Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

Two years after her husband Major Kaustubh Rane made the supreme sacrifice fighting infiltrators at LOC, she pays this fitting tribute to him. Lieutenant Kanika Rane receiving the stars on her shoulders at OTA, Chennai on November 21 On November 21, two hundred and thirty officer cadets - 181 men and 49 women, passed out from the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. Two years after her husband Major Kaustubh Rane martyred in Kashmir, Kanika Kaustubh Rane paid him a fitting tribute. On Saturday, she was commissioned into the Indian Army after completion of her training at the Indian Army’s Officers Training Academy in Chennai. The 29-year-old Major Rane was martyred during an operation in Kashmir in August 2018 with three other Indian soldiers — rifleman Hameer Singh (28), rifleman Mandeep Singh (26) and Vikramjeet Singh (25). The soldiers had laid down their lives in an attempt to foil an infiltration bid near the Line of Control near Gurez Sector in Bandipora district, about 125 km f...

 The written test of the candidates, hailing from 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir and two districts of Ladakh, was conducted smoothly at various centres amid strict adherence of COVID-19 protocols. Aspirants appear in an entrance exam, conducted by Border Security Force (BSF) during a recruitment rally in the outskirts of Srinagar.   | Photo Credit:  PTI Around 30,000 candidates on Sunday participated in the written examination for recruitment in the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, a BSF spokesperson said. The written test of the candidates, hailing from 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir and two districts of Ladakh, was conducted smoothly at various centres amid strict adherence of COVID-19 protocols issued by the Centre and the two UT governments, he said. The spokesperson said a total of about 34,000 candidates, who have been declared qualified in physical Endurance...

Amid the ongoing tensions over transgressions by the Chinese in Eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army is keeping its formidable Bofors howitzers ready for operations.  Indian Army’s Bofors Gun | Representyative image In a visit to the maintenance facilities for the Bofors guns in Ladakh, ANI could see the effort with which the engineers of the force are servicing and maintaining the 155mm Bofors gun in Ladakh.  The Bofors gun, which was inducted into the regiment of artillery in the mid-1980s, is capable of firing both in low and high angles will be deployed in Ladakh once they will be serviced.  In Ladakh, Army Engineers were seen servicing one such Bofors gun which they said that it will be ready to roar in a few days. According to the officials, the gun required periodical servicing and maintenance to keep roaring for which technicians have been deployed to keep it in working.  Bofors was instrumental in winning many battles of Operation Vijay was displayed in Dras in J...

Representative Image Union Home Minister Amit Shah on August 5, 2019 had announced the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A in Parliament, which resulted in the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories. A year on, section 144 has been imposed in Srinagar to prevent some terrorist outfits from marking the day as a 'Black Day' also to keep a check on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that has swept the UT. According to a circular issued the district magistrate, the section 144 has been imposed for August 4 and 5. The abrogation of Article 370 and 35A has extended the reach of Parliament and Indian Constitution over the region effectively ending the autonomous status and provisions where they could make their own laws on most issues. Since the abrogation of the Articles, a number of state laws were scrapped and both union territories got lieutenant governors after the bifurcation came into effect on October 31, 2019.  Also, the scrapping of Article 35A...

In a significant move, the  J&K administration has withdrawn a 1971 circular  that required a  no objection certificate (NOC)  from its home department for acquisition or requisition of land in favour of the Indian Armed Forces like the Army, BSF, CRPF etc. Now, the Army, CRPF and the BSF would no longer need a no objection certificate (NOC) for acquisition/ requisition of land in Jammu and Kashmir. BSF personnel stand guard (Image for representation | Bloomberg Quint) The development comes as the Central law on land acquisition is being extended to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Such acquisition in J&K will now be covered under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. With the abrogation of Article 370 defence forces won't face any major hurdle in acquiring land in Jammu and Kashmir. This will go a long way in the construction of strategic infrastructure in time bound manner! A...

Rajnath Singh landed in Leh in the morning during his two-day visit to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir along with Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane. Army’s T-90 tanks display their capabilities during Defence minister Rajnath Singh’s Leh visit amid standoff with China(Twitter/@DefenceMinIndia) The Indian Army showcased its T-90 tanks and armoured combat vehicles as defence minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the situation at the border on Friday, over a month after 20 soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley. Rajnath Singh landed in Leh in the morning during his two-day visit to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir along with Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane. A video tweeted by news agency ANI showed army tanks carrying out military exercises in Singh presence in Stakna, a forward post where the troops also showed him their para dropping...

Indian Army's recent move of claiming  Lipulekh  on the border with Nepal was a national and strategic necessity, failing which, we would have lost it---  it was in the pipeline of being 'gifted' to China by Nepal. Same is the case with Doklam and Bhutan . The Chinese are always playing mischief there. Had it not been for the Indian Army, Nepal would have physically occupied it a long time ago or it would have been 'gifted' to China.  Representative image  China's eye on Himalayan 'tri-junctions' There are a total of 4 important tri-junctions on the 4056 km long Indo-China border. A 'tri-junction' is a small area where the borders of three countries meet. This territory is militarily vulnerable. These 'tri-junctions' are through the Himalayan entrance.   Which are in such a strategic position that the country which will take control of all these four tri-junctions will prevail in this tough Himalayan battlefield.    Because their geograph...

China and India have accused each other of provoking fighting in which both sides have suffered severe casualties in a disputed Himalayan area. India and China have been locked in a border dispute for decades The Indian army said that both sides suffered casualties, but there has been no word on numbers from China yet. Tuesday's battle was reportedly fought with rocks and clubs. However, no shots were fired. The Indian army said a number of its troops "were critically injured in the line of duty". The statement goes on to note that the injured soldiers were also "exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain ". An extraordinary escalation 'with rocks and clubs' Monday's confrontation in the Ladakh region was the first deadly clash in the border area in at least 45 years. India said China had tried to "unilaterally change the status quo". Beijing accused Indian troops of "attacking Chinese personnel". The two armies...

Representative Image Recent "uncoordinated" acts of violence in North Kashmir are "signs of desperation" by terrorists which are not finding resonance among people who want to get out of the cycle of violence, a fact visible in the sharp dip this year in the recruitment of local youths in terror groups, a senior Army officer has said. Lt Gen B S Raju, heading the Kashmir-based XV corps, feels the basic premise of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is to create sensationalism that is backed by false separatist narratives and propaganda sponsored from Pakistan. These acts of terrorism are "... not finding much favour among the awaam (public), these uncoordinated terrorist acts are a sign of desperation. There is no semblance of any space where terrorists or separatists are in control," Gen Raju told PTI in an email interview. "Overall, the people want a solution, they want to get out of this cycle of violence and that is the reason that the support for terr...

Indian and Chinese armies rushed in additional troops in areas around Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley in Ladakh, signalling hardening of their aggressive posturing two weeks after they were engaged in a fierce face-off, military sources said on Wednesday.  Representative Image  It is learnt that the India's top military brass is constantly monitoring the evolving situation even as the US said the aggressive behaviour by Chinese troops was a reminder of the threat posed by China. "The flare-ups on the border, I think, are a reminder that Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical. And so whether it's in the South China Sea or whether it's along the border with India, we continue to see provocations and disturbing behaviour by China," said Alice Wells, the outgoing head of the South and Central Asia bureau in the US State Department. Her comments at an online media briefing came even as efforts to de-escalate the tense situation in the sensitive areas conti...