Col Geeta Rana becomes 1st woman officer to command EME unit near China border
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Mar, 2023 12:49 PM
New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) Col Geeta Rana has become the first woman army officer to be given the charge of an independent field workshop in the Eastern Ladakh sector close to the India-China border.
"Colonel Geeta Rana of Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers scripted history by becoming the first woman officer to take over command of an Independent Field Workshop in a forward and remote location in #EasternLadakh," Fire and Fury Corps of the Indian Army tweeted on Wednesday.
The Indian Army has recently cleared 108 vacancies for women officers to take command of independent units in the Corps of Engineers, Ordinance, EME and other branches following which Col Geeta Rana took charge of the EME unit.
Women officers will now be able to command many different units of the army.
Recently, in a key decision taken by the Indian Air Force, Group Captain Shaliza Dhami was handed the command of a Frontline Combat Unit in the Western Sector.
The India-Pakistan border area is located in this area of the Western Sector.
This is also the first time a woman officer in the Indian Air Force took charge of a combat unit.
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Health Minister Balbir Singh said the inauguration program would be held in Amritsar on January 27. The Chief Minister will inaugurate the clinics, while AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will attend the programme as the chief guest.
A police official said that during normal checking of vehicles on Sunday night in Imphal, two persons were apprehended and the drugs, smuggled from Myanmar, were recovered from their procession. The drug peddlers, identified as Md. Abdul Salam and Md. Wasim Akram, have been arrested under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The bodies of a married couple and their two children, aged three and 11, were found metres from the border on Jan. 19, 2022. Investigators have said they believe the deaths were linked to a human smuggling operation, and a man charged in the U.S. is to stand trial later this year.
A video showing the woman's ordeal has gone viral on social media in which she is seen lying on the ground in a public place. The incident took place on Thursday and the woman, identified as Kalpana, was "turned back without check-up".
The Chief Minister, while interacting with the media after reviewing the progress of development projects worth Rs 167 crore in the city, said it is ironic that the Maharajas in power were more concerned about their own development rather than that of the city. He said though Patiala was known as 'City of Gardens' but due to apathy of those in power, the city lost its shine in the last few years.
Punjab Police's former Head Constable Gagandeep Singh, who planted the bomb at the court complex on December 23, 2021, was killed as it suddenly went off. Six others were injured. The case was initially registered at a Ludhiana police station, but later, it was taken over by the NIA.
