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GS3 · Internal security / history

Police Commemoration Day: the Hot Springs ambush of 1959

1 min readInternal Security
Battle IAS current affairs title card: Police Commemoration Day: the Hot Springs ambush of 1959 (GS3 · Internal security / history, 18 October 2025)

What happened

  • Police Commemoration Day is observed on 21 October because on that day in 1959, 10 policemen died in an ambush by Chinese troops at Hot Springs, Ladakh [PIB].
  • The Defence Minister was to lay a wreath at the National Police Memorial [PIB].

Background

  • A joint parade of CAPFs and Delhi Police is part of the event [PIB].

Why it matters

  • Police welfare and modernisation get less attention than the armed forces.

How to use this in Mains

GS-III Internal security challenges

  1. As per PIB (2025-10-18): police Commemoration Day is observed on 21 October because on that day in 1959, 10 policemen died in an ambush by Chinese troops at Hot Springs, Ladakh.
  2. Police welfare and modernisation get less attention than the armed forces.
Quotable data point

Police Commemoration Day is observed on 21 October because on that day in 1959, 10 policemen died in an ambush by Chinese troops at Hot Springs, Ladakh.

PIB: Defence: Police Commemoration Day, 18 Oct 2025

Exam angle

UPSC

Prelims: dates.

Practice MCQs

Original practice questions (not PYQs).

Practice · UPSC

Police Commemoration Day

Answer (a) & explanation

PIB.

Practice · UPSC

Hot Springs is in

Answer (b) & explanation

PIB.

Practice · UPSC

Year of the ambush

Answer (a) & explanation

PIB.

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Official source: PIB: Defence: Police Commemoration Day, 18 Oct 2025

facts from cited sources only; faculty review pending