Bikram Singh to be the next Army Chief

Yahoo! India News – Sat 3 Mar, 2012
New Delhi: The government on Saturday named Eastern Army commander Lt Gen Bikram Singh as the next Indian Army Chief.
The announcement comes after months of the row over the date of birth of incumbent Gen VK Singh.
Lt Gen Bikram Singh currently heads the Army's eastern command and will take the top post on May 31 when Gen VK Singh will be retiring from service.
A press release issued by the ministry of defence says:
Lt Gen Bikram Singh will be the next Chief of Army Staff
New Delhi: Phalguna 13, 1933
Friday, March 03, 2012
The Eastern Army Commander, Lt Gen Bikram Singh, PVSM,UYSM,AVSM,SM,VSM,ADC has been designated as the next Chief of Army Staff, in the rank of General, with effect from the afternoon of 31 May 2012. He will succeed the present COAS, General VK Singh, PVSM,AVSM,YSM,ADC, who retires from the service on 31 May 2012.
Lt Gen Bikram Singh was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment on 31 March 1972.
During his long and distinguished career, spanning nearly 40 years, he has served in a variety of Command and Staff appointments. He has commanded a Corps in the Northern Command. The General had served as Deputy Force Command of a multi-nation UN Peace Keeping Mission in Congo. He had also served as UN Observer in Nicaragua and El Salvador during the early 90s.
Lt Gen Bikram Singh has studied with distinction at the Defence Services Staff College, the Army War College and the US Army War College, Pennsylvania. He has also done M.Phil in Defence Management from the Indore University.
He is married to Mrs Surjeet Kaur, housewife and the couple have two sons.
Bikram Singh to be the next Army Chief
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India's first defence university to come up near Delhi

New Delhi: Drawing lessons from the 1999 Kargil conflict, the government on Thursday decided to set up the first defence university in the country to enable holistic study of defence and strategic security challenges.

A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accorded "in principle" approval to set up the Indian National Defence University (INDU) near Delhi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters here.

To be established at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore, the university would come up on a 200 acre land at Binola in Gurgaon, Haryana. A sum of Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for acquisition of the land.

The existing defence educational institutions like the National Defence College in New Delhi, College of Defence Management at Secunderabad, National Staff College at Wellington and National Defence Academy in Pune, would be affiliated to INDU. At present, these institutions are attached to various universities.

"INDU will undertake long-term defence and strategic studies and create synergy between the academic community and government functionaries," Soni said.

The proposed university, which would be fully autonomous and constituted under an Act of Parliament, would promote policy-oriented research on all aspects of national security as part of the strategic national policy-making, she said.

"It will encourage awareness of national security issues by reaching out to scholars and an audience beyond the official machinery," Soni said.

INDU would educate national security leaders on all aspects of national strategies in the fields of security, military, information and technology, through teaching and research, she added.

After the Kargil conflict, the government had set up a Review Committee, headed by eminent strategic expert K Subrahmanyam, which had recommended establishment of such a university to exclusively deal with defence and strategic matters.

The Committee had also recommended finding of ways and means to integrate the academic community, armed forces, paramilitary forces, intelligence agencies and the bureaucracy in strategic security policy making and related issues. Source: PTI
India's first defence university to come up near Delhi