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Journalism of Courage
General deepak kapoor took over as the 23rd Chief of Army Staff after being handed over the baton at a traditional ceremony at the Defence Headquarters on Sunday. The artillery officer, who succeeds General J J Singh, said that modernisation of the Army would be the top priority during his term as the Army Chief.
In his first order after taking over, Gen Kapoor observed that the Army was on the threshold of transformation and he would keep up the pace of modernisation by ensuring cutting-edge technology for soldiers.
The new Army Chief will make his first public appearance on Monday by paying homage at the martyr’s memorial at India Gate and will inspect a traditional guard of honour at South Block. Gen Kapoor, a veteran of the 1971 war, has commanded the sensitive Northern Command and was also the commander of a prestigious division of the Strike Corps during Operation Parakram.
Earlier, talking to mediapersons before handing over the baton to Kapoor, outgoing Army Chief General J J Singh said that bringing down violence in J-K and the Northeast was the biggest achievement of his tenure.
“Normalcy is returning and violence is declining. In Kashmir, the people have not identified with militants and look forward to peace. In Assam, the ULFA has lost on grounds of ideaology and is now just an extortionist force. Casualty rates (of the Army) are down to one-third of what they were two to three years ago,” said Singh.
The Gen Singh said his policy of an “iron fist in a velvet glove” has led to peace and people in insurgency-hit areas have learnt to trust the Armed Forces.
