New Delhi: Seeking to provide opportunities to orphan youth to join its ranks, the Indian Army has relaxed its recruitment rules to allow them to join the force. Army Chief General Bikram Singh has taken a decision to relax the rules for recruitment for orphan youth which will help them to join the force, Army officials said on Friday.
Earlier, such youth faced problems in providing their exact date of birth, name of parents and their caste, they said. From now on, such youth would be asked to produce their matriculation certificate for providing date of birth proof, they said. In other requirements also, norms have been relaxed.
Under the new policy, in the absence of parents' details, the name of orphanage can be accepted by recruitment centres. As far as caste is concerned, the orphans will be included in the all-India all caste category.
Caste is an important factor in the Indian Army which has caste-based Infantry regiments where troops from single caste are only recruited. Before this, orphans were not being recruited into the force, officials said....
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08:29 PM, May 24, 2013
New Delhi: Army Chief General Bikram Singh on Wednesday briefed the Cabinet Committee on Security over the Chinese incursion in Ladakh. CNN-IBN has learned that General Singh told the Prime Minister and other senior cabinet ministers that it is a localised problem. India and China held a third flag meeting at Chushul in Ladakh on Tuesday, which was inconclusive yet again. In the flag meet, China demanded that India dismantles...
01:52 PM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: Army Chief General Bikram Singh on Thursday briefed Defence Minister AK Antony on the Chinese incursion issue in Ladakh and the present situation there. After reviewing the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the Ladakh area with military commanders in the Northern Command, Gen Singh briefed the Defence Minister on the incursion issue on Thursday, Army officials said. The Army Chief had returned from Jammu and Kashmir on...
02:57 PM, Apr 25, 2013
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday wondered what New Delhi's response would have been had Pakistan intruded into Indian territory, and asked for a clear cut message to China. He was referring to the situation that has arisen in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) area in Ladakh, where the Chinese troops have set up their tented posts since April 15, 2013. "Had Pakistan intruded into the Indian...
05:24 AM, Apr 25, 2013
Srinagar: Army Chief General Bikram Singh met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday evening. The meeting comes amidst reports of increased Chinese incursions in Ladakh. General Singh is on a two-day visit to the state to review the security situation. Earlier, he reviewed counter-infiltration and security measures in the state and visited forward areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Army chief, who is on...
08:27 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Jammu: Army chief General Bikram Singh on Tuesday reviewed counter-infiltration and security measures in Jammu and Kashmir and visited forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC). The Army chief, who is on a two-day visit to the state, chaired a meeting at the 16 Corps headquarters in Nagrota, where he was briefed by field commanders about security and counter-infiltration measures in J&K, a defence spokesman said. General Singh later...
06:03 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Army Chief General Bikram Singh on Friday visited the home of slain soldier Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh in a village in Madhya Pradesh. Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh had been killed near the LoC by Pakistani troops on January 8. ...
01:30 PM, Jan 18, 2013
As the tensions between India and Pakistan escalated with more ceasefire violations reported on Tuesday and the war of words intensifying on Wednesday, both the countries are now looking for measures to de-escalate it. While both the countries have ordered their troops to strictly honour the ceasefire agreement, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has invited her Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid for talks. ...
07:49 AM, Jan 17, 2013
Continuing with its tough stand against Pakistan over the ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC) and the killing of Indian soldiers, India on Wednesday warned that the tension could hit economic ties between the two countries, even as the neighbour accused India of war mongering. ...
05:48 PM, Jan 16, 2013
Amidst growing tension at the Line of Control and intensifying war of words, Army Chief General Bikram Singh rejected Pakistan's allegations that the Indian Army violated ceasefire and killed a Pakistani soldier. "Pakistan is wrong in alleging that their soldier has died in firing at the Line of Control. If their soldier has died, he must have died in retaliatory fire. Our soldiers do not cross the LoC. In a...
01:36 PM, Jan 16, 2013
Army Chief General Bikram Singh met slain Indian soldier Lance Naik Hemraj Singh's family in Kosi Kalan in Uttar Pradesh, two days after the martyr's wife broke her fast. Hemraj was killed and was beheaded on January 8 by Pakistani troops in an alleged ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Poonch sector. ...
12:20 PM, Jan 16, 2013
The tension at the Line of Control between Indian and Pakistani armies is growing day by day. Even the Brigadier level flag meeting held between India and Pakistan on Monday failed to resolve the problem. ...
12:18 PM, Jan 15, 2013
Army Chief General Bikram Singh on Tuesday paid homage to the martyrs at the 65th Army Day celebrations in the national capital. The Chief of Army Staff in his speech dedicated this millennium to the Army veterans and cited that the force was one of the most secular ones in the world. ...
11:56 AM, Jan 15, 2013
On a day when Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh warned of retaliation at the Line of Control, Pakistan continued to deny decapitating any Indian soldier's body and maintained that India was blowing things out of proportions. This came even as former Indian diplomats and Army chiefs claim that Pakistan's actions are tantamount to a war crime. ...
07:58 AM, Jan 15, 2013
Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh on Monday sent a tough message to Pakistan, saying that it should follow the ethics of engagement, returned the remains of the beheaded Indian soldier and be prepared for retaliation if India is provoked. General Singh has even claimed that the Pakistani attacks on the two Indian soldiers were pre-planned. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also stepped in, reassuring the opposition that justice will be...
11:41 PM, Jan 14, 2013
Army Chief General Bikram Singh on Monday opposed any dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir, saying any decision to revoke it from any part should be taken only after getting inputs from security agencies and stakeholders. ...
05:57 PM, Jan 14, 2013
There seems to be no end to the frosty relations between India and Pakistan following the skirmishes at the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and the killing of soldiers in the firing from both the sides. While Indian Army protested the beheading of its soldier at a flag meeting of brigade commanders in Poonch and demanded that Pakistan respect the ceasefire. ...
05:46 PM, Jan 14, 2013
Army Chief General Bikram Singh on Monday defended the Arms Forces Special Powers Act for soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir, an act which has been under attack by activists and human rights activists. He said the dilution of AFSPA was not required. "AFSPA has been given to soldiers to operate in highly volatile environment. We should not dilute the provisions of AFSPA," General Bikram Singh said, while speaking on the...
12:55 PM, Jan 14, 2013
Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh hit out strongly at Pakistan over the killing of two Indian soldiers and continuous ceasefire violation. He warned Pakistan that the Indian Army will retaliate to Pakistan's attack. "I have given very categorical directions to the Northern Command. When we are provoked we shall respond immediately. I expect my commanders to be aggressive in the face of firing. We will retaliate to Pakistan's attack...
11:50 AM, Jan 14, 2013
Operational preparedness of troops deployed along the border with China and security situation in the northeastern states was reviewed by Army Chief General Bikram Singh in Kolkata on Sunday. ...
02:14 PM, Dec 02, 2012
