Anuradha Raj (second from left) at Army School Sukna

Army School Sukna celebrated the silver jubilee of Army Welfare Education Society (AWES) on April 29. There were numerous competitions like rangoli, poster designing, flower arrangement, food festival, songs, dance, skits, and thumb and vegetable printing to celebrate the day.

The society, which was formed on this date 25 years ago, had at the time 20,000 students and 28 schools across India. Now, it has 120 schools and 13 colleges with a population of 1.5 lakh students.

Each year, the society opens five schools, increasing the number of students by nearly 7,000. All Army Schools or Army Public Schools, run by the AWES, are affiliated to CBSE and the medium of instruction is English.

Anuradha Raj, the president of the Army Welfare Education Organisation, Trishakti Corps, was the chief guest at the Sukna school. In her speech, she appreciated the exceptional effort put up by the school to win the trust of parents and students.

New campus

Army School Bengdubi has been renamed Army Public School Bengdubi. The school moved to a new building on a 30 acre campus on May 3. Lieutenant General Deepak Raj, sena medal, General Officer Commanding, Trishakti Corps, was the chief guest at the function.

The school, one of the seven such institutions under Trishakti Corps, has to its credit numerous laurels like AWES Academic Excellence Award for the second consecutive year.

With a state of the art infrastructure in the new building, the school management plans to help students realise their potential in terms of sports and other extracurricular activities.

Trekking

A trekking expedition with cycles and bikes was organised by the Kripan Division on April 24. The expedition taken out by one officer, one junior commissioned officer and 14 other army personnel was flagged off from Binnaguri Cantonment by Major General P.S. Bhalla, general officer commanding.

The trekking, spanning 21 days, began from the plains of Bengal and is scheduled to traverse the rugged mountains of Sikkim and the Himalayan ranges in North Sikkim.

Of the total distance of 800km, the participants will cover 125km on cycles, 35km on foot at an altitude of over 18,000ft and the rest on two-wheelers.

The team would visit many historical and tourist places like Lachen, Gurdongmar Lake, Lachung and Nathu-la on the India-China border.

The division hopes that besides exposing the rich cultural heritage of Sikkim, the expedition will provide an opportunity to strengthen ties with the local people living in the far-flung areas of the Himalayan state.

Shopping centre

The president of Army Wives’ Welfare Association (AWWA), Kalimpong, inaugurated Camellia Shopping Complex on May 1. The shopping complex has been designed to serve as an integrated hub to provide all basic amenities and items of daily need to the military personnel and families. The complex comprises a movie auditorium, cafeteria, canteen store, grocery shop, vegetable mart, an ATM counter of a bank (to be opened shortly), AWWA gift shop and a beauty parlour.