian Army and their equal ranks in the Navy and the Air Force, for the first time a woman fighter pilot emerged from the tiny district.
Punya is the daughter of Coluvanda Anuradha Nanjappa, who served as a teacher at St. Joseph’s Central School, Vijayanagar, and the late Coluvanda P. Bala Nanjappa, who held the position of manager at Prabha Theatre. Though the family hails from a small district, they encouraged their daughter to aim high and achieve through hard work and courage.
Punya Nanjappa’s achievement represents a remarkable moment, highlighting the strides made by women in the IAF and representing women-power, equity and equal ownership in every walk of life with their male counterparts.
source: http://www.outlook.com / Outlook / Home> Brand Studio / by Outlook Bureau / March 08th, 2024
An Army Major from Mysuru has done exemplary work during flood rescue operations in Gujarat and Rajasthan. He is Ballachanda Maj. Akshay Thimmaiah, son of Ballachanda Sudha Bopanna and Ballachanda Prakash Bopanna, residents of Kuvempunagar in city. Maj. Akshay Thimmaiah is married to Mundanda Nidhi Ponnamma.
Following incessant rains in Gujarat, joint teams from the Indian Army and Indian Air Force have saved hundreds of lives and have rescued scores of people in flood-ravaged villages in Surendranagar district. Torrential rains in Gujarat have resulted in several deaths as well. The Gujarat Relief Department has confirmed 61 rain-related deaths in the State so far. Some parts of Rajasthan — especially those bordering the Northern Gujarat district of Banaskantha — too have seen heavy rainfall.
According to a report published in Dainik Bhaskar newspaper, on the night of July 25, Major Akshay Thimmaiah, along with two jawans from State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), saved the lives of 17 children, 12 women and 6 men who were stranded in Alethi village, near Sanchore in Gujarat due to bursting of Narmada Canal, causing flash floods. Maj. Akshay Thimmaiah saved the children after swimming and wading through 4-5 ft of flood waters for over 2.5 km. He showed courage in reaching the village and getting the civilians to safety despite rising water level.
Flood rescue team of 8 Cavalry Battalion under Maj. Akshay Thimmaiah saved the lives of over 100 people in Guda Malani, Rajasthan, in a daring night-long operation. The rescue operation was completed in 3 hours with water levels at 12-20 ft which had risen due to flood waters in Luni River. A total of 45 children, 32 women and 23 men were rescued and evacuated to safer areas.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / August 29th, 2017
Dr. Chaitra Narayan, Co-founder of Codagu Agritech, Kushalnagar, Kodagu district, was selected as one of the 17 Start-Up entrepreneurs among 150 Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institutes for a presentation of ‘Biocapsule Technology’ before President Ram Nath Kovind.
The event was held at Rashtrapathi Bhavan as part of Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship between Mar.19 and 23, 2018. The programme was conducted by the President’s Secretariat in association with National Innovation Foundation and Department of Science and Technology.
At the event in Delhi, Dr. Chaitra Narayan demonstrated the concept of ‘Biocapsule Technology’ to the President and a host of science and technology leaders and heads of research institutions.
Codagu Agritech is the only commercial manufacturer of ‘Biocapsules – Trichocap’ (encapsulated formulation of Trichoderma harzianum) and Powercap (encapsulated formulation of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria – PGPR).
This is the world’s first patented technology that has been developed by ICAR – IISR (Indian Institute of Spices Research), Kozhikode. These Biocapsules are extensively recommended for all plantation (pepper, ginger, cardamom etc.) and horticulture (fruits and vegetables) crops.
Farmer feedback in the past two years have proven that Biocapsules efficiently increase the yield, control soil-borne diseases and act as an efficient plant growth promoter.
According to Dr. Chaitra, the main advantage of this technology is that farmers can use a single capsule instead of 1 kg or 1 litre of Trichoderma or PGPR. There is a reduction of cost by 10 times and also with a guarantee of best quality product with a longer shelf life of one year.These Biocapsules can be easily used by dissolving one capsule in 100 litres of clean water.
“We want to make a difference in eco-friendly sustainable agriculture. Due to extensive usage of chemical fertilisers, soil health has been drastically damaged in most cultivable lands. We want to promote eco-friendly solutions to farming community to take agriculture to next level by making latest innovations in chemical-free solutions,” she said.
Codagu Agritech was started in June 2016 by Dr. B.C. Nanjappa of Kodagu and Dr. Chaitra Narayan of Mysuru. While Dr. Nanjappa is a well-known environmentalist in Kodagu, Dr. Chaitra Narayan holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Mysore.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / March 30th, 2018
Kodavas are a unique race of people hailing from a small tract of mountainous and jungle area in the Western Ghats known as Kodagu.
The British called the area as Coorg and dominant class, the Kodavas, as Coorgs.
Today this land is a district in the Southern tip of Karnataka state called Kodagu. The terrain required extreme physical fitness and raw courage to survive the predators in the jungles and to defend themselves against any attacks by their enemies.
Families (okkas) lived jointly on their respective lands and looked up to the pathedar (head of the okka) for all decisions and to their ancestors (guru karane) for spiritual guidance and sustenance. Discipline and obedience to the Pathedar were implicit.
Rotary Mysore Midtown and Shrisainik Family had organised an event at Rotary Centre Hall on JLB Road last evening where the ‘Rotary Sainik Desh Rathna’ award was presented to Ballachanda Maj. Akshay Thimmaiah by Maj Gen. (Retd.) S.G. Vombatkere.
Akshay Thimmaiah is the son of Ballachanda Sudha Bopanna and Ballachanda Prakash Bopanna, residents of Kuvempunagar in city. He is married to Mundanda Nidhi Ponnamma.
Speaking on the occasion, Akshay Thimmaiah opined that the Indian Army always welcomed people with leadership qualities and communication skills. He added that serving in the military was a noble one. He contended that a soldier would always be an inspiration for the youth. Hence he asked the youth to join the military and serve the nation.
Continuing, Akshay observed that a soldier should have great patience and perseverance to reach a goal. However, he opined that the honour and respect given to soldiers should also be extended to their family members.
Rotary Mysore Midtown President Narendra Babu, Hon. Secretary Naveen Chandra, Shrisainik Family’s K.V. Bhaskar and G. Madhura, Akshay’s wife Nidhi and his family members were present.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / February 15th, 2018
Air Commodore Kalianda A. Muthana flies indigenous fighter plane for 40 minutes
Bengaluru:
The first Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejasin Final Operational Clearance (FOC)-Standard (SP-21) took to the skies for its maiden flight in Bengaluru on Tuesday last, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said.
Piloted by Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthana (Retd.), Chief Test Flying (Fixed Wing), the aircraft took-off from HAL Airport at around 12.30 pm, the Bengaluru-headquartered defence Public Sector Unit said in a statement. It was air-borne for 40 minutes.
This flight signifies exemplary team work between various stakeholders of the LCA Tejas programme such as HAL, Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance, Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), Indian Air Force (IAF) and Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), HAL Chairman and Managing Director R. Madhavan said.
K.A.Muthana
15 fighters by April 2021
HAL is targeting 15 fighters by April 2021. The flight is the first step in a series of things lined up to enable the IAF raise a second squadron of Tejas in Sulur, Tamil Nadu. The first squadron of Tejas — Flying Daggers — is already operating from there.
“HAL achieved the momentous feat within a record time of 12 months after release of Drawing Applicability List (DAL) and SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) by CEMILAC”, the statement said. “This would pave the way for production of remaining 15 fighters from FOC (Final Operational Clearance) block, which are planned to be delivered during the next financial year,” it said.
Advanced features
The FOC aircraft are equipped with advanced features such as Air-to-Air refuelling and Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile system. “It imbibes a lot of manufacturing improvements which were based on the operational feedback of LCA-IOC (Initial Operational Clearance) fleet with IAF”, HAL said.
On February 20, 2019, the IAF had finally agreed that the indigenously developed and built Tejas was combat-ready and received the ‘release to service’ certificate — which means the fighter got the FOC — from DRDO, whose lab Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) designed the aircraft.
First conceived in 1983
The aircraft, which was first conceived in 1983, is being produced by HAL. Although it was conceived in 1983, the project was only sanctioned in 1993. The FOC and release to service happened close on the heels of the final DAL (Drawing Applicability Lists) of Tejas was released to HAL on Dec. 31.
The aircraft was named Tejas (meaning radiance in Sanskrit) by Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was the Prime Minister.
The cost of the programme is estimated at Rs. 39,000 crore. Tejas will eventually replace the ageing fleet of MiG-21 planes. All squadrons of Tejas will be made up of 20 planes in total, including four in reserve.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / March 19th, 2020
Air Cmde Muthana got a ‘dousing’ reception as he got out of the TEJAS after the flight that landed it the Final Operational Clearance
As Muthu taxied back to the dispersal after the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) sortie of the TEJAS Mk1 SP-17, now with a tail number of LA-2017, on March 17, 2019, he was clearly surprised by the reception he got. The spontaneous celebration that involved some water-dousing and hoisting him on their shoulders by his Light Combat Aircraft team and the large group of HAL employees was heart-warming to say the least.
Air Commodore Kalianda Appaya Muthana has been probably among the few outstanding fighter pilots and professionals of my generation who did not rise to the very upper echelons of the IAF leadership. Reticent and soft-spoken, but with just a hint of swagger, he was a natural flier from the word go, and though I never served alongside him in any squadron, he was a highly rated fighter jock wherever he went.
No one knows this better than Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa (Retd) , the IAF’s previous chief and Muthana’s squadron-mate on MiG-21s in 29 Squadron (Scorpios). Dhanoa reminisces, “We were together for the first time in the early 1980s on the MiG-21 Type 96 in Sirsa, and then again as senior squadron leaders on the same type in Jamnagar, where I was the flight commander. The squadron was assessed very highly by the IAF’s inspection team and after I left, Muthu took over as flight commander – the good run continued, with the Scorpios winning the IAF’s marksmanship trophy called Ekalavya. He was free, frank, fair and fearless.”
After tick-marking all the boxes in his career, Muthu followed the traditional path of the creamy layer of fighter pilots as he transitioned from being a flying instructor to joining the elite band of test pilots, commanding a squadron and a fighter base. Chosen to lead the SU-30 upgrade project in Russia, he returned two years later to take charge as the Chief Operations Officer of Air Force Station Pune, home to the first SU-30 MKI squadron (20 Squadron).
After leading the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC), which was closely involved with HAL in pushing the TEJAS towards squadron induction, Muthu quit the IAF to join HAL. It was a time when the TEJAS project had taken off for sure but had not lit its afterburners yet! Though the first order for 40 aircraft had already been signed and production of the initial series had commenced, the project needed further credibility as it grappled with issues of maintainability and sortie generation rates in the first IAF squadron. It was an ideal transition and a win-win situation for both HAL and the IAF as there could not have been a better professional to steer the project from Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) to the recent FOC.
His fellow HAL test pilots on the programme, Harsh Vardhan Thakur, Subroto Chaki and Pratyush Awasthi highlighted two solid outcome-driven achievements during his stint as Chief Fixed Wing Test Pilot. He first managed to convince the MoD and the IAF top brass to back the ‘doable’ TEJAS MK-1A rather than the over-the-top TEJAS MK-II. It is now almost a done deal. The second was his initiative to create a formal practitioner and subject matter expert-driven strategic process within HAL that has resulted in the emergence of synergy between pilots, designers, engineers and management, and allowed HAL to communicate effectively with users and think big. The possibility of developing a twin-engine TEJAS, both for the Indian Navy and IAF, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft and a range of unmanned aerial vehicles are now all within the realm of possibility.
India’s TEJAS project has still some distance to go before it wins the complete trust of the IAF’s fighter pilots, with several of them arguing that even a futuristic twin-engine TEJAS MK-II will not match up to the Rafale in every domain. However, it now appears to be on a stable footing with complete government and corporate backing, and an excellent and committed team. A current TEJAS test pilot argues, “TEJAS now represents India in a big way – not just HAL anymore. TEJAS-bashing should get behind us, sooner than later.”
If HAL can ramp up its production rates, address reliability and maintainability in the field, the TEJAS MK-1A may well have triggered a renaissance in contemporary Indian fighter development, and Muthu, who retires from HAL today (March 31), can well be certain that he has been a major catalyst in this transformation.
source: http://www.indiandefensenews.in / Indian Defense News / Home / by Indian Defense News / March 31st, 2020
(further source: Deccan Herald / March 31st, 2020 / by Arjun Subramaniam, Retd Air Vice Marshal of the the IAF, a military historian and strategic commentator)
‘Enclave,’ the 18th College Day celebration of Coorg Institute of Technology (CIT), run by Kodava Education Society (KES), will be held at its campus in Halligattu, Ponnampet, South Kodagu, on May 13 at 10.30 am.
MP Pratap Simha and Maj. Gen. (retd.) K. Arjun Muthanna, SM, will be the chief guests. Dr. Deepak Poola Chandrashekar, Cloud Solution architect, IBM, Bengaluru and B. Akshaya Bojamma, Data Quality Analyst, Apple Care, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, will be the guests of honour. The event will be presided over by C.P. Belliappa, Hon. President, KES.
International Conference
CIT has also organised an ‘International Conference on Emerging Trends in Science and Engineering (ICETSE-2017)’ on May 11 and 12 at its campus in Ponnampet. The Conference will be inaugurated on May 11 at 10 am. KES Co-opted Director Dr. J. Ponnamma Machaiah will be the guest of honour. KES President C.P. Belliappa will preside. Bhandari Srinivas Institute of Technology (Telangana) Principal Dr. V.S. Giridhar Akula will deliver the keynote address.
The valedictory will be held on May 12 at 2 pm. Dr. D.H. Manjaiah, Department of Computer Science, Mangalore University, Dr. C.P. Rakesh Poovaiah, Secretary, KES and C.M. Raja Nanjappa, Jt. Secretary, KES will be the special guests. Dr. M.C. Kariappa, Vice-President, KES, will preside. Dr. P. Mahabaleshwarappa, Principal, CIT, will be the Conference Convenor. C. Nanjan Biddappa, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, CIT, will be the Conference Co-ordinator.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / May 08th, 2017
Kodava Education Society has released a souvenir titled ‘The Silver Lining (1999-2024)’ to commemorate the silver jubilee celebrations of the Coorg Institute of Technology in Ponnampet, Kodagu district.
The souvenir features messages from various VVIPs and dignitaries, including Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, who has extended his best wishes to the management, students and the souvenir team.
Other notable messages include those from the Minister for Higher Education Dr. M.C. Sudhakar, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Chairman Prof. T.G. Sitharam, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) Vice Chancellor Dr. S. Vidyashankar, former Kodava Education Society President C.P. Belliappa (who served from 2007 to 2022), current Society President Dr. M.C. Kariappa, Hon. Secretary C.P. Rakesh Poovaiah, Founding Principal Prof. Chaluve Gowda, Principal Dr. M. Basavaraj and various alumni.
The Coorg Institute of Technology, established in 1999, has been a boon not only to the youths of Kodagu but also to engineering aspirants across the State. The souvenir acknowledges the contributions of Executive Committee members from 1997 to the present and philanthropists who aided establishment of engineering college over the past two-and-a-half decades. Additionally, the souvenir highlights academic and sports achievements of students and ialumni who have made a mark in various fields.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / July 09th, 2024
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