New Delhi: As the Supreme Court gets ready to hear the Army Chief age row, both Defence Minister AK Antony and Army Chief General Vijay Kumar Singh on Tuesday blamed the Army for the mess. Both Antony as well as General Singh said that the Army sat on the problem for 36 years and that the problem should not recur. Antony said that the Supreme Court verdict on the controversy...
02:52 PM, Jan 31, 2012
New Delhi: The Defence Ministry has written a letter to the Army Adjutant General's branch, advising change in Army Chief Gen VK Singh's date of birth record. Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the subject, the Defence Ministry has written to the Adjutant General's (AG) branch of the Army to correct its record to show the year of birth of Army chief Gen VK Singh as 1950 contrary to...
12:30 PM, Jan 29, 2012
New Delhi: Indian Air Force's (IAF) Republic Day parade contingent, which was led by a woman officer for the first time in its 63-year-old history, has been adjudged he best marching team this year. Among the three services, IAF's marching contingent has been selected as the best. BSF has got the award for best drill among the paramilitary forces, Defence Ministry officials said here today. Three panels of judges were...
09:55 PM, Jan 28, 2012
New Delhi: Indian army chief General VK Singh has claimed that his acceptance of May 10, 1950 as his date of birth in 2008 was not a free admission but was made in a hurry and done under apprehension of some proceedings initiated against him. CNN-IBN has got complete access to the writ petition filed by the army chief against the government in the Supreme Court wherein General Singh has...
08:27 PM, Jan 18, 2012
New Delhi: Army Chief General Vijay Kumar Singh has been wronged in the controversy over his date of birth, according to four former Chief Justices of India. In their opinion General Singh has been consistent on his date of birth since he joined the National Defence Academy (NDA). While one former Chief Justice of India, Justice (retired) JS Verma was consulted by the Army over General VK Singh's age row,...
01:50 PM, Jan 18, 2012
New Delhi: The battle between the army chief and the Central government seems to be intensifying on both the legal and political front. The Centre on Tuesday filed a Caveat in the Supreme Court asking the court not to pass orders till its stand is heard. The Defence Ministry also sent a list of possible successors to the PMO. For the first time in the history of India, a serving...
08:56 PM, Jan 17, 2012
New Delhi: In the latest move to take on Army Chief General VK Singh, the Ministry of Defence has prepared a list of army commanders who could succeed him. According to reports, the list has even been sent by the ministry to the Prime Minister's Office. Earlier on Tuesday, the government filed a caveat in the Supreme Court on the petition moved by General VK Singh on his age issue....
08:17 PM, Jan 17, 2012
New Delhi: The government has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court on the petition moved by Army Chief General VK Singh on his age issue. Through the caveat, the government seeks that the court should not pass an order before hearing it. The government does not seem to be taking any chances and is also stiff on its stand of opposing General Singh's writ petition in the apex court....
03:10 PM, Jan 17, 2012
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday attacked the government accusing it of having lost credibility after the Army Chief Gen VK Singh dragged the government to the Supreme Court on the issue of his date of birth. "It is a complete lack of statecraft of the government. Shockingly, the issue, which should have been resolved amicably, is calling for a judicial intervention. This is unfortunate and shows a...
10:12 PM, Jan 16, 2012
New Delhi: Army chief General VK Singh is trying to play down his disagreement with the Defence Ministry over a prolonged and messy age row that threatened to impact his tenure. When asked whether he had any disagreement with the government, Army Chief General VK Singh said, "There is no difference of opinion with the Defence Ministry regarding the age issue." The Army chief remained non-committal on whether or not...
03:43 PM, Jan 10, 2012
New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday slammed the government over the age controversy of Army Chief General VK Singh, saying the matter should not have come into the public domain and the Manmohan Singh dispensation should have dealt with it expeditiously within closed doors. "This is a case which reflects that government has taken leave of statecraft. An issue involving the army chief should have been sorted out expeditiously and...
10:28 PM, Jan 05, 2012
Sources claimed the government was working out a compromise that could be a face saver to both the sides in the row. ...
07:51 PM, Jan 05, 2012
New Delhi: Sources claimed on Thursday that the Defence Ministry was working out a compromise formula that would be a face saver for both sides in the Army chief age row. Sources said that the government was most likely to claim that Army chief General VK Singh did not misrepresent facts related to his age and that he agreed to retire in May this year. General Singh had earlier in...
12:58 PM, Jan 05, 2012
New Delhi: General VK Singh on Thursday played down the entire age row episode saying he had no axe to grind with the government. The Defence Ministry has already begun the search for the next Army chief in a bid to avoid any confusion in case General Singh quits or if a court rejects his plea before his official tenure comes to an end. In normal circumstances the name of...
10:26 AM, Jan 05, 2012
New Delhi: The Defence Ministry has begun the search for the next Army chief in a bid to avoid any confusion in case General VK Singh quits or if a court rejects his plea before his official tenure comes to an end. The government says he will retire in April this year, but General Singh is fighting a legal case to have his birthdate moved back one year, thereby giving...
07:34 AM, Jan 05, 2012
New Delhi: The multi-billion dollar deal to procure 126 combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) entered its last phase on Friday with Defence Ministry opening commercial bids of the two European contenders to determine the lowest bidder, a process that is expected to take six to eight weeks. "The Contract Negotiations Committee (CNC) of the Defence Ministry opened the commercial bids and read out the offers made by...
07:32 PM, Nov 04, 2011
Srinagar: A day after his party National Conference virtually accused the armed forces of orchestrating terror attacks in Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reached out to the army. Omar said that the army was playing a major role in anti-militancy operations in the Valley. However, he remained committed to the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from some areas of the Valley, though he said that the...
07:51 AM, Oct 27, 2011
New Delhi: Defence Ministry on Friday cleared the way for opening the commercial bids of two shortlisted vendors in the multi-billion dollar combat aircraft deal by approving their offset proposals here. After the bids are opened, the Defence Ministry will be able to determine the lowest bidder in the deal for 126 Medium-Multi Role Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) and decide who will ultimately get the contract described as the 'mother of...
06:56 PM, Oct 07, 2011
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking to reporters on board his plane on the way back from New York, admitted that the decision to keep the spectrum pricing issue from the purview of a Group of Ministers in 2006 was done on the word of former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran. It was a move that made many ask if the Prime Minister had acted under pressure from his crucial...
07:25 AM, Sep 28, 2011
New Delhi: The Defence Ministry has given approval for disinvestment of 10 per cent of its stake in the country's only aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in the next five years. In a Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting held last week, the Ministry gave "in-principle" nod to allow 10 per cent disinvestment in the aerospace PSU which will help in modernising HAL and reducing the burden on the government in...
06:55 PM, Sep 12, 2011
