Kumaon Regiment scripted a thrilling victory in Army Cross Country  Championship-2003-04. It was conducted at Kotdwar. The Kumaonis won the 12-km race by defeating 20 teams. It stood second in the 4-km race competition, thus winning the overall championship trophy also.

This was the first cross country championship conducted in Uttaranchal. The victory of Kumaon Regiment was greeted with ecstatic fervour at Ranikhet not only by the Army but also by the local residents.

On successful completion of command of a Corps, Lt Gen PPS Bhandari has been appointed Deputy Chief of the Army Staff.

Having commanded an armoured regiment, an armoured brigade, an armoured division and a strike corps, the General Officer has a very rich and varied experience with men and equipment.

Lt Gen Bhandari is an alumnus of Royal College of Defence Studies, UK.

-PIB (DW)

Eight officers and 80 jawans of Army's Golden Katar Division undertook a six-day long rowing expedition in seven assault boats. The expedition commenced from Sardar Sarovar Dam in the Narmada canal and concluded at Gandhinagar. Maj Gen Noble Thamburaj, GOC, Golden Katar Division flagged off the expedition and Lt Gen (Retd) Mahipat Sinhji flagged in the team. The expedition, first of its kind over the canal, was conducted as part of the bicentenary celebrations of Bengal Engineer Group.

The expedition team covered an approximate distance of 230 km, averaging nearly 40 km each day while camping by night with the local residents. The expedition was aimed at inculcating spirit of adventure and esprit de corps among the team members and also to study the flora and fauna and culture of Gujarat.

Remember Ben Hur on the big screen or our own Mahabharata on television? Huge armies, chariot wheels, well-guarded armour, clash of metals, shrieks of horses and tall flag staff towering above all?But what was the flag staff doing amidst the cumbersome battle field sequences? In fact, no art director in a film could do away with the flag staff in a war sequence in any period film.Having varied colours and illustrations, these flag staffs were actually the mark of pride for any group or community. Colours, as they are also known, were used by man in early days as a family emblem.It was always held in high esteem and as a rallying point in case of a feud.

In the present day army, colours or standards are presented to a regiment by the head of a state in recognition of its outstanding services rendered on the battlefield and off it. In the Indian sub-continent, use of flags can be traced back to the Vedic period.In the Rig Veda Samhita, the term dhwaja for flags and akra, kratwaja, ketu brhatktu and sahastraketu for banner have been used in the Vedas. A strike with the arrow at the enemy’s banner was considered as a winover in vedic times.In the battlefield, the banners and drums were considered as insignias of the kings and were the principal war trophies whosoever captured it. With the introduction of regimentation, each regiment was presented with individual colours or standards by the sovereign head of the country. They were taken into use only after consecration with solemn rituals to preserve the atmosphere of veneration that surrounds them.

The origin of the ceremony of trooping of colours can be traced back to 1591, in England when the ceremony was a popular military spectacle.The colours were trooped in front of soldiers so that they could recognise them on a warfield as a rallying point. In the Indian Army, the first colours were used during the days of the British East India Company.The colours called Nishan in Hindustani were a mark of respect for every soldier. As the British crown took over the East India Company, the regiments carried the King's or Queen's colours.But they had to make way for the colours of the President of Republic of India on November 23, 1950. It was then that 35 King's colours were laid up at Chetwode Hall of Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun.

Para sailing is commonly called ascending parachute. This sport is one of the cheapest and safest of all aerial sports, which permits man to fly through the air. Parasailing belongs to the family of hang-gliding sports. Unlike other aerial sports including powered flying, hang-gliding or gliding-where once off the ground, the sportsman is on his own in the air. In para sailing, take off, flight and descent of the sportsman can be controlled from the ground. Safety of the sportsman, therefore, devolves to a very large extent on the team helping out in this sport.

The training programme was a memorable experience for all participants. As an adventure activity, it inculcates a spirit of sportsmanship and character- building among team members. The training has opened up more avenues of adventure for the infantrymen.