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.
Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande has carried out a comprehensive review of India's military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh in his first visit to the border state after last month's clash between Indian and Chinese forces in the Tawang sector.
Each time an Indian minister visits Arunachal Pradesh, the tinpot Communists in Beijing's Zhongnanhai get worked up and mutter threats.
Lt Gen Anil Chauhan (retired) will assume charge as India's new Chief of Defence Staff on Friday, an appointment that is expected to bring the focus back on the implementation of the ambitious theaterisation drive to bring synergy among the three services.
In an interaction with the commanders at their ongoing biannual conference, Singh reasserted the faith of the billion-plus citizens in the Indian Army as one of the "most trusted and inspiring organisations" in the country.
Chief of the command Lt Gen Alok Kler and his deputy Lt Gen K K Repswal are at loggerheads for the past several months over the role, charter and duties of various appointments as well as on running of the command that takes care of security along the borders in Rajasthan and Punjab.
Before assuming charge of the CDS, Gen Chauhan paid tributes to India's fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial in the India Gate complex.
The dust has barely settled after General VK Singh's Supreme Court battle to be army chief for another year when another senior general is approaching the court with a petition which, if accepted, could make him the next army chief, instead of Lt Gen Dalbir Singh, the eastern army commander who is currently in line.
Special Ops 2 captures the spirit of the modern-day spy thriller and runs with it, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Overturning the decision of his predecessor Gen V K Singh, Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh has lifted the ban on promotion of Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag clearing the way for his appointment as Eastern Army Commander.
Gen Bikram Singh, a veteran infantry officer, on Wednesday took over as the 25th chief of the Indian Army, succeeding Gen V K Singh whose 26-month tenure was mired in controversies. The 59-year-old Gen Bikram Singh will have a tenure of two years and three months in the top post
The upcoming Durand Cup may have only six Indian Super League (ISL) teams in the fray, down from 12 last season.
The central government on Monday appointed Army Vice Chief Lieutenant General Manoj Pande as the next chief of Indian Army.
The exercise was aimed at validating joint plans for strategic airlift of specialised forces employing IAF's fixed and rotary wing platforms by landing and dropping in designated areas for undertaking kinetic actions, they said.
Gen Bikram Singh, a veteran infantry officer, on Thursday took over as the 25th Chief of the Indian Army succeeding Gen V K Singh whose 26-month tenure was mired in controversies.
General V K Singh, who took over the reins of the Indian Army 26 months ago with the image of an anti-corruption crusader, will retire as the army chief on Thursday, bringing to an end a controversial tenure that was marred by rows over his age and fissures among the military brass.
General Manoj Mukund Naravane, chief of the army staff, in the Indian Army's combat uniform designed with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)'s expertise.
At least 10 militants were killed in a gunfight with an Assam Rifles unit in Manipur's Chandel district on Wednesday, officials said. The operation is still in progress, they said.
Lt Gen Dwivedi, who was referring to the clash between the Indian soldiers and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, also said that PLA's aggression in eastern Ladakh was met with "swift mobilisation and appropriate force posturing".
Her comments come a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Geneva that roughly 75 percent of the "disengagement problems" with China are sorted out but the bigger issue has been the increasing militarisation of the frontier.
In the meeting, Doval conveyed to Wang that peace and tranquillity in border areas and respect for the Line of Actual Control are essential for return of normalcy in bilateral ties, according to the ministry of external affairs.
People familiar with the development said Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane and the top commanders will review the country's combat readiness in eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a bitter standoff for 17 months.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said India has never attacked any country out of hatred or contempt but if its interests are threatened, 'we will not hesitate to take a big step'.
Three Army personnel died and several others were injured when their truck skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri district, police said on Wednesday.
The Armed Forces Tribunal on Wednesday granted a six-week extension to the Army to complete "all the process" in the Sukna land scam case, a week after the two-month deadline given by it lapsed. The Tribunal also allowed former Military Secretary Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, against whom a Court of Inquiry (COI) in the case was recently completed at the Eastern Army Command, to leave Kolkata.
Four army personnel were killed in a Dhruv helicopter crash in north Sikkim near the Sino-India border, days after a Pawan Hans chopper went down in the northeast claiming 17 lives.
The Army Chief was in Ladakh on a two-day visit from June 23 to take stock of the situation.
The Centre on Saturday announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Bikram Singh as the next army chief from May 31, to succeed General V K Singh. Lieutenant General Singh, the eastern army commander, will head the 13-lakh strong force and have tenure of just over two years, till August 2014. "Lieutenant General Singh has been designated as the next chief of army staff, in the rank of general, with effect from the afternoon of May 31, 2012," defence ministry said.
The Defence Ministry issued the order after the Cabinet Committee on Appointments cleared Singh's name for the top post, senior ministry sources said in New Delhi.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which guards the Line of Actual Control with China, has posted its first officer to head the newly-created Guwahati-based eastern command that oversees deployment of border battalions in that region.
Russia has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the May 9 celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Germany in World War II, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has said.
Military affairs experts said his key challenge will be to build consensus among the three services for the theaterisation plan as the Indian Air Force has some apprehensions about its roll-out.
General Officer Commanding-in Chief of the Eastern command, Lieutenant General R P Kalita, however, said the Indian side is also continuously upgrading its infrastructure and capabilities to deal with any situation which may arise along the border.
Lt Gen Baggavalli Somashekar Raju will take over as the next vice chief of the Army Staff on May 1, the defence ministry said on Friday.
The commanders will also deliberate on a slew of long-pending reform measures like cutting down on ceremonial practices and non-military activities to ensure a rational distribution of resources, they said.
The exchange took place at five Border Personnel Meeting points along the LAC, the sources added.
China has honored an army regiment commander who was injured in the Galwan Valley border clash with Indian soldiers in 2020 as an outstanding member of the national advisory body - Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Qi Fabao, who was made the torchbearer for the Winter Olympics in 2022, was among the 33 individuals honored with the 2024 Outstanding Performance Award for CPPCC Members. The incident, which resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers, led to a freeze in relations between the two countries for over four years. Ties were restored after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in October 2023.
The focus of the deliberations was on finalising modalities for disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh.
The Chinese aircraft have been regularly flying close to the LAC in the last three to four weeks which is seen as an attempt to probe the Indian defence mechanism in the area.
'The government has to explain (to the army, air force and navy chiefs) whether they want a punitive strike, a deep punitive strike, or whether they want limited war or an all-out war, will it be a circumscribed war or will it be a shallow attack along the border.'
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