Army’s Kibithu base in Arunachal Pradesh renamed after first CDS, late General Bipin Rawat

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To honour the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) late General Bipin Rawat, the Kibithu military garrison in Arunachal was named as General Bipin Rawat garrison on 10 September 2022.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• Kibithu is a small hamlet near Walong on the banks of the Lohit Valley in Arunachal Pradesh close to the India-China border.
• Gen Rawat commanded his Battalion 5/11 Gorkha Rifles as a Colonel at Kibithu from 1999-2000.
• The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh (Retd), Brigadier BD Mishra, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and other senior military and civilian dignitaries were present on the occasion along with daughters of the late CDS.
• General Bipin Rawat and his wife along with senior Army and Air Force officers died in a Helicopter crash in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu 8 December 2021. He was going to the  Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Tamil Nadu to address the faculty and student officers of the ‘Staff Course.
• He was the 27th Army chief and was the first Chief of Defence Staff. He was appointed to the Chief of Defence Staff post on December 31, 2019.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION -

Arunachal Pradesh :

• It is the easternmost region of India. It is also called ‘Land of the Dawn-lit-Mountains’ or land of rising sun.
• It shares its International border with China, Bhutan and Myanmar.
• Arunachal Pradesh finds its mention in the literature of Kalika Purana and the great Hindu Epic Mahabharata. It is believed to be the Prabhu Mountains of the Puranas.
• It was earlier called as North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and it was renamed as Arunachal Pradesh in 1972. It was a Union Territory.
• It became a state on 20 February 1987.
• Governor of the State:  (Retd), Brigadier BD Mishra 
• Chief Minister: Pema Khandu
• Capital: Itanagar