A ceremony was organised at Madras Engineer Group and Centre, Bangalore to honour the brave soldiers of the Madras Engineer Group who laid down their lives during various operations since independence. Financial assistance was provided to their next of kin.

Air Marshal TJ Master, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Headquarters, Training Command, Bangalore, presented a sum of rupees 41.50 lakhs released by the National Defence Fund (battle casualities) and Army Central Welfare Fund.

-Maj BN Gurumurthy

from Bangalore

Mrs Lakshmi Hari Prasad, President, Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) Desert Corps inaugurated Bogra Facility Complex in Bogra Brigade area. Speaking on the occasion, Mrs Lakshmi Hari Prasad stressed the role of AWWA in improving the quality of life of Army personnel and making their wives self-reliant.

The complex comprises four stalls which cater to the basic household requirements of the families like vegetables, groceries, clothing and general stores. Other facilities like CSD Canteen, an extension counter of Central Bank of India, a STD/PCO counter, a modern launderette and dry cleaning centre, a cycle repair shop, a cobbler shop and a cafeteria are also functioning in the same premises, making it a full fledged facility complex.

The idea of this facility complex was conceptualised by Mrs Nishi Kohli, President, AWWA, Bogra Brigade. The eco-friendly construction and landscape design was made by an Engineer Squadron. The venue wore a festive look with the presence of Army personnel, ladies and children of the Brigade.

Later, Mrs Hari Prasad visited Bogra Nursery School which has been set up to provide quality education to children of Army personnel. She interacted with families of all ranks. The cultural programme on ‘National Integration’ was organised by the Army ladies during the family welfare meet.

-Lt Col (Dr) AK Janardhanan 

from Jodhpur

A health programme was organised by 1/9 Gorkha Rifles under the aegis of Col AS Chitchot at Government High School, Panzgam in the Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir.

A total of 520 children were examined by RMO, 1/9 GR, Capt Gurmeet Singh and were screened for contagious diseases.

The children were immunised against tetanus and typhoid. Visual acuity for near and distant vision was tested. The children were also examined for colour blindness. Medicines were provided to the school children. A first-aid box was presented to the school which contained all emergency drugs, injections and dressing materials.

Sports items were presented to the school children by the unit. This school health programme was organised under operation Sadbhavna.

- Maj TB Khattri

Lt Gen HRS Mann, Chief of Staff, Western Command inaugurated a VSAT node at Pooh - a remote village on Indo Tibetan Border, as part of chain of four VSAT nodes for rear communication.

Army is employing VSAT communication to improve communications along its border areas. VSAT node at Pooh is another link in the satellite communication chain of the Indian Army.

- Maj Atul Rawat

The thirteenth Infantry Centre Commandants’ Conference was held at Kumaon Regimental Centre, Ranikhet recently. The Conference, presided over by Lt Gen Shankar Prasad, DG Infantry, was attended by all centre commandants and representatives from Army, ARTRAC and CDA (P).

The conference elaborately discussed the quality of training being imparted to the recruits and also administrative aspects related to the functioning of the centres.

- Lt Col KD Singh

At a convocation ceremony held at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), 33 officers graduated as IT and communication engineers. Dr B C Chhaparwal, Vice Chancellor, DAVV Indore was the chief guest.

Lt Gen D P Sehgal, Commandant, MCTE Telecommunication Engineering welcomed the chief guest. Dr B C Chhaparwal complimented all officers for their performance. Dr Chhaparwal said that Corps of Signals has always provided reliable communication in all operations. He further added that the Corps has an important role to play in the information technology (IT) era and the officers must be prepared for the same.

The chief guest presented the parchments to the officers of the passing course. He also presented the Chief of Army Staff Trophy and Signal Officer-in-Chief’s Gold Medal for standing first in the order of merit. The award winners included Capt Ishpal Singh Gill, Capt S Balakrishnan, Capt Seby Thomas and Capt Amit Soneja. The BEL Trophy and silver medal for obtaining highest marks was awarded to Capt Ishpal Singh Gill. The best project award was presented to Capt Balakrishnan S,

Capt Seby Thomas and Capt Amit Soneja.

- M L Arora

A recruitment rally was organised by the Dagger Division in the border town of Uri in the Kashmir Valley. This recruitment rally was the first of its kind held in this border area and met a long-standing requirement of the local population.

The rally was inaugurated by Maj Gen MC Bhandari, GOC, Dagger Division. The response from the surrounding villages was very enthusiastic and approximately 1000 youth attended the rally. Besides the GOC, the gathering was also addressed by local district officials. This rally has gone a long way towards fulfillment of economic aspirations of the people in the region.

- Col S Bhattacharya

A special sainik sammelan was held at the Central Command Signal Regiment in Lucknow Cantonment.

Addressing all ranks, Col I S Chowdhary, Commanding Officer, said that the unit had progressed in all fields. Col Chowdhary exhorted his men to strive for further improvement. A badakhana was also organised.

- Dhirendra Ojha

from Lucknow

A seminar on "Challenges Facing NCC in J&K" was held at Tagore Hall, Srinagar. It was organised by the NCC Group HQ, Srinagar. Mr Mohd Shafi, Minister for Education was the chief guest. Prof Abdul Wahid, Vice Chancellor, Kashmir University, Prof MA Charu, Chairman J&K School Education Board, and Mr Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir spoke on the occasion and gave out their views.

Col Ashit Bhola, Group Commander, NCC Srinagar explained that the aim of the seminar was to identify the challenges in the conduct of NCC training in Kashmir and find workable solutions in tandem with the state administration and educational institutions. The seminar was attended by over 450 cadets and their parents.

- Lt Col SPK Singh

from Srinagar

The ninth raising day of Chief Engineer Air Force, Shillong Zone was celebrated at the Zone Headquarters near Elephant Falls in Upper-Shillong. Social functions and sports competitions were organised to mark the celebrations.

Brig H K Dadhich, Chief Engineer greeted all ranks and civilians on the occasion. He called upon the personnel to continue hard work and provide qualitative engineering services and support to the Air Force base under Eastern Air Command.

- PIB (DW)

‘History Museum’, the brainchild of Maj Gen Devraj Singh, General Officer Commanding, 5 Mountain Division, was inaugurated by Lt Gen HRS Kalkat, Goc-in-C, Eastern Command. It was a trip down the memory lane for the Army Commander who was a Brigade Commander and General Officer Commanding of this division.

Tracing the genesis of the formation from its raising at Secunderabad on September 23, 1939, ‘the hall of fame’ is a panorama of its participation in various operations across the continents of Africa and Asia in the pre-independence period. This hall is dedicated to the founding father, Maj Gen LM Heath, with a special mention of the valour of Lt Gen Bhagat who was the first recepient of Vir Chakra at Galabat in January 1941.

The Sind - China room is dedicated to the gallant soldiers who fought in the 1962 operations. Arunachal Pradesh room portrays the rich cultural heritage of the region. The Rogue’s Gallery and China Room are the other interesting vistas.

This museum was conceived and inaugurated within a short period of three months. The museum has since been thrown open to the public and has become a popular visiting spot for the transients at Tenga.

- Lt Col S Dutta

Cadet Warrant Officer Anand Kumar Agarwal of Number 5 Air Squadron NCC and Cadet Neelam Sharma of Army Wing NCC presented a replica of HF-24 (Marut), a fighter aircraft, to Lt Gen R M Chadha, Chief of Staff, Central Command, in Lucknow Cantonment.

A student of Lucknow University, Cadet WO Anand Kumar has to his credit 120 gliding launches and three para jumps. Cadet Neelam Sharma is a student of Mahila College and belongs to Number 20 Girls battalion NCC. The model of the aircraft was prepared by cadets of Number 5 Air Squadron NCC under the supervision of Air Modelling Instructor UC Pandey.

Brig Gurdial Singh, Deputy Director General NCC, UP and Uttaranchal, Wg Cdr GK Sachdeva, Commanding Officer of 5 Air Squadron NCC and Lt Col Krishan Kher were present on the occasion.

- Dhirendra Ojha

The Stok Kangri (20083 ft) and Gulap Kangri (19750 ft) are twin-peaks in Zanskar Range in Ladakh. A 15 member team from 107 Air Defence Regiment led by Lt Col Davis P P scaled the peaks recently.

The team approached the peaks from Leh. The approach march to the base camp started at the Stok village. Lt Gen Naresh Chand, Director General of Air Defence Artillery flagged off the team at the Stok village.

The base camp was at a height of 16000 ft. An advance camp was established on Stok Kangri axis at 18100 ft to enable summit attempts. The team recorded three successful climbs to Stok Kangri and two climbs of Gulap Kangri. Eleven members of the team climbed Stok Kangri and eight climbed Gulap Kangri.

- Lt Col Davis PP

The personnel of the Red Horns Division operating in Darrang District renovated the Jawaharlal MC School at Paneri. The school established on January 20, 1953 was in a dilapidated state because of lack of maintenance. The people of Paneri had requested the government for renovation of the school. The task was entrusted to 16 Punjab located at Paneri which put an end to all their grievances by lending active support in renovation of the school buildings. This project has been completed under operation Samaritan of the Red Horns Division.

The renovated school was formally inaugurated by Brig RPS Shergill, Commander Hattigor Brigade. The function was attended by the public, students, SP Darrang, SDPO Udalguri and SDO Tangla.

- Maj Sangrum Singh

A Cultural Integration Festival was organised by the Trishul Division of Indian Army at Karu near Leh. A total of twelve Sadbhavana Schools, comprising approximately 150 selected students out of a total of 700 students participated in the festival. This was a culmination of the annual meet of the schools that was held at various levels. It was for the first time that such a meet took place in the Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir.

The participation and enthusiasm displayed by the children from different Sadbnhavana Schools of Ladakh was encouraging. The events included spot painting contest, quiz group songs and group dance competitions. The theme of all these events was the rich cultural heritage of Ladakh.

Inaugurated by Lt Gen Arjun Ray, the festival was attended by a number of military and civil dignitaries and the local civilians. The events culminated with the prize distribution.

- Col Shruti Kant

The computer training laboratory at Kapurthala military station has trained more than one hundred Army personnel in the last one year. This laboratory has 15 PCs with latest software and runs two courses for a period of 28 days and 14 days respectively. Classes are conducted by trained personnel of the Army.

The Kapurthala military station also caters to the cyber needs of families and children of Army personnel through AWWA Computer Centre. AWWA Internet Information Centre set up alongside caters for internet access requirement of military station, Kapurthala. (photo on facing page)

- Naresh V Vig

A three-week rock craft training camp was organised for the children of Chumathang village by the rock craft experts from 4 Para. The training included introduction to rock climbing equipment and basic tenets of rock climbing and rappelling.

The initial aim of the camp was to train five boys and girls each, but keeping in view the response eight girls and 13 boys attended the training on regular basis. They proved to be keen learners and attained proficiency in rock climbing and rappelling in a matter of few days.

The training culminated with a competition amongst the children. The first prize among boys was bagged by Padma Gyagpa, a sixth standard student, and among girls Tsering Chusket, an eight standard student bagged this distinction. Maj Gen S V Thapliyal,GOC of Trishul Division gave away the prizes.

- Col Shruti Kant

Mrs Mona Kalkat, President, Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), Eastern Command visited Imphal. She was received by the ladies of 57 Mountain Division. Mrs Mona Kalkat interacted with the ladies of the Red Shield Division and enquired about the well being of their families.

Mrs Mona Kalkat called on Mrs Kamal K Marwah, wife of the Governor of Manipur, Mr Ved Marwah before departing for Aizwal.

- Lt Col AK Sinha

Breaking all the previous world records, the Rider Display team of the Corps of Signals, ‘Dare Devils’ entered their names in the Guinness Book of Records by creating the largest human pyramid of 201 men on only 10 motorcycles. They covered a distance of 120 meters at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The team attained the success in only one attempt.

The ‘Dare Devils’ team had already entered its name in the Guinness Book of Records by creating the largest human pyramid of 140 men on 11 motorcyles. Sub Maj S Rajendra was the coach of team. The ten main riders who handled the motorbikes included CHM Ranjeet, CQMH Prabhu, Hav B P Singh, Hav John, Hav Namdeo, Hav M Singh, Hav Landge, Hav Selveraj and Nk Kate. Lt Sukhbir Aujla was the team captain.

- Col Shruti Kant

To mark the 25th anniversary of the 2/4 Medium Regiment, a cycle expedition was organised from Kaluchak to Bathinda. The cycle expedition was organised with an aim of spreading the message of nature conservation, camaraderie and to foster a spirit of adventure. The participants included one officer, two JCOs and thirteen ORs.