NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 31
The command of Indian Army’s Andaman & Nicobar on Monday will change hands from Lieutenant General Podali Shankar Rajeshwar to Lt Gen Manoj Pande, a defence spokesperson said.
Lieutenant General Manoj Pande, AVSM, VSM, will take over as the 15th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Command (CINCAN) on Monday, June 1, 2020.
An alumnus of National Defence Academy, the General Officer was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) in December 1982. He is a graduate of Staff College, Camberley (United Kingdom) and attended the Higher Command Course at Army War College, Mhow and National Defence College (NDC) at Delhi.
During his 37 years of distinguished service, the General Officer has taken an active part in Operation Vijay and Parakram. He commanded an Engineer Regiment along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir, an Engineer Brigade as part of the Strike Corps, an Infantry Brigade along the Line of Control, a Mountain Division in High Altitude Area of Western Ladakh and a Corps deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as also in Counter Insurgency Operations area in the North East. He has tenanted important staff assignments and was posted as Chief Engineer at the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He was the Director-General at Army Headquarters dealing with subjects of Discipline, Ceremonial and Welfare, prior to assuming the present appointment.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Podali Shankar Rajeshwar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC, the 14th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Command (CINCAN) retired from service on Sunday, May 31, 2020. He left a glorious legacy and many milestones in his distinguished career spanning four decades. He had taken over the appointment on December 1, 2019.
During his tenure as CINCAN, Lieutenant General Rajeshwar focused on enhancing the operational preparedness of ANC. The 29th edition of the Indo-Thai Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) was successfully conducted from February 13 to 21, 2020 during his Command.
Under Lieutenant General Rajeshwar’s directions, the personnel and assets of the Command actively coordinated and worked together with the Andaman and Nicobar Administration in dealing with the Corona pandemic and providing succour to the populace across the length and breadth of the islands.
For his distinguished service, Lieutenant General Rajeshwar had been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) on January 26, 2020, and appointed as an Honorary Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the President of India in November 2019.
