Current Affairs 08-NOV-2023 (The Hindu)

Fighter Jets

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Fighter Jets

Overview

• Purpose: Primarily designed to gain and maintain control of the skies, engage, and defeat enemy aircraft.

Types of Fighter Jets

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)

• Purpose: Designed to replace ageing Mig 21 fighter planes.

Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA)

• Purpose: Designed to perform various missions, including air-to-air combat, air-to-ground attack, and electronic warfare.
• Replacement: Procured to replace the aging fleet of Soviet-era MiG-21.

MiG-21

• Type: Supersonic jet fighter & interceptor aircraft.
• Origin: Designed by USSR in the 1950s.
• Introduction to India: India acquired it in 1963.
• Nickname: "Flying Coffin"

Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)

• Generation: 5th generation stealth, multirole combat aircraft.
• Collaboration: Developed by ADA & Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
• Initiation: Started in 2008 as a successor to the Sukhoi Su-30MKI.

Sukhoi Su-30MKI

• Type: Twin-engine, two-seat, multirole fighter aircraft.
• Origin: Developed by Russia’s Sukhoi.
• Purpose: Designed to perform air superiority, ground attack, electronic warfare, and maritime strike missions.

Consider the following statements:

1. Mirage 2000 is a twin-engine fighter jet.

2. Hal Tejas is a delta-winged fighter jet.

3. Rafale is a hypersonic fighter jet.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2

2. 2 only

3. 1 and 3

4. 3 only

Chhatrapati Shivaji

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Chhatrapati Shivaji

• Date of Birth: 19th Feb, 1630.
• Birthplace: Shivneri Fort, Pune district.
• Parents: Father - Shahaji Bhonsle, Mother - Jijabai.
• Assumption of Full Charge: 1647 - Shivaji assumed full charge.

Conflict with Bijapur

• 1659: Sultan of Bijapur sent Afzal Khan. Shivaji killed Afzal Khan.
• 1662: Peace settlement. Sultan of Bijapur acknowledged Shivaji as an independent ruler.

Conflict with Mughal

• 1657: Shivaji raided Ahmednagar. Aurangzeb sent Nasiri Khan. Nasiri Khan defeated Shivaji.
• 1659: Shivaji defeated Shaista Khan and Bijapur army in Pune.
• 1664: Shivaji attacked Mughal trading port of Surat.
• 1665: Shivaji lost the battle of Purandar.
• 1666: Shivaji taken a prisoner when went to meet Mughal emperor at Agra. Shivaji escaped and reached Raigarh.
• 1670: Shivaji plundered Surat for the second time.
• 1674: Shivaji made Raigarh his Capital & assumed the title of Chatrapati.
• Southern India Conquests: Conquered Jinji and Vellore.
• 1680: Shivaji died at Raigarh.

Practice Question – Prelims

Consider the following statements:

1. The Ashtapradhan was not a creation of Shivaji.

2. Under Shivaji, Ashtapradhan offices were neither hereditary nor permanent and held the office at the pleasure of the king.

3. Peshwa looked after the finances and general administration.

How many of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) Only one

b) Only two

c) All three

d) None

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

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NATO

Transatlantic alliance: Like-minded North American & European countries.

World’s largest peacetime military alliance.

History

• Created in 1949 - US, Canada & several Western European nations.
• To provide collective security against Soviet Union.
• First peacetime military alliance of the US outside the Western Hemisphere.
• Established after WW-II to aid European nations devastated by the war and counter the Soviet Union's influence.
• Struggled to rebuild their economies post-WWII.
• Formed to counterattack the Soviet Union's organization - Warsaw Pact.

NATO’s Membership

Open to any other European state based on the principles of NATO.

Practice Question – Prelims

Which of the following pairs of countries are members of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)?

(a) Germany, Turkey, Iceland, Finland

(b) Turkey, Iceland, Sweden, Norway

(c) Canada, Denmark, Belarus, France

(d) Ukraine, Canada, Turkey, Italy