President Droupadi Murmu on July 5, 2024 conferred 10 Kirti Chakras, including seven posthumously, to personnel of the Army and paramilitary forces for displaying indomitable courage and extraordinary valour in the line of duty.
The move prompted a strong reaction from the Congress, with its state unit chief Ajay Kumar Lallu equating it with the 1919 Rowlatt Act or Black Act and saying that the party will explore legal options to challenge it.
'The visit of the honourable PM with the workable strategy towards conflict resolution will help greatly.' 'But visiting the state without concrete proposals may not bring the desired outcome at this stage.'
Twelve of the 16 Naxalites killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district have been identified as dreaded ultras carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 3.13 crore, including a central committee member of the outlawed movement, a police official said. Among them was Chalpathi alias Jairam, a member of the central committee and Odisha state committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), who had a collective bounty of Rs 90 lakh on his head in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. It was the first time someone from the central committee, the main governing body of the proscribed outfit, has been eliminated in an encounter in Chhattisgarh. The encounter, which lasted three days, involved personnel from E-30 (a Gariaband district police unit), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and Odisha police's Special Operation Group (SOG).
'Indian Army officers always lead their men into battle or combat. Pakistani officers are seldom seen at the front.'
Over 100 heavily-armed Maoists on Friday attacked a base camp of Central Reserve Police Force and its Special Armed Force (SAF) inside a forest in Gaya district, sparking a heavy gunbattle.
His statement comes amidst reports of Chinese soldiers crossing the Line of Actual Control last week after some Tibetans hoisted Tibetan flags on the occasion of Dalai Lama's birthday on July 6.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday directed officials to speed up setting up of a commando training centre in Rampur and also form a skilled team of women commandos.
The Central Reserve Police Force deployed commandos of the Special Armed Force in the Naxal-infested forests of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh where Maoists had trapped and gunned down 76 security personnel earlier this week.
After both grandfathers, father and uncle, Lieutenant Tanishka Damodaran is the first girl from the family to join the Indian Army. She will join her first posting in Kashmir soon and hopes to follows her family tradition of joining the Paras.
Shatrughan Vishwakarma was deployed as part of the Special Security Force (SSF) set to provide security at the temple premises.
'There is a sense of achievement but it has come at a great cost.'
At one location, seven bodies of the troops were recovered and the tree trunks bore bullet shots, indicating that a fierce gun battle took place in the area.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA was extended by another six months in Manipur on Wednesday barring 19 police stations falling under the Imphal valley and an area that shares its boundary with neighbouring Assam.
Three battalions of the Border Security Force comprising more than 3,000 personnel will move across the border from Odisha to Chhattisgarh and an equal number of Indo-Tibetan Border Police units will further move into the Naxal stronghold of Abujhmad as part of a strategy to intensify anti-Maoist operations in their last bastions, official sources said.
Nine Naxalites, including three women, were killed in an encounter with security personnel in a forest along the border of Narayanpur and Kanker districts in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, state's Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said.
22 Assam Rifles women personnel are in the Republic Day marching band contingent. Dressed in crisp uniforms, playing bagpipes, drums and side drums, the year-old band has already built an admirable reputation.
The police on Saturday claimed to have gunned down eight Maoists during an encounter in forests near Kutul-Farasbeda and Kodtameta villages in the district.
In a separate incident, a commando of the Central Reserve Police Force's jungle warfare unit CoBRA was injured when a pressure improvised explosive device (IED), planted by Naxalites went off in the district, police said.
Wing Commander Pratap Marathe's story is one of dedication, bravery, and humour, a shining example of the spirit of the Indian Air Force. Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd) salutes Wing Commander Marathe who passed into the ages last week.
China does not have to give up what it took in 2020, it will never give up its claim to Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and other areas, and it has all the time now to plan its next surprise, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
'The jungles of Doda covers about 250 km.' 'Sleeper cells are providing active help to the terrorists.' 'The terrain and situation is such that it is not possible to keep track of every inch.'
DRDO's failures over the decades have contributed significantly to India becoming the world's biggest weapons importer, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
'With continued focus on votes, upcoming by-polls and purchasing politicians, the political hierarchy has little time for national defence.' 'They would do well to heed a veteran scholar, who says, "There will be war with China in the next few years. The next full scale war will have the involvement of Pakistan and terror elements, insurgents and intelligence assets operating inside India",' warns Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Many IEDs explode even when the troops are on foot and their trigger mechanism gets activated just due to the pressure of the feet. These incidents have injured more than 100 personnel over the last two years, the officer said.
The two leaders had a complex relationship yet formed a partnership and even after their parting of ways, the two admired each other in their efforts for India's freedom.
With the setting up of doorframe metal detectors, CCTV cameras, drones and deployment of armed commandoes, a banquet in Delhi has turned into a fortress of sorts for the marriage of gangster Sandeep alias Kala Jathedi with 'history-sheeter' Anuradha Choudhary alias 'Madam Minz' on March 12, official sources said on Monday.
The Delhi high court on Thursday refused to stay the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and asked the Centre to file a reply on a batch of petitions challenging it.
It was also decided in the meeting to enhance police-MLA coordination in the national capital and also reactive peace committees with representatives of all sections of society, religions and eminent local citizens, an official said.
The Delhi Police has made a strategic plan to avert any incident knowing Sandeep's notoriety and his previous records, the sources said.
The brave men who President Ram Nath Kovind, supreme commander of India's armed forces, awarded the Shaurya Chakra at the Defence Investiture ceremony on Monday, November 22, 2021.
The CRPF has created an exclusive team of about 1,800 personnel within its special anti-riots wing Rapid Action Force (RAF) to act as responders against CBRN attacks and various other disasters, a senior officer of the force said on Thursday.
The Zomi-Kuki organisation also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for a permanent solution to the ongoing ethnic strife
Republic Day celebrations culminated on Friday with the Beating Retreat ceremony that featured 26 soulful band performances, including special composition 'Swarnim Vijay' to commemorate 50 years of India's victory in the 1971 war against Pakistan.
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.
As a disembodied female voice gives a stark recitation of her husband's heroic act of bravery, Archana's face does not register any emotion, it is almost blank in its stoicism. A fascinating excerpt from Minnie Vaid's new, must-read, book, Fateh.
A joint team of multiple forces are undertaking the offensive to target some senior and most-wanted Naxal commanders, official sources said.
Three Naxals were killed on Tuesday in a gun-battle with security forces in Chhattisgarh's worst insurgency-hit Sukma district.
Times have changed, situations have changed, but the basic nature of superpower geo-politics remains the same and so also India's diplomacy -- call it non-alignment, strategic autonomy or neutrality; it all depends on the time scale, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The PMG was announced by the Union home ministry on the occasion of the 74th Republic Day, being celebrated on January 26 (Thursday).
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