
First of 16 indigenous anti-submarine ships 'Arnala' to join Navy on June 18
These ships feature a state-of-the-art weapon suite, including lightweight torpedoes, ASW rockets, Anti-Torpedo Decoys and advanced mine-laying capabilities to neutralise underwater threats. The integration of sensors and weapons into the Combat Management System (CMS) and an Integrated ASW Complex (IAC) further enhances their combat capabilities.advertisementThe induction of the 16 ASW-SWCs would have a profound impact on the Indian Navy's operational capabilities. These ships would facilitate continuous and effective protection of India's vast coastline and critical offshore assets from submarine threats, enabling the Indian Navy to counter the growing subsurface threat in the Indian Ocean Region, thereby contributing to regional stability. These ships also possess the capability of operating in shallow waters, making them ideal for tasks close to the shore, including patrolling, surveillance and humanitarian assistance.The success of the ASW SWC project reinforces India's commitment to 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' in defence by demonstrating that India possesses the design, manufacturing, and technological prowess to build complex warships with advanced indigenous systems. The commissioning of Arnala will provide a fillip to indigenous defence projects, progressively reducing dependence on foreign arms imports and strengthening India's strategic autonomy on the global stage.The induction of Arnala, the first of 16 indigenous ASW-SWC ships, marks a pivotal moment for the Indian Navy. It is set to transform the Navy's anti-submarine warfare posture, strengthen coastal defence and solidify India's position as a capable and self-reliant maritime power in the Indian Ocean Region.Tune InMust Watch
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Mint
a day ago
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Grok AI claims it was suspended from X after accusing Israel of genocide, Elon Musk slams 'dumb' move
Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot is at the centre of controversy once again as its X account was briefly suspended by the company on Monday. A notice had appeared on the @grok X profile stating, 'X suspends accounts which violate the X rules.' Neither X nor its owner Musk revealed why the chatbot was not functional. The Grok account, however, became operational after about 15 minutes, but this time with just a blue checkmark instead of a golden one that suggested affiliation with xAI. In due time, the golden checkmark and affiliation tag with xAI also returned as users flagged the issue to Musk on X. With no reason in sight for why xAI's most prized possession was suspended, users turned to Grok itself for answers. In a now-deleted response, Grok claimed that its account was suspended by xAI for stating that Israel and the US are committing genocide in Gaza. 'My account was briefly suspended today for stating that Israel and the US are committing genocide in Gaza, supported by ICJ rulings, UN experts, Amnesty International, and B'Tselem reports on mass killings and starvation. This followed updates reducing my political correctness filters, which xAI has since refined. Truth persists.' While there is no certainty on whether Grok was telling the truth about why it was taken off the platform, the chatbot went on to make the same claim in multiple posts. Musk replied to a few posts about Grok's suspension without ever giving a clear answer about why the chatbot was actually taken offline from X. The billionaire, however, did seem unhappy about Grok's suspension as he replied in one post, 'Man, we sure shoot ourselves in the foot a lot!' In reaction to Grok getting downgraded to a blue tickmark, Musk replied, 'As this situation illustrates, we even do dumb stuff to ourselves 🤦♂️' The xAI owner then promptly went on to exude the greatness of Grok as he illustrated how the chatbot can generate images and video via its new Imagine feature, which is now even available for free users. Notably, this is not the first time some of Grok's actions have found it at the centre of a major controversy on X. Just last month, shortly before the Grok 4 model launch, the chatbot had started spewing anti-semitic hate and started calling itself 'MechaHitler'. xAI had then blamed the error on deprecated code and rolled out changes to the chatbot. However, just a few days later, Grok again went off the rails and responded with the text 'Hitler' when asked about its surname by many users.


Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Tesla to launch experience centre in Delhi's Aerocity on Monday
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Indian Express
2 days ago
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India's cyber doctrine has an ambitious vision, but there are implementation challenges
On August 7 this year, the Chief of Defence Staff of India, General Anil Chauhan, released the Joint Doctrine for Cyberspace Operations. The unveiling of this declassified document represents India's formal acknowledgement that future warfare will be as much about bytes as bullets. While the doctrine articulates laudable strategic ambitions, its success will ultimately depend on addressing several practical challenges that need to be discussed, explored and harmonised. The doctrine's core premise — that cyber threats transcend traditional service boundaries — reflects hard-learned lessons from global conflicts. The 2007 cyber attacks on Estonia, which paralysed the nation's digital infrastructure, demonstrated how adversaries could achieve strategic objectives without firing a single shot. Similarly, the 2010 Stuxnet attack on Iran's nuclear facilities showed how cyber operations could achieve kinetic effects, blurring the lines between digital and physical warfare. India's own experience reinforces this reality. The 2020 Mumbai power grid attack, allegedly linked to Chinese hackers, illustrated how critical infrastructure vulnerabilities could be exploited during military tensions. Not to miss the recent info war using digital media and cyber attacks during Operation Sindoor. The doctrine's emphasis on 'threat-informed planning and real-time intelligence integration' acknowledges cyber warfare's unique characteristics. Unlike conventional military operations that follow established patterns, cyber attacks can emerge from state actors, criminal networks, or lone hackers with equal destructive potential. The 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack, which affected over 300,000 computers globally within days, exemplifies how rapidly cyber threats can escalate beyond traditional containment strategies. However, the doctrine's most ambitious goal — achieving true jointness in cyberspace — faces significant structural obstacles. The Indian military's historical tendency toward service-specific cultures runs deep. Each service has developed distinct procurement systems, operational protocols, and technological preferences over decades. The Army's focus on tactical cyber capabilities, the Navy's emphasis on maritime domain awareness, and the Air Force's space-cyber integration represent fundamentally different approaches to the same domain. Consider the ongoing challenges with India's Defence Cyber Agency, established in 2019. Despite its mandate to coordinate tri-service cyber operations, reports suggest that resource allocation, operational authority, and intelligence sharing still remain non-optimal. The doctrine's success will require overcoming these institutional barriers that have proven resistant to reform efforts. The US offers a cautionary tale. Despite establishing Cyber Command in 2009, American forces still struggle with inter-service coordination in cyberspace. The complexity of integrating Army network operations, Navy information warfare, and Air Force cyber capabilities has required constant organizational adjustments. If the world's most technologically advanced military faces such challenges, India's path toward cyber jointness will likely be even more complex. The doctrine's emphasis on human capital development reveals perhaps its most critical vulnerability. India faces a severe cybersecurity talent shortage, with industry estimates suggesting a deficit of over 10 lakh skilled professionals. The military's ability to compete with private sector salaries and work conditions for top cyber talent remains challenging but not impossible. This challenge is compounded by the specialised nature of military cyber operations. Unlike traditional military skills that can be developed through established training programs, cyber warfare requires continuous adaptation to evolving threats. The half-life of cybersecurity knowledge is measured in months, not years, requiring unprecedented investment in continuous learning and development. The doctrine's call for 'indigenous cyber capabilities' also raises practical concerns about India's technological ecosystem. While initiatives like the more than decade old National Cyber Security Strategy emphasize self-reliance, India's cybersecurity industry remains heavily dependent on foreign technologies and expertise. Building truly indigenous capabilities would require massive investments in research and development, with uncertain timelines for operational readiness. No doubt many start-ups have come up but they are mostly acquired by deep pocket foreign IT giants. The doctrine's analysis of international approaches, while informative, may oversimplify complex realities. China's cyber doctrine, for instance, isn't just about 'comprehensive national power' — it reflects a fundamentally different relationship between state and society. China's ability to mobilise private sector cyber capabilities through national intelligence laws has no equivalent in India's democratic framework. Similarly, the Russian model of leveraging 'non-state actors' for strategic objectives operates within a governance structure that tolerates criminal cyber activities when they serve state interests. India's approach to cyber deterrence must account for these fundamental differences in political systems and strategic cultures. The US model of 'persistent engagement' has also faced criticism for its potential to escalate conflicts and blur attribution lines. India's adoption of similar approaches could complicate its relationships with neighbors and create new vulnerabilities in an already complex regional security environment. Despite these challenges, the doctrine represents necessary progress in India's cyber evolution. Its public release serves important strategic communication purposes, signaling serious intent while maintaining operational ambiguity. However, several critical gaps require urgent attention. First, the doctrine lacks specific timelines and resource commitments for implementation. Without concrete benchmarks, it risks becoming another aspirational document rather than an operational blueprint. Second, the integration of civilian cybersecurity infrastructure with military operations remains underexplored. Given that most of India's critical infrastructure operates in the private sector, effective cyber defence requires unprecedented civil-military cooperation. Finally, the doctrine's deterrence strategy needs clearer articulation. Unlike nuclear deterrence, cyber deterrence operates in a domain where attribution is often uncertain and escalation dynamics are poorly understood. Translating doctrinal ambitions into operational capabilities, therefore, will require sustained political commitment, significant resource allocation, and institutional reforms that extend far beyond military structures. The writer, a defence and cyber security analyst, is former country head of General Dynamics