NEWS 28-01-2021. NEWS FOR 29th JAN (FRIDAY) 1. Captain Preeti Choudhary was the only woman Army officer to lead a contingent this year in the iconic Republic Day parade. It was a debut for Schilika weapon. 2. Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth became the first woman fighter pilot to take part in the R-Day parade as she was part of an IAF tableau that showcased mock-ups of an light combat aircraft, light combat helicopter and a Sukhoi-30 fighter plane. Also Flight Lieutenant Swati Rathore got the honour to be the first woman to be part of the flypast over Rajpath as she flew a Mi-17 V5 helicopter in a formation of four choppers. 3. Col Santosh Babu, who led his troops against the Chinese attack in Galwan Valley in June last year, has been posthumously named for the second-highest military award, Mahavir Chakra. 4. Air Commodore Vishnubhotla Nagaraj Srinivas was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal Air (VSM) by President Ram Nath Kovind on the Republic Day. 5. Indian forces facing China’s aggression in Ladakh will shortly receive indigenous attack helicopters adding muscle to the airborne fleet that currently consists of AH 64E Apache choppers. 6. Three French Rafale multi-combat fighter jets that took off from France in a non-stop flight to India landed at an IAF base. The jets flew over 7000km with in-flight refuelling by UAE Air Force. 7. A large-scale tri-service joint amphibious exercise AMPHEX – 21 & KAVACH was conducted in Andaman & Nicobar group of islands from 21 to 25 Jan 2021. The exercise involved the participation of Naval ships, amphibious troops of the Army and different types of aircraft from the Air force. 8. The DRDO displayed two tableaux at this year's Republic Day parade. One showcased light combat aircraft Tejas' successful take-off from aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in 2020, and another displaying full complement of anti-tank guided missile systems. 9. The exercise, Sea Dragon 2021, began in Guam earlier this month. Along with India, Japan, US & Australia, Canada is also participating. The Navy has deployed one anti-submarine warfare aircraft, the P8i, for this exercise. 10. The state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited achieved a major milestone by successfully test-firing a Smart Anti Airfield Weapon (SAAW) from the Hawk-i aircraft off the coast of Odisha. 11. India will be soon signing a deal with Russia's Kalashnikov company which will give India the licence to produce AK -203 assault rifles. The rifles will be manufactured at a place in Korwa, Uttar Pradesh. 12. The surface to air missile program achieved a major Milestone when the first test of Akash-NG (next-generation) was successfully conducted from coast of Odisha. 13. Unprecedented chaos was unleashed upon Delhi on the 72nd Republic Day as the tractor rally by protesting farmers went off the designated course and rolled into the Iconic Red Fort in the Old City. 14. Students of Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, have designed and developed a satellite at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. It was inaugurated by chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Dr R Sivan on January 28. 15. ICC on January 27 2021 announced the "ICC Player of the month" awards to recognise the best performance of the male and female cricketers across all the three forms of international cricket. < < Back