The Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes visited forward areas on Indo-Tibet border in Himachal Pradesh. During his visit he was taken around the Army garrisons affected by the recent devastating flash floods and was briefed on the extent of damage caused.

Mr Fernandes lauded the role of the Army in extending prompt help to the civil authorities during relief and rescue operations. The Minister also joined the troops at a barakhana. He informed that the government was making all efforts to equip the Army sufficiently and extend every possible help to those troops who were operating in remote and inhospitable terrain conditions.

Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis, the Chief of Air Staff inaugurated the millennium housing project at Hasimara Air Force Station in North Bengal. The project comprises 280 residential quarters for Air Force personnel. The Chief of Air Staff also addressed the officers, airmen and civilians of the station.

Fourteen war widows and next of kin of martyrs belonging to Panchkula, Chandigarh and Ropar were honoured at an investiture ceremony held at Manekshaw Auditorium in Chandimandir Cantonment.

The kin were presented with badges of sacrifice and certificates of honour by Brig Ram Pratap, Station Commander, Chandimandir. The heroes included officers who made supreme sacrifice in post-independence actions prior to operation Vijay. Speaking on the occasion, Brig Ram Pratap said that about 17,000 soldiers had laid down their lives for the safety and honour of the nation since independence. The badges of sacrifice and certificates of honour were a token of the grit, determination and indomitable spirit displayed by the martyrs and would go a long way to inspire future generations.

The Vice President, Zila Sainik Board Panchkula, Col Kartar Singh and Zila Sainik Welfare Officer, Chandigarh, Lt Col G S Dhillon were also present on the occasion.

Beating the Retreat ceremony marked the conclusion of the 44 annual conference of the Army Medical Corps (AMC) at AMC Centre and School in Lucknow Cantonment.

Attended by a large number of top brasses of the Armed Forces Medical Services, the conference deliberated upon the status of tactical doctrines, equipment of field medical units and organisational deficiency etc.

An eight-member AMC Himalayan motorcycle rally on its return after covering a distance of about 4,500 km was flagged in at the AMC Centre Headquarters by Lt Gen R K Jatley, Director General Armed Forces Medical Services. Earlier, Lt Gen R K Jatley, DGAFMS and Senior Colonel Commandant of AMC and Lt Gen M A Tutakane, Commandant AFMC and Colonel Commandant of AMC were presented a guard of honour at AMC Stadium. A spectacular floodlit tatto followed by a barakhana was also organised.

The Corps of Military Police celebrated its 61st anniversary in Chandimandir Cantonment. A get-together was held at the Command Hqrs which was attended by the Chief of Staff, Lt Gen B S Malik and other senior officers. Sports events and a barakhana were also organised to mark the occasion. At a special Sainik Sammelan organised by the Western Command Provost Unit, Lt Col A K Gulaty, officiating Commanding Officer greeted all ranks and their families. He appreciated the dedication and hard work put in by the troops in the performance of their duty.

Raised during the second world war, the White Belts participated in all theatres of operation where the Indian Army was deployed in the war. After independence, besides serving with distinction in every conflict, units of the Corps served with the UN Forces in Korea, Congo, Gaza, Cambodia, Somalia, Mozambique, Angola, Rwanda and Lebanon.

Amidst sky-diving and dare-devil motorcycle display, 4010 Field Ambulance established a medical camp at Police Parade Ground, Chandimandir. Audiovisual displays of primary health care, health education on family planning, hygiene and sanitation drew enthusiastic and curious visitors in large numbers. Services of all specialists, ultra sound, laboratory, x-ray and dental surgery were provided by CH(WC), 174 MH and 324 Field Ambulance.

The overwhelming response of visitors necessitated extension of the camp duration. Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, the then GOC-in-C, Western Command visited the camp besides various other dignitaries.

A ten-day course on Continued Nursing Education for Army and civil nursing staff was inaugurated by Lt Gen Harcharan Singh, Director General Medical Services (Army) at Army Hospital (Research and Referral).

Organised jointly by the Army School of Nursing and Army Hospital (R & R), this programme emphasised the role of a nurse in spinal cord injuries. The course gave an opportunity to the participants to exchange and update their knowledge, experience, views and professional skills related to the patient care.

The 101 Medium Regiment (self propelled) celebrated its millennium reunion alongwith 38th raising day somewhere in the Western Sector. Many old Commanding Officers, Subedar Majors and a large number of old officers, JCOs and jawans attended the celebrations. The activity commenced with a Mandir function followed by a homage to martyrs. The Commanding Officer, Col AK Sahni addressed a special Sainik Sammelan on this occasion. The Regimental Banner was presented to the sub-unit which had shown the best overall performance during the year. It was a proud moment to be the ‘Champions Battery’. A variety entertainment programme was held wherein the traditional Maratha sports of lezium and malkhamb were presented by the unit soldiers. Folk artists from Rajasthan regaled the crowd with their lilting tunes, acrobatic and skillful dancing. The traditional barakhana followed.

After a gala get-together in the JCO’s Mess in the afternoon, the stage was set for the grand finale of the celebrations- the raising day dinner in the Officer’s Mess. The occasion was graced by all the high ranking officers in the station alongwith their ladies.

Vice Admiral Raman Puri has taken over as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff at Naval Head-quarters. The Vice Admiral was Fortress Commander (A & N) at Port Blair before assuming the present appointment.

The Flag Officer is an alumnus of National Defence Academy and National Defence College. He was commissioned in January 1966. He is a specialist in gunnery and missile. His earlier important appointments include Director General Seabird, Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area and Flag Officer Defence Advisory Group.

The Southern Air Command organised an awareness programme on vaccination for infants, children and adults at SAC SNCO’s Mess Hall, Vayu Vihar. A talk on vaccination and immunisation, panel discussion and video shows were held. During the discussion, the panel speakers put emphasis on the use of new vaccines.

Air Cmde SS Nesargi, Principal Medical Officer, Southern Air Command, senior officers’ their family members and children of Kendriya Vidyalaya attended the function.

- P Rajendran
from Thiruvananthapuram

The 220th Engineers Corps Day was celebrated in Lucknow Cantonment.

The day began with a solemn ceremony held at Smritika the War Memorial. Lt Gen R M Chadha, COS, Central Command, followed by Maj Gen Prakash Suri the Chief Engineer, Central Command laid wreaths at the war memorial in homage to those who laid down their lives in the defence of the country. Wreaths were also placed at the war memorial by Brig N Umar (Retd), Capt Iliyas Ahmed (Retd) and the seniormost JCO in Station, Sub Maj BB Raut. Last post was sounded and a two-minutes silence was observed.

Later in the evening a social get-together was organised in which Lt Gen P S Joshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Command was the chief guest.

A sports meet was also organised in which Maj AK Tripathi was adjudged the best player for the year 2000.

Maj Gen Prakash Suri, the Chief Engineer, Central Command, distributed prizes to the winners on the occasion. Maj Gen Suri commended all ranks and their civilian counterparts in the Engineers Corps for their professional competence and hard work.

The Pangode Military Centre in Thiruvananthapuram celebrated the infantry day. The programmes included a war memorial service, cultural programmes, special Sainik Sammelan and social evening.

Brig VS Shankar (Retd) and Brig SN Handa, Station Commander, Pangode participated in the wreath-laying ceremony.

It was followed by a special Sainik Sammelan at the Kariappa Auditorium. Brig SN Handa, Station Commander addressed the Sammelan. He informed that more family quarters for the soldiers would be constructed at Pangode.

A special polo match was played between Indian Navy and visiting Cambridge (UK) polo team as a part of the Navy Week activities at Jaipur Polo Ground, Delhi Race Course, New Delhi. The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sushil Kumar played for the Navy and HRH Rashid el Hassan the Prince of Jordan played for Cambridge.

Admiral Sushil Kumar, Lt AS Sangha, Lt A Sirohi, Cdr J Siga and alternate player Cdr R S Yadav played on behalf of the Navy team. Mr Edmund Hignbottam, Mr Simon Francis, Mr Phillip Elliot, HRH Rashid el Hassan and alternate players Mr Ravi Bhatia and Mr Alex Mitchell played for Cambridge.

A total of four rounds of seven minutes each were played. In the first three rounds the Navy team managed to get an early lead by placing a goal and then the Cambridge team neutralizing it. Mr Phillip Elliot of Cambridge team played excellently for his team and saved his team from the defeat. The last round was well defended by both the teams and finally both the teams scored three goals each.

The Chief of Army Staff, Gen S Padmanabhan who was the chief guest of the occasion gave away the prizes. a number of military officers and foreign dignitaries from many countries witnessed the spectacular match.

- R Chidambaranathan
from New Delhi

The Indian Air Force-Sri Lankan Air Force weightlifting meet was held at 3 BRD, Air Force Chandigarh. This is the first time in the history of the Indian Air Force that a weightlifting event involving Air Forces of two different countries was organised in India. Weightlifters from the Sri Lankan Air Force and IAF competed in this bi-nation meet held to promote goodwill and friendly relations between the neighbouring countries. Air Cmde LH Peiris was Chef de Mission of the SLAF team.

The SLAF is the current holder of Sri Lanka National Weightlifting championship. Some of the outstanding SLAF weightlifters who participated in the meet were Aircraftsman Bandara who won a bronze medal in the SAF Games 1999 held at Kathmandu, Cpl Yaseen who finished fourth in the SAF Games 1992 held at Madras and Cpl Abeyrathna who represented Sri Lanka in the Madras SAF Games 1992.

The meet was inaugurated by Air Marshal SS Gupta, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Headquarters Maintenance Command IAF while Air Marshal DC Dhyani, Air Officer-in-charge, Administration was the chief guest for the closing ceremony.

The IAF lifters emerged winners in all the categories.

The Kamet House scoring maximum of 188 points bagged the overall championship trophy of the 14th Annual Athletic Meet held at the Lucknow Army Public School (LAPS). Dhaulagiri House with a tally of 160 points came second followed by Trishul House which got 119 points. Sidharth Khanna was declared the best athlete among senior boys and Pujita Singh the best athlete among senior girls. Dhaulagiri House of boys and Kamet House of Girls were adjudged the Best House.

LAPS also won the inter school relay race. St Paul’s School and Laxmi Bai Memorial School came second and third respectively. Maj Gen A K Vasudev, the chief guest on the occasion, declared the meet open and distributed prizes among the winners. Earlier, the sports meet began with a colourful march past led by the equestrian team captained by Digvijay Singh. The headboy, headgirl and captains of Kamet, Dhaulagiri, Nanda and Trishul Houses led their respective Houses. Durga Ale had the honour of carrying the olympic torch.

Brig SVP Singh, Commander, 12 Artillery Brigade presented the Championship Banner to 52 Field Regiment at a special function, somewhere in western sector. Speaking on the the occasion, he said that Gunners have proved their worth not only in battle but also in sports events. He remembered the great role played by the Gunners in Kargil war and paid homage to Kargil martyrs.

He gave away prizes to various Artillery units for their outstanding performance in line laying competitions, command post competitions, gundrill competitions and survey competitions. 52 Field Regiment was declared the Champion Regiment of 12 Artillery Brigade.

- Maj (Dr) AK Janardhanan
from Jodhpur

Two officers and eight NCC cadets (four boys and four girls) left for Singapore to participate in camp Pinnacle 2000 at Singapore. The members of the NCC delegation called on Lt Gen A S Rao, Director General NCC before leaving.

Youth Exchange Programme between the NCC organisation of Singapore and India is an annual feature under aegis of international air/sea exchange programme. Camp Pinnacle was a maiden programme for the Army wing cadets of the NCC. In this programme, the cadets visited various historical sites and places of interest in Singapore, besides participating in camp Pinnacle 2000.

Mr Bharat Parikh has won the Baidyanath Cup Golf Tournament conducted at the Garuda Golf Institute, Kamptee. He also won the prize for Stableford.

This annual tournament featured 54 golfers from Nagpur and Kamptee. It has an interesting format, with prizes against 3/4 handicap. The format included stableford, gross, bogie and greenhorn, with the stableford winner being awarded the Baidyanath Cup.

Mr Shiv Ratan Daga won the prize for bogie, Mr Anand Rai for best gross and Maj G R Yadav for greenhorn.

Not to be left behind, the ladies ‘putting’ competition had 15 participants vying for the prizes. Mrs Renu Bharat and Mrs Reena P J Singh bagged the first and second prizes.

The prizes were distributed by Col S L Ghosh, officiating Commandant of the Guards Regimental Centre and Mr Suresh Kumar Sharma of the Baidyanath Group.

The 11 Gorkha Rifles defeated the 4 Gorkha Rifles in the final match and won the Judha Shamsher Football tournament played at the 11 GRRC ground in Lucknow Cantonment.

In the well contested final match no team could score any goal in the stipulated time. In the tie breaker the 11 GR defeated 4 GR, by 5 goals to 4.

In all seven teams representing all the battalions of the Gorkha Brigade Club contested for the championship.

Lt Gen P S Joshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Command, distributed prizes to the winners. The championship trophy on behalf of the victorious team was received by the team coach Nb Sub Narad Mani Rai.