
India successfully test-fires Prithvi-II and Agni-1 ballistic missiles from Odisha range
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
India successfully test-fired Short-Range Ballistic Missiles (SRBM), Prithvi-II and Agni-I, from the Integrated Test Range in Odisha's Chandipur, the Ministry of Defence said in an official statement.The launches took place on Thursday, during which all operational and technical parameters were validated.These tests were conducted under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command.On July 16, India achieved a significant milestone by successfully destroying two Aerial high-speed unmanned targets at high altitude in Ladakh by Akash Prime, the upgraded variant of the Akash Weapon System for the Indian Army.The weapon system is customised to operate at altitudes above 4,500 meters and has the latest upgrades, including an indigenously developed Radio Frequency seeker, as per the release.Based on the operational feedback from users, various upgrades have been made to improve the operational effectiveness, demonstrating the advantage of the ecosystem created for the indigenous weapon system.According to the statement, Army Air Defence and DRDO, in conjunction with Defence PSUs such as Bharat Dynamics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited , and other Industry Partners, have successfully validated the indigenously designed and developed Akash Prime Weapon System The trials were done as part of the First of Production Model firing trial and will further enable timely induction and enhance the Air Defence potential in high-altitude frontiers of the country, as per the release.This achievement carries added significance as it follows the exceptional performance of India's indigenously developed air defence systems during Operation Sindoor.It marks a major step forward for the nation's missile development programs, which are now gaining increasing attention in the global defence market.According to the release, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has complimented the Indian Army, DRDO, and the industry on this remarkable achievement. He described the success as a significant boost to India's Air Defence capabilities, particularly for meeting high-altitude operational requirements.According to the statement, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of DRDO Samir V Kamat, congratulated the teams associated with the successful test and stated that the missile has met the country's critical air defence requirements for high altitude.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
New bar policy gets AP cabinet nod, allotment through draw of lots
Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Wednesday approved the new bar policy for three years (2025-28). The govt has fixed the licence fee by dividing the bars into three categories based on the population of the area. Like in retail liquor outlets, the govt has reserved 10% of bar licences for toddy tapers at 50% of the licence fee. The allotment of licence would be done through draw of lots. Anyone can apply for a bar licence by paying the application fee. A minimum of four applications is required for conducting the lottery for a particular area. Announcing the decision, I&PR minister Kolusu Pardasarathi said the new policy was finalised after studying bar policies in neighbouring states. Pardasarathi observed that more than 50% of bars are struggling to stay afloat in the existing policy, which prompted the govt to introduce the new policy. "The 840 existing licences will be renewed according to the new policy. Business hours for the bars have been fixed from 10 am to 11 pm. The existing bar policy will expire on Aug 31, and the new policy will come into effect from Sep 1. The application process and allotment of licences will be completed before Aug 31," he said. The minister further noted that during the YSRCP regime, there was huge difference between the bid prices, leading to cartelisation. "Allotment of licences will be done through a transparent process as the licence fee is fixed for the bars in all three categories," he added. While the licence fee for bars in cities up to 50,000 population has been fixed at Rs 35 lakh per annum, Rs 50 lakh will be charged for bars in cities with population between 50,000 and 5 lakh. The annual licence fee for bars located in cities with more than 5 lakh population has been fixed at Rs 75 lakh. The fee to apply for the bar licence will be Rs 5 lakh. Unlike in the existing system, licence fee can be paid in six equal instalments and submission of bank guarantee equivalent to one instalment. The liquor off take price for bars is fixed on par with retail shops. The cabinet also approved the proposal of granting licences to permit rooms in retail outlets. The licence fee for the permit room has been fixed at Rs 5 lakh per annum. The decision was taken after 2.71 lakh cases of drinking in public places was reported in last one year. This is to ensure that no public inconvenience is caused and also to encourage responsible drinking," Pardasarathi said.


Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Stricter rules likely to curb substandard steel imports
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel India plans to tighten the advance authorisation norms for steel imports, aiming to curb large-scale inflows of substandard inputs. According to officials aware of the development, instances of non-Bureau of Indian Standards (non-BIS) compliant steel being sold in the domestic market are being flagged. These substandard products are said to be imported duty free by export-oriented units under the advance authorisation."The imported steel, meant for export production is often sold in the domestic market, resulting in revenue loss for the government and putting domestic steel makers at a competitive disadvantage," the official told currently levies an interim 12% safeguard duty, and a 7.5% basic customs duty on steel imports. There is also a Quality Control Order (QCO) which bans the import and sale of non-BIS steel in the advance authorisation scheme allows exporters to import raw material at nil duty and without QCO regulations with an export mandate that needs to be met within 18 months."Eighteen months is too long, and traceability of non-BIS compliant steel is a matter of concern since it is making its way to the domestic market and not being used to make exported products," the official centre is now said to be considering lowering the Export Obligation Period (EOP) of advance authorisations to six months in a bid to ensure the substandard steel is not tightening the Advance Authorisation regime, India is also planning to withdraw an exemption from the QCO granted to domestic importers under the scheme. This too is aimed at plugging misuse of the scheme, officials to Fitch Ratings, India is also expected to extend its 12% safeguard duty and even revise the duty rates upwards as industry conditions worsen globally. "Governments around the world have been raising barriers to steel imports in recent months," Fitch said while adding India has introduced other non-tariff measures to protect domestic producers in recent steel imports fell by 16% annually in the first half of this calendar year. "Barriers to steel imports should benefit domestic producers," Fitch added.


Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
MoSPI proposes new base years for IIP, GDP & CPI
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The government has proposed 2022-23 as the new base year for the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and 2024 for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Parliament was informed on the base year for both IIP and GDP is 2011-12, while it is 2012 for CPI. The new CPI will draw weight of items from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24."The Ministry is underway to revise the base year of GDP, IIP, and CPI," MoS for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh informed Lok Sabha. "The base year is revised periodically to better capture the structural changes happening in the economy by updating the methodology of compilation and incorporation of new data sources, he CPI, which tracks monthly retail prices of goods and services across 1,181 rural and 1,114 urban markets, will expand its coverage to 2,900 markets, ET reported new series will also include e-commerce price trends and online streaming services revised GDP series will source data from Goods and Service Tax (GST), Public Finance Management System, and Vahan portal. It will also include Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction data, ET reported in December 2024.