General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Command Lt General Satinder Kumar Saini relinquished the command of Southern Army. He has been appointed the Vice-Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army. The post fell vacant after Lt Gen MM Naravane was elevated to the post of Chief of Army Staff.
The appointment was made by the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) headed by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and this was the first order of a senior military appointment made through DMA.
He had also served as the Deputy Chief Military Personnel Officer in UN Mission in Iraq, attended an exercise on peacekeeping conducted by the Global Peace Operations initiative in Mongolia and a counter-terrorism exercise in Australia.
Besides, the commander has played a crucial role in undertaking massive flood relief and rescue operations in 34 districts spread over five states, including Maharashtra. Over 45,000 people of these states were moved to safe locations during the operations.