India celebrates its 78th Independence Day on Thursday, August 15, 2024. The day recalls the historical moment of gaining freedom in 1947 after hundreds of years of British rule. On this day, we remember our freedom fighters who gave their lives away, didn’t bow in front of British intimidation and languished in jails for years to break the shackles of British slavery.
On the 78th Independence Day, let’s celebrate this historical occasion with our friends, family and loved ones by sharing messages, quotes and wishes to express our patriotism and love for the country.
4 Kirti Chakras, 18 Shaurya Chakras in I-Day honours list
21. Army Dog Kent, Remount Veterinary Corps (POSTHUMOUS)
OPERATION SNOW LEOPARD
22. Maj Bhuwan Pratap Singh, Infantry
23. Maj Harmandeep Singh Brar, Army Air Defence, Rashtriya Rifles
24. Sub Lalit Mohan Singh, Infantry
25. Hav Shadil Hussain Itoo, Infantry
26. Nk Raminder Singh, Engineers
27. L/Nk Karma Wangyal Bhutia, Infantry
28. Sep H Lalrokima, Infantry, Rashtriya Rifles
OPERATION SAHAYATA
29. Lt Harwant Singh, Infantry
30. Hav Devendra Kumar Pandey, Artillery
OPERATION HIFAZAT
31. Maj Durgeshwar Pratap Singh, Infantry, Assam Rifles
32. Hav Moakaba Ao, Infantry
OPERATION ORCHID
33. Maj Amit Mishra, Artillery, Assam Rifles
34. Maj Ravikant Mehra, Infantry, Assam Rifles
35. Hav Hari Thapa, Infantry
OPERATION KATCHAL
36. Lt Yugant Kumar Pandey, Infantry
IS DUTY
37. Nb Sub Thaman Bahadur Thapa, Infantry
MISC OPERATION
38. Maj Vishal Kumar Yadav, Infantry
39. Maj Prateek Kumar, Infantry
New Delhi, August 14
President Droupadi Murmu has approved 103 gallantry awards to personnel of the armed forces and Central Armed Police Forces on the eve of Independence Day. These include four Kirti Chakras (three posthumous) and 18 Shaurya Chakras (four posthumous).
The Kirti Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra are the second and third highest peace-time gallantry awards, respectively. Also the President approved one Bar to Sena Medal for Gallantry. The ‘bar’ denotes the same official is getting the same award for second time.
The President also okayed 63 Sena Medals for Gallantry, including two posthumous; 11 Nao Sena Medals for Gallantry; and six Vayu Sena Medals for Gallantry. The President has also approved 39 Mention-in-Despatches, including to Army dog Kent, posthumous, for their significant contributions in different military operations. Kent sniffed out a terrorist hideout and was killed in the operation, but saved the life of his handler. The six-year-old female labrador took part in nine operations during its life time.
The awards announced today include, among other operations, Operation Snow Leopard along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
Among those decorated for gallantry are Navy men who carried out mid-sea rescue during anti-piracy operations. Also, an Indian Air Force team that undertook daring rescue operations during the 2023 floods in Himachal Pradesh have been awarded.
The Kirti Chakra has been awarded to Col Manpreet Singh of the Sikh Light Infantry, Major MR Gopal Naidu, Rifleman Ravi Kumar and J&K Police DSP Himayun Muzzammil Bhat. All four Kirti Chakra have been awarded for anti-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
Shaurya Chakra awardees are Col Pawan Singh, 666 Army Aviation Squadron; Major CVS Nikhil, 21st Para, SF Regiment; Major Aashish Dhonchak, Sikh Light Infantry; Major Tripatpreet Singh, Army Service Corps; Major Sahil Randhawa, Artillery; Subedar Sanjeev Singh Jasrotia, Jammu and Kashmir Rifles; Naib Subedar Pabin Singha, Artillery; Sepoy Pardeep Singh, Sikh Light Infantry; Special Police Officer Abdul Latif, J&K Police; Captain Sharad Sinsunwal, Commanding Officer, INS Kolkatta; Lt Commander Kapil Yadav, INS Visakhapatnam; Wing Commander Vernon Desmond Keane, IAF pilot; Squadron Leader Deepak Kumar, IAF pilot; Pawan Kumar, Constable, CRPF; Devan C, Constable, CRPF; Lakhveer, Deputy Commandant, CRPF; Rajesh Panchal, Assistant Commandant, CRPF; and Malkiat Singh Constable, CRPF. — TNS
Captain martyred, Pak terrorist gunned down in J&K encounter
Hunt on for 3 other ultras | 10 Army men lost lives in Jammu since July
Captain martyred, Pak terrorist gunned down in J&K encounter
Hunt on for 3 other ultras | 10 Army men lost lives in Jammu since July
Army personnel keep vigil near the site of encounter with terrorists in Doda on Wednesday. PTI
Jammu, August 14
In a yet another setback to the Army, a Captain was martyred during an encounter with a group of terrorists in the Assar forest area of Doda district on Wednesday. A terrorist, believed to be a Pakistani, was also eliminated during the gunfight, officials said.
It was the fourth encounter in recent days in the Udhampuri-Doda-Kishtwar region of Jammu and Kashmir.
A group of at least four terrorists first engaged with security forces on Tuesday, said the officials, adding that after the initial gunfight, the group managed to flee from the spot. Multiple brief gunfights took place between the security forces and terrorists since Tuesday evening. As the search operation was launched on Wednesday morning, another gun battle broke out in which Captain Deepak Singh was critically injured. He was shifted to a military hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, sources said. Captain Deepak Singh belonged to Dehradun in Uttarakhand.
With Captain Deepak’s martyrdom, the Army has lost 10 soldiers since July in the Jammu region. Five soldiers were killed in an ambush of two Army trucks on July 8 in Machedi of Kathua district. On July 15, four soldiers, including a Captain, were killed in the Desa forest area of Doda district during an encounter.
After the Wednesday morning’s encounter, the J&K Police and the Army found an M4 carbine and four backpacks at the spot, said the officials. Blood stains were also found suggesting that one of the ultras was injured.
Later, another encounter took place in which one terrorist, believed to be the one who was injured, was killed. An AK-47 was found near the slain ultra.
In a statement, Jammu-based White Knight Corps said, “All ranks salute the supreme sacrifice of braveheart Capt Deepak Singh who succumbed to his injuries. White Knight Corps offers deepest condolences and stands firm with the bereaved family in this hour of grief.”
The Army further said one terrorist had been neutralised in the ongoing operation. “One AK-47 was recovered in addition to an M4 rifle. Intermittent exchange of firing continued as the operations are going on,” it said.
The Assar forest in Doda is a tri-junction which is close to the border of Udhampur and Ramban districts. The remaining terrorists are moving within this forest area.
The Army said war-like stores were recovered as the operation to eliminate remaining terrorists continues. The operation on Tuesday was launched in a forest near the Patnitop area after which the terrorists managed to cross into Assar.
Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar, GOC-in-C of Army’s Northern Command, had visited forward locations of Counter Insurgency Force (Delta) in Doda and Kishtwar on Tuesday to review the ongoing anti-terrorist operations being conducted in light of increased terrorist activity in the region.
Rather than wishing Happy Independance Day in advance, I thought I’d fwd this for you to think over and contemplate:-
The average age of the Army Man is 23 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer in the capital of his country, but old enough to die for his country.
He’s a recent school or college graduate; he was probably an average student from one of the Kendriya Vidyalayas, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a rickety bicycle, and had a girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left for IMA, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.
He listens to rock and roll or hip -hop or bhangra or gazals and a 155mm howitzer. He is 5 or 7 kilos lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting the insurgents or standing guard on the icy Himalayas from before dawn to well after dusk or he is at Mumbai engaging the terrorists. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. His pride and self-respect, he does not lack.
He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of combat dress: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his water bottle full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own wounds.
If you’re thirsty, he’ll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He’ll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.
He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life – or take it, because he’s been trained for both. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed to do so. He feels every note of the Jana Gana Mana vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to ‘square-away’ those around him who haven’t bothered to stand, remove their hands from their pockets, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.
A tricolour, somewhere in his uniform, A tricolour, he holds high, A tricolour he unfurls with pride after every misson. Sometimes he comes home wrapped in one. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is your nation’s Fighting Man that has kept this country free and defended your right to Freedom. He has experienced deprivation and adversity, and has seen his buddies falling to bullets and maimed and blown.
And he smiles at the irony of the IAS babu and politician reducing his status year after year and the unkindest cut of all, even reducing his salary and asking why he should get 14 eggs a week free! And when he silently whispers in protest, the same politician and babu aghast, suggest he’s mutinying!
Wake up citizens of India! Let’s begin discriminating between the saviours of India and destroyers
Are you with the Faujis
If you are, then share this till it reaches every Patriotic Indian.
I am with Faujis of my country.
JAI HIND.
3 dead in grenade attacks on store selling national flags ahead of Pakistan’s Independence Day
Suspected militants hurled hand grenades at a house and a store selling Pakistani national flags in the restive southwestern Baluchistan province, killing three people and wounding six others ahead of Pakistan’s 77th independence day.
The separatist Baluch Liberation Army group claimed responsibility for the attacks that took place on Tuesday in the provincial capital of Quetta, days after the group asked shop owners not to sell the flags. It also warned people not to celebrate the holiday on Wednesday, marking the August 14, 1947 date of Pakistan’s independence from British colonial rule.
Wasim Baig, a spokesman at a government hospital, said the facility had received six injured people and three bodies following the attacks.
Pakistan’s army chief Gen Asim Munir vowed to defeat militancy in a televised speech at an event that took place at a military academy in the country’s northeast on the eve of Independence Day.
Munir sought cooperation from neighbouring Afghanistan against the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group that operates from Afghan soil and that has stepped up attacks across the border in the northwest.
The group also operates in southwestern Baluchistan alongside the long-running insurgency in that region, which also shares a border with Afghanistan.
In the latest violence in the northwest, a group of militants killed four security forces in South Waziristan, a district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said. In a statement, it said troops returned fire, killing six insurgents.
Army displays military prowess near LoC in Rajouri
Army soldiers displayed tactics and weaponry, which are used in dealing with terrorists, in the remote regions of Nowshera and Sunderbani sector close to the Line of Control in Rajouri district before the media.
“The soldiers displayed an indomitable spirit as they tackled adversities with unwavering commitment and an assuring smile. Despite extreme weather conditions, isolation, and the constant demand for vigilance, these soldiers embody remarkable resilience,” an Army spokesperson said.
Technological advancements were also on display, such as the smart fence system that enhances border security and surveillance. “Newly introduced equipment, including quadcopters, advanced surveillance tools, weapons, and night vision sights, further reflect the Army’s drive to embrace innovation,’ the spokesperson said.
Ex-Army man held for robbing 80-year-old of valuables in Ropar
The police today arrested a retired soldier and his accomplice for robbing an 80-year-old Rupnagar resident of gold and cash at gunpoint in an attempt to avenge the ‘sexual exploitation’ of his female friend.
The accused have been identified as Gurtej Singh and Sunil Kumar of Patiala while the victim is Sukhwinder Singh.
Gurtej was reportedly enraged with Sukhwinder for ‘sexually exploiting’ his female friend (45) by repeatedly asking her to get intimate with him. In order to seek revenge, he and Sunil robbed Sukhwinder of his two gold rings, a gold bracelet, watch and Rs 3,000 on August 10.
On Sukhwinder’s complaint, the police had registered against Gurtej and Sunil under Sections 127(2), 309(4), 331(3) and 351(2) of the BNS.
Rupnagar SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana said the accused were produced in a court and sent to police custody.
A police official said Gurtej claimed that the woman told him that Sukhwinder had been taking advantage of her by luring her with money to indulge get intimate with her, adding that the 80-year-old man fraudulently got her signatures on a cheque and blank paper, and was using these to blackmail her.
Punjab and Haryana High Court slams government inaction on Army widow’s pension order
The Bench also recorded its “deep disappointment and anguish towards the lackadaisical attitude of the official respondents” after asserting that the court did not find justification on their part in not complying with the AFT order for the last more than one-and-a-half years
Saurabh Malik
Chandigarh, August 12
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has admonished the Centre and its functionaries for forcing a retired Army personnel’s widow to approach the court, following prolonged non-compliance with an order passed by Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), directing the grant of family pension to her.
The censure by the Bench of Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Karamjit Singh came on the petition filed against the Union of India and other respondents by Shiv Dei Guleria through counsel Lt Col Naresh Ghai. She was seeking the implementation of the AFT order dated November 1, 2022, whereby the respondents were directed to grant family pension to her within three months.
Responding to the submissions, the counsel for the respondents during the course of hearing stated that an execution application before AFT was fixed for September 25. “The order passed by AFT will be implemented by the respondents before the said date,” the counsel added.
Taking up the matter, the Bench asserted: “It is a very unfortunate situation where instead of implementing the AFT order, the respondents have compelled the petitioner-widow of retired Army personnel to knock on the door of this court…. It is undisputed that the order dated November 1, 2022, passed by AFT has attained finality as no appeal or revision has been filed by the official respondents against the order.”
The Bench also recorded its “deep disappointment and anguish towards the lackadaisical attitude of the official respondents” after asserting that the court did not find justification on their part in not complying with the AFT order for the last more than one-and-a-half years.
The Bench asserted despite issuance of directions from time to time in the execution application for implementation of the AFT order, it remained non-complied with till date. “It is undisputed that the order dated November 1, 2022, passed by AFT has attained finality as no appeal or revision has been filed by the official respondents against the order…. No explanation, however, is forthcoming as to why the order passed by AFT, has not been complied with till date,” the Bench added.
Disposing of the petition, the Bench directed AFT to conclude the execution proceedings pending before it expeditiously, “but not later than three months”. Before parting with the case, the Bench took note of an undertaking by OIC, legal cell, to convey the court observations to the authorities concerned and “persuade and request them to comply with the order passed by AFT in its letter and spirit at the earliest”.
Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar, GOC-in-C of Army’s Northern Command, visited Doda and Kishtwar district to review the anti-terror operations going on in the region on Tuesday.
“The Army Commander exhorted all ranks to maintain a high tempo of operations, ensuring security and safety for ongoing and upcoming events,” the official said.
Mountainous Doda and Kishtwar districts have become a new centre of terrorism with a brief encounter between security forces and terrorists taking place in the latter recently. There are reports of movement of ultras in Doda district which has witnessed multiple attacks in the past sometime. — OC
Army officer killed, terrorist gunned down in Doda encounter in J-K
An Army captain was killed and a terrorist was gunned down in an ongoing operation in the higher reaches of Jammu region’s Doda district on Wednesday, officials said.
A civilian was also injured in the encounter that broke out a day ahead of Independence Day and is the latest in a series of incidents in Jammu region that has witnessed a spike in violence.
Bullets rang out on Wednesday morning in a thickly forested area during a cordon and search operation (CASO) launched by a joint team to track down a group of foreign terrorists hiding in the Shivgarh-Assar belt, officials said.
Captain Deepak Singh was critically injured during the operation and shifted to a military hospital where he breathed his last, they said.
“One terrorist has been neutralised in the ongoing operation. One AK 47 has been recovered in addition to the M4 rifle. Intermittent exchange of firing continues as the operations are ongoing”, said White Knight Corps in a post on X.
However, four blood-soaked rucksacks were recovered from the site of the exchange of fire, leading officials to believe that four terrorists were also killed. M-4 carbines were also found, the officials said.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Anand Jain told reporters around 2 in the afternoon that the operation was still underway in the area. “The operation is going on. Efforts are on.”
The Army expressed its deepest condolence on the death of the officer and said the force stands with the bereaved family.
All Ranks of White Knight Corps salute the supreme sacrifice of braveheart Captain Deepak Singh, it said.
The terrorists crossed into Doda from a forest near Patnitop in adjacent Udhampur district after a brief exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists there last evening, officials said.
They said security forces established contact with the terrorists around 6 pm in Udhampur on Tuesday. An encounter began about half an hour later and continued intermittently until both sides paused. A cordon was established overnight.
Following these encounters, the terrorists escaped into Doda hills.
On June 26, three terrorists, suspected to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), were killed in a gunfight on Gandoh area of Doda district.
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