Current Events :
Lieutenant General Prashant Srivastava on Friday relinquished command of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps after 19 months, handing over charge to Lieutenant General Balbir Singh.
During his tenure, the region witnessed consolidation of the security architecture, making it more responsive and synergised, contributing to peace and stability in the Valley. His tenure was marked by the execution of Operation Sindoor and Operation Mahadev, which brought the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack to justice, the incident-free conduct of the Amarnath Yatra 2025 and several other initiatives.
“Under his astute stewardship, the Corps also registered notable operational successes in counter-infiltration along the Line of Control and in counter-terrorism operations in the hinterland, delivering a decisive and debilitating blow to inimical elements. Equally commendable were his sustained outreach initiatives, which fostered trust and goodwill among the local populace, earning him admiration for his humane and affable approach. Lieutenant General Prashant Srivastava now proceeds to assume the prestigious appointment of the Quarter Master General at IHQ of MoD (Army), New Delhi,” an official spokesperson said.
Soon after assuming command, Lieutenant General Balbir Singh paid obeisance at the Chinar War Memorial in Srinagar, honouring the supreme sacrifice of soldiers. A highly decorated officer with over 34 years of service, he has extensive operational experience in counter-infiltration and counter-terrorism operations across Jammu and Kashmir and the North East. He previously commanded the Counter Insurgency Force (Victor) in south Kashmir.
In his inaugural address, Lieutenant General Balbir Singh reaffirmed his resolve to work in close synergy with the civil administration and the people of Kashmir to further strengthen peace, stability and prosperity in the region. He urged all sections of society to join hands with security forces in overcoming persistent challenges.
“As the mantle of leadership transitions, the Chinar Corps remains an enduring emblem of unity, resilience and unwavering commitment — steadfast in its mission to ensure lasting peace, stability, nurturing rich cultural heritage and meet the aspirations of the Kashmiri youth for a brighter future and ‘Vikasit Kashmir’,” the spokesperson said.
Lt Gen Depinder Singh, former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Southern Command, and overall force commander of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, passed away in Panchkula on Tuesday at the age of 96.
Commissioned into the 8 Gorkha Rifles in December 1950, he served as the Military Assistant to the then Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, making him a witness to high-level decision-making and key events that shaped the course of history, especially the 1971 Bangladeshi liberation campaign. He remained on Field Marshal Manekshaw’s office staff from 1969 to 1973.
He also participated in the 1965 India-Pakistan war, where he was the Brigade Major of 41 Mountain Brigade that stopped the Pakistani advance towards Akhnoor. He also commanded a Gorkha Rifles battalion in the counter-insurgency environment.
In 1975, during Sikkim’s merger into India, he was closely involved in the sensitive operation to disarm the then ruler, Chogyal’s personal bodyguard, the Sikkim Guards.
After being promoted to the Brigadier rank, he commanded a brigade in Sikkim. Following a stint as the commander of the Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan, he also commanded the 36th Infantry Division as a Major General, and thereafter on promotion to Lieutenant General, he commanded 33 Corps in the North-East.
As the GOC-in-C, Southern Command, he was appointed as the overall force commander of the IPKF when the India-Sri Lanka accord was signed in 1987 to disarm Tamil militant groups like the LTTE.
Although the operation in Sri Lanka, which saw intense and bitter battles, was largely considered a tactical military success, there were heavy Indian casualties and it threw up several hard lessons.
“Lt Gen Depinder Singh’s illustrious career was marked by courage, integrity and unwavering dedication to the nation. A proud and fine embodiment of the Gorkha spirit and values of bravery, loyalty and selfless service, he led with quiet strength, dignity and inspired all,” said Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh (retd), former Military Secretary to the President and Governor of Puducherry.
“He was among the tallest figures of the Gorkha Brigade. He was gentle and kind-hearted, and his demise is a big loss to the Gorkha community as well as the service fraternity at large,” said Lily Bawa, his neighbour whose husband, Lt Col IS Bawa was decorated posthumously with the Maha Vir Chakra for showing exemplary courage during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka.
After retiring in February 1988, Lt Gen Depinder Singh authored several books, including one on the legacy of Field Marshal Manekshaw, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Soldiering with Dignity, and others on his Sri Lankan experiences. He also spoke at various seminars and wrote on military affairs.
Former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command and overall force commander of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, Lt Gen Depinder Singh, passed away in Panchkula on Tuesday at the age of 96.
His mortals remain were consigned to the flames with full military honours today. He is survived by a daughter.
Commissioned into the Eight Gorkha Rifles in December 1950, he has served as the Military Assistant to the then Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, making him a witness to high-level decision making and key events that shaped the course of history, especially the 1971 Bangladesh liberation campaign.
He was in Field Marshal Manekshaw’s staff from 1969 to 1973.
Having participated in the 1965 India-Pakistan war, where he was the brigade Major of 41 Mountain Brigade that stopped the Pakistani advance towards Akhnoor, he later commanded a Gorkha Rifles battalion in counter insurgency environment.
In 1975, during Sikkim’s merger into India, he was closely involved in the sensitive operation to disarm the then ruler, Chogyal’s personal bodyguard, the Sikkim Guards.
After being promoted to Brigadier, he had commanded a brigade in Sikkim. Following a stint as the commander of the Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan, he commanded the 36th Infantry Division as a Major General.
As the GOC-in-C, Southern Command, he was appointed as the overall force commander of the IPKF when the India – Sri Lanka accord was signed in 1987 to disarm Tamil militant groups like the LTTE.
While the operation in Sri Lanka, which saw intense and bitter battles, were largely considered a tactical military success, there were heavy Indian casualties and it threw up several hard lessons.
“Lt Gen Depinder Singh’s illustrious career was marked by courage, integrity and unwavering dedication to the nation. A proud and fine embodiment of the Gorkha spirit and values of bravery, loyalty and selfless service, he led with quiet strength, dignity and inspired all, Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh (retd), former Military Secretary to the President and Governor of Puducherry,” said Lt Gen.
“He was among the tallest figures of the Gorkha Brigade. Despite being a real soldier he was gentle and kind hearted, and his demise is a big loss to the Gorkha community as well as the service fraternity at large,” Lily Bawa, his neighbour whose husband , Lt Col IS Bawa was decorated posthumously with the Maha Vir Chakra in Sri Lanka said.
After retiring in February 1988, Lt Gen Depinder authored several books, including one on the legacy of Field Marshal Manekshaw and others on his Sri Lankan experiences. He also remained active on the social front, speaking at various seminars and writing on military affairs.
He grew up in Jalaun district, Uttar Pradesh. Studied at Sainik School Rewa. Commissioned into the Indian Army’s Parachute Regiment Special Forces in 1991. His fellow soldiers called him Rocket.
In 1998, during an anti insurgency operation in Guwahati, he eliminated two militants and was hit by two bullets that tore through his abdomen. Doctors said recovery would take 18 to 24 months. He was back in action in one year.
During recovery, he sneaked out of hospital wearing a colostomy bag, hired a car, and travelled five hours to attend a colleague’s wedding.
When the Kargil War began, he went back into combat. He led his team to capture Neelam Post, the highest post captured by the Indian Army in the entire Kargil engagement.
In September 1999, an AK 47 burst shattered his hip bone. He barely survived. The doctors told him he would never walk again.
He lay on a hospital bed on traction and studied mathematics eight hours a day. A nursing assistant sent his twelve year old son to help him with calculations. Six months later, Sengar hobbled on crutches to a CAT examination centre.
He cleared CAT. Received admission offers from 15 of India’s top 16 business schools. He chose IIM Ahmedabad. Attended every class on crutches. Interned at Lehman Brothers in Tokyo. Graduated with distinction.
He went on to work at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Genpact and Microsoft. He walked without crutches a decade after doctors said he never would.
He received 12 military medals including a gallantry award. In 2021, ZEE5 made a web series on his life called Jeet Ki Zidd.
Two bullets could not stop him. A shattered hip could not stop him. The doctors could not stop him.
He just kept going.
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A week ahead of the anniversary of the strikes on Pakistan under Operation Sindoor, the Army has released a list of terror camps it targeted on May 7 last year.
The Army has identified seven locations and has begun sequentially posting satellite images showing damage at each site. The locations listed are Kotli Gulpur, Mehmoona Joya, Syedna Bilal, Bhimber, Swani Nala and Sarjal.
These were among the targets assigned to the Army by military headquarters, while the Indian Air Force (IAF) was tasked with two additional locations. The strikes were carried out around 1 am on May 7. Following the initial strikes, India and Pakistan were engaged in a military skirmish from May 7 to May 10.
The Army’s targets were located 40-60 km inside Pakistan, while the IAF struck deeper targets. The May 7 strikes involved some of the latest precision weapons in India’s arsenal, with specific buildings or clusters identified as targets.
The IAF hit camps at Muridke and Bahawalpur, while the Army struck the remaining locations. The Army used the US-made M777 howitzer to fire Excalibur artillery shell rounds — precision-guided munitions capable of hitting targets up to 40 km away with high accuracy.
The Army also deployed loitering munitions, commonly referred to as “kamikaze drones”, which can hover over an area before striking designated targets. Both imported and indigenous systems were used, sources said.
Following the skirmish with Pakistan, India has replenished its stock of Excalibur rounds. New Delhi procured 216 Excalibur projectiles under a $47.1 million deal approved by the US.
As the economic consequences of US President Donald Trump’s war against Iran become evident, policymakers around the world are running out of patience. The recent Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington made this abundantly clear, with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves lamenting the “folly” of a war that is “not ours”.
But much of the cost will be borne by the US itself. The immediate effects are visible: a sharp rise in gas prices, inflation climbing to a two-year high, and growing concerns that, as consumers cut back on spending to offset higher costs, unemployment will rise. While these short-term shocks are serious, a major risk that has received less attention is that the dollar could lose its status as the world’s primary trade and reserve currency.
The decline of a reserve currency is a slow process. The British pound ceded its dominance to the US dollar over roughly two decades, beginning in the 1920s. As Barry Eichengreen has noted, the Roman denarius — arguably the world’s first international currency — also unravelled over a long period, starting when Emperor Nero debased it in the first century CE.
Any international currency ultimately depends on trust. I witnessed this during my time as chief economic adviser to the Indian government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On August 5, 2011, S&P downgraded the US long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+, fuelling fears of immediate capital flight. Instead, the opposite happened: money flowed into the US economy. In the face of global turbulence, investors trusted that the US would honour its obligations, no matter the cost.
That trust, a cornerstone of soft power, is rapidly eroding. Samantha Power, the former administrator of US Agency for International Development (USAID), highlighted this in a recent lecture at Cornell University, where she criticised the Trump administration’s decision to dismantle the agency. The abrupt and “heartless” manner in which it was shut down, she said, halted humanitarian aid without warning, leading to immense suffering among populations around the world that had depended on its continuity.
The closure of USAID, alongside Trump’s military adventures in Iran and Venezuela and relentless attacks on long-standing allies like Canada and Denmark, has cast a shadow over America’s global standing and trustworthiness. This, in turn, puts the dollar’s hegemonic status at risk.
To understand the potential cost, consider seigniorage: because the dollar is globally trusted, the Federal Reserve can print a USD 10 bill for less than seven cents, and it will be accepted at full value around the world. As empires from Rome to Britain have shown, issuing the world’s leading currency allows a country to create value almost out of thin air. Losing that capacity would slow economic growth.
Unless US policy reverses course, this year may go down in history as the moment the US dollar began to lose its status as the world’s currency.
This raises the question: Which currency will replace the dollar? The renminbi appears to be the strongest candidate. A decade ago, the Chinese currency gained credibility when the IMF included it in the basket of global currencies underpinning Special Drawing Rights (the Fund’s reserve asset), but it was still widely dismissed as “no match” for the greenback. Today, the prospect of renminbi primacy no longer seems unthinkable.
Yet China’s ability to assume that global role is far from assured. As economist Qiao Liu observed in his 2016 book ‘Corporate China 2.0’, the country combines an “authoritative political regime” with more flexible institutional arrangements in which “relationships still matter”, a hybrid that does not readily inspire the kind of global confidence a reserve currency requires.
Chinese President Xi Jinping appears to understand this dynamic. In a 2024 speech, Xi emphasised the need to internationalise the renminbi to bolster China’s soft power, calling for a “powerful currency that can be widely used in international trade, investment, and foreign-exchange markets and attain reserve currency status”. But the main obstacle to reserve-currency status for the renminbi — the maintenance of capital controls — remains firmly in place.
The strongest rebuke of Trump’s policies over the past year came from an unexpected source: King Charles III. His address to Congress on April 28, delivered with characteristic British wit and restraint, sent a clear message that the US is on the wrong path, one that could destroy its global standing.
There was, however, cause for optimism. The repeated bursts of bipartisan applause Charles received from members of Congress suggested they were already aware of America’s predicament.
(Project Syndicate)
Kaushik Basu, a former chief economist of the World Bank and chief economic adviser to the Government of India, is Professor of Economics at Cornell University and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
