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Lieutenant, did you die in vain? saluting Lieutenant Navdeep Singh, 26,(AC)(P) who gave his supreme sacrifice while fighting with terrorists in the Kashmir valley in August, 2011. Lieutenant Singh was awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest gallantry award in peacetime, by President Pratibha Patil , at the Republic Day parade. I learnt about your demise from the ticker tape on one of the news channels. It was a big encounter and a very fierce one at that. A feeling of deep sadness enveloped me as I reflected on your youth which had been sacrificed in the Gurez sector in the line of duty. What does your death mean? You were too young to die, far too young! For whom and for what did you die then? This question haunted me last night and I will attempt to answer you. You were probably from a village or a small town of India. You were perhaps the son of an army officer or JCO, or from an urban or rural civilian background. You could not be from one of the big cities w...

“If Death comes before I prove my blood I swear I will kill death”-Manoj Pandey The above statement aptly proved by Capt. Navin Gulia and that too not once but every time the challenge arose, Capt Navin Gulia’s courage and determination to fight the odds arose higher. After the strenuous training at NDA and IMA, just when he thought he was going to achieve a lifelong dream, he got accidently pushed over in the final competition of obstacle race right before his Passing Out Parade….It shattered his dream of serving the forces and left him with a 100% paralysed body and all he could command apart from his will power was his eyes… he rose from the ashes when the doctors had lost all hope… Confined in his bed he trained himself to fight back… Every moment being a battle and he, the lone soldier, fought back so hard that even destiny dropped on its knees and surrendered He wanted to achieve the impossible and he did when he drove for 55 hours non stop in a modified SUV t...

Story of a dog who served Indian Army till death. The Dog's name was Rex. Rex was a recipient of GOC-in-C Commendation Card for his outstanding & exemplary performance against militants. The 9A 92 Rex, a golden Labrador was born on 25 February 1993 at RVC Centre & School Meerut. After a year's training, he was posted to 14 Army Dog Unit under Delta Force and assigned the areas adjoining the town of Bhaderwah, to help troops in trailing & tracking militants. In March 1995, operating with troops of 25 RR in jungles of Badrot, South of Bhaderwah, he tracked a militant injured in an encounter for over 3 km in the thick of militant fire. In a chase that lasted for over four hours, he managed to recover one AK 56 rifles and an haversack containing 92 rounds. In April 1998, out on a patrol in area Gulgandhar, security forces killed two dreaded militants and badly injured one, who managed to escape. Picking up the scent of his blood, 'Rex...

Why do you want to be in the armed forces. "I want to get the Param Vir Chakra -Captain Manoj Pandey, 1/11 Gurkha Rifles: Posthumous Param Vir Chakra winner 'Before he fell he told his men: Don't leave them' Born on 25 June 1975 in family of Shri Gopi Chand Pandey, Captain Manoj was a brilliant student & sportsman. He was always top in his academics & won hundreds of certificates and cups during his schooling. He cleared NDA in his first attempt, in his SSB interview his assessor asked why do you want to join army-he replayed, to get PARAM VIR CHAKRA…….& he got it. Capt. Manoj Kumar Pandey was a man with a laughing face and happy disposition. He did his schooling at “Rani Laxmibai College” , from there he went to “U.P.Sainik school. He always got first rank in his academics, besides, he was a an all round sports man. His hobbies were Hockey, Swimming and athletics. His mother Smt. Mohini Pandey inspired him towards the morality and ...

What does a soldier fight for? I am sure most of us would say for his country. Correct. But then what is a country? A country is not only a landmass but it is made up of living beings like you and me. Simply put, a soldier fights for me and you. #He does not want to kill, but he has to so that we stay safe. #He feels cold and heat too, but he learns to live with it to keep us comfortable. #And some of them also make supreme sacrifice while protecting us. And what how much do we care for them? Ask yourself this question and see what answers you get. Many of you might say that we give respect to them. But the question is, is it enough? #Can you buy a decent house with respect? #Can you pay for your children’s education with respect? #Can you lead a comfortable life after disability/retirement with this respect? Answer to all these questions is a big NO. I agree that soldiers are not so shallow to fight for money. In fact if they wanted to make money then they woul...

India plans to spend about $100 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade its largely Soviet-era military equipment, as Asia's third largest economy looks to match its military power with its economic clout. In what has been described as one of the world's most dangerous regions, with three nuclear-armed countries bordering each other, India's fears of the rising might of China and threats from Pakistan -- along with a underdeveloped aerospace industry -- have made it the world's leading weapons importer. That makes it a lucrative market for firms such as Boeing (BA.N) and Dassault (DAST.PA). The following are some of the major modernisation programmes that have been announced or are planned by India's government, taken from various Indian and international media reports. INDIAN AIR FORCE: Combat planes: India is jointly developing a stealth fighter with Russia, to be based on United Aircraft Corp's (UNAC.MM) Sukhoi T-50 platform. According ...

During The Attack on Akshardham temple on 24th September 2002 this Brave Man fought the greatest battle of his life. Yes he was the N.S.G. Commando Late Mr. Surjan Singh , who sacrificed his life for the Nation. Sadly On 19th May 2004 he lost the Toughest and Longest battle against life exactly after 600 Days being in Coma, he lost this life. The Bullet which hit him in the head made him Unconscious for almost 600 days. His family members were hoping that one day their Hero will open his eyes but he didn't. It was the Longest Wait for the family members of this Brave Man. When the whole India was busy in Guessing Who will be the Next PM of the country - Will it be Sonia or will it be Manmohan Singh, This man was fighting his Last battle. But it's so sad that in the hype of all the Political Drama, the News about his Death was Lost like a needle in a hay stack! Even the leading News Papers & So Called Best News Channels of India which Works on 24 X 7 b...

When a soldier leaves to fight the battle for his Country…he hopes the Nation will take care of his family he hopes the flag will adorn him if he falls but what about those who gave more than their lives to this country… what about those for whom the battle has been waging on from the past 40 years? For 40 years our very beloved soldiers with whose blood Bangladesh was carved out, have shrieked, wept and begged for help from their motherland but the entire nation has gone deaf to their screams, blind to their letters and soulless to their torture…. We won the war and we forgot the ones gave us Victory? When Major Ashok Kumar Suri miraculously managed to pen down “we are 20 officers here… contact Indian Army” from a jail in Pakistan, he was confident his motherland will do everything to bring her son back… but the Major still must be languishing in the same jail still dreaming every night about his Watan, his Desh, his people… Their families have not given up, they...

The recapture of Tiger Hill was a turning point during the Kargil conflict and the Indian Army did not look back after that victory. And the Army is looking back with pride ten years after the military operation and recapture of the formidable 5,062 metre-high mountain top from Pakistani Army regulars in Operation Vijay. "Today is the tenth anniversary of our winning back the Tiger Hill from the Pakistani Army regulars, who were sitting on the top. Tiger Hill and Tololing range victories can be said to be the turning points of the war as from there on, there was nothing stopping the Indian Army till the time the war ended on July 26," a senior officer from the 56 Brigade in Drass told PTI here. The celebrations, the officer said, are being held at the respective present locations of the units who won the battle. "We would be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the battle at Drass on July 26, the day when the battle ended in favour of India and we wrested all our position...

With an aim of fast-tracking procurement of defence equipment, the government steeply hiked the budgetary allocation for defence to Rs 1,41,703 crore, a 34% increase over the previous fiscal. The increase in real terms amounted to Rs 36,103 crore over last year's allocation of Rs 1,05,600 crore, and is apparently intended to speed up procurement of defence equipment and plug the security gaps exposed by the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks last year. The 34% increase is substantial compared to the increase of only 10% effected in last year's budget over Rs 96,000 crore allocated in 2007-08. In fact, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had allocated the same amount for defence in his interim budget presented in Parliament on February 16 before the Lok Sabha polls. Despite the hike this year, India's defence spending is still at about 2% of the GDP, compared to China's 7% and Pakistan's 5%. The defence ministry had returned nearly Rs 7,000 crore as unspent money from i...

Many of my friends keen to get into government jobs, and as most of them are adventure loving so want to get enroll into Armed forces. This is not because we all really want to join army, but the slowdown in private sector forced us to rethink on our career prospectives. Also the sixth pay commission is responsible for the same. Many youngster hesitate to join Indian Army because of the money barrier, but now this is not an issue, and the security in job in public sector forced these youngsters to think again. Already the Armed Forces as a whole facing a shortage of about 15,000 officers. Many officers quit army before time, last year, around 1,200 officers sought premature retirement. The years of economic boom were a tough time for the armed forces. Now, in the winter of economic gloom, things are looking up for armed forces. Rattled by disappearing jobs in private sector, several officers are withdrawing requests for premature retirement. Moreover, with the sixth pay commission hol...