22 MARCH 2016

Ø  The fast patrol vessel (FPV) of the Indian Coast Guard, ICGS Arnvesh, was commissioned here on Monday by Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice-Admiral H.C.S. Bisht. The 50-metre long, 300-tonne vessel is the 16th of the 20 in this category being built by the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). Propelled by triple Rolls Royce Kamewa water jets, it can achieve a maximum speed of 33 knots and carry a crew of five officers and 34 men. Fitted with the state-of-the-art navigational and communication equipment, including night vision capabilities, its main armament comprises 40/60 Bofors guns.

Ø  Signalling India’s deepening naval engagement in the Indian Ocean, the Indian navy has for the first time deployed one of its advanced maritime reconnaissance aircraft to Seychelles for surveillance of the island nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone. It is the first such deployment of the Boeing P 8I to a foreign country. The aircraft has been in Seychelles since March 20, according to the Navy. The move is “in accordance with the MoU between the Governments of India and Seychelles,” it said in a statement.

Ø  “This is a new day,” U.S. President Barack Obama said, standing alongside his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro after their meeting at Havana’s Palace of the Revolution. In a history-making meeting here on Monday, Mr. Castro praised Mr. Obama’s recent steps to relax controls on Cuba as “positive,” but deemed them insufficient. He called anew for the U.S. to return its naval base at Guantanamo Bay to Cuba and to lift the U.S. trade embargo. That is essential, because the blockade remains in place, and it contains discouraging elements,” Mr. Castro said. Mr. Obama came to Cuba pledging to press its leaders on human rights and political freedoms, and vowing that the mere fact of a visit by an American leader would promote those values on the island. Mr. Castro worked to turn the tables on Mr. Obama by saying Cuba found it “inconceivable” for a government to fail to ensure health care, education, food and social security for its people — a clear reference to the U.S. As Mr. Castro prepares to step down in 2018, he’s held firm against any changes to Cuba’s one-party political system.