From boys to men

The Garhwal Regiment, raised in 1887, is 125 years old. Mayank Singh records his impressions as he watches a new batch of 150 recruits take oath to further the glorious tradition of valour of the regiment headquartered in the cantonment town of lansdowne

For 19-year-old Surendra Singh, this day is very special. The Garhwal Regiment recruit is one of 150 boys who are all set to join military duty. Not only that, he is, sword in hand, also leading the contingent of young soldiers as it marches to the rhythm of rousing martial music.

Alone on a wide, wide sea

Lieutenant Commander (Lt Cdr) Abhilash Tomy is ready to make history. This naval pilot is going to attempt circumnavigating the globe on a 56-feet long boat, Alone and non-stop, becoming the first Indian and only the eighteenth ever to do so. In this journey of 22,000 nautical miles (40000 kms), he intends to drop anchor not even once…

The number of people who have been to space is approximately 400 and around 5000 have stood on Mt Everest, but till date, only 181 people have circumnavigated the earth of who less than 80 have done it non-stop. Lieutenant Commander Abhilash Tomy is to set about one such extraordinary trip, one even more exclusive as he is an amateur with only 17 accomplished amateurs having tried anything similar before him. Abhilash was lucky to have cut his teeth on sailing with the only Indian solo circumnavigator, Commander Dilip Donde whilst part of the preparation team of Sagar Parikrama. This will be Sagar Parikrama 2, scheduled for November 1 and to finish sometime in April.

A build-up for the future

William H. Avery

Amaryllis
Edition: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-93-81506-07-3
Pages: 244
Price: Rs.595/-

Of late, many writers have delved into the strained Sino-Indian relations. The discourse has mostly dealt with the possible scenarios where the competition between the two developing nations boil over to a point that it leads to bitter and open rivalry. Some even went on to predict future wars, making onewonder if these prognostications of an India-China face-off were grounded in reality or it was a Western ploy to get the neighbours fighting and further their (Western nations’) own ends in the ensuing arms race.

At first sight, William H Avery’s book seems to pick up this oft repeated thread and the first few chapters seem to insinuate the same. However, with successive pages the book explores the various elements of the country and how these factors may come together in making India not only China’s rival but a strong international power

Overseas Talk "India is the single-most important defence partner for US"

William H. Avery, who served in the US diplomatic service as an Economic Officer, is a master at trade development and commercial advocacy, and is a three-time recipient of the US State Department's Meritorious Honour Award. A prolific writer on international affairs, Avery tells Mayank Singh how India needs to start thinking beyond just Pakistan and China and take interest in building a strong military base in the Asian region. India has the potential, he says!

B&E: Asia is constantly represented on the international fora and its position is factored-in by different countries in their policy making. Your assessment?
William H. Avery (WAH): All the action is in this part of the World. We are seeing a shift of economic activity, which will be followed by military activity and military strength from the trans-Atlantic to the Pacific region, including China and India and all the regions that fall in-between. With regard to the subcontinent, principally, India and China are the places that are going to be significant. US also because it is a continent with 300 million people. So I think a new structure is emerging where there are three potential centres of power – US, India and China.