MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF (CDS)

• The post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was created in the rank of a four-star General. General Bipin Rawat took over as the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) from January 1, 2020 for a three-year tenure.
• The Chief of Defence Staff will head the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), to be created within the Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary.
• The following areas will be dealt by the Department of Military Affairs headed by CDS:
  • The Armed Forces of the Union, namely, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
  • Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence comprising Army Headquarters, Naval Headquarters, Air Headquarters and Defence Staff Headquarters.
  • The Territorial Army.
  • Works relating to the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
  • Procurement exclusive to the Services except capital acquisitions, as per prevalent rules and procedures.
• The CDS will also be the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

REGIONAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENT

• The regional cooperation in the area of regional security has progressed significantly under Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
• The 4th BIMSTEC Summit, held in Kathmandu in 2018, was instrumental in giving regional cooperation a significant push.
• India launched an Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram in 2018. The IFCIOR is a major initiative to put in place a mechanism for MDA and to ensure situational awareness of the maritime activities in the region.
• India continues to play a role in training and supporting capacity building of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) as a part of larger developmental cooperation assistance.
• India continues to assist Maldives National Defence Forces in their capability and capacity building. Bilateral exercises between the Army (Ekuverin), Navy (Ekatha) and Coast Guard (Dosti) of the two countries take place on an annual basis.
• The 13th edition of India-Nepal Joint Military Exercise ‘Surya Kiran’ was held in 2018.
• The armies of India and Sri Lanka held their sixth annual ‘Mitra Shakti’ military exercise.
• Indo-US partnership is on a positive trajectory with India been designated ‘Major Defence Partner’ in National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA-17) and has been upgraded to Strategic Authorization Act-1 Status (STA-1) equating India at par with the closest allies of US.
• The country’s new Indian Ocean Policy was articulated by Prime Minister during his visit to Mauritius in March 2015. The policy, encapsulated in SAGAR (meaning ocean) stands for “Security and Growth for All in the Region”

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE AND ITS DEPARTMENTS

• Key task: To frame policy directions on defence and security related matters
• Departments under it: (a) Department of defence, (b) Department of defence production, (c) Department of defence research and development (DRDO) and (d) Department of ex-servicemen welfare.

HEADQUARTERS INTEGRATED DEFENCE STAFF (HQIDS)

• It was raised on October 1, 2001 based on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers on the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) report.
• Task: To foster jointness and synergy amongst the three Services.
• The organization has representation from all three Services, MEA, DRDO, DoD and Def (Finance).
• IDS provides secretariat and general assistance to the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC).

ARMY

• Contribution to UN Peacekeeping
  • It has contributed more than 2,34,000 Indian troops in various UN missions.
  • India has a well established training institute in ‘Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping’ in Delhi, which was established in 2000, training both personnel from India and abroad on UN peacekeeping.
• Operation Sadbhavna is a part of the Counterterrorist strategy in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to wrest the initiative and re-integrate the ‘Awaam’ with the national mainstream.

NAVY

• The Indian Navy (IN) has been designated as the agency responsible for overall Maritime Security including Coastal Security and Offshore Security.
• Anti-Piracy Operations: In 2018, IN shifted from the ‘Escort Cycle’ concept, to a concept of ‘Free Patrol’. The ‘Free Patrol’ in the Gulf of Aden (GoA) provided greater flexibility to the IN ship to respond to developing situations for anti-piracy mission.
• ‘Op Madad’ was conducted to provide SAR and relief assistance in the flood affected areas of Kerala.

AIR FORCE

• Light Combat Aircraft, Akash Missile, Advance Light Helicopters (ALH) have already been inducted, thus giving impetus to indigenization.
• IAF has established pan IAF captive 3G WCDMA Mobile Network AFCEL.
• Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh created history in 2016 by becoming the first women pilots to be commissioned into the fighter stream.

 COMMISSIONED RANKS

The following are the commissioned ranks in the three Services; each rank is shown opposite its equivalent in the other Service:

INDIAN COAST GUARD

Indian Coast Guard was constituted in 1977 with following charter of duties: (a) safety and protection of artificial islands, offshore terminals and installations; (b) protection to fishermen; (c) protect maritime environment etc.

RECRUITMENT

Through UPSC

Commissioned Officers in the Armed Forces are recruited mainly through UPSC which conducts the following two All India Competitive Examinations: National Defence Academy (NDA) and Naval Academy (NA) and (b) Combined Defence Services Examination (CDSE).

Through Non-UPSC Entries

• Ways of Recruitment in Army: University entry scheme (UES), Technical Graduates Course (TGC), Short Service Commission (Technical) Entry, 10+2 Technical Entry Scheme (TES), Short Service Commission (Women), NCC (Special Entry Scheme) and Judge Advocate General Entry.
• Ways of Recruitment in Indian Navy: 10+2 (Cadet Entry Scheme), University Entry Scheme (UES), Permanent Commission to SSC Officers, Recruitment through NCC and Special Naval Architecture Entry Scheme.
• Ways of Recruitment in Indian Air Force: Recruitment through Service Selection, University Entry Scheme, Recruitment of Women Officers and Recruitment through National Cadet Corps.

TRAINING INSTITUTIONS, SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

• Selected Armed forces officers of the rank of Brigadier/equivalent from Indian and Foreign Armed Forces and Civil Services officers of equivalent status of director and above are nominated for training at the National Defence College.
• The National Defence Academy (NDA) is a premier Tri-Service institution which trains cadets of all three services before inducting them into their respective pre-commissioning training academies.
• The Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun is a premier training establishment imparting pre- commissioned training to the Gentlemen Cadets (GC).
• Established in 1963, the Officer’s Training School (OTS), Chennai was re-designated as Officer’s Training Academy (OTA) from January 1, 1988 on completion of 25 years of its existence. The Academy trains cadets for Short Service Commission.
• The Sainik Schools were established as a joint venture of the Central and state Governments. These are under the overall governance of Sainik Schools Society.
• There are 5 Rashtriya Military Schools in the country at Belgaum and Bengaluru in Karnataka, Chail in Himachal Pradesh and Ajmer and Dholpur in Rajasthan. These schools are affiliated to CBSE.
• Rashtriya Indian military college (RIMC) was founded in 1922, with the objective of providing the necessary preliminary training for boys of Indian birth or domicile, wishing to become officers in  the Armed Forces of India.
• The College of Military Engineering at Pune is a premier technical institution conducting training for personnel of the Corps of Engineers, other Arms and Services, Navy, Air Force, Para Military Forces, Police and Civilians.

NATIONAL CADET CORPS

• The National Cadet Corps (NCC) was established under the NCC Act, 1948.
• The NCC strives to provide the youth of the country opportunities for all round development with a sense of commitment, dedication, self-discipline and moral values, so that they become useful citizens and can take their place in all walks of life in the service of the nation.

ORDNANCE FACTORIES

• The Indian Ordnance Factories organisation – a family of 41 ordnance factories under the aegis of its corporate headquarters Ordnance Factory Board, Kolkata.
• The organisation is engaged in production, testing, logistics, research, development and marketing of a comprehensive product range in the area of land, sea and air systems.
• Indian Ordnance Factories is the oldest and largest industrial setup which functions under the Department of Defence Production.

DEFENCE UNDERTAKINGS

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), established in 1940, is a premier aeronautical Company of Asia. HAL is a Navratna DPSU.
• Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a Navaratna PSU, was established in 1954. The company has core competency in areas of Defence Communications, Radars & Missile Systems, Sonars etc.
• Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), incorporated in 1964, is a Mini-Ratna (Category-I) PSU under the Ministry of Defence.
• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), a Mini Ratna Category-I Company was incorporated in 1970 under the Ministry of Defence. It is a pioneer in the manufacture of Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM).
• Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) is a leading Defence PSU established as public limited company in 1934.
• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), a Mini Ratna Category-I Company was incorporated as a Defence PSU in 1960.
• Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) is a Mini Ratna Group – I status company.
• Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) was set up originally in 1941 by Seth Walchand Herachand to promote indigenous shipbuilding industry. The shipyard was transferred to the Ministry of Defence in 2010.
• Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI) was set up in the early 1970s’ initially to manufacture critical materials required in the strategic sectors of India’s defence industry.
• National Institute for Research and Development in Defence Shipbuilding (NIRDESH) was set up at Kozhikode, Kerala with the objective of achieving self-reliance in shipbuilding.

 DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (DRDO) 

• DRDO is the research and development arm of the Ministry of Defence. It was created in 1958. DRDO has 46 laboratories.
• DRDO is headed by the Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri who is also the Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and Director General RandD (DGRandD).
• The DRDO ensures training to all cadres of personnel through training institutes, like DIAT, Pune; ITM, Mussoorie and Defence Laboratory, Jodhpur

 RESETTLEMENT OF EX-SERVICEMEN 

• The Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare formulates various policies and programmes for the welfare and resettlement of Ex-Servicemen (ESM) in the country.
• Kendriya Sainik Board Secretariat is the Apex Body of Government of India responsible for implementing Government policies for welfare of war widows, disabled soldiers, ESM and their dependents.
• Directorate General of Resettlement (DGR) is a tri-service organization which looks after various aspects of resettlement and offers multifarious avenues of Employment, Self Employment and Training to Officers, JCOs/OR and their equivalents in other services as well as widows and dependents.
• Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), launched in 2003, has been structured on the lines of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and is financed by the Government of India. Endeavour is to ensure cashless treatment by utilising the empanelled hospitals to the veterans and their dependents.

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