The 306 station workshop of HQ 101 Area celebrated 58th anniversary of the Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers. An inter-platoon sports competition, pagal gymkhana and barakhana for serving and retired EME personnel and families settled in and around Meghalaya were organised to mark the occasion.

The celebrations concluded with a special sainik sammelan addressed by Lt Col J S Bains, Officer Commanding, 306 station workshop who also read out the message received from the Headquarters. Later, Lt Col Bains presented awards to the combatants and civilians of the workshop for their excellent performance.

The Intelligence Corps of the Indian Army celebrated its 59th anniversary at Chandimandir Military Station. To mark the occasion, a get-together was organised at the Western Command headquarters which was attended by GOC-in-C Western Command, Lt Gen Surjit Singh, Lt Gen HS Kanwar, COS and other senior officers of the command headquarters and the local units. A barakhana was also organised for all ranks of the Intelligence Corps.

Lt Gen Surjit Singh, Lt Gen OS Lohchab, Director of Military Intelligence and Maj Gen S T Manimala, Colonel Commandant, Intelligence Corps commended all ranks of the corps for their praiseworthy performance in meeting the multifarious challenges and fulfilling the requirements of the Army.

Lt Gen AS Rao, former Director General NCC, has been conferred the "Friend of NCC" award by the Singapore government for strengthening bilateral ties. The Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr BG Lee Hslen Loong presented the award recently at the prestigious Centenary Parade in Safti Military Institute.

The two-day annual Senior Ordnance Officers’ Conference of the Army Ordnance was held at Secunderabad. The conference was inaugurated by Lt Gen VJS Saighal, Master General of Ordnance and chaired by Lt Gen Vijay Lall, Director General Ordnance Services and Senior Colonel Commandant of the AOC.

The focus of the discussion during the conference was on providing higher level of satisfaction to the user with greater cost-effectiveness. Current issues like modernisation, automation, security, fire prevention and institution of the latest concepts relating to inventory management were analysed with the aim of generating practical solutions.

The conference was attended by a number of senior officers of the Ordnance holding diverse appointments. The Director Generals of Quality Assurance and the Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers were the special invitees.

As a part of Gunners’ Day celebrations, a medical camp was organised under the aegis of HQ 12 Artillery Brigade at Central MI Room of 97 Field Regiment. The camp was inaugurated by Brig SVP Singh, Commander, 12 Artillery Brigade.

The camp was conducted with the help of Dr Nanik Jethani, incharge Blood Bank, JLN Hospital, Ajmer. Blood collection kits and equipment were provided by the blood bank. On this occasion, a motivational lecture was also delivered by Dr Jethani on the importance of blood and eye donation. As a result, 37 donors donated blood and 40 donors donated their eyes.

Free medical check-up, height, weight, blood pressure check-up and blood grouping facilities were provided at this camp. A large number of officers, junior commissioned officers, Other Ranks, families and children took part in the event and made full use of the facilities provided. Blood grouping of more than 50 persons was also carried out at the camp.

A replica of INS Brahmaputra was presented by Brig AK Pandey, Deputy Director General, NCC (UP and UC) to Lt Gen R M Chadha, Chief of Staff, Headquarters Central Command in Lucknow Cantonment.

The model of the latest Indian missile cruiser, built at Garden Reach Shipyard, Kolkata, has been made by cadets of No. 5 Naval Unit NCC, Nainital.

Indian Military Academy (IMA) has recently celebrated its 69th raising day with great fervour and enthusiasm. Maj Gen Jitendra Singh, Officiating Commandant, on this occasion gave away badges and cash awards to civilian employees for their dedication and hard-work at a function held at the Khetarpal Auditorium. Four employees, Mr Mani Ram, Mr Jayanand Godial, Mr Megh Singh and Mr DSR Sharma were given Green Badge with a cash award of Rs 1000 each and 27 employees were given Yellow Badge with Rs 700 each.

Speaking on the occasion, Maj Gen Jitendra Singh said officers of Indian Military Academy have maintained tradition of dedication to duty, disciplined conduct and selfless service to the nation. It is because of the personal example of leadership set by the officers that the friendly foreign countries have been motivated to send their cadets for training here, he added.

Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh took over as Chief of Personnel at Naval Headquarters, New Delhi. Prior to this appointment, he was heading the implementation cell in the MoD where he steered all issues relating to restructuring of the higher Defence organisation.

Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh was commissioned in the Indian Navy in January 1966. A specialist in gunnery, he has held various key appointments, afloat and ashore. He has had the unique distinction of commanding five ships including the frigate, INS Ganga and the aircraft carrier, INS Viraat.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, he attended the staff course at DSSC, Wellington in 1977 and graduated from the National Defence College, New Delhi in 1991. He was promoted to flag rank in 1993 and held the crucial appointments of Fleet Commander, Western Fleet, Director General, Defence Planning and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Information Warfare and Operations) at Naval Headquarters.

The 62nd raising day of the Corps of Military Police (CMP) was celebrated with great enthusiasm at the Central Command Provost Unit in Lucknow Cantonment.

Addressing all ranks at the special sainik sammelan, Col V K Malhotra commended them for their devotion and dedication. He, however, urged them to uphold the high traditions of their corps.

Messages received from dignitaries were also read out at the sainik sammelan. In his message, the Army Chief, Gen S Padmanabhan commended the corps for establishing a tradition of esprit de corps and professionalism. The Colonel Commandant of CMP appreciated the "white belts" for their distinguished services. The Provost Marshal, in his message, expressed the confidence that the corps would meet the new challenges successfully.

A barakhana and mandir service were also held on the occasion.

Infantry Day was observed with much fanfare at the Western Command headquarters in Chandimandir Military Station. The celebrations commenced with a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the command war memorial, Veer Smriti. The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen Surjit Singh laid a wreath on behalf of all infantry soldiers.

A get-together was organised in the Defence Service Officers’ Institute for all serving and retired infantrymen on this occasion.

To provide special facilities to men-in-uniform, a separate computer reservation counter has been opened at 213 Transit Camp at Jammu. It was inaugurated by Mr S Dhasarthy, General Manager, Northern Railways.

Maj Gen P K Grover, GOC, Tiger Division, Mr SM Singla, Chief Engineer, Northern Railways and Mr J S Marwa, Divisional Railway Manager were amongst a host of Army and civil dignitaries present at the inaugural ceremony. This reservation counter will function round the clock to provide reservation facilities to the jawans who commence their journey from Jammu.

Tributes were paid to war heroes at a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at Smritika War Memorial in Lucknow Cantonment. It was organised under the aegis of Central Command Headquarters to commemorate the Infantry Day.

Maj Gen Milan Naidu, General Officer Commanding of an Infantry Division, placed the first wreath at the war memorial followed by Lt Gen Sami Khan (Retd), a former Central Army Commander. Lt Col Dhan Singh Thapa (Retd), Sub Maj Dhuni Chand Sharma and Hav Sanjay Kumar also laid wreaths.

A large number of serving as well as retired infantrymen were present on the occasion. All retired Infantry officers were invited to a social evening held on this occasion. Barakhana, variety entertainment programmes and pagal gymkhana also formed part of the celebrations.

On the occasion, a bust of Maj Som Nath Sharma of the 4th Battalion of Kumaon Regiment, who had received the first Param Vir Chakra of independent India for exhibiting extraordinary bravery in 1948 Kashmir operations, was unveiled at the entrance of Som Nath Dwar by Maj Gen SD Mahanty, GOC, UP Area. Brig Virpal Singh, Commander, Lucknow Sub Area and Dr DK Malik, CEO and members of the Cantonment Board were present on the occasion.

A Nigerian Defence Academy delegation visited Indian Military Academy recently. The delegation was led by Brig Gen U J Uwaigbe, Director, Military Training. Other members of the delegation included Brig Gen A G Adewaji, Cadet Brigade Commander, Gp Capt R B Taiwo, senior instructor Air Force Wing, Lt Col C O Esekhaigbe, Commanding Officer, Delta Battalion and Prof S U Uba.

On arrival at IMA, the delegation was received by Brig R K Gupta, Brigadier Administration and was briefed on functioning and training of IMA by Brig Ajay Pahwa, Brigadier General Staff. The delegation had discussions with Maj Gen Jitendra Singh, officiating Commandant, IMA who presented a memento to the delegation leader, Brig Gen UJ Uwaigbe.

A ‘Walk for Fun’ was conducted for all ranks and families including children of ‘Battle Axe Gunners’ to enhance environmental awareness and spread the message of the advantages of healthy community living. Approximately 1000 all ranks and families took part in the event.

All participants walked a distance of 5 kms with lot of enthusiasm and gusto. A number of prizes were distributed among the winners by Mrs SVP Singh, President, Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), Artillery Brigade. On this occasion, saplings were also planted in the Sarvatra Children Park by Commander, Deputy Commander and other participants to bring in more greenery.

Deployed with Rashtriya Rifles to combat insurgency, L/Nk Rajiv Kumar Shukla of the Guards Regiment attained martyrdom at Hindwada sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The mortal remains of L/Nk Rajiv Kumar Shukla were brought to Lucknow.

After having received with full military honours at the Amausi airport, wreaths were placed on behalf of the Central Army Commander and Commander, Lucknow Sub Area.

Forty cadets of NCC donated blood at a voluntary blood donation camp organised by Command Hospital, Central Command, at Army Parade Ground in Lucknow Cantonment.

Voluntary blood donation is the mainstay of supply of blood to patients in Command Hospital. As such, the blood bank of the hospital welcomes all voluntary donors to donate blood. Before taking blood, a thorough medical checkup of the donor and testing of blood is done to ensure safety.

The blood bank functions round the clock.

Air Cmde Shakti Bhushan Prasher took over as the new Air Officer Commanding of 3 Base Repair Depot (BRD) from Air Cmde Ambrish Kumar who has been promoted and posted as Senior Maintenance Staff Officer of Eastern Air Command at Shillong.

Before the present appointment, Air Cmde SB Prasher was the Command Engineering Officer, Central Air Command at Allahabad. An alumnus of Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, he has held a number of prestigious appointments during his distinguished service career spanning over three decades.

As Senior Engineering Officer of Air HQ Communication Squadron, he has logged over 2000 hours of flying. He has a rich experience on the varied weapon systems and aircraft of the IAF. For his distinguished services, Air Cmde Prasher was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal and the Chief of Air Staff Commendation.

On the occasion of the 58th raising day anniversary of the Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (EME), tributes were paid to war heroes at a ceremony held in Lucknow Cantonment.

The first wreath was laid by Maj Gen B Cornelius, Colonel Commandant of the EME. Others who laid wreaths included Maj Gen Rajendra Singh, MGEME, Central Command, Maj Gen S P Mishra (Retd) and Sub Maj Surendra Pandey.

A special sainik sammelan, social evening, pagal gymkhana, sports, barakhana were organised on the occasion.

The Central Ordnance Depot, Dehu Road under the command of Brig A K Kapur, celebrated the commencement of its diamond jubilee year of raising.

Lt Gen Vijay Lall, ADC, Director General of Ordnance Services and Senior Colonel Commandant, presided over the celebrations. The celebrations were marked by a cycle expedition, barakhana for military personnel and a sainik sammelan where the DGOS addressed the civilian workers. A cycle expedition was also conducted on this occasion in which the jawans and civilian employees of COD participated. The expedition team covered 900 kms in eight days visiting important places of Maharashtra.

A mini pension adalat was held in the office of the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pension), Allahabad under the aegis of Mr V K Mishra, Principal CDA (P).

Thirtyseven pensioners from different parts of Allahabad and the adjoining districts attended the adalat.