New Delhi: Indian Army has handpicked four lady officers including Lt Col Nandani to train the first batch of women soldiers who will be inducted into the military police by year-end or early next year.

The Colonel Commandant of the Military Police, Lt Gen Ashwani has interviewed Lt Col Nandani in Srinagar for the role of the instructor of the first-ever batch of women soldiers for the Army.

There will be more women officers as instructors including Maj Julie who was the instructor to the first batch of women constables in Assam Rifles.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat had earlier announced that women soldiers will be inducted into combat roles on priority after facing criticism that women were being kept away.

The women Corps of Military Police (CMP) batch, whose prime responsibility will be policing army cants, will see a hundred women jawans being recruited. Presently, the Army, Navy and Air Force have only women officers, not jawans. Women soldiers are presently under the selection process from thousands of volunteers across the nation and the training of the selected 100 is likely to start in December in Bangaluru.

The Indian cricket team started their World Test Championship campaign on a high as they won both of their matches against West Indies and thanks to the clean sweep, Virat Kohli & Co are leading the table with 120 points. According to the points system, a win in a two-match series will see the winning team awarded 60 points and as a result, the dominant show by India earned them 120 points from the series win. India bowled West Indies out for just 210 in Kingston, Jamaica, on Monday to win the second Test by 257 runs. (Full scorecard of 2nd Test match)

In the points table, India are followed by New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England and Australia - all these teams have won one match each. While New Zealand and Sri Lanka have 60 points, both Australia and England – who have played three matches – have 32 points to show for all the drama unfolding at the Ashes.

The Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-2 mission has moved away from the main spacecraft, and closer to the moon, lowering itself into an orbit that was 104 km from the lunar surface at the nearest point and 128 km at the furthest. The lander had separated itself from the main spacecraft on Monday and had started moving independently, though in the same orbit as the main spacecraft.

After a four second manoeuvre performed at 0850 am this morning, Vikram, which carries the Pragyaan rover inside, changed its orbit and reached closer to the moon. Through a similar operation on Wednesday, Vikram would lower itself further into an orbit that would be about 36 km from the lunar surface at its nearest point. It is from this orbit that it will begin its final descent on to the moon on the early hours of Saturday.

The main spacecraft would continue to remain in its original orbit, and would relay information to the tracking station in Bengaluru for at least one year. “Both the Orbiter (main spacecraft) and Lander are healthy,” ISRO said in a statement after today’s manoeuvre.

In a major boost to the Indian Air Force’s combat capabilities, eight US-made Apache AH-64E attack helicopters are set to be inducted into the IAF on September 3, officials said on Monday.

Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa will be the chief guest during the induction ceremony, which will take place at the Pathankot Air Force station.

The AH-64E Apache is one of the world’s most advanced multi-role combat helicopters and is flown by the U.S. Army.

“Eight of the Apache attack helicopters are set to be inducted into the IAF, that will enhance the force’s combat capabilities,” a senior IAF official said.

The IAF had signed a multi-billion dollar contract with the U.S. government and Boeing Ltd in September 2015 for 22 Apache helicopters. The first four of the 22 helicopters was handed over to the air force by Boeing on July 27.

The BJP-led Haryana Government has announced a 4,750 crore rupees waiver on interest and penalty on crop loans. This will benefit around 10 lakh farmers of the state. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said this while addressing a rally in Bhiwani, Haryana yesterday. 

The farmers who have borrowed from Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS), District Cooperative Central Banks, Land Mortgage Bank and Haryana Land Reforms and Development Bank will benefit from this decision. 

According to the announcement, the farmers whose bank accounts were declared Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) by these banks and were unable to renew their loans will now be able to do so. Mr Khattar said, out of 13 lakh farmers who borrowed from PACS, the accounts of over eight lakh had turned into NPAs. He said, the five per cent penalty imposed on farmers who failed to repay loans taken from PACS will now be completely waived.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia from September 4 to 5 during which he will hold a bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the External Affairs Ministry announced on Monday.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, at a media briefing, said the visit will be a short one, lasting about 36 hours.

Its two main purposes are that the prime minister has been invited to attend the Eastern Economic Forum as one of the chief guests and he will also hold the 20th annual bilateral summit with the Russian president.

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan today launched a new scheme of Annual Health Check-up for CGHS beneficiaries who are pensioners of the age of 75 years and above. 

He also inaugurated state-of-the-art CGHS Bhawan in New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that CGHS services should be made available in 100 cities by 2022. 

The CGHS services which started in 1954 from Delhi expanded to only 25 cities till 2014. However, in the last five years under the NDA Government, the services have been extended to as many as 71 cities. 

Defence Ministerial meeting between India and Japan is presently underway in Japan's capital Tokyo. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is heading the Indian side while Japanese side is led by Japan's Minister of Defence Takeshi Iwaya. The Ministerial Dialogue will aim to further strengthen India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership and include wide-ranging discussions to enhance the bilateral defence and security engagements between the two countries. 

The two sides are also expected to deliberate on the long-pending issue of supply of the US-2 amphibious aircraft by Japan to India.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reached Tokyo today during the first leg of his five-day visit to Japan and South Korea to enhance strategic ties and explore possibilities of collaboration of major military platforms. 

The 14th Conference of Parties, COP14, to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification will get underway in Greater Noida today. The Conference will focus on desertification and degradation of land and will go on till 13th of this month. Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar had earlier this week highlighted India’s resolve to combat desertification. Mr Javadekar asserted that India will lead from the front to combat desertification and move the world in a positive direction. AIR correspondent reports the main objective of the convention is to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought or desertification. 

India will host over 3000 participants and take the responsibility of leading 196 nations towards Sustainable Development for the next two years in COP14. This Conference will provide framework for countries to restore the land and protect human health. It will present sustainable solutions for better land management. The Conference is expected to agree on about 30 decisions to ramp up and elaborate further actions needed on the ground. Different industries will showcase their latest products, and innovations associated with reduction of land degradation. Land is the lifeline for all living beings, and the impact of land degradation is ultimately on human health and well-being. 

The stage is all set for the crucial separation of lander Vikram from Chandrayaan 2 Orbiter this afternoon. According to ISRO, the separation is scheduled between 12:45 PM and 1:45 PM. The separation will allow the lander to travel towards the lunar surface, leaving the Orbiter to continue to revolve around the moon.

Yesterday evening, ISRO successfully carried out fifth and final orbit manoeuvre of Chandrayaan 2 to refine its circular path around the moon. The orbiter will remain in its orbit for a planned one year. The composite Chandrayaan-2 has the orbiter, the lander and the rover. The 1.5-ton lander carries in its belly the 27 kg rover. The mission of the lander is to soft-land on the lunar South Pole and to safely unleash the rover. The lander and the rover have a mission life of a single lunar day or 14 days of the earth.