Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Dis ...

, VM,

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D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

( honorary) ( bn, অরূপ রাহা) was the 21st Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force and served from 31 December 2013 to 31 December 2016. He was also the

Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee The Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (Chairman COSC) is a position in the Indian Armed Forces, usually held by a four-star officer serving as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian military. The position holder chairs the Chiefs of ...

, a post occupied by India's senior-most military officer, who advises the government and ensures jointsmanship in the armed forces.

Early life and education

Raha was born in a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

family on 26 December 1954 in the city of

Baidyabati Baidyabati is a city and a municipality of Hooghly district in the State of West Bengal in India. It is under Serampore police station of Srirampore subdivision. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority ...

, an area under the

Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) is the statutory planning and development authority for the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA) in the state of West Bengal, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a coun ...

which is in the Indian State of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. His father was a reputed

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

. He was educated at Sainik School Purulia (1970 batch).

Military training

Raha was trained at the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

, Khadakwasla, India, from July 1970 to June 1973, and at the time of graduating from NDA in June 1973, he was awarded the Gold Medal for being the best cadet of the 44th NDA course. Subsequently, he did flying training on HT-2 and Kiran ( HJT-16 ) at the Air Force Academy, Hyderabad, before being commissioned into the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot in Dec 1974. After flying Hunters in Operational Conversion Unit, he went on to fly Mig -21 aircraft.

Military career

Raha has flown a wide variety of combat and trainer aircraft. After initial training on the HAL HT-2, he has flown the

MIG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickn ...

and MIG-29 aircraft and has commanded a MiG-29 fighter squadron and two frontline airbases along India's Western front. As on 2 April 2010, he had 3,400 hours of flying experience. Raha previously served as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force and as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of the

Western Air Command , colors= , colors_label= , battles= 1962 Sino-Indian War, 1971 India-Pakistan War, Operation Meghdoot , anniversaries= , commander1= Air Marshal Sreekumar Prabhakaran, AVSM, VM , commander1_label= Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief(AOC-in-C) , n ...

, and that of the

Central Air Command ''Nigrahya Rasava shastrava'' , colors = , colors_label = , battles = 1962 Sino-Indian War, East Pakistan Operations 1971, Operation Meghdoot, Orissa Super-Cyclone Relief, 1999 , anniversaries = , commander1 = Air Marshal Amar Preet Si ...

. He has also served as the Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters, Western Air Command and Deputy Commandant at Air Force Academy, Hyderabad. Raha has held many important staff appointments in India and abroad.

Notable appointments held

Personal life

Arup Raha is married to Lily Raha and they have two children. The son, Atanu, is a commercial pilot who is married to Sanskriti Chatterjee Raha, a professional Kathakali dancer. The daughter, Anusree Raha, is an Indian Economic Service officer and a

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speaker, and is married to Bodhisattwa Biswas, an alumnus of

Indian School of Business The Indian School of Business (ISB) is a private business school established in India in 2001. It has two parallel campuses in India, in Hyderabad (Telangana) and Mohali (Punjab). It offers certificates in various post-graduate management prog ...

Awards and decorations

In 2018, the state-run

Sidho Kanho Birsha University Sidho Kanho Birsha University (SKBU) is a public state university located in Purulia district of West Bengal, India. It was established under an Act of the West Bengal Legislature on April, 2010. It offers different undergraduate and postgraduat ...

awarded Arup Raha with an honorary

degree during its convocation ceremony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raha, Arup Chiefs of Air Staff (India) Vice Chiefs of Air Staff (India) 1954 births Living people Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal Indian Air Force air marshals Bengali people Military personnel from Kolkata Sainik School alumni Indian Air Force officers