Yogendra Singh Yadav survived 15 bullets while capturing Tiger Hill in the Kargil War and was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest award for gallantry. On the eve of Independence Day, the 32-year-old soldier relives that night when he and his fellow commandos won one of India's most historic military victories.
The Chinese intrusion into Indian territory in Ladakh seemed to be a trial balloon for dealing with troublesome Indian positions
China declared a ceasefire on November 21 and kept Aksai Chin as its trophy. The sinews of the IAF were not muscular enough to retake Aksai Chin. What matters is what we have done since 1962. Air-minded, we are, but are we strong-minded? asks M P Anil Kumar.
We fought as a well knit armed force; blazed our own trail and wrote a golden chapter of the 1971 War, remembers Lieutenant General B T Pandit (retd), who was part of the famous 54 Infantry Division in the war.
Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon is the only Indian Air Force warrior to be decorated with the Param Vir Chakra. 'My admiration for his gallant action remains undiminished,' says M P Anil Kumar. 'It was not his day, yet he made it his own.'
Gaurav Negi recalls his heartwarming and humbling meeting with the family of Major Padmapani Acharya, who was awarded the Mahavir Chakra posthumously for his heroism in the Kargil war in 1999.
On the 25th anniversary of the battle that made his war cry 'Dil Maange More' part of national lore, we republish that feature to salute Captain Batra's ultimate sacrifice for the nation.
Among the trophies in the living room are the epaulettes of Brig Mohammad Atif, Sitar-e-Pakistan and Commander of Mynamati, who surrendered on December 17.
Colonel Sonam Wangchuk was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, India's second highest honour for courage, for wresting the first victory of the Kargil War. Leading 40 men, his unit evicted 135 Pakistani troops in a three day battle fought in two feet snow and minus 6 degrees.
Twenty one years ago, the Indian Army and Indian Air Force fought a bloody and bitter war to evict Pakistani intruders from the icy heights in Kargil. Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd) salutes the lesser known heroes of the Kargil War.
"He told me his (retirement) papers were through and he would return home in a weeks time and asked me to go ahead with the house warming ceremony on June 3 which I did," she said.
Thapa led the Param Vir Chakra winners' contingent at the Republic Day parade each year.
Naik Subedar Bana Singh, who won the Param Vir Chakra for his bravery in preventing a Siachen post from falling into Pakistan Army's hands in 1987, was on Wednesday awarded the inaugural Sivaji-FACT award for courage. Singh, who was feted by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, was also given Rs 1 lakh with the award.
Visiting the Rezang La Memorial, one has a feeling of super-humans defending the Indian territory against the Chinese onslaught, says Claude Arpi on the 60th anniversary of the heroic battle of the 1962 War.
Anshu Kumar, 21, son of government school teachers from a village in Bihar, won the President's Silver Medal at the NDA. He commanded the grand passing out parade and will go on to join the Indian Navy.
The award is slated to be received by commanding officer Group Captain Satish Pawar on October 8.
More revelations on army's fake killings\n\n
A thrilling vertical manoeuvre by Su30 fighter jets and performance by motorcycle-borne soldiers among a host of other activities today cast a spell over thousands of people who attended the carnival 'Indradhanush' at the Rajpath in New Delhi to commemorate the golden jubilee of the 1965 Indo-Pak War.
He was awarded the distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. This honour is equivalent to today's Param Vir Chakra. The Arjan Singh Trust for needy air force personnel was set up out of the proceeds of his farm house in Delhi being sold. He was a charismatic leader of men and lived up to the fine traditions of soldiering, says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
BharatShakti.in Founder Nitin A Gokhale pays homage to Mr E N Rammohan and Colonel M B Ravindranath, two genuine Indian heroes who sadly passed into the ages on Sunday
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lit the 'Swarnim Vijay Mashaal' at the National War Memorial on Wednesday to mark the 50th-anniversary of the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
'The Battle of Jamalpur was a turning point in the 1971 War because a small battalion of 700 men broke the back of the Pakistanis.'
'On October 12-13, he started shivering from fear in his tent.' 'That was the time he wrote a letter to my mother to conduct Ganeshji's Atharvashirsha.' 'The moment he finished writing that letter, he told us, he felt serene calmness.'
IAF Chief Dhanoa and Abhinandan took a sortie on the MiG 21 jet from the Pathankot air base.
'A man dies and it's over for him. But we're right here, it isn't over for us,' she says cryptically. She talks about the "poverty" in which she had to raise her sons and daughter, the responsibility of today's youth to its country and how war widows should cope with their loss.
Captain Vikram Batra died fighting Pakistani forces during the Kargil war in 1999 at the age of 24. He was given the highest wartime gallantry award 'Param Vir Chakra' posthumously.
Akarshana Sathish collected 4,834 books and used them to open three libraries for children in Hyderabad.
In a special series, we will put YOU to the test everyday!
The Maa Bharati Ke Sapoot Web site (www.maabharatikesapoot.mod.gov.in) will enable citizens to contribute to the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund
Joginder Tuteja looks at upcoming movies featuring stars in uniform.
'It was not surprising that joining the armed forces was one of the priority professions that the students strived for. Probably, the training in school helped adjusting to the regimentalised life of the fauj.'
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'.
The No. 51 Squadron is to be retired by the end of September, "as per the plan", the defence sources said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that decision on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) should have been taken during 1971 war between India and the neighbouring country.
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.
Singh was immortalised on the silver screen by Puneet Issar in the 1997 film Border which was a fictionalised account of the soldiers who fought in the war alongside Longewala.
It's time to awaken the patriot in you!
Today, he lies in an unknown grave in a corner of a farmer's field in Pakistan, having given his all for his country. A riveting excerpt from Ian Cardozo's Beyond Fear: True Stories on Life in the Indian Armed Forces.
