A parliamentary panel report has attributed the December 8, 2021, helicopter crash that killed India's first Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat, and his wife, to "human error." The report, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, also revealed that 34 Indian Air Force aircraft accidents occurred during the 13th Defence Plan period, including nine in 2021-22 and 11 in 2018-19.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others were killed when an Indian Air Force helicopter carrying them crashed on Wednesday near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu in apparently foggy conditions, killing 13 people on board, the IAF and other officials said.
Lt General Rawat belongs to the famous 5th Battalion of 11th Gorkha Rifles. He is the current vice chief of army staff of Indian Army.
The government has extended the tenure of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan up to May next year.
Gen Rawat will be able to serve as CDS for a period of up to three years after the government amended the rules extending the age of retirement to 65 years.
Vijay Rawat, brother of India's first chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat who recently died in a helicopter crash, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday.
Currently women are allowed in a number of select areas including in medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the army.
Huge crowds of mourners gathered outside as armed forces personnel took the mortal remains of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat inside the Brar Square crematorium in the Delhi Cantonment on Friday.
Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan was the pilot of the crashed Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter, carrying Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and 13 others, informed sources.
Condolences over the demise of chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat poured in on Wednesday from various countries, including the US, Russia and Pakistan.
Their mortal remains are expected to arrive in the national capital in a military plane by Thursday evening, the sources said.
'With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident,' the IAF tweeted.
"The force is to maintain peace and tranquillity at the border but it will not shy away from flexing its muscles, if the need be," Gen Rawat said.
Pakistan Army's spokesman in a short statement posted on Twitter said that Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Nadeem Raza and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed condolences.
IAF Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor in the helicopter crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and 12 others, is being shifted to Bengaluru from the Army hospital at Wellington in Tamil Nadu, his father said on Thursday.
On Saturday morning, the daughters of CDS General Rawat, Kritika and Tarini, collected the ashes of their parents from Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment and reached Haridwar to immerse them in the Ganges.
Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor in the horrifying chopper crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, was conferred with the Shaurya Chakra in August for averting a possible mid-air accident after his Tejas light combat aircraft suffered a major technical glitch last year.
Army Day is celebrated on January 15 very year in recognition of Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) KM Cariappa taking over as the first Commander-in Chief of Indian Army from Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander this day in 1948.
The proposal is also important as it comes at a time when the Indian forces are working on the creation of a rocket force which has been in discussion at the highest levels in the Defence Ministry.
General Naravane has been given charge as the chairman of the committee as he is the senior-most among the three service chiefs.
People pay their respects to the chief of defence staff and the 13 others who died in Wednesday's helicopter crash near Coonoor.
Opposition parties on Thursday suspended their dharna against the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs at the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament complex in view of the death of Chief of Defence staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others in a chopper crash a day ago.
In his condolence message, Modi said he was deeply anguished by the helicopter crash in which Rawat, his wife and other personnel of the armed forces died.
The plaintive strains of bugles sounding the last post broke through the hush, men in uniform clicked their heels and a 17-gun salute rang out as Gen Bipin Rawat and his wife were cremated on Friday evening -- the sun setting on a day written into India's military history and on the life of its most senior military officer.
Gen Rawat is due for retirement on December 31 and top government sources said, if everything goes according to plan, then the government would name him as the country's first CDS before he hangs up his boots.
At present, the Pralay ballistic missiles can take out targets from 150 to 500 km and are extremely difficult to intercept for the enemy through interceptor missiles.
Admiral R Hari Kumar said while addressing those who completed their four month rigorous training here at INS Chilika, "I assure you (Agniveer), wherever you go, you will be fully prepared with confidence and motivation to face any challenge in the life."
He also set out priorities for execution of various initiatives by December 31 to achieve synergy among the three forces.
The chopper took off at 11.48 am from the Sulur Air Base and was reported to be missing at around 12.22 pm, sources informed.
Gen Pande, who was serving as the vice chief, became the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to helm the force.
In continuation of a tradition that started in 1950, Nepal Army chief Gen Prabhu Ram Sharma was conferred with the honorary rank of 'General of the Indian Army' by President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday.
The coveted Durand Cup trophy received a grand welcome with two retired Army officers showing their daredevilry by jumping from Kolkata's tallest building -- The 42 -- a 65-floor, 260-metre landmark
Three people were killed after the MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashed into a house in Hanumangarh in Rajasthan shortly after it took off for a routine training sortie from the Air Force Station at Suratgarh.
Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat and top brass of the force on Sunday paid glowing tributes to the two soldiers who were killed in a militant attack near Qazigund on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway.
A 44-year-old man in Gujarat, who had allegedly made derogatory remarks on his Facebook page about the death of chief of defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, was arrested by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell on Thursday, officials said.
The Lok Sabha observed a two-minute silence on the demise of the 13 people.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Wednesday asserted that any possible terrorist activity flowing out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and finding its way into India will be firmly dealt with, and suggested that the Quad nations should boost cooperation in the global war on terrorism.
"The DAC accorded approval for procurement of equipment worth over Rs 5,100 crore from indigenous sources. These include sophisticated Electronic Warfare Systems for the Army designed by DRDO and manufactured locally by the Indian industry," the defence ministry said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held two-back-to-back meetings with top military brass on Tuesday deliberating on the situation in eastern Ladakh after an Indian Army officer and two soldiers were killed in a violent clash with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley.
Members of the Karnataka legislative assembly on Monday demanded a thorough probe into the death of chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on December 8.
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