On Saturday morning, the daughters of CDS General Rawat, Kritika and Tarini, collected the ashes of their parents from Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment and reached Haridwar to immerse them in the Ganges.
Tears flowed at a memorial event for General Bipin Rawat organised on his first death anniversary at the United Service Institution of India in New Delhi, December 10, 2022.
Every part of the equipment salvaged from the remanants of the Mi-17V5 helicopter will be carefully examined to find out what went wrong in the final moments of the flight from the Sulur air base in Coimbatore to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington near Coonoor where General Rawat was headed.
People pay their respects to the chief of defence staff and the 13 others who died in Wednesday's helicopter crash near Coonoor.
The plaintive strains of bugles sounding the last post broke through the hush, men in uniform clicked their heels and a 17-gun salute rang out as Gen Bipin Rawat and his wife were cremated on Friday evening -- the sun setting on a day written into India's military history and on the life of its most senior military officer.
It's been a year since a helicopter crash in the Nilgiris tragically took away India's first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 10 other military officers and personnel.
The mortal remains were brought to the Madras Regimental Centre where people paid floral tribute to General Rawat and other personnel.
Kritika and Tarini -- the late Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat's daughters -- on Friday paid floral tributes to their parents at the general's official residence in New Delhi.
Condemning irresponsible social media posts and rejoicing over the demise of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat in a military chopper crash, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said he has asked the police to identify and initiate legal action against them.
Home Minister Amit Anilchandra Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday laid wreaths on the mortal remains of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat.
The IAF said that Gen Rawat, his wife and 11 other persons died in accident.
Out of the 13 people killed in the IAF helicopter crash near Coonoor on Wednesday, the mortal remains of only Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and Brig LS Lidder could be identified, officials said on Thursday.
The Indian Military Academy in Dehradun has cancelled the Commandant's Parade, the final rehearsal parade scheduled to be held on Thursday, ahead of the final passing out parade, the academy's public relations officer Col Himani Pant said on Thursday.
Their mortal remains are expected to arrive in the national capital in a military plane by Thursday evening, the sources said.
Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan was the pilot of the crashed Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter, carrying Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and 13 others, informed sources.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday informed the Lok Sabha that IAF Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor in the military chopper crash in Tamil Nadu, is on life support in the Military Hospital at Wellington, Tamil Nadu.
Condolences over the demise of chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat poured in on Wednesday from various countries, including the US, Russia and Pakistan.
The person had on Facebook posted derogatory comments about Rawat and the crash and also linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to it, which went viral, police said.
Huge crowds of mourners gathered outside as armed forces personnel took the mortal remains of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat inside the Brar Square crematorium in the Delhi Cantonment on Friday.
The defence ministry in an official statement has informed that the minister will give a statement in Rajya Sabha at 11.30 am and in Lok Sabha at 12.15 pm.
The chopper took off at 11.48 am from the Sulur Air Base and was reported to be missing at around 12.22 pm, sources informed.
The Lok Sabha observed a two-minute silence on the demise of the 13 people.
Members of the Karnataka legislative assembly on Monday demanded a thorough probe into the death of chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on December 8.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday called on President Ram Nath Kovind and briefed him about the chopper crash near Coonoor that killed Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 armed forces personnel.
Official sources said Singh will brief President Kovind about the accident as well as the situation arising out of it.
The inquiry teams had started their work on the very next day the incident took place. The statements are being recorded and in one or two cases, some people have changed their account of the incidents, they said.
'I have been touched whenever I have known him personally as a human being.'
This year, eight eminent individuals are being given Padma Bhushan and 54 are being conferred with Padma Shri awards, besides the two Padma Vibhushan recipents.
In Karnataka, home minister Araga Jnanendra directed police to track down the 'anti-national' persons who posted objectionable comments about the late chief of defence staff, and 'punish them befitting their distorted minds.'
Opposition parties on Thursday suspended their dharna against the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs at the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament complex in view of the death of Chief of Defence staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others in a chopper crash a day ago.
This is the first time that a retired officer has been appointed at this position for which a gazette notification was issued to announce the change in rules for the appointment.
'He was a sentimental man, but his commitment to the Olive Green always came before anything else, including his family.' A fascinating excerpt from Rachna Bisht Rawat's Bipin: The Man Behind The Uniform.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday visited the Palam airbase in New Delhi and paid his last respects to Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and other 11 armed force personnel who lost their lives in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
'With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident,' the IAF tweeted.
The armed forces personnel whose bodies were identified in the last few hours are Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) Pradeep, Wing Commander P S Chauhan, JWO Rana Pratap Das, Lance Naik B Sai Teja and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others were killed when an Indian Air Force helicopter carrying them crashed on Wednesday near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu in apparently foggy conditions, killing 13 people on board, the IAF and other officials said.
To ensure the morale of the pilots does not suffer, flying activity continues without a pause. Pilots take to the sky like they would on any other day.
Singh said in a statement in the Lok Sabha that all efforts were being made to save IAF Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor of the crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, who was on life support at the military hospital in Wellington.
General Bipin Rawat, India's first Chief of Defence Staff who died in a tragic helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, was an exceptional leader, a valued partner and a strong proponent of US-India defence ties and helped deepen the bilateral strategic partnership, top US officials have said.
General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others were killed in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, the Indian Air Force said.
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