Lieutenant General Siva Kumar, AVSM VSM (born January 29, 1948, in Madras, India) is an Indian former commander. He was the third and final Force commander of UN troops serving in Rwanda.
Kumar was born in Madras, India. As a youth, he attended St. Thomas High School, Loyola College and Presidency College where he earned a Bachelor of Science. He is a graduate of the staff course at the Defence Services Staff College and has attended both Higher Command and National Defence College.
In August 1967, Kumar was commissioned from Officers Training Academy at the age of 19. He joined the Jat Regiment on June 23, 1968, and later commanded the regiment in Arunachal Pradesh and Bikaner, Rajasthan. He also commanded a division of the Assam Rifles in the Ukhrul district of Northeastern Manipur.
He has been awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.
Kumar acted as second-in-command of UNAMIR until Major General Guy Tousignant of Canada's parting on December 8, 1995, when he assumed acting command until the mission's completion in March 1996. He oversaw 1,252 troops and military support personnel, 146 military observers, 56 United Nations Volunteers and approximately 160 international and 160 local civilian staff. [1] The Indian army contingent under UNAMIR consisted of an Infantry Battalion 1/3 Gurkha Rifles, an Engineers company commanded by Maj B Pandey and a Signals company commanded by Maj AV Malhotra. Kumar was also the head of the Indian contingent.
In March, Kumar left Rwanda and flew to Nairobi, Kenya, with five bodyguards, stating to the media present, "We did a good job here under very difficult circumstances. I am proud of what the troops achieved." [2]
In the autumn of 1998, he presented a scholastic paper entitled "The Role of Non-governmental Organizations (NGO), the Civil Society Living in the Area of the Peacekeeping Operations, and the Media in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations" at the first South Asian Peacekeeping Experience Seminar [3] in Bangladesh.
In April 2004, he was posted as Chief Army Instructor at the Defence Services Staff College.
On July 1, 2006, took over as Chief of Staff for India's Eastern Command. He retired from this appointment on January 31, 2008.
The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Its origins lay in the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. After the accession of the state to the Indian Union in October 1947, the State Forces came under the command of the Indian Army. They remained in the original form until 1956 when Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly effectively ratified the state's accession to India. Then the State Forces became the Jammu and Kashmir Regiment of the Indian Army. In 1963, the designation was changed to Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. After the conversion, the Ladakh Scouts came under the aegis of the Regiment, where it remained until raised as a separate Regiment in 2002.
The Assam Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. The regiment consists of 25 battalions: 17 regular battalions, 3 Rashtriya Rifles battalions, 5 Territorial Army battalions. It recruits exclusively from all the eight Northeastern states of India.
General Deepak Kapoor PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC served as the 22nd Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army, appointed on 30 September 2007 and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee appointed on 31 August 2009.
Henry Kwami Anyidoho is a former Ghanaian military officer.
Lieutenant General Dr. Konsam Himalay Singh PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM is a former Lieutenant General of the Indian Army. He is the first officer from northeast India to reach the rank of lieutenant general in the Indian Army and the first military officer from Manipur to reach the ranks of brigadier and major general. He was the Chairman of Manipur Public Service Commission and is currently a member of the Consultative Committee of Manipur Government on Naga Peace Talks as well as a visiting faculty member of Manipur University.
So far India has taken part in 49 Peacekeeping missions with a total contribution exceeding 200,000 troops and a significant number of police personnel having been deployed and more than 160 Indian peacekeepers have paid the ultimate price in service to peace, losing their lives serving under the UN flag as of September 2022. In 2014 India is the third largest troop contributor country [TCC] with 7,860 personnel deployed with ten UN Peacekeeping Missions of which 995 are police personnel, including the first Female Formed Police Unit under the UN. Recently Indian Peacekeepers were lauded by the UN for their efforts in preventing a carnage in the South Sudan conflict which resulted in the death of two of its soldiers.
Lieutenant General Channira Bansi Ponnappa, PVSM,AVSM, VSM is a serving General Officer in the Indian Army. Currently, he is Adjutant General of the Indian Army. He has earlier served as the commander of the XI Corps. He also serves as the Colonel of the Mahar Regiment. As a UN peacekeeper, he is known for his role as commander of the United Nations' MONUSCO forces in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the M23 rebellion.
Lieutenant General Philip Campose, PVSM, AVSM & Bar, VSM was the Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army and assumed office on 1 August 2014 succeeding General Dalbir Singh. He retired on 31 July 2015 and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh Rai.
Lieutenant General Kamal Jit Singh, PVSM, AVSM & Bar is a retired Indian Army officer and former general officer commanding-in-chief of Western Command. After retirement, he was conferred with Maharaja Ranjit Singh Chair of Excellence in Punjab University. and was appointed as Advisor to CM Haryana in November 2018. He graduated from the National Defence Academy, and attended various staff courses in training academies of the Indian Army throughout the country. Singh worked closely with UN Peacekeeping forces stationed in Angola and was commended by the chief and UN Force Commander during his tenure. He held several appointments as commanding officer and also staff appointments at the headquarters of the Indian Army. He has been twice awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. In 2019, Singh was appointed as State Information Commissioner. Inducted into Chandigarh Advisory Council in Aug 2019.{http://chdpr.gov.in/dashboard/?q=node/80506} He was nominated as Chairman of Education Standing Committee of UT Advisory Council on 28 Nov 2022.
Lieutenant General Devraj Anbu, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, ADC is a retired Indian Army general who served as Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS). He assumed office on 1 June 2018 following the retirement of Lt Gen Sarath Chand, and retired on 31 August 2019.
Lieutenant General Dewan Rabindranath Soni, PVSM, VSM is a former General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Southern Command of the Indian Army. He served in office from 1 December 2017 till 30 September 2018. He assumed the post after Lieutenant General P M Hariz retired and was succeeded by Lt General Satinder Kumar Saini.
General Manoj Mukund Naravane is a retired Indian Army General who served as the 28th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), as well as the temporary Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee from 15 December 2021 until his superannuation on 30 April 2022. He took over as COAS from General Bipin Rawat on 31 December 2019 after the latter completed his term. Prior to his appointment as the COAS, the general served as the 40th Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) of the Indian Army, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Eastern Command and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Army Training Command.
Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, PVSM, AVSM & Bar, YSM, SM, ADC is a former General Officer in the Indian Army. He last served as the General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Northern Command. He assumed office on 1 June 2018 from Lt Gen Devraj Anbu who assumed the office of Vice Chief of the Army Staff. He was the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Indian Army during the 2016 Indian Line of Control strike & during the 2015 Indian counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar he was Additional Director General of Military Operations (ADGMO). He was considered the face of the operations because he briefed the media after both the strikes.
Lieutenant General Satinder Kumar Saini, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VSM, ADC was the 41st Vice Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army and assumed the office on 25 January 2020. He previously served as General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command.
Lieutenant General Yenduru Venkata Krishna Mohan, AVSM, SM, VSM is a retired Indian Army general who last served as the Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College. He previously served as the Commander, IX Corps of the Indian Army. He assumed the post after Lt. General Satinder Kumar Saini took over as the GOC-in-C, Southern Command.
Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar is a serving flag officer in the Indian Navy. He is the 25th and current Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS). Previously, he served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command. In his prior appointments, he served as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Chief of Personnel, Controller Personnel Services, the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, Flag Officer Sea Training and the Chief of the Staff of the Western Naval Command. He was the Commandant of the Naval War College, Goa and served as a naval advisor to the government of Seychelles. He is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, the Naval War College, the Army War College, Mhow and the Royal College of Defence Studies.
Lieutenant General Podali Shankar Rajeshwar PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC is a former General officer in the Indian Army. He last served as the 14th Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command, from December 2019 to May 2020. He took office on 1 December 2019 when Vice Admiral Bimal Verma retired. He superannuated on 31 May 2020, handing over command to Lieutenant General Manoj Pande. Earlier, he had served as the 12th Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, from November 2018 to November 2019.
Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar, SM, VSM, is a retired Indian Army officer who served as the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the second biggest peacekeeping operation. He served from 24 May 2019 to January 2022. He was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to succeed Lieutenant General Frank Mushyo Kamanzi of Rwanda. Prior to that, he served as the Commandant of the Indian Army Infantry School. He is the recipient of the Sena Medal and the Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service.
Lieutenant General (Dr) Jaiveer Singh Negi PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VSM** is a retired General Officer who has served as the 49th Commandant of the Indian Military Academy. He took over from Lieutenant General Sanjay Kumar Jha, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, on 1 February 2020. Prior to his appointment as Commandant of the Indian Military Academy, he was the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Forces Command
Lieutenant General M. V. Suchindra Kumar AVSM, YSM & bar, VSM is a serving general officer of the Indian Army. He is the current Vice Chief of the Army Staff. He earlier served as the Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Strategy).