Gen Anil Chauhan takes charge as India's new Chief of Defence Staff
New Delhi (PTI): Gen Anil Chauhan on Friday became India's new Chief of Defence Staff with a mandate to implement the ambitious theaterisation plan that aims to ensure tri-services synergy and prepare the armed forces for future security challenges facing the nation.
Gen Chauhan, a former Eastern Army Commander, took charge as the country's senior-most military commander over nine months after the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.
"I am proud to be assuming the responsibility of the highest rank in the Indian Armed Forces. I will try to fulfil the expectations from the three services and tackle all challenges and difficulties together," Gen Chauhan said.
Before assuming charge of the CDS, Gen Chauhan paid tributes to India's fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial in the India Gate complex. His father Surendra Singh Chauhan was also present at the memorial.
He was also accorded a tri-services guard of honour at the lawns of the South Block in the Raisina Hills in presence of Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral SN Ghormade.
Gen Chauhan's wife Anupama accompanied him when he took charge of the top office.
Known as an expert on China, his appointment to the top post comes amid the lingering border row between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh.
The 61-year-old Chauhan will also function as Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs.
He retired from service on May 31 last year when he was serving as the Eastern Army Commander. After his retirement, he was serving as the military adviser to the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) headed by National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval.
Born on May 18, 1961, Gen Chauhan was commissioned into the 11 Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in 1981.
As CDS, Gen Chauhan's primary task will be to implement the theaterisation model to bring in tri-services synergy by rolling out integrated military commands.
Last year, the Department of Military Affairs headed by Gen Rawat had asked all three services to carry out independent studies on the theaterisation plan for its rollout.
However, the process did not move further after the death of Gen Rawat on December 8, 2021.
As per the theaterisation plan, each of the theatre commands will have units of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force and all of them will work as a single entity looking after security challenges in a specified geographical territory under an operational commander.
At present, the three forces have a total of 17 commands. Initially, a plan was firmed up for the creation of an Air Defence Command and Maritime Theatre Command.
The Indian Air Force has some reservations about the proposed theatre commands.
In June, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said the IAF remains fully committed to the tri-services integration for enhancing the comprehensive national combat power.
Gen Chauhan is known as a fine military commander who played a key role in enhancing India's military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in the Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim sectors during his tenure as the Eastern Army Commander.
He was the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Army during the Balakot air strikes in 2019 when Indian airplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan.
In becoming the CDS, Gen Chauhan assumed the rank of the four-star General as the post was created in the rank of a four-star general.
Gen Chauhan is the first retired three-star officer to return to service in four-star rank.
In a career spanning nearly 40 years, Gen Chauhan held several command, staff and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and northeast India.
For his distinguished and illustrious service in the Army, Chauhan was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal.
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NDA, INDIA bloc MPs protest in Parl premises; BJP alleges Rahul pushed its MP
New Delhi (PTI): Ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc MPs took out separate protest marches over the Ambedkar issue on Thursday and came face to face at the Makar Dwar of the Parliament House, leading to jostling in which BJP MP Pratap Sarangi was injured.
He was taken to hospital with an injury on his forehead. BJP MPs alleged that Sarangi was pushed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha later told reporters that while he was trying to enter the Parliament House, BJP members pushed and "threatened" him.
"It is our right to enter Parliament," he said.
Nishikant Dubey of the BJP alleged that Rahul Gandhi pushed an aged parliamentarian leading to his fall and subsequent injury.
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have been adjourned following noisy protests by the Opposition seeking an apology from Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks on B R Ambedkar.
Dressed in blue, a colour associated with B R Ambedkar, INDIA bloc MPs, including the Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in the Parliament premises demanding Amit Shah's resignation for his remarks related to the chief architect of the Constitution.
BJP-led NDA parliamentarians also carried out a march within Parliament premises, raising slogans and carrying placards demanding an apology from the opposition Congress for allegedly insulting Ambedkar.
As the INDIA bloc parliamentarians came face to face with the ruling coalition MPs in front of the Makar Dar of Parliament, the two sides engaged in loud sloganeering in a bid to outdo each other.
The INDIA bloc members first staged a protest at B R Ambedkar's statue in Parliament premises, carrying posters that read 'Main Bhi Ambedkar', 'Jai Bhim' and 'Amit Shah maafi maango'.
They then took out a protest march on the Parliament premises. MPs of the Congress, DMK, RJD, SP, the Left and NCP(SP), among others, participated in the protest. Several opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K Kanimozhi, were seen wearing blue.
Earlier, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha chaired a meeting of the Congress' Lok Sabha MPs in the main committee room.
The opposition on Wednesday seized on Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on B R Ambedkar to corner the government and demanded his resignation for what they called was an insult to the architect of the Constitution.
The attack from virtually all opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, Left parties and Shiv Sena-UBT, led to the adjournment of both Houses of Parliament and prompted the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to come out in stout defence of Shah.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien has also submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against Shah in the Rajya Sabha where the home minister had said on Tuesday evening that Congress leaders would have got a place in heaven had they chanted the name of God rather than following the fashion of repeating Ambedkar's name.
The hullabaloo in Parliament also spilled onto the streets of the national capital and places as far as Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. In Delhi, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal led hundreds of supporters to gather outside the BJP office and protest noisily amid slogans "Amit Shah maafi mango, Amit Shah sharm karo".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, DMK chief M K Stalin, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav were among those who have slammed Shah for his remarks.
