During the visit, she reviewed the security situation in the border region and inaugurated a bridge that will link Leh to Karakoram, providing connectivity on the strategically important Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Olde axis for military transport.
Kovind is the first president to visit the Siachen base camp since the visit of the then president APJ Abdul Kalam in 2004.
The Centre held that seniority is not the sole criterion for selection.
Vice Admiral Singh is scheduled to take charge as the new Navy chief from incumbent Admiral Sunil Lanba, who is set to demit office on May 31.
The team of 21 Rashtriya Rifles had entered the house of a civilian to prevent a hostage situation when they came under attack from the terrorists who had already reached there. While the four army personnel and the police Sub Inspector lost their lives in the encounter, the civilians trapped in the house were safely evacuated.
The GoM was apprised that as of now, the death rate is around 3.1 per cent while the recovery rate is more than 20 per cent, which is comparatively better than most of the countries and may be taken as a positive effect of the lockdown in the country, along with the cluster management and containment strategy.
Local commanders of Pakistan also told Indian counterpart that no ceasefire violation was committed by their side.
Under the provision of Section 92 of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, governor's rule is imposed for six months.
In 2005, the Border Road Organisation was asked to construct 73 roads in the strategically important regions along the Sino-India border but there has been huge delay in implementation of the project which has apparently left the army unhappy.
In a tweet, the IAF welcomed the "new bird" into its arsenal.
"After the tri-junction in Doklam in the Sikkim sector, this is the most important tri-junction along the Sino-India border."
However, the government rejected the army's demand to implement the scheme with retrospective effect from June last year, when the Doklam face-off between Indian and Chinese armies had begun, official sources said.
This is the fourth successive Diwali that Modi has celebrated with jawans on the border.
The defence minister clearly asserted that there will be no budgetary constraints to enhance the capability of the Army and meeting its other requirements.
The Theatre-level Readiness and Operational Exercise was conducted to test combat readiness of the combined fleets of the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and the Coast Guard.
'Earlier the planning process was services specific, with others coordinating. 'Now we shall have an apex leader backed by a structure, who is accountable to provide single-point advice, based on best of all options dependent on geographical and situational intrigue, and that too, after validation,' says General Anil Chait (retd), the former central army commander.
The comments came a day after sources said China maintained a sizeable presence of troops near the site of the Doklam standoff with India and had started widening a road, around 12 km from the area of conflict.
'The army major was arrogant with power and considered himself as my creator'
Sitharaman said keeping morale of forces at the highest level was among the priorities of the government.
Fake or exaggerated news against the forces and the administration are feeding public anger, often leading to violence.
A crack team of about 70 commandos from 21 Para of the Indian Army carried out the surgical strike inside Myanmar territory in the thick of the night that killed 38 insurgents belonging to NSCN(K) and KYKL militant groups on Tuesday.
2 other terrorists who were killed in the encounter include Divisional Commander Muhammad Bhai, a non-local Waseem, a resident of Drubgam, Pulwama.
At the border personnel meeting, China also accused the Indian side of damaging its road building equipment when a road laying party left its gear in Tuting in December last year following a protest by India.
This is the second such incident of mutilation of the body of an Indian soldier on the LoC since October 29.
BSF troops guarding over 180 km of IB with Pakistan have strengthened their observation posts and 'listening posts' to keep a close watch against any intrusion by drones.
'No one needs to lose sleep if a person with better operational credentials supersedes lesser endowed peers,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
The NWM pays tribute to soldiers who laid down their lives defending the nation during India-China war in 1962, Indo-Pak wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971, Indian Peace Keeping Force Operations in Srilanka and in the Kargil conflict of 1999.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar gave this information to the Parliamentary Committee on Exernal Affairs.
Seeking to allay India's concerns, ambassador Luo had offered to rename the CPEC which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, insisting it was an economic cooperation and connectivity enhancement project devoid of "sovereignty issues".
Air Chief Marshal said his force is ready for a full spectrum operation but added that any decision on surgical strike involving the IAF has to be taken by the government.
The horrific disaster that has struck Uttrakhand has been assessed as a mix of natural and man-made. In fact, the various media analyses indicate we were asking for it and there were enough warnings and indications that this would happen, says Lt Gen (retd) Prakash Katoch.
Tail-ender Javed Khan, batting with a finger injury, saved Mumbai from following-on while chasing Railways' first innings score of 242 in the rain-truncated Ranji Trophy match, in Delhi, on Wednesday. A summary of the final day's play of the league matches around the country.
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