After months of ground and flight trials, the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), a premier military certification agency, on January 22, 2019 cleared the use of indigenously produced bio-fuel for use in the military aircraft.

The Indian Army is commemorating '2019' as the 'Year of Next of Kin'. As a part of this commemoration, the Army has planned to reach out to the next of kin of battle casualties, ex-servicemen and serving soldiers to resolve their pension related issues and to let them know of their entitled financial benefits, welfare schemes. The issue has gained importance because most of the next of kin of the late soldiers were unaware of their entitled financial benefits. The Indian Army has stated that the issue has worsened due to non-digitised personal records, and also because of complications from various policy provisions and their multifarious interpretations.

A regular river cruise will start between Kolkata, India and Dhaka, Bangladesh for the first time in the history of the two countries. The Indian ship, R V Bengal Ganga, will start its journey from a west Kolkata jetty. About 60 persons will be travelling. The return journey will take nearly two weeks from Kolkata and the ship will pass through Sunderbans on both sides of the marine border. Another ship will simultaneously start from Bangladesh, traverse the same route and reach Kolkata, taking approximately the same time. The border formalities will be completed at Sunderbans on the Indian side.

India's indigenous supersonic fighter jet Tejas will for the first time participate in aerial displays during the five-day Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) in Malaysia. India has been projecting the Tejas aircraft in a big way as it has been manufactured indigenously at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. The Indian Air Force will participate in the Maritime Aero Expo for the first time, during which it will showcase its indigenously-developed light combat aircraft Tejas. India's indigenous supersonic Light Combat Aircraft(LCA)-Tejas & the world's lightest supersonic fighter which has already joined IAF, is for the 1st time taking part in aerial displays during 05 day Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition.

The Nigerian military has lifted a ban on UNICEF operations in the ravaged northeast of the country. Earlier, the army had suspended the aid agency & accused it of training spies supporting Boko Haram jihadists. Boko Haram's Islamist insurgency has killed more than 27,000 people since it began in 2009 and has triggered a humanitarian crisis in the wider Lake Chad region, where the jihadists have stepped up attacks in recent months.

India and Sri Lanka is to conduct joint military exercise Mitra Shakti VI from 26 March to 8 April at Sri Lanka. At the Military Exercise Mitra Shakti VI India would be represented by the Bihar Regiment. Gemunu Watch Battalion of Sri Lankan Army will be representing the Sri Lankan side. The exercise aims to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries and to enhance the ability of joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command. The exercise also involves tactical level operations in an international Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist environment under the United Nations mandate.

Highlighting the close maritime proximity between India and Indonesia, Indian Coast Guard Ship 'Vijit' became the first-ever Coast Guard ship to visit Sabang, Indonesia. During its maiden voyage, officers and crew of Vijit will hold interaction with officials of Bakamla (Indonesian Coast Guard), Indonesian Armed Forces and the civil administration at Sabang, read a press release from Indian embassy in Jakarta.

Indian Army inducted its domestically developed and manufactured Dhanush artillery howitzer at a ceremony held the Ordnance factory in Jabalpur to give a major fire-power boost to the Indian Armed Forces. The Dhanush gun is the first indigenous artillery gun of 155x45mm caliber and is based on Bofors howitzer which was commissioned in the 1980s. Bharat Electronics, the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation, the Directorate General of Quality Assurance, SAIL was the supporting company to develop this gun. It is the first long-range artillery gun having a range of 38 km produced in India.

India has signed a deal with a Russian firm to manufacture 7.5 lakh AK-203 rifles. These are the latest derivative of the AK-47 rifles. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the AK-203 rifles will be produced at the Indian Ordnance Factory at Amethi's Korwa. The new rifles will replace the indigenous INSAS rifles in the Army, Air Force, and Navy.

The Indian Navy signed MoU with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to undertake joint research and development of advanced technologies for the Indian Navy. This will be a collaborative arrangement between labs of CSIR, the Indian Navy and Indian industry. The MoU provides a formal framework for interaction between the Indian Navy and CSIR.