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INDIAN ARMY CELEBRATES 72nd TERRITORIAL ARMY DAY ON 09 OCT 2021

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The Territorial Army celebrated its 72nd Raising Day on 09 Oct 2021. On the solemn occasion, Director General Territorial Army, Lt Gen Preet Mohindera Singh paid tributes to the fallen brave hearts by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial. A number of commemorative events were held across the country to mark the occasion.

The Territorial Army in its current form came into being when the Territorial Army Act was enacted on Aug 18, 1948. Initially, the Territorial Army consisted of Infantry, Armoured Corps, Air Defence Artillery, Signals, Supply and other departmental units. It was formally raised by the first Governor General Shri C Rajagopalachari on 09 Oct 1949, which has since been celebrated as Territorial Army Day.

The Territorial Army has a number of units affiliated to various regiments of the Indian Army, apart from Home and Hearth battalions based on the concept of Sons of Soil. Engineer TA Battalions are deployed for maintenance of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The Territorial Army also has 10 Ecological TA Battalions which are responsible for restoration of ecological environment of the country carrying out plantation in rugged and inhospitable terrain, reviving wetlands, restoring water bodies and undertaking water conservation measure by building check dams. Apart from this, some TA Battalions also perform specialist tasks at the Indian Railways, Indian Oil Corporations and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

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COVER STORYMILITARY

NIMAS multidimensional adventure sports expedition to Europe

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Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt flagged off upcoming National Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports (NIMAS) multidimensional adventure sports expedition to Europe, in New Delhi on October 27, 2021. The NIMAS will be conducting this expedition in the general area Chamonix, France in November 2021, which is considered the adventure capital of Europe. Expedition will be led by NIMAS Director Col Sarfraz Singh.

The expedition, in line with the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav theme of the Government, aims to commemorate 75 years of Independence with an overall aim to promote adventure sports in the country by conducting India’s first multidimensional adventure sports expedition in the fields of land, aero and aqua. It has also been stated that such an expedition will be a milestone in the history of NIMAS as it will showcase the dynamic skills and adventure expertise of the Institute in all the three fields.

The locations of expedition are (i) Alps Mountains; (ii) Chamonix; (iii) Normandy and (iv) English Channel. The multidimensional activities planned during the expedition are as under:
(i) To climb Europe’s the highest mountaineering peak of Alps Ranges, Mt Blanc
(ii) Multiple paragliding launches near the valley floor of Alps;
(iii) Mountain terrain biking from Alps Mountains to English Channel, to cover approximately 1,000 kilometres
(iv) Scuba diving upto 40 metre depth in the English Channel by scuba instructors
(v) Parajumping from 10,000 to 15,000 feet at the famous Normandy Landing Zones of World War II.

There will be hoisting/unfurling/displaying of Tricolour during in all these activities, whether air, land or under water.

In the year 2003, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made an announcement that a national level mountaineering institute should be established in the North East. In pursuance of this announcement, National Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports (NIMAS) was established at Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh in 2013. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh is its President and Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh the Vice President. It is the only Institute in the country, which is mandated to conduct training in adventure courses in all three fields i.e., land, aero and aqua.

During the last five years, the Institute conducted various expeditions including Mt Everest Expedition, Mt Trishul, Mt Kun, Mt Gorichen, Mt Kangto-6 and to various other mountain peaks. It has also conducted rafting expeditions to seven major rivers of Arunachal Pradesh. In 2019-20, the NIMAS cycling team undertook cycling expedition to four South East Asian countries, i.e., Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

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