West Bengal, which is governed by the Trinamool Congress, became the second state after Congress-ruled Punjab, where such a resolution has been tabled and passed.
'All the government needs to do is to identify clear political and strategic objectives and to give the military planners a free hand,' asserts Ajai Shukla.
Ajai Shukla salutes the memory of Lieutenant General R M Vohra, Mahavir Chakra, who passes into the ages on Sunday.
Naravane's appointment has been cleared at the highest level, adding the government has followed the principle of seniority in the appointment.
Lt Gen P K Rath, who is facing court martial in the Sukna land scam case, has alleged in the Delhi high court that there was mala fide intention as the Eastern Command had initiated action against him only after he was designated the Deputy Chief of Army.
'We airlifted army personnel wearing lungis to generally unused landing grounds.' 'We were told to keep quiet about what we did or saw.'
Naga splinter groups impatient with stalled talks as well as rebel Manipuri groups who have a stake in disrupting upcoming elections to the state assembly, are believed to be regrouping in the borderlands of China's Yunnan province and Myanmar, taking advantage of the turmoil in the latter by using it as a transit corridor.
The first joint theatre command would be responsible for the border against Pakistan in what the military refers to as the "western theatre"; while a second command -- the northern theatre command -- would be responsible for the border with China. A third, navy-heavy theatre, called the "maritime command" will be responsible for the security of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR); and an island command, already functional and called the Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC), would project power into the eastern Indian Ocean.
With General Naravane taking charge, all three services chiefs, including navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and the Indian Air Force's Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, are now from the 56th course of the National Defence Academy.
In his petition, the vice admiral has challenged the government's move to ignore seniority and appoint his junior as the next chief of navy.
The Indian Army also deployed an additional brigade from the northeastern region in Kashmir to strengthen its counter-infiltration grid on the Line of Control.
Tawang wears its history -- and also its present -- with ease. The flourishing town, with restaurants selling everything from noodles to dosas and locals returning home to new business prospects, shows little sign of the tension building up at the border about 40 km away to the north.
An estimated 90 to 120 militants have been killed and most of their camps demolished by the Bhutan Army in its operation against Indian insurgents based in that country.
Sources in the security establishment said the force is also set to get sanctions from the Union Home ministry to raise at least nine fresh battalions soon. They said in order to bolster troop numbers along the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, as many as 60 companies have been ordered to move towards the front in various areas like Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
It is a timely reminder that when faced with twin threats, India has succeeded by wisely choosing allies, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
December 3, 2021 marks 50 years since the beginning of the 1971 War which ended in a decisive military victory for India and the liberation of Bangladesh. Most analysts of the 1971 War agree that the IV Corps dash across the mighty Meghna river led by the brilliant General Sagat Singh was the turning point in the war, recalls military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
In the Army headquarters, the wings handling military operations, military intelligence, operational logistics and strategic movement will carry out their functions with bare minimum staff strength till April 19, according to the order. Within the command headquarters, wings handling manpower, logistics and operations will only function with skeletal staff.
BCCI president Ganguly said the game has been completely sold-out on the first three days
Lt Gen Bakshi announced 'full support' to the new chief and made it clear that he won't resign.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador T S Tirumurti, said on Tuesday that India condemns all forms of anti-semitism and all forms of discrimination on religious grounds anywhere in the world.
If the government of the day would like to set in place a smooth and well-planned changeover and facilitate the incoming chief to chalk out his action plan well in advance, the announcement of a successor needs to be done early, observes Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
Defence Minister AK Antony leaves New Delhi on Thursday on a 4-day official visit to the People's Republic of China.
It is time we consider a residential permit system for economic migrants. With this the migrants will enjoy all benefits other than the right to vote. This single measure of regularising economic migrants will defeat the nefarious designs of the 'vote-bank' politicians. Else, we are storing trouble for the future, says Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd).
The Indian Air Force has evacuated over 400 flood-affected people across Assam in the past 20 days as relief helicopters and transport planes are on round-the-clock standby. Air Commodore P E Patange of the Eastern Air Command said besides airlifting 400 marooned persons from various parts of the state, the IAF also airlifted dozens of tonnes of relief material for distribution.
On December 10, Kissinger began to encourage the Chinese to take action against India: 'If the People's Republic were to consider the situation on the Indian subcontinent a threat to security, and if it took measures to protect its security, the US would oppose efforts of others to interfere with the People's Republic.' On the 50th anniversary of India's greatest military victory, Claude Arpi recalls how the US suggested that China intervene militarily on Pakistan's side.
The IMD has also issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts.
Designed and built by state-run Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, INS Koswari is a highly manoeuvrable craft and ideally suited for deployment along the coast, a defence release said.
Lt Gen J F R Jacob (retd), who negotiated the surrender of Pakistani troops in Dhaka following the 1971 war, passed away on Wednesday morning after prolonged illness. He was 92.
Col Shaibal Kumar posted in Planning and Engineering branch of the Kolkata-based Army's Eastern Command arrested for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 50,000.
Sitharaman, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa and Vice Chief of the Indian Navy Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P laid wreaths at the Amar Jawan Jyoti in India Gate, paying respect to the fallen heroes of the war.
In his fresh petition, Verma said he had filed a statutory complaint with the defence ministry, challenging appointment of Vice Admiral Singh as the next navy chief, and asked it to respond within 10 days.
Lt Gen Naravane is currently serving as Vice Chief of the Army. In his 37 years of service, Lt Gen Naravane has served in numerous command and staff appointments in peace, field and highly active counter-insurgency environments in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
Verma also sought quashing of a note issued by the defence ministry rejecting his plea against Singh's appointment.
After the reconvened Court of Inquiry (COI) was completed earlier this month, the army initiated the summary of evidence against him at the Eastern Command headquarters in Kolkata from Tuesday and General Prakash was slapped with five charges.
This is the second crash of Chetak in a fortnight. On August 27, another Chetak helicopter had crashed moments after take-off during a training mission at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport in Bangalore.
Suhag has filed an affidavit in Supreme Court, accusing the minister of trying to scuttle his promotion to the appointment of army commander.
Former Military Secretary Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash, who is facing court martial for the Sukna land scam, on Thursday challenged the punitive action against him, saying Army rules were violated in the case. He approached the Armed Forces Tribunal, seeking quashing of the charges under the Army Act 123 and his attachment to the Western Command. Prakash alleged that the Court of Inquiry conducted by the Eastern Command in the case had violated the Army Rule 180.
We celebrate Dassera and regard it as an auspicious day as a day of victory of good over evil! So was 16 December! It is time we regard this day as auspicious as Dassera in future, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Gen Singh, who has vast experience in counter-insurgency operations and till lately was the GOC-in-C of Kolkata-based Eastern Command, was handed over charge by Gen Kapoor at a ceremony in the South Block in New Delhi.
Singh was in the news recently when he recommended action against four General-ranked officers indicted by a probe in the Sukna land scam in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
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