Manoj Pandey now the new Army Chief: MM Naravane handed over the baton; Pandey is army chief before engineering background

General Manoj Pandey took over as the 29th Army Chief of India on Saturday. General MM Naravane handed over the baton to him and made him sit on the chair of the Army Chief. This is the first time that an officer of the Army’s Engineering Corps has become the Army Chief. Prior to this, only Infantry, Armored and Artillery officers have been appointed as Army Chiefs.

Has led Operation Parakram
Manoj Pandey, a passout from the 1982 batch of the National Defense Academy, is the first Army Chief to come from an engineering background. Pandey has led Operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir’s LOC Pallanwala. This operation was carried out in Jammu and Kashmir after the Parliament attack in 2001, in which the arms supply nexus of terrorists was exposed. A large number of terrorists were killed in this operation.

Manoj Pandey has been made the 29th Army Chief.

Experience working on China border
Lieutenant General Manoj Pandey has served as Commander and Brigadier Staff in the Eastern Command adjacent to China. He has been posted as Engineer Brigade in the Mountain Division of Ladakh region. At the same time, he has participated in many operations in the North-East region as a lieutenant general. Apart from this, he has also served as a commander in Andaman and Nicobar. Pandey has been awarded Param Vishisht Medal.

Father was a psychiatrist and mother was a radio announcer
Lt Gen Manoj Pandey’s father Dr. CG Pandey is a renowned psychiatrist. He was working as Head in the Department of Psychology of Nagpur University for many years. His mother Prema Pandey was an announcer in All India Radio. Lt Gen’s mother is no more in this world, but people still remember the ‘Bela Ke Phool’ program presented by her.