12 paramedics killed in Israeli airstrike on Lebanese village
At least 12 paramedics from civil defence teams were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their centre in Duris, a village in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, media reported.
The Ministry of Defence has set a target of Rs 1.75 lakh crores of defence production by 2025, which includes exports of Rs 35,000 crores, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said today.
He exuded confidence that the Defence PSUs would play a major role in achieving this goal with a contribution of 70-80 per cent.
The minister exhorted the Non-Official Directors (NODs) of DPSUs to ensure smooth implementation of various initiatives taken by the government towards achieving ‘Aatmanirbharta in Defence’.
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He was addressing the CMDs and NODs of DPSUs during the first-of-its-kind workshop organised by the Department of Defence Production in New Delhi.
Rajnath asserted that the country was witnessing a transitional phase towards self-reliance and active and collective efforts were central to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
He listed various initiatives taken by the MoD to achieve self-reliance, including simplification of the acquisition process of defence equipment/platforms under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020; flexibility in Offset guidelines; increase in FDI limit to 74 per cent under Automatic Route and up to 100 per cent under the government route; simplification of the process of obtaining a license; launch of Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative and enhanced use of Artificial Intelligence in the defence sector.
Rajnath described NODs as a bridge between DPSUs and the MoD, which not only strengthened corporate governance in public sector companies but also ensured that the work was carried out as per the policies of the government.
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