While seven-year-old Thunderbolt is part of the Animal Transport unit of the force, 'lifeline' of the force at high-altitude forward posts, three-year-old Sophia undertakes special sniffing operations to detect IEDs with her handler in Left Wing extremism hit areas of Chhattisgarh.
'Entry and qualification must not be through concession and must be reserved for only those who meet the stringent standards of the institution'.
The terrorists are holed up inside the multi-storeyed government complex of Entrepreneurship Development Institute on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
Central Reserve Police Force Deputy Commandant and five-time gallantry medal winner P R Mishra has become the only person from paramilitary forces to have been decorated with a Shaurya Chakra this Independence day for displaying exemplary courage in anti-Naxal operations.
'The sky is the limit for what all could be done at an air base to neutralise terrorists. Good proactive local leadership and delegated operational effort would be key to ensuring that a handful of terrorists cannot hold a whole air base, and by extension, the whole nation to ransom,' says Group Captain P I Muralidharan (retd).
India's first integrated defence communication network was launched on Thursday enabling the army, air force, navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process.
'While all would agree on the need to be ready to launch cross-border strikes on terror camps, there is sharp disagreement on how best to do it.' 'Through IAF fighters, or surface-to-surface missiles?' 'Or should army Special Forces be created to do the job?' 'If air strikes are the agreed priority, additional funding must be made available for the purchase of fighters and missiles.' 'If it is to be Special Forces, the army must be facilitated in raising a Special Forces Command,' notes Ajai Shukla.
Over a dozen IAF planes, including Mirage-2000 fighters and Sukhoi 30s, besides 35,000 kg C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, took part in the exercise.
The veterans said they chose to write to the President as he is the custodian of the Constitution as well as the supreme commander of the armed forces.
The unfortunate thing is that the film will leave a poor impression of the IAF's and indeed of the armed forces's ability to handle sensitive social matters within their professional space, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Union Home minister Rajnath Singh asked Opposition parties if they were prepared to apologise to the nation for their "malicious campaign" against PM Modi over the killing of Ishrat Jehan.
'It is my opinion that not releasing the Balakote Battle Damage Assessment immediately post strike was a phenomenal blunder, perception battle wise,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd), India's former air adviser in Pakistan.
The IMD has also issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts.
For the first time in its three decade-old history, the country's elite counter-terror force National Security Guard has begun training its commandos in undertaking precision hostage rescue missions in jungles keeping in view emerging Naxalite tactics aimed at capturing high-value targets.
India must break out of this strategic triangulation between China and Pakistan. We need to settle our issues with one of the two, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The CAG report noted that availability of 55 per cent types of ammunitions was below minimum inescapable requirement to be maintained for operational preparedness and 40 per cent types of ammunitions were in critical level, having stock of less than 10 days.
Amidst raging debate over Jammu and Kashmir government's intention to revoke Armed Forces Special Powers Act from parts of the state, Army on Thursday made its case clear saying any such move will handicap the capability of the force to conduct counter insurgency operations.
A self-styled militant commander was among the three top Laskhar-e-Tayiba ultras killed in an encounter with the police in a remote village in Doda district on Friday.On a tip off about the presence of the militants, a joint team of the Special Task Force of police, assisted by security forces, launched an operation in Tagan Dhar in Gandoh belt, 290 kms from Doda, early on Friday morning, police said. During cordon and search operations, militants opened fire at them.
As India's international role expands, so must our capabilities, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
July 14 features three big-ticket sporting events -- the World Cup final, the Wimbledon men's final and the British Grand Prix.
'Our men had suffered so much pain for the independence of other people in a foreign land.'
'A tiger knows his territory in and out.' 'A tiger demarcates his terrain and never lets anyone enter.' 'Similarly, Ashu knew the trees, houses, rivers and rocks of the Rajwar jungles.' 'He didn't allow any militant to come into his territory.'
Major Suman Gawani, who served as a UN Peacekeeper in South Sudan, is the first Indian to receive the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. 'On seeing the Indian flag on my uniform,' she says,' the locals would get very excited and say, 'Hindi, Hindi'.'
Even as Chinese troops continue squatting on territory that we claim as our own -- this was the lowest allocation for defence in percentage terms since the 1950s, reveals Ajai Shukla.
'India cannot allow Beijing's policy of stabilising and destabilising the border at will to perpetuate its own ends.' A riveting excerpt from Manish Tiwari's 10 Flashpoints; 20 Years National Security Situations That Impacted India.
Within the army, there is growing concern that New Delhi will allow the Chinese to retain the territory they have occupied in the last month.
He also said the Naxals were spreading in urban areas and were trying to mislead the people.
A day after the Taliban freed over 250 prisoners from a high-security Pakistani prison, a top commander of the terror outfit has said they took a month to plan the assault and spent Rs 1 crore to execute it with military-like precision.
'War is won by team work. War is won by sacrifices,' says Subedar Sanjay Kumar, Param Vir Chakra.
The STF, which will be similar to the 'Grey Hounds' of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, will be imparted advanced training in commando operations and jungle warfare to take on the Maoist rebels in the dense forests.
On June 8, 2006, President APJ Abdul Kalam became the first Head of State to fly a fighter plane, when he flew the Sukhoi-30 MKI at the Lohegaon Air Force Base in Pune.
"INS Godavari is likely to be used as a target to practice missile firing," said a naval official.
The perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack, who shot dead 166 people, had confessed to details that should have been enough to hang him, but Pakistan enjoyed his anti-India rhetoric and let him spread his tentacles. A revealing excerpt from Khaled Ahmed's Pakistan's Terror Conundrum.
'When there are two hostile armies operating in close proximity, moral ascendancy is very important -- and that is something, I think, we achieved.' 'What is important is the will and determination of a country.' 'That you are willing to do something about terror that is coming from across the border and that is the message that was sent out.'
The first priority for the new Tibetan administration in Dharamsala should be to look at Tibetan recruitment in the PLA, suggests Claude Arpi.
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.
The navy finds itself fighting for relevance, with navy planners lamenting that its share of the budget has dropped dramatically.
Our story about Duster, a German Shepherd, reminded Rediff reader Ajay Sharma about his dog Bruno.
Mattis said in conducting these strikes, the US has gone to great lengths to avoid civilian and foreign casualties.
Images from Day 8 of Wimbledon 2022 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, on Monday.
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