>The Indian Army still uses old British-era names and recruits soldiers based on caste or region, which hurts national unity, argues Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
An army jawan was found hanging in a military station in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said in Jammu on Tuesday.
Acting on a tip off, the Gorkha regiment raided the Mechaki reserve forest area at Hankhati where the militants, including hardcore ULFA ultra Joond Bhuyan, were sheltered. When the militants opened fire at the approaching militants, the securitymen retaliated and heavy exchange of fire continued for nearly an hour. In the shootout, Captain S Choudhury sustained grievous injuries and was airlifted to the Air Force hospital at Roroiya, where he was declared dead.
Comprising not just the gritty Gorkhas, but also men from Kumaon and Garhwal regions, Sir Robert Colquhuon had raised the regiment on April 24, 1815 in Uttaranchal's Almora.
Jagat had joined the militant organisation in 1999 and was involved in several extremist operations in Upper Assam, besides receiving training as a paramedic.
In a major strike against the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom, the army on Tuesday killed eight of its cadres including two women in an operation in Lohit district of Aurnachal Pradesh.
Hundreds of serving and veteran officers on Friday celebrated bicentenary of the first battalion of Gorkha Rifles (1/1 GR) with vigour and zest at Pathankot.
Briefing reporters at his office, Army Day Parade Commander Major General Salil Seth said, "Artificial Intelligence is being used for the first time to identify the best marching contingent. As you know all the marching contingents do drills and do drills correctly."
The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to mark the taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army by then Lt Gen K M Carriappa in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India.
It is 25 years since Captain Sanjit Bhattacharjee went missing during a patrol on the India Pakistan border. Pakistan has never acknowledged his captivity.
The 5th Battalion of the 1st Gorkha Rifles, on completion of its three-and-a-half years tenure as ceremonial Army Guard Battalion, handed over the charge to the 6th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment.
By jettisoning the seniority principle, the government has sent a strong signal that only merit and suitability will count in occupying posts in the higher echelons of the military, writes national security expert Nitin Gokhale.
'I am grateful that this film has happened, it makes me so proud of the country and of the Indian Army.' Brandy Batliwala, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's eldest grandchild, on the man behind the hero.
'...they were shocked to learn that just 352 Indian soldiers had made 3 brigadiers, 2 colonels, 170 officers, 290 JCOs and 8,000 troops surrender to the Indian Army.'
Twenty Indian soldiers posted in border areas of the country, most of them in Jammu and Kashmir, have gone missing from 1996 to 2010, according to an RTI reply.
'The Kuki-Zo are aware of this rich resource in their areas and feel the Meitei push for ST status is because of this reason'.
The Republic Day parade, which will begin at around 1030 am, will be a unique mix of the country's military prowess and cultural diversity, depicting the country's growing indigenous capabilities, Nari Shakti and emergence of a 'New India'.
In an army that favours officers who have spent the bulk of their service years doing counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, General Anil Chauhan is that rarity: A China specialist who has logged plenty of service years along the Line of Actual Control and the McMahon Line with China.
While we seem to want soldiers on short-term engagement, warfare itself is getting more technical and needs skilled manpower. The world has seen the dismal performance of armies that rely on short tour of duty soldiers or have outsourced war to 'contractors' in Afghanistan and now in Ukraine, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Chinese navy's growing aggression in the Western Pacific is bringing together a range of allies.
It would perhaps have been better for Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh to have been elevated to the top post by the new government, notes R S Chauhan.
Glimpses of the colourful parade we will see on Rajpath in New Delhi on Thursday.
'He destroyed many of our tanks, and finally, it was just the two of us left facing each other with our tanks just 200 m apart.' A tale of valour excerpted from Rachna Bisht Rawat's 1971: Charge Of The Gorkhas And Other Stories.
The UAE is the second country after France to send its troops to participate in the Republic-Day parade of India, a tradition started last year.
'Whether Kashmir or anywhere else, whether in peace or in war, pay commissions or no pay commissions, hollowness and shortages notwithstanding, the Indian Army -- and Sekin Fif -- will always be there to keep India together.'
Corporal Nirala, disregarding personal safety and displaying indomitable courage, retaliated with effective lethal fire and gunned down two category A terrorists and injured two others.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday awarded Shaurya Chakras to the officers who took part in the daring surgical strike across the Line of Control last year.
President Ram Nath Kovind presents the President's Colours to the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre today, August 21. These are normally presented to units that distinguish themselves consistently over decades. The Ladakh Scouts became a regular army regiment only in June 2001 after its stunning performance in the Kargil conflict, notes Ajai Shukla.
Army Chief General Dalbir Singh paid tribute to the colonel.
The parade began after President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Ashoka Chakra -- India's highest peacetime gallantry award -- to Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who laid down his life fighting a group of terrorists in Shopian in Kashmir in November.
Here are highlights of the 68th Republic Day parade.
'Gujaratis need not be ashamed of the lack of martial tradition.' 'They contribute to their country in other ways.' 'And, of course, they can also claim that while they may not have produced many martyrs, they produced the greatest one: Gandhi.'
Just 21 then, a young air force officer looks back at the 1971 war, which was like a baptism by fire in the fauj.
Brigadier M P Bajwa (retd), commander of the troops that captured Tiger Hill, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih how a band of young soldiers won the Kargil War's most famous battle with their blood and grit.
Sylvia Dyer's life began nearly 90 years ago in a forgotten, untamed land. She spent her childhood on a plantation on the Bihar-Nepal border in pre-Independent India, lived through the '65 war as the wife of a decorated army officer and saw an era grow and fade in front of her eyes.
The President has approved award of 398 gallantry and other defence decorations to armed forces personnel and others on the eve of the 68th Republic Day Celebrations.
Very few today realise that without Brigadier John Dalvi's courage, we would never have known what really happened during those tragic days of October/November 1962, reveals Claude Arpi.
'General J S Aurora, the commander of the Indian forces in the East, asked General Sagat Singh to withdraw his troops who were on the move to Dacca -- but he refused.' 'He said, "Jaggi, over my dead body".' 'Therefore, I say the creator of Bangladesh was General Sagat Singh.'
'He was believed to finish his own work in an hour and spend the remainder of the time walking from one office to another, sitting down with the harried junior staff and helping them sort out the problems they were working on.'
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