Army has established a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Military Hospital, Jammu with tertiary care facilities for the care of critically ill new-born. The state-of-the-art, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will bring down the death rate among infants in the region. With dedicated staff of neonatologist, paediatricians, paediatric surgeon, specially trained nurses and other para-medical staff, the Military Hospital Jammu has become a modern centre for providing intensive care to new-born.

Lt Gen Ashok Kapur, General Officer Commanding, Nagrota Corps inaugurated the unit at the hospital. The unit has been awarded Stage II accreditation by the National Neonatology Forum and has also been recognised for training and research in neonatology.

As part of welfare to widows and extending assistance to the bereaved family of the Government servants who died while serving in harness, the Chief Engineer (Air Force), Shillong Zone, recently appointed Mrs Syeda Mosfika Begum, wife of late S A Rashid, ex-Junior Engineer, on the post of lower division clerk at the office of CE(AF) Shillong. Late S A Rashid died in harness while serving with ACE (Liaison), HQ Eastern Air Command, IAF. This was the first compassionate ground appointment being offered by CE(AF) to a widow of a deceased Government employee.

Mrs Yasmin Madon, President, Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional) handed over the appointment letter to Mrs Syeda Mosfika Begum on January 1, last.

Military Hospital, Kirkee, organised a free eye camp to detect diabetic retinopathy among the local residents. The camp was organised in association with Lions Club, Pune.

More than 125 patients including civilians attended the camp. It was inaugurated by Dr (Mrs) Alka Pawar, wife of the Commandant, Military Hospital. A large number of Army officers and office-bearers of the Lions Club attended the inaugural function.

Speaking on the occasion, Brig MSV Raju said that the hospital, which is the largest military hospital for orthopaedics in the country, would organise this sort of camps at other places too.

Twenty-one cases were found to have glaucoma and were slated for treatment. Nine cases that were found to have advanced diabetic retinopathy were provided laser treatment free of cost at the camp.

Under operation Sadbhavna, an educational tour for a group of 100 students from the Bakkarwal and Gujjar communities was organised to places of interest in Delhi, Agra, Ajmer and Jaipur. The children were in the age group of 10-14 years and were inmates of Gujjar and Bakkarwal hostels of Srinagar and Anantnag. Lt Gen Hari Prasad, GOC-in-C, Northern Command met the students prior to their departure.

During their stay in Delhi, the children got the opportunity to witness both the Army Day and Republic Day parades. The children were taken to various heritage sites, amusement parks and museums in Delhi. They also visited Army Public School, Delhi. At Agra, the children were taken to Taj Mahal and Agra
Fort.

The children also got an opportunity to interact with the villagers of Rajasthan who are associated with cattle and sheep rearing. They share commonality of customs and traditions with the Gujjars and Bakkarwals. A team of Army personnel and ten teachers from Bakkarwal and Gujjar hostels accompanied the children during the tour.

A second opinion website was launched at the Northern Command Hospital by Mrs Lakshmi Hari Prasad, President, AWWA, Northern Command. The website would have link to super specialists at Command Hospital. The launching was part of "Know your Hospital Programme".

The programme aimed at generating awareness on the facilities available at the hospital. Some of the high-tech facilities explained were Extra-corporeal Shockwave-Lithotripsy (ESWL) and Percutaneous Nephro Lithotomy (PCNL) for treatment of kindly stones without open surgery, laparoscopic surgery for gall bladder, rectum, oesophagus and appendix, video endoscopy and therapeutic gastroenterology, treadmill, pacemaker implantation, computerised tomography (CT) scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

School of Nursing at Command Hospital, Central Command, Lucknow conducted the lamp lighting ceremony of the 47th batch of students. It was held at the Saraswati Auditorium of the School of Nursing. Twelve nursing students began their journey of nursing profession on this auspicious day. Lt Col TK Bhutia, Principal Tutor, welcomed the gathering and presented the school report.

Brig Sunita Sehgal, Principal Matron (Command Hospital) lit the lamp. This was followed by students taking the Nightingale Pledge. Lt Gen M Kesavan, Commandant, was the chief guest on the occasion. He said that nursing profession calls for high degree of selfless devotion and hard work.

Lt Gen Kesavan felicitated Ms Anita Rai, Ms N Shobana and Ms Gouri Thappa for securing first, second and third position respectively in their exams.

Army Headquarters Camp shifted to its present location in 1986. Though the camp had three massive buildings for housing the other ranks, it lacked a central place where all the other ranks could get together and indulge themselves in recreational activities.

Since no proper infrastructure existed on ground, Extra Regimental Employment of 14 Gorkha Rifles with their traditional expertise in bamboo work raised a beautiful structure of bamboo and grass. This structure is being utilised as an institute by other ranks for recreational activities like tambola on Sunday and for screening movies on Friday and Saturday during summer.

The facility was inaugurated by Maj Gen Arvind Mahajan, Additional Director General (Administration & Coordination). A sincere and creative effort by 14 Gorkha Rifles has given a fillip to other ranks residing at Army Headquarters Camp.

Mrs Shivjot Sihota, President AWWA, Southern Command visited Ahmedabad Station. During her visit, she was briefed by Mrs Anita Thamburaj, President, 11 Infantry Division AWWA on various activities being conducted and projects being undertaken by Golden Katar AWWA. President AWWA, Southern Command also visited Golden Katar Nursery School, where she was briefed by Mrs Sharma, Principal, on the functioning of the school Mrs Sihota expressed her satisfaction on the overall performance of the school. She also complemented Mrs Anita Thamburaj for undertaking projects like blood donation camp and cancer detection camps.

An educational tour for Kashmiri children was conducted by 15 Corps under operation Sangam. The tour comprised 25 children including four girls from different districts of the Kashmir Valley. The children visited Mumbai, Agra and Delhi.

In Mumbai, the children participated in the Navy Day celebrations and had the privilege of visiting various Naval establishments including INS Virat, INS Vikrant and INS Sindhuraj. A cruise on INS Udaygiri was the highlight of their stay. They also visited various places of interest in Mumbai.

Delhi was the last stop in the tour. The children got a life-time opportunity to interact with Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes. They paid their respects at Amar Jawan Jyoti and visited Red Fort. The tour was educative and an eye opener for the children. They saw a totally different world and were touched to see the concern of the nation for the people of Kashmir.

As a part of a welfare scheme, Dogra Regimental Centre runs Gen Kalwant Singh Boys Hostel exclusively for the wards of the war widows of the Dogra Regiment at Jalandhar Cantonment. The hostel is not only providing free boarding and lodging but also meets expenses related to schooling and runs special coaching classes.

Taking inspiration out of this, Col RK Nayar, CO 112 Dogra Terrier took the initiative and instituted a yearly scholarship scheme for excellence in academics for the inmates of the hostel. At a short and impressive ceremony, the scholarship for the year 2003 was conferred upon Master Vivek Sharma, son of Late Nk RK Sharma of 19 Dogra by Lt Gen (Retd) Surjit Singh and Mrs Deep Surjit Singh.

A workshop on general health and hygiene was held at Air Force Auditorium, Bamrauli under the aegis of Air Force Wives Welfare Association, Air Force Station, Bamrauli for the benefit of needy people. On this occasion, Mrs Brinda Bali, President, Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional), Central Air Command, was the chief guest.

In her address to the gathering, she stressed upon the need to keep the surroundings neat and clean for a healthy environment and well-being. She also distributed blankets among those who attended the workshop.

Earlier, a lecture on general health problems and precautionary measures for various common ailments was delivered by the medical officer of the Air Force Station Medicare Centre, Bamrauli.

Mrs Mala Jamwal, President, 12 Corps, AWWA visited Ahmedabad station. She was briefed on the functioning of the AWWA Boys Hostel by Col VK Sharma. Mrs Anita Thamburaj, President, 11 Infantry Division AWWA and other ladies were also present. The hostel caters to admission of wards of serving officers, JCOs and ORs to tide over the problems of education on their posting to areas where suitable education facilities do not exist.

Mrs Lakshmi Hari Prasad, President, AWWA, Northern Command visited Paediatric Ward, Command Hospital. She inquired about the well being of ill children and interacted with the hospital staff and attendants.

She also visited family OPD Complex where cancer detection camp was conducted under the aegis of AWWA Northern Command for a fortnight. Ladies above 35 years in age were screened for early signs of breast and uterus cancer. About 500 ladies made use of this facility extended by the AWWA.

An alumnus of the Army War College and the National Defence College, Lt Gen Davinder Kumar is a specialist in network designing and implementation.

The General Officer has held important command, staff and instructional appointments. He commanded 234 Mechanised Engineer Regiment. He also served as Brigadier OL in HQ Northern Command during the Kargil operations. He has been Chief Engineer Central Command, Lucknow and Commandant, College of Military Engineering, Pune. Besides this, he has been an instructor many a time at CME, Pune and College of Combat, Mhow.

A highly decorated officer, he has been bestowed with the GOC-in-C Commendation Card in 1993, Vishist Seva Medal in 1996, Sena Medal in 2000 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2002.

Lt Gen Takhar was commissioned into the Poona Horse and is a veteran of 1965 and 1971 wars. Having attended the Staff College and Higher Command Courses, the General Officer has held prestigious command, staff and instructional appointments during his distinguished service. The General Officer has commanded an Armoured Brigade in operation Rakshak and an Armoured Division and a Corps during operation Parakram with distinction.

Lt Gen Takhar has also been an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, and has held key staff appointments which include Brigadier General Staff of a corps in the Eastern Theatre and Additional Director General of Military Operations at Army HQs.

Lt Gen JJ Singh has a vast experience. He served as the Additional Director General in the Military Operations Directorate during the Kargil conflict and in Operational Logistics Directorate. He has attended distinguished professional courses like Defence Services Staff Course, Senior Command, Higher Command and National Defence College Courses. He has also had the privilege of being the first Indian Defence Attache in Algeria. He has the experience of commanding an elite strike corps during exercise Poorna Vijay and operation Parakram.

A graduate of Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, he obtained his diploma in clinical pathology and MD in pathology from Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune.

A renowned neuropathologist and a postgraduate teacher, he has held many prestigious appointments including Professor and Head, Department of Pathology AFMC, Pune, Senior Advisor and Head, Department of Pathology at Army Hospital (Research and Referral) Delhi Cantonment, Additional DGAFMS, and Director General Hospital Services (Armed Forces) at Ministry of Defence.

Air Marshal SK Malik who replaced Air Marshal AK Trikha is the fourteenth AOC-in-C of Southern Air Command. Prior to this appointment, Air Marshal Malik was serving as Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command. He has also held the appointments of Air Attache, Moscow, Additional Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operations) and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence) at Air Headquarters. He was awarded Ati Vishist Seva Medal in January 1996.

He was commissioned in the fighter stream of Flying (Pilot) Branch of IAF. He has over 4000 hours of flying experience in various fighter aircraft. He took active part in 1965 and 1971 operations. He has commanded a fighter squadron, a flying station and a major fighter base.