Brig. Arun Sahani inaugurates the transit camp at Mariani. Picture by Monalisa Air Force officials at the conference

Weary army personnel desperate for a taste of home after a tough assignment can hope to rejuvenate their spirits at the Mariani transit camp near Jorhat, along the Assam-Nagaland border.

Touted as the best under the Eastern Command, the Double Six transit camp has been set up by the 66th Field Regiment.

“A feel-good atmosphere is a must for the men in olive to relax. In fact, that will enhance their performance,” Brig. A.K. Sahni, commander of the Meesa-based artillery brigade, said while inaugurating the camp on Wednesday.

The new facility can accommodate 100 jawans and boasts of proper bathrooms, cable TV, a furnished dining hall and reading material.

“The best part of the set-up is that it is located adjacent to the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary. Jawans will be happy to spend time amid natural beauty that has been nurtured so well,” the commanding officer of the Mariani camp, Col Narendra Babu, said.

Col Babu said the camp was set up in Mariani as the site is located between the army’s Four Corps headquarters in Tezpur and the divisional headquarters in Dinjan.

“Army personnel are always on the move through this route and night halts are a must. The Mariani camp is, therefore, very conveniently located,” the official explained.

Apart from army personnel attached to the Tezpur and Dinjan bases, jawans deployed in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland will be able to avail of the benefits of this camp.

Soldiers previously had to spend nights in camps without proper sanitary facilities.

“It was difficult for the jawans to carry their beddings from one place to another just for a few nights. Now they can relax, for they have a home where they are always welcome,” Babu said.

Flagged off from the Paranjpe hockey ground at the Assam Regimental Centre base in Shillong, the First Rhinos Cycling-cum-Trekking Homage Expedition team reached Tezpur recently. The team members interacted with Brig. Rameshwar Roy of the Gajraj Corps and other senior officers. Col. D. Nagaraj was present, too.

The homage expedition of the 1st battalion of the Assam Regiment is led by Lt Col Daljeet S. Ahlawat. The team comprises an officer, two junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and 18 other personnel of different ranks. The expeditioners will commemorate the Assam Regiment’s Battle Honours Day at Jessami on March 28. This is the day of remembrance for Veteran North Warriors of the unit, who won the pre-1947 Battle of Jessami against Japanese forces.

The unit has the unique distinction of having won six battle honours and a theatre award during the Second World War, within just three years and nine months of its inception.

The expeditioners will cover a distance of 422 km on cycles and 141 km on foot. En route, the team members will meet ex-servicemen.

As part of the development and motivational programmes undertaken by the army under Operation Sadbhavna, a national integration tour was organised by the second battalion of the 5th Gurkha Regiment under the aegis of the 77 Mountain Brigade and the Red Horns Division.

A group of 23 schoolchildren and three teachers from remote areas of Morigaon and Udalguri districts of Assam were taken to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

Brig. Manohar Singh, Commander of the 77 Mountain Brigade, flagged off the tour from the District Library grounds in Morigaon recently. Volunteers and students of different schools presented a colourful entertainment programme.

The dignitaries who attended the ceremony included the Morigaon superintendent of police and the additional deputy commissioner.

The response to the tour was an overwhelming one. The students were given an opportunity to interact with people from different states and experience at first hand the cultural diversity of the country.

The tour, christened the Red Horns National Integration Tour, showcased the nation’s “unity in diversity”.

The students and teachers visited various places of historical and tourist interest, including Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Science Museum and Appu Ghar in New Delhi, Taj Mahal in Agra, and the Ajmer and Nalgarh forts, Jai Singh Palace and Hawa Mahal in Jaipur.

The tour entailed both rail and road journeys. All expenses were borne by the army. The intention to present a human face of the army could not have been better achieved.

Local residents, in fact, not only lauded the efforts of the army but called for more such tours to be planned for other students.

MEDEAST 2006, a two-day medical education programme, was inaugurated by Air Marshal F.H. Major, commander-in-chief of the Eastern Air Command, at the Air Force Hospital in Jorhat on Saturday.

He emphasised the need to hold such conferences to keep abreast of the latest developments taking place in the fast-evolving world of medical science.

He hoped that the programme would work out pragmatic and innovative solutions to the problems of the Northeast.

Air Commander P.J. Vincent, commanding officer of the Jorhat Air Force hospital, welcomed the guests and delegates.

Air Commander M.K. Mishra released a colourful 100-page souvenir.

The inaugural function included a talk on biotechnology by Dr Unni from the Regional Research Laboratory, Jorhat.

Several eminent speakers debated on the current medical issues at the conference.