Ex-Army Chief Gen Sundararajan Padmanabhan dies in Chennai
Chennai (PTI): Former Chief of Army Staff General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, affectionately known as “Paddy” in army circles, passed away in Chennai due to old age, a source close to him said on Monday.
He was 83. He served as the Chief of Army Staff from September 30, 2000 to 31 December 31, 2002.
He commanded an Independent Artillery Brigade and a Mountain Brigade before attending the prestigious NDC course at Delhi.
He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for his services as the 15 Corps Commander.
Born in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on December 5, 1940, General Padmanabhan was an alumnus of the prestigious Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehra Dun, and the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla in Pune.
He was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery after graduating from the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on December 13, 1959.
His illustrious career included several prestigious command, staff and instructional postings, besides having participated in numerous operations, a defence release here said.
A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) at Wellington in 1973 and the National Defence College (NDC) at New Delhi, he commanded an Independent Light Battery from August 1975 to July 1976 and later on commanded the Gazala Mountain Regiment from September 1977 to March 1980.
This mountain regiment is one of the oldest artillery regiments of the Indian Army and has participated in several wars.
He served as Instructor Gunnery at the School of Artillery in Deolali, been a Brigade Major of an infantry brigade on its raising and served as Colonel General Staff of a Mountain Division from January 1983 to May 1985, where he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM). He has also spent two tenures as an instructor at the IMA.
He commanded an Infantry Brigade from December 1988 to February 1991 at Ranchi, Bihar and Punjab and was then appointed as the General Officer Commanding of an Infantry Division in Punjab from March 1991 to August 1992.
He served as Chief of Staff, 3 Corps from September 1992 to June 1993. After his promotion to Lieutenant General, he was commander of the 15 Corps in the Kashmir valley from July 1993 to February 1995. It was during his tenure as the 15 Corps Commander, that the Army made big gains over the militants in Kashmir and could even scale down its operations.
General Padmanabhan held the appointment of Director General Military Intelligence (DGMI) after the successful culmination of which, he took over as the GOC of the Northern Command at Udhampur on September 1, 1996.
Before being appointed as the Chief of Army Staff, he was the GOC of Southern Command.
He retired on December 31, 2002, after completing more than 43 years of distinguished military service.
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Heavy rain, hailstorms likely to lash Uttarakhand on Tuesday; IMD issues warning
Dehradun/Pithoragarh (PTI): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for heavy rain and hailstorms across several districts of Uttarakhand on Tuesday, as temperatures remained markedly below normal in the region.
Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Champawat, and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Most places across all districts are expected to receive light to moderate rain or thunderstorms, while higher reaches are likely to witness snowfall, officials said on Monday.
The weather department warned of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail and intense spells of rain in six districts, including Dehradun and Nainital. Gusty winds with speeds reaching 40-50 kmph are also expected at isolated locations in these areas and other hilly districts.
In the state capital, Dehradun, the sky is forecast to remain partly cloudy with light rain and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds of 30-40 kmph.
The maximum and minimum temperatures in the city are expected to hover around 31 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Maximum temperatures during the past 24 hours remained markedly below normal in the hills and appreciably below normal in the plains. While no significant change in temperature is expected over the next 2-3 days, the IMD predicts a rise of 3-5 degrees Celsius during the subsequent 3-4 days.
Rainfall was recorded in several areas after 8.30 am today, with Ramnagar receiving 31.5 mm and Nainital recording 26.5 mm. Other areas, including Pithoragarh, Khatima and Champawat, also reported moderate precipitation.
Authorities have stopped a batch of 36 Adi Kailash pilgrims at the Dharchula base camp and placed the high-altitude yatra route on high alert following heavy rains and hailstorms in the district on Monday.
Dharchula SDM Ashish Joshi said the pilgrimage was halted due to adverse weather conditions. The issuance of new inner-line passes has been suspended until the weather normalises.
With 1,700 passes issued so far, pilgrims already at higher camps are being monitored for safety, the official added.
