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Coast
Guard Commissions First Hovercraft
 The
first of a series of six Hovercraft acquired by the
Indian Coast Guard was commissioned at an impressive function
attended by the Defence Secretary, Mr T R Prasad, Vice Admiral
John C De Silva, Director General Coast Guard, Rear Admiral R
B Vohra, Chairman and CMD of GRSE Ltd. Various other
dignitaries were present at the commissioning ceremony held at
GRSE, Calcutta. India thus become the first country in South
Asian Region to acquire Hovercraft for protection of
its maritime zones.
This
first Hovercraft named H-181 was built at M/s
Griffon Hovercraft, UK. The remaining will be built by M/s
GRSE Ltd Calcutta. Armed with 12.7 mm machine-gun, it has an
overall length of 21.15 mts and can attain a maximum speed of
50 knots plus (100 km/hr) and a cruising speed of 45 knots.
The Hovercraft are specially designed for patrolling
the shallow coastal waters and can easily negotiate swamps,
marshy areas, coastal mudbanks and flat lands. There are no
restrictions of depth for the Hovercraft, made of light
weight aluminum alloy, which displaces 20 tons and can carry a
load of four tons. Its speed will be of great value in search
and rescue operations, interception of offending vessels and
assistance to mariners in distress. The acquisition of these Hovercrafts
will add a new dimension to patrolling by the Indian Coast
Guard in the maritime areas of the country.
The
Hovercraft, commanded by Cmdt D Rajaputhran, has a crew
of 11 officers and men. In all, Coast Guard is acquiring six Hovercrafts.
Two Hovercrafts are directly being imported from GHL,
Southampton. The delivery of all six Hovercrafts will
be completed by December 2001. It is planned to base Hovercraft
in pairs near border areas to monitor the movement of
militants and explosives.
Tornadoes
Storm into Record Books
 It
was a red letter day for the Army Services Corps Centre and
College in Bangalore when Tornadoes of the Corps formed
the largest moving pyramid in the world, when 181 men on 11
Enfield 350 cc motorcycles drove 300 metres. In the process
they broke the previous record of 151 men forming a pyramid on
11 motorcycles in the year 1995.
The
181 men on 11 motorcycles covered the 300 meters in 1 minute
and 17 seconds. The 24 year-old Capt Snehalok Das led the
historic performance.
Apart
from this, various other breath-taking performances were held
as part of the ASC Reunion. These performance were held as
part of 240th anniversary and seventh reunion of the ASC. A
wreath-laying ceremony was also held at the War Memorial of
the ASC Centre and College. Lt Gen Jagadish Chander,
Commandant ASC Centre and College and other serving and
retired officers and jawans placed wreaths at the war
memorial.
A
museum and archives of the Corps was inaugurated by Lt Gen
Ajit Singh, former Director General of Supplies and Transport.
Lt
Gen Jagadish Chander addressed a special sainik sammelan and
reviewed a ceremonial parade. On the occasion Army Service
Corps honoured 19 war widows.
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Maj BN Gurumurthy
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