Under the Constitution, the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces is vested in the President of India, but the responsibility for their administrative and operational control is that of the Ministry of Defence and the three Services Headquarters.
The main function of the Ministry is to ensure that (i) development and activities of the three Services are coordinated; (ii) decisions on policy matters are obtained from the Government, transmitted to the three Services Headquarters and implemented; and (iii) financial sanction for defence expenditure is obtained from Parliament.
Indian Army
The Army Headquarters, located in New Delhi, functions under the Chief of the Army Staff who is assisted by the Vice Chief of the Army Staff and four other principal staff officers, Deputy Chiefs of the Army Staff, Adjutant General, Quarter Master General and Master General of Ordnance and two Heads of Branches namely Military Secretary and Engineer in Chief.
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The Army is organised into Five Commands:
Western; 2. Eastern; 3. Northern; 4. Southern; 5. General; each under a General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the rank of a Lieutenant- eneral. The Commands are divided into areas, independent sub-areas and sub-areas. An area is commanded by a General Officer Commanding of rank of a Major-General and an independent sub-Area and sub-Area try Brigadier.
Army consists of a number of arms and services. These are: (i) The President’s Body Guard; (ii) Armoured Corps; (iii) Regiment of
Artillery; (iv) Corps of Engineers; (v) Corps of Signals; (vi) Military Nursing Services; (vii) Army Medical Corps; (viii) Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers; (ix) Remount & Veterinary Corps; (x) Military Farm Services; (xi) Army Education Corps; (xii) Intelligence Corps; (xiii) Corps of Military Police; (xiv) Army Physical Training Corps; (xv) Pioneer Corps; (xvi) Army Postal Service Corps; (xvii) Defence Security Corps.
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Territorial Army
The Territorial Army is a voluntary part-time citizen’s force consisting of persons who are not professional soldiers but civilians who are eager to play a role in the country’s defence. Any able-bodied national of India between the age of 18 and 35 possessing the requisite qualifications is eligible to join the Territorial Army as officer or other rank. Raised in 1949, it is designed to give the youth of the country an opportunity of receiving military training in their spare-time without disturbing their civil vocation to enable them to bear arms in defence of their country, whenever called upon to do so.
Indian Navy:
The Navy Headquarters are located in New Delhi. The Chief of the Naval Staff is assisted by the following principal staff officers: 1. Vice Chief of the Naval Staff; 2. Chief of Personnel; 3. Chief of Materials; 4. Chief of Logistics; 5. Deputy Chief of Naval Staff; 6. Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition.
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The Navy organised into three commands is commanded by Flag Officers Commanding-in-Chief of the rank of Vice-Admiral. They are: (i) Western Naval Command (Mumbai); (ii) Eastern Naval Command (Vishakhapatnam); (iii) Southern Naval Command (Cochin). The Navy has two fleets-the Western Fleet and Eastern Fleet. The Eastern Fleet was established on 18th November, 1971. J
Indian Air Force:
The Air Headquarters are in New Delhi. The Chief of the Air Staff is assisted by the following principal Staff Officers : 1- Vice Chief of the Air Staff; 2. Deputy Chief of the Air Staff; 3. Air Officer- in-Charge, Administration; 4. Air Officer-in-Charge, Maintenance; 5. Air Officer-in-Charge, Personnel.
The Indian Air Force is organised into five operational commands and two support commands.
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These are: (i) Western Air Command; (ii) Eastern Air Command; (iii) Southern Command; (iv) Central Air Command; (v) South-Western Command; (vi) Training Command; (vii) Maintenance Command.
National Cadet Corps (N.C.C.):
It strives to stimulate interest among the youth in the defence of the country so as to built up a reserve of manpower to enable the armed forces to expand rapidly. It was set up in 1948.
It consists of three Divisions: 1. Senior; 2. Junior; 3. Girls. The main divisions are composed of three wings: (i) Army, (ii) Navy, (iii)
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Rational Investigation Agency (NIA) is the central counter Terorism law f rcement Agency in India. NIA was bon through the enactment of NIA Act 31 12 2008. NIA deals with militancy and insurgency and left-wing “”tremism, various forms of terrorist attacks and bomb blasts, infiltration from the borders, complex inter-state and international Link-ages, other activities like the smuggling of arms and drugs, pushing in of fake Indian