E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, SEP 24 -

Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Gen Gaurav SJB Rana has proposed a major reshuffle in the Army, with the new leadership awarding key positions to trusted senior officers.

Last week, Gen Rana forwarded a request to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the transfer of eight major generals and 13 brigadier generals. The proposal is expected to be vetted by the Cabinet on Monday.

The Army is designating Brig Gen Suresh Raj Sharma, the commander of the second brigade in Hile, Dhankuta, as its new spokesperson.

The key appointment s include Maj Gen Mahesh Karki, the chief of the Kathmandu valley division as the Adjutant General (AG), Pradeep Bikram Rana, the chief of the mid-western division as the Master of General Ordinance (MGO) and Maj Gen Victor Jung Rana, the chief of the western division as the Director General of Military Training (DGMT). The MGO is responsible for procurements, while the AG oversees new recruitments and legal and human rights issues.

Earlier, Maj Gen Pawan Bahadur Pande, whose nephew has married the daughter of the Army chief, was given the powerful post of the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO).

Pande, who had earlier served as the Director General of Military Intelligence, was the commandant of the Shivapuri-based Command and Staff College.

Gen Rana, who started his military career in 1974 after basic training from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, seems to be picking for key Army posts graduates of the institution he himself went to. Pande, Pradeep Bikram Rana and Victor SJB Rana were officer cadet basics in the royal military training centre in Sandhurst.

Gen Karki, who was trained at the military institutions of India, the US, the UK, Germany and Bangladesh, represented the NA in the Special Committee Secretariat. Current AG Purna Chandra Thapa will succeed Karki as the chief of the valley division.

The Army has nominated far-western division Maj Gen Ramesh Bista to the post of commandant of the Shivapuri-based command and the staff college and DGMT Yagya Bikram Rana as the chief of the western division and has requested the government to promote Brig Gen Rajendra Shah to the rank of major general. Shah has been entrusted with the responsibility of the mid-western division, Nepalgunj.

Brig Gen Ramindra Chhetri, who was the Army Spokesperson for five-and-a-half years, has been nominated to head the Research and Development Directorate of the Army.

The directorate, which serves as the think tank of the Army conducts feasibility studies of weaponry and equipment and serves as an advisory body to the Army chief.

Gen Rana and one of his key mentors, Gen Dharmapal Barsing Thapa, headed the Research and Development Directorate in the past.

Posted on: 2012-09-24 08:17

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