General Bipin Rawat appointed as CDS officer

On December 31, 2019, General Bipin Rawat was appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff. He recently retired as Chief of Army Staff and was succeeded by General Manoj Mukund.

Highlights

Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the post of Chief of Defence Staff in the rank of four star general. The salaries and perks of the CDS is equivalent to service chief. The CDS will also head the Department of Military affairs which is to be created with in the Ministry of Defence. He will act as the military advisor to the Government of India. The post was created in order to bring in reforms in military focusing on minimal use of resources with maximum output.

Chief of Defence Staff

The other countries that hold Chief of Defence Staff in the world includes Italy, France, China, Spain, UK, Canada and Japan. The history of creation of such as post goes back to 1940s. The idea of creation of such a post was mooted by Lord Mountbatten. However, officially the suggestion came in after Kargil war in 1999.

The Chief of Staff Committee was created to finalise the powers of CDS.

Four-star mark

The four-star rank of an officer in India is given to 5 officers. It includes Admiral of Indian Navy, Air Chief Marshal of Indian Air Force, General of Indian Army and Director of Intelligence Bureau. Now, the rank is given to CDS officer as well.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2019