New Delhi: Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag is set to be the next army chief with the cabinet clearing his name yesterday, sources said.
The decision was taken at the last working cabinet meeting of the Congress-led UPA government, which demits office on Saturday, a day after the Lok Sabha election results are announced. The defence ministry on Monday recommended the name of the army vice chief to the government as the next head of the force.
The move came after the Election Commission gave the government the go-ahead for appointing the new army chief.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had opposed appointment of the new army chief at the “fag end” of the government’s tenure.
The prime minister will hold his last cabinet meeting on May 17 morning, before handing over to the president the resignation of his government to allow the formation of a new regime. An alumnus of Sainik School Chittorgarh, Lt Gen Suhag joined the National Defence Academy in 1970 and was commissioned in 1974.
He served as a company commander during “Op Pawan” in Sri Lanka, commanded the 53 Infantry Brigade that was involved in counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley and commanded the 8 Mountain Division in Jammu and Kashmir.
US tourist molested on Delhi highway
Lucknow: A taxi driver was arrested yesterday in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly molesting a US tourist on the Delhi-Dehradun highway, police said.
The woman tourist hired a cab from Delhi to visit Rishikesh town on the Ganga and the driver en route allegedly molested her. He was arrested in Muzaffarnagar city and booked under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code and sent to jail, a police official said.
IANS
