Army Chief

New Delhi, Apr 4 - Amid controversies involving Gen V K Singh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said everybody has an obligation to do nothing to lower the dignity of the office of the Army Chief. "The Army Chief's office is an exalted office. All of us have an obligation to do nothing that would lower its dignity," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function to give away the Padma Awards at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here.

New Delhi, Apr 3 - Army chief Gen V K Singh has sought a few more days to file his detailed complaint in connection with the alleged bribe offer from a senior retired officer to clear a tranche of nearly 600 "sub-standard" trucks. Gen Singh, who has named retired Lt Gen Tejinder Singh as the person who had allegedly made the offer, in his initial complaint, has been asked by CBI officials to give a detailed complaint about the issue.

New Delhi, Apr 2 - Army Chief Gen V K Singh will have a meeting with Defence Minister A K Antony to discuss procurement projects for the Army, their first official meeting days after his letter to the Prime Minister on the poor state of defence preparedness got leaked. The meeting will be held to discuss the capital acquisition projects of the Army which will be attended by Gen Singh along with the top brass of the Defence Ministry, Ministry officials said.

New Delhi, Mar 31 - Army chief Gen V K Singh has named retired Lt Gen Tejinder Singh in his complaint to the CBI on the alleged Rs.14 crore bribe offered to him to clear tranche of nearly 600 Tatra trucks. CBI sources said Singh has assured them of providing more material about the alleged bribe offer very soon. The agency has started examining the complaint received yesterday and may question Tejinder Singh in connection with the case, they said.

New Delhi, Mar 31 - Contradicting Army Chief Gen V K Singh, DRDO chief V K Saraswat today said Tatra trucks were "outstanding" and there was nothing substandard about the vehicles used as base for launching all important missiles like Prithvi and Agni. "Tatra truck is an outstanding truck... They have a very good cross country capability and can move at good speeds," Saraswat said at a press conference at Defence Expo here.

New Delhi, Mar 30 - The CBI has called NRI businessman Ravi Rishi, owner of UK-based Vectra group, for questioning in connection with alleged irregularities in supply of all-terrain Tatra trucks through state-owned BEML to the Army and it is likely to register a case soon. CBI sources said Rishi, who is in the national capital, has been called for questioning in the connection with the alleged irregularities in the deal.

New Delhi, Mar 29 - Supporting an inquiry into the leakage of the Army Chief's letter to the Prime Minister, BJP today said the government should also take "immediate" note of the issues raised by Gen V K Singh as they are "frightening" in nature. "Leakage of letter is also an important aspect which has to be inquired into and people responsible for that should be dealt with firmly. But at the same time, the more important issue is about the issues raised by the Army Chief in his letter to the Prime Minister," BJP leader Venkiah Naidu said.