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.
More than 4.5 lakh pilgrims paid their obeisance at the natural ice Shiva Lingam formation inside the cave shrine last year.
Barely out of their teens, the first batch of girls will graduate alongside 300 male cadets from the National Defence Academy.
Lieutenant Commander Prerana Pravin Deosthalee will lead an all-male crew. She is currently the first lieutenant of INS Chennai, the missile destroyer that rescued a foreign merchant ship hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia last week.
Maoists have admitted that 28 cadres, including their top leader Basavaraju, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region last week. The Naxals also claimed that some of their cadres had surrendered to police and provided information that led to the operation. Police have recovered a large cache of weapons, including an AK-47 looted by Basavaraju from security forces in a 2010 ambush.
The Normandy landings on D-Day -- June 6, 1944 -- began the end to World War II.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has started interviewing eyewitnesses, including tourists, in connection with the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, south Kashmir. The attack, carried out by terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed the lives of 26 people on April 22. Initial investigations suggest that five to seven terrorists were involved, aided by local militants trained in Pakistan. Security forces are conducting massive operations to hunt down the terrorists in the dense jungles of the Pir Panjal range.
Three personnel, including two of major-rank and one naib subedar, have been conferred the Kirti Chakra, the ministry said.
India has to fill in all the critical gaps in missiles, ammunition, sensors and stockpile in the fastest possible manner, focusing on the critical instruments that worked this time, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The Kirti Chakra awardees are Major Digvijay Singh Rawat of 21st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), Major Deependra Vikram Basnet from the Sikh Regiment's fourth battalion and Havildar Pawan Kumar Yadav from the 21st battalion of the Mahar Regiment, according to the defence ministry.
Col Singh was a combat veteran and was awarded Sena Medal during his tenure as second-in-command of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles.
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.
According to intelligence reports, the terrorists entered the Akhnoor region through the Battal area, and a wireless set seized from them confirmed their association with the JeM.
Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi visited Dehradun on Monday and reviewed operational preparedness, interacted with troops, and received briefings on security initiatives and infrastructure development in the region. He emphasized the importance of maintaining peak operational efficiency and adaptability in a complex security environment. The visit highlights the Army's proactive approach to ensuring mission readiness and boosting troop morale.
The Border Security Force (BSF) launched "Operation Sindoor" in retaliation to unprovoked firing and shelling by Pakistani Rangers along the International Border (IB) in Jammu. BSF troops destroyed three terrorist launch pads and targeted 76 Pakistani border outposts and 42 forward defence locations. The BSF action came after Pakistan launched heavy firing and shelling on 60 Indian posts and 49 forward positions, reportedly providing cover for an attempted infiltration by 40-50 terrorists.
Despite the ups and downs, The Oval remains a ground of rich memories and monumental moments for Indian cricket.
>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).
'The CBI did a wonderful job of tracking down the killers, but at the end of the day, all the hard work went for a toss.' 'If we had caught them alive, the operation would have been successful completely.'
'A man with a gun commanded respect. I thought if I also got a gun, I could save my family. With this thought, I went to Pakistan and got training there'
India fully utilised its military modernisation budget in 2024-2025 -- the first time in five years -- and signed a record Rs 2 trillion defence contracts.
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Saturday raised questions about the alleged presence of American Special Forces in India. The party pointed out that Commander of the US Pacific Command Admiral Robert Willard had stated at a Congressional hearing that American Special forces assist teams are stationed in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. But the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of defence have both denied his claims.
'I was preparing for JEE, NDA came as a blessing.'
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and former Navy commander Ashish Pathak for allegedly collecting sensitive information on defence matters and passing them on to foreign intelligence agencies, officials said on Wednesday.
Based on the complaint filed by the rail staff police has lodged an FIR against unknown persons regarding the matter.
'The switch can't be shut off by an accidental brush of the hand, but needs effort, conscious physical action to operate it.' 'Was it the software of the aeroplane that caused the switch to turn off?' 'Was it the hardware of the aeroplane?' 'Was it both software and hardware put together?'
Matthew Hayden shared a behind-the-scenes insight into Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting's excitement about young opener Prabhsimran Singh
Naib Subedar Chunni Lal is the only soldier awarded the Ashok Chakra, Vir Chakra and Sena Medal.
India will display its military prowess and cultural heritage at the 76th Republic Day celebrations on Kartavya Path in New Delhi. The parade will feature 16 tableaux from states and Union Territories, 15 from central ministries, and a tri-services tableau showcasing the spirit of "jointness" among the armed forces. The event will also include a flypast featuring 40 IAF aircraft and three Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, as well as a display of cutting-edge defense platforms including BrahMos, Pinaka and Akash.
The prime minister was briefed by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan about the various discussions conducted at this year's Combined Commanders' conference.
In its chargesheet filed before a special court in New Delhi, the CBI has named Raghuvanshi and Pathak as accused in the alleged violation of the Official Secrets Act and related offences, they said.
Lee Jae-myung's decisive victory in South Korea's snap presidential election marks a major political shift driven by public backlash against authoritarian, with significant implications for domestic reform and the future of the US-South Korea alliance, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
To ensure the morale of the pilots does not suffer, flying activity continues without a pause. Pilots take to the sky like they would on any other day.
'If you align your ambition with India's rise, the peak of your careers will unfold alongside the peak of India's power.'
Israeli soldiers entered part of Shifa Hospital in the early hours of Wednesday and began fighting Hamas there, the Israel Defence Forces announced.
"Only time will tell us about that but I am quite sure that if a youngster who has, as you said, got brainwashed (into terrorism), joins the services under the scheme and stays with us for four years, I am sure he will be a different person and probably more of an Indian than a radical as you brought out," the air marshal told reporters.
Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Security forces on Tuesday morning gunned down two terrorists holed up in a forest area near a village in the Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir, taking the number of militants killed in the 27-hour-long gunfight near the Line of Control (LoC) to three, officials said.
Glimpses of the Pakistan navy's Multinational Exercise AMAN-23 in the North Arabian Sea near Karachi.
The battalion will carry out surveillance and detection to protect the August 13-29 Olympics and September 17-28 Paralympics.
Asim Munir and his brand of short-sighted army officers give no inkling of paying heed, changing course or learning lessons from the past, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
