Mr George Fernandes, Defence Minister visited Imphal recently. On his visit he was accompanied by Lt Gen TS Shergill, General Officer Commanding 3 Corps and Lt Gen AK Puri, Director General Border Roads.

On his arrival at Tulihal Airport, Imphal he was received by Mr P Achou Singh, Minister (MAHUD), the Minister-in-waiting and Maj Gen Arvind Sharma, General Officer Commanding 57 Mountain Division and other civil and military dignitaries.

The Defence Minister met Mr W Nipamacha Singh, Chief Minister, Manipur. Thereafter, he called on the Governor of Manipur Mr Ved Marwah. He was briefed by Maj Gen Arvind Sharma on the prevalent situation in Manipur.

Gen S Padmanabhan, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) accompanied by Mrs Roopa Padmanabhan, President Central A WW A visited 3 Corps. This was the first visit of Army Chief to the North-East after assuming command.

The COAS and his wife were received by Lt Gen TS Shergill, GOC 3 Corps, Mrs Rindi Shergill and the local Formation commander.

The COAS, during a briefing by the GOC 3 Corps, reviewed the internal security situation and the operational preparedness of the formation. Mrs Padmanabhan, addressed the ladies of the garrison at the Manekshaw Auditorium. Mrs Padmanabhan interacted with the station ladies and enquired about AWWA activities.

The Army Chief accompanied by GOC 3 Corps and Mrs Padmanabhan also visited Kohima and Tuensang. At Kohima, Maj Gen RN Kapur briefed the COAS on the security environment in Nagaland. On arrival at Tuensang, the Army Chief was briefed by the local formation commander. Mrs Roopa Padmanabhan visited various AWWA facilities at Kohima and Tuensang and took stock of the welfare activities being undertaken by the formation.

‘The Queen of Battle’ celebrated the Infantry Day. The day commemorates the landing of the first Infantry soldier in Srinagar (J&K) during 1947 to stop the entry of Pakistani mercenaries into the Kashrnir Valley.

Lt Gen Gurpreet Singh, Director General of Assam Rifles and the seniormost Infantry officer at the station laid a wreath at the Assam Regimental Centre’s War Memorial and addressed the troops at a special sainik sammelan held on the occasion.

Later, a barakhana for the ex Infantry men and the serving were organised at 58 GTC and ARC. The celebration concluded with a social get-together of serving and retired officers, guests and other invitees.

The Army’s Artillery formation at Kokrajhar, to win the hearts and minds of the people of the region, organised an apprentice cadre to train the unemployed youth of Kokrajhar in repairing of vehicles, welding, metal smithy and lathe. It was inaugurated at Titaguri by Brig Sukdev Singh, Commander of the local formation engaged in counter- insurgency operations. The D C Kokrajhar district, Mr JI Kathar, was also present on the occasion. The cadre received a tremendous response from the people and over 700 candidates registered their names for the cadre.

Addressing the gathering, the commander of the local formation reiterated the Army’s commitment to lend a helping hand to all sections of society. The Commander re- emphasised the need to bring the youth of Assam to the mainstream which, he said, was possible only when the youth could see a better future.

The cadre included class-room training and practicals with more emphasis on ‘on-the job training’ .The classes for all the three disciplines were conducted simultaneously for one month. A huge Igloo shaped shelter was erected for this purpose.

The 306 Station Workshop of HQ 101 Area celebrated the 57th anniversary of the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (EME). The celebrations also marked the reunion of retired and serving personnel of the Corps settled in and around Meghalaya.

Maj Gen VK Dua, GOC 101 Area felicitated all ranks, civilians and their families on the occasion. The corps also extends assistance to the civilian population of the North-East at times of accidents and natural calamities.

A sainik sammelan was organised in which the seniormost EME Officer at the station Col GS Saini of HQ Recruiting Zone, Shillong addressed the gathering.

Brig Harwant Krishan, Commander 23 Sector, inaugurated computer training centre at Silchar. The courses offered by this centre is recognised by Lakhotia Computer Centre Infotech Limited, Calcutta which is also providing technical support.

The institute is run by No 2 Workshop, Assam Rifles under the guidance of 23 Sector. No 2 Workshop is supervising the conduct of the courses. With 20 computers installed, the centre has achieved 1 : 1 trainee to machine ratio where a batch of 20 students are taken at a time. The centre also has internet facility.

Initially, this centre offered diploma in computer application wherein four courses have already been conduct. In all, 220 students have qualified and they have been awarded diploma in computer application out of whom combatants and their dependants account for 172. The rest 48 are civilians.