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Navy Chief steps down after sub fire
Admiral DK Joshi’s resignation accepted
* Vice-Admiral RK Dhowan is acting chief
* 2 feared dead in Sindhuratna mishap
New Delhi/Mumbai, Feb 26
Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi resigned following a naval accident involving submarine INS Sindhuratna this morning. His resignation has been accepted with immediate effect. He is the first Navy Chief to quit the job. The only other time a Navy Chief left mid-tenure was when Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat was sacked on December 30, 1998, by the BJP-led NDA government for defying government orders.

Resignation will change line of succession
New Delhi, February 26
Admiral DK Joshi’s sudden resignation from the post of Navy Chief has upset the line of succession in the force. Had he continued for his full tenure -- till August 2015 - Vice-Admiral Satish Soni, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Naval Command, Kochi, would have succeeded him on September 1, 2015. Soni would have then been the senior-most officer.

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Navy’s worry: Dwindling submarine fleet 
New Delhi, February 26
For Naval planners, the worrisome part is how China’s submarine fleet is four times the size of India’s. The latest accident means Indian battle-ready under-sea fleet is now down to 13.

Joshi, an anti-sub warfare expert 
New Delhi, February 26
Around 1970, when Admiral DK Joshi -- then a young 16-year old -- was keen on joining the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakvasla, Pune, his mother Hansa Joshi expressed apprehension on her son joining the forces due to the ‘risk factor’. Today, more than 34 years later, her fears may seem prophetic as an unforeseen risk had led to her son quitting the post of the Chief of the Indian Navy -- the fourth largest navy in the world.

Mounting pressure forced Joshi’s exit
New Delhi, February 26
It was a high tide at Noon that altered the course in the annals of the Indian Navy. Close to mid-day, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral DK Joshi, armed with a letter of resignation, walked down the South Block corridor into the office of the Defence Minister AK Antony. The Chief had a brief meeting with the Defence Minister and what transpired between the two is not known. The Chief took moral responsibility for the latest accident involving INS Sindhuratna in Mumbai this morning, yet another submarine, and it was accepted.

Vajpayee’s niece set to join  Cong today
New Delhi, February 26
In what would come as a huge blow to the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the niece of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is all set to join the Congress tomorrow. Former national vice-president of the BJP Karuna Shukla has met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Capital today and would be welcomed into the party fold at a high-level function at the Congress headquarters tomorrow.

Khaira shockers: Punjab CEO goes on leave 
Chandigarh, February 26
Punjab's recently-appointed Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) VK Singh -- accused by the Opposition Congress of playing a partisan role while sending the state government's report on state DGP Sumedh Singh Saini Singh to the Election Commission of India -- has proceeded on four-day leave.