The annual conference of Chief Engineers of Border Roads Organistion was organised recently. While inaugurating the conference, the Defence Minister, Mr George Femandes said that "lack of adequate road facilities put us in difficult position in Kargil". Mr Femandes said that vast stretches of frontier borders are yet to be reinforced but at the same time absence of infrastructure should not infringe the security. He stressed the need to work faster in the coming months. The Defence Minister also stressed the need to alleviate the problems of the BRO personnel working in difficult terrains. While addressing the conference, Defence Secretary, Mr Yogendra Narain mentioned that the government is ready to provide extra money to the organisation, if needed. He said that an additional 60 crore rupees have been allocated during the current financial year.

Earlier, talking to media persons, Lt Gen Puri said that the BRO has now graduated in other high-tech areas like air field, bridges, major building works, and in civil engineering support to hydroelectric projects and tunnels. He further said the BRO has to its credit 28,342 kms of formation cutting, 32,885 kms of surfacing and 15,131 of pmt bridges etc. The current year achievements include opening of both road axes to Ladakh ahead of schedule, construction of 160 kids of quality road connecting Tamu- Kalemyo-Kalewa in difficult terrains of Northern Myanmar and completion of air field in Goa, he added.

Lt Gen Puri also added that the feasibility study of widening of Pathankot-Srinagar highway, the life line of Kashmir valley and the construction of NH -150 (Assam) from Kohima to Yaingangpokhi, NH-151 (Assam) from Karimkanj to Sutarkandi, NH 44A (Tripura) from Simkung to Manu and NH-202 (MP) from Tarlangnda to Bhopalpattinam are some of the prestigious assisgnments that are being undertaken by the organisation.

The lamp lighting ceremony of the probationary nurses of the 35th batch of the School of Nursing, Command Hospital, Chandimandir was held recently. The ceremony began with an invocation song sung by the probationary nurses of the 34th batch.

In his address, the Deputy Director, Medical Services in the Western Command, Maj Gen SC Sharma congratulated the young students for choosing the noblest of the noble professions as their career. Welcoming the guests, Maj Gen Pratab Dayal, Commandant, Command Hospital called upon the young nursing students to dedicate themselves to the profession.

The course report was presented by Lt Col (Mrs) KK Sharma, Principal Tutor of the School of Nursing. The Deputy Director Military Nursing Service, Brig VG Taggarsi lighted the lamp and it was passed on to the lamps of the students by Maj Asha Sharma and Capt Kabita Jana. The Florence Nightingale pledge was administered by Lt Col D Daulat, Deputy Principal Tutor to the newly inducted students.

The Principal Matron, Col (Mrs) K Thomas proposed a vote of thanks and the ceremony ended with the students singing the nurses song.

The Western Command Territorial Army Banner was presented to 105 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Rajputana Rifles at the Command Headquarters in Chandimandir Cantonment.

Presenting the banner, the GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt Gen Surjit Singh lauded the performance of the Unit and exhorted its officers to continue their efforts to achieve higher goals.

The banner was received by Lt Sanjay Dabas on behalf of the Battalion. The Commander,

Territorial Army Group Headquarters, Western Command, Brig Rakesh Mehta and officiating Commanding Officer of the Battalion, Lt Col Anuj Thapliyal were also present on the occasion.

-DS Rawat
from Chandigarh

The Corps of Military Intelligence celebrated its 58th anniversary at the Western Command headquarters in Chandimandir Cantonment.

To mark the occasion, a get- together was organised which was attended by the GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt Gen Surjit Singh and other senior officers. A barakhana was also held for the serving and retired officers of the Intelligence Corps. Greeting all ranks of the Corps on the occasion, officiating BGS (Int) Western Command, Col Jaspaul Singh lauded the performance of the personnel.

Raised on November I, 1942 as part of the British Indian Army, the Military Intelligence Corps has come a long way from its modest beginning. Over the last five decades, it has grown into an elite force consisting of operationally efficient and professionally competent members of the intelligence fraternity who not only act as eyes and ears for the Army but also provide valuable help for effective and timely command decisions.

"There is a considerable enthusiasm and excitement amongst the NCC cadets in terms of participation in all its activities", said the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes while addressing the 14th Joint State Representatives and DDsG NCC Conference in New Delhi. He said that the number of NCC cadets are to be increased to a hundred thousands with a thrust to make NCC obligatory amongst the youth. The financial implications are being worked out, he added.

Several important decisions were also taken at the conference. The messing allowance for cadets, associated NCC officers participating in Republic Day parade camps from 2001 onwards would be increased from Rs 32 to Rs 70.80. The additional expenditure was to be borne by the centre. It was decided at the conference that a committee would look into the fulfilment of obligation of expenditure sharing for

NCC by the state government and union territories. The committee will submit its report by December 31, this year. The state representatives pointed out that the funding from states posed a hindrance in smooth functioning of the NCC, as allocation of funds was time consuming. Representatives from Bihar, Meghalaya, Gujarat, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh stressed the need for total funding by the centre.

It was also agreed upon to give incentives to NCC certificate holders by giving preference in educational institutions and state government jobs. Lt Gen AS Rao, Director General, NCC, said that NCC cadets would be used in elections, adult education, cyclone relief and tree plantation in future. He also said that NCC is contemplating to form a mixed battalion of boys and girls to reduce costs. The proposal to revise the present rate of messing for senior wing girl cadets during hospital attachment from Rs 25 to Rs 50 per day was also approved.

The conference was also attended by the Defence Secretary, Mr Yogendra Narain and other senior officers of the Ministry of Defence and NCC.

Brig YR Maindiratta, Commander 475 Engineer Brigade inaugurated a multi-purpose facility centre recently. The Commander dedicated the facility centre to all the ranks of Brigade with formal ribbon cutting ceremony by Mrs Maindiratta.

Brig YR Maindiratta in his inaugural speech, expressed his gratitude for the hard work and dedication of the Sappers. The facility centre is equipped with a self-service CSD, the only one of its kind in the station, AWWA shop, a restaurant and many other outlets of essential commodities such as fruit and vegetable shop. A library and a TV room will be added to this facility centre in future. The facility centre purchases items of daily need directly from producers and sells them on a very low profit with quality as the top priority.

Mr Chandrasekharan Nair, Principal Secretary, Higher Education inaugurated the NCC Seminar-2000 organised by the NCC Directorate, Kerala and Lakshadweep. In his inaugural address, he spelt out the government’s resolve to provide all resources for making the NCC popular with the student community. "Our country has been experiencing revolutionary changes in all fields of human activity and for any change to take an effective shape, discipline is of utmost importance. This is where the entire nation is indebted to the NCC for inculcation of discipline, loyalty and devotion to duty amongst our youth," he added. Brig K Mahadevan, Deputy Director General, NCC in his opening address welcomed the participants. The DDG placed on record the incentives provided by the state government to the NCC cadets both in fields of education and employment. Outlining the aims of the seminar, the DDG called for a collective effort to evolve new methods to modernise and popularise the NCC amongst the youth in the state.

During the seminar, the speakers dwelt upon the requirements of NCC in the new millennium and methods for its effective performance.

One Radio Monitoring Company, Calcutta hosted Eastern Command Radio Communication Security Committee Conference (ECRCSC) at AOI, Fort William, Calcutta. Maj Gen Davinder Kumar chaired the conference. A galaxy of delegates who were heads of communication in their respective departments in eastern theatre attended the conference.

Lt Gen SK lain took over as the Director General of Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers at Army Headquarters. Commissioned in the Corps of EME in 1962, the General Officer is a graduate from Military College of EME, Secunderabad and was awarded gold medal for standing first in the order of merit. He is a postgraduate from Institute of Engineers, Computer Society of India and Indian Institute of Plant Engineers. He has also attended one year course at the United States Army Training Institute, Denver in addition to attending the prestigious Long Defence Management Course at National Defence College.

Lt Gen SK lain has vast and rich command staff and instructional experience and has held various key appointments.

The Territorial Army Day was celebrated by the 111 Infantry Battalion (TA) Kumaon at Allahabad. The "Terriers" as they are fondly called invited all the serving and retired personnel of the battalion. Col Jarnshed Hussain, the Commanding Officer, addressed a special Sainik Sammelan on the occasion. A colourful entertainment programme and a barakhana were organised, where all officers and men with their families attended. The III Infantry Battalion Territorial Army at Allahabad recruits residents of Uttar Pradesh State only. The Territorial Army has provision for direct commission of officers and JCOs as well. All the infantry battalions have been affiliated to various regiments of the regular Anny.

The 59th raising day of 629 ASC Transport Company, popularly known as Unit so Fine Six Two Nine was celebrated recently.

Raised in the year 1941 at Rawalpindi now in Pakistan, this unit in its early days participated in World War at Singapore and Burma and then returned to Jammu and Kashmir. In 1965, it came to Delhi after being at number of places like Pathankot and Chandigarh.

This Company has the distinction of meeting the transport requirement of the school children of Army personnel in Delhi. More than fifty buses are provided for this task.

The Officer Commanding of this unit is the Officer in-charge of the Republic Day transport camp. A special Sainik Sammelan, Pagal Gymkhana sports for children and ladies and barakhana marked the raising day celebrations.

The community development programme is one of the five major activities of the NCC. The NCC cadets of 2 HP Battalion (NCC) undertook community development projects during their combined annual training camp in remote areas of Mandi district. Over 600 cadets, both senior and junior divisions of NCC took part in this programme. Young cadets improved the school building of the Primary School located at village Kuklah, a remote village off Pandoh in Mandi district. They also levelled the school playground. The school has only one class room. Widening of the ground enabled a large number of classes to be held in the ground. The cadets also strengthened the embankment of the nearby Khuds. Cadets formed queues and collected stones for the embankment. The cadets later organised an anti-polythene drive at Bhakra Beas Management Board Colony Complex. They retrieved polythene bags lying in the area and later destroyed them.

It was a defining moment in the lives of 279 men and 64 women as they passed out as commissioned officers of the Indian Army after completing the training at the Officer’s Training Academy, Chennai. Lt Gen HB Kala, GOC-in- C, Army Training Command, reviewed the passing-out-parade and presented awards to the meritorious cadets.

Academy Under Officer Abhishek Singh received the Sword of Honour for being the best all round cadet. The gold medal was also awarded to Abhishek Singh for standing first in order of merit. The silver medal was won by Battalion Cadet, Adjutant NS Bhati for standing second in order of merit. Among the Technical Course, Cadet Company Sergeant Maj R Negi received the silver medal for standing first in order of merit. Among the lady cadets, Senior Under Officer Rupinder Kaur won the gold medal for standing first in order of merit and the silver medal was won by lady cadet BK Chiranjay. The Chief of Army Staff’s Banner for the best all round company was won by Phillora , Company.

The OTA has so far produced over 19000 officers, since it was established in January, 1963. Moreover, this is the only institution which trains women officers for the Army.

Maj Gen DP Singh, GOC, Red Eagle Division inaugurated Khushi Ram Dwar in the premises of the l6th Kumaon, somewhere in the Central Sector.

The Dwar has been named after Nb Sub Khushi Ram, who was serving with l6th Kumaon in Srilanka where he laid down his life fighting against the militants on January 25, 1988. His sacrifice for the nation has brought laurels to his battalion, 16th Kumaon. He was also the recipient of Vir Chakra.

One hundred and two Medium Regiment celebrated its raising day recently. The celebrations began with a pagal gymkhana and culminated with a Regimental barakhana wherein the Subedar Major played the host.

Col Kailash Dutt, CO of the Regiment addressed a special Sainik Sammelan and presented the championship banner. 102 Medium Regiment was raised on July 1,1979 at Secunderabad by Lt Col Yashwant Pagay. The regiment has mixed class composition. 102 Medium Regiment has been awarded GOC- in-C Northern Command Unit Appreciation, three Chief of Army Staff Commendation Cards and seven Army Commanders’ Commendation Badges.

The children’s day was celebrated by all the five schools being run by the Lucknow Cantonment Board at the Cantonment Board High School in Topkhana Bazar.

Children of the Cantonment Board RA Bazar High School, BC Bazar Junior High School, Chhoti Lal Kurti Primary School and Mangla Devi Primary School participated in the celebrations.

The chief guest on the occasion, Brig Virpal Singh, Commander Lucknow Sub Area, addressed the gathering. Brig Virpal Singh also planted a sapling in the school premises. A science exhibition and an exhibition of handicraft items prepared by the school children were put up on the occasion. The children of these schools also put up a cultural programme.

The Defence Laboratory, Jodhpur (DL]) celebrated Hindi Month recently. Dr Ram Gopal, Director, DL] said that a week long Hindi workshop, Hindi essay competition, group discussion, release of Hindi journal of DL] were the major events during Hindi Month.

A special function was held to release the Hindi journal Marutarang of DLJ. The special issue of Marutarang was released by Scientific Advisor to Defence Ministry of India, Dr VK Atre.