Two important Corps Commands at Multan and Bahawalpur, as also the posts of Adjutant General and Quartermaster General at General Headquarters now stand vacant, reveals Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Apart from partly meeting the resentment which may have built among 80th PMA officers, the appointments would seem to be based on sound professional considerations, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at R&AW, India's external intelligence agency.
Lieutenant General C Bansi Ponnappa took charge as the adjutant general of the Army on Friday, it said.
Asim Malik's shift to the important DG, ISI post comes as something of a surprise now, but it indicates the army chief's confidence in him, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
'China's basic purpose of taking the Shaksgam Valley was access to the Indian Ocean.'
But the ISI chief did not retire giving the impression that he has won General Asim Munir's trust, notes Rana Banerji who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad Mirza is the Pakistan army's new chief of general staff, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
'I was preparing for JEE, NDA came as a blessing.'
Whenever tenures of army chiefs were extended in the recent past, prime ministers were subsequently eased out of office by the same army chief, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
'We have sent them back from the land they wanted to grab. We have the bravest soldiers on the borders and we can sleep peacefully till they are there'
In what was perhaps the most critical meeting before full-scale war broke out, Shastri defined India's immediate war objectives to his defence minister, army, and air force chiefs: 'To defend against Pakistan's attempts to grab Kashmir by force and to make it abundantly clear that Pakistan would never be allowed to wrest Kashmir from India; To destroy the offensive power of Pakistan's armed forces...' A fascinating excerpt from Shiv Kunal Verma's must-read 1965: A Western Sunrise India's War With Pakistan.
The first batch of women cadets joined the NDA's 148th course in 2022 after the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) allowed women to apply to the defence academy following a Supreme Court direction in 2021.
Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid will take to his new command as duck to water, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, who has been replaced as ISI chief, will remain in the forefront of Pakistani initiatives in Afghanistan as also in the peace talks with the Tehrik e Taliban, Pakistan. He will also get a year plus to serve in a corps command, remaining in the race for selection as the next army chief when General Bajwa retires in November 2022, explains Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing.
Myanmar's reclusive and ailing dictator Than Shwe has resigned from his military post, paving the way for him to become the president after this year's general elections.Shwe, the despot who has brutally ruled Southeast Asia's poorest country as commander-in-chief of the armed forces since 1992, on Friday handed control of the army to his adjutant general. More than a dozen other senior military officers also resigned, in an ominous sign for the country's forthcoming election
Pakistan's main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday demanded that the government should form a judicial commission within three days to ascertain how Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was able to hide in the country.
Managing the senior generals has proven to be quite a headache for General Asim Munir, even as he and his team of loyal henchmen labour hard to dispel the sense of unhappiness among the public about the army's overbearing presence and interference in matters 'civilian', notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the subject, the defence ministry has written to the Adjutant General's (AG) branch of the Army to correct its record to show the year of birth of Army chief Gen V K Singh as 1950 contrary to his stand that he was born one year later.
'After his warm and affectionate farewell speech, the Chief of Staff of the formation asked me, "So, now you are off to Coorg to look after your coffee estates?"' For the last time, in Army uniform and much to his surprise, I replied, "Sir, I am not from Kodagu.".'
The Centre's interlocutor and retired IPS officer RN Ravi has been shifted from Nagaland to Tamil Nadu as its new governor.
The last word may not have been said on the churnings within the Pakistan army or the extent to which army chief General Asim Munir is in control, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RAW, India's external intelligence agency.
Displaying 'ARMY' on private transport is an attempt to milk the respect and reverence that the common citizen has for a person in the armed forces, observes Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd). By writing 'ARMY' and displaying regimental insignias, we expect a few misdemeanours to be overlooked.
General T N Raina was an iconic Indian military leader whose contributions to the nation should be more widely known, notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Recent disclosures allege large scale corruption, nepotism and kickbacks by Pakistan air chief Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhuin housing land deals in Islamabad and in buying of new aircraft, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Adjutant General of the Army Lt General Ashwani Kumar said it planned to induct about 800 women in the military police with a yearly intake of 52 personnel.
The Battle of Lhagyala on November 23, 1962, fought by the 4 Rajput Regiment against the Chinese PLA, remains a forgotten chapter of heroism, with no survivors left to tell their story.
Battalion Cadet Adjutant Praveen Singh, son of a printing press owner from Agra, wants to join the infantry and serve the country to the best of his ability.
'With the extension issue settled clearly in his favour, Gen Bajwa would be free to fashion a more hardline policy against India. 'We could, therefore, expect a raising of the ante in Kashmir,' says Rana Banerji.
The army has been upset over being dragged into politics.
As the country paid tributes to the 1965 war heroes on Friday, a special comic book chronicling the life, valour and sacrifice of 21 awardees of the Param Vir Chakra, the nation's highest military decoration, was released.
'Given the past practice in the Pakistan army, this delay is most unusual,' notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
'We failed as a country because those who should have been there to say goodbye did not show up.'
'There cannot be anyone like Air Marshal Keelor -- he was so difficult to emulate.' Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd) salutes War Hero Air Marshal Denzil Keelor PVSM, KC, AVSM, VrC who passed into the ages last month.
Shergill, who became the first woman officer as Parade Adjutant on Army Day Parade earlier this month, led the Corps which has the motto "Teevra Chaukas", meaning swift and alert.
'To deal with a bully, you have to deal from a position of strength, not a position of weakness.'
'Imagine for a soldier -- first you conquer territory after fighting a fierce battle, suffer casualties and then you are ordered to come back to your side of the International Border in India.'
Over the past two decades, six of the eight army chiefs have been from the infantry and the other two from the artillery division. The appointment of either General Bakshi or General Hariz would interrupt the infantry's prolonged domination of the army command, says Ajai Shukla, a retired army officer himself.
General M M Naravane attended the Army Day parade for the first time as the Army chief. The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to mark Lieutenant General K M Cariappa taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India.
Over-stretched middle rung officers, high stress levels and the fragile officer-jawan relationship are increasingly taking a toll on discipline, the cornerstone upon which the tradition name, fame, and valour of the armed forces is built, says Colonel John Taylor (retd).
'As a course mate who has followed closely this star on the Bombay Sappers firmament, my heart swells with pride to see his extraordinary brilliance and focus; his commitment and his dedication; his hard work; and his technical as well as tactical knowledge,' says Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd) of his batchmate General Manoj Pande who will take over as chief of the army staff on May 1.
