Colourful paragliders silhouetted skyline in Himachal Pradesh as the Army stole the show by getting top three places in first-ever inter-services paragliding competitions in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district Wednesday.
Naik Ashish Kumar of 14 Dogras secured the first position with 1,179 points, followed by Havildar Kupuswami of 9para and Naik Sunil Kumar of 14 Mechanised Infantry, who stood second and third respectively, Defence spokesperson Col Devender Anand said.
The closing ceremony of the First Inter-Services Paragliding Accuracy Competition was held here and Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, General Officer Commanding-In-Chief Northern Command, was the chief guest on the occasion.
Other dignitaries, Maj Gen AK Samantra, GOC Dah Division; Maj Gen Kulpreet Singh, IG BSF Jammu, Ram Avtar, Brig Sukhmeet Singh and SDM Baijnath , Vikas Shukla were also present on the occasion.
The event witnessed awe-inspiring wing control and accuracy skills put on display by the paragliding pilots from the Army, Air Force, Navy, BSF and Assam Rifles at Bir-Billing - touted as the world's second best paragliding site.
The competition, a first-of-its-kind, was conducted by the Dah Division under the aegis of Army Adventure Wing from 15 to 17 October 2018 and provided an excellent opportunity to the participating paragliding pilots to showcase their skills, Col Anand said.
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Overall conduct and arrangements were coordinated by Cassino Gunners on behalf of Dah Division, the Defence spokesperson said.
The competition culminated with an awards presentation ceremony by the Army Commander.
Lt Gen Singh congratulated the winners for their excellent show of paragliding skills and the Dah Division for the "stupendous conduct of such an event".
He appreciated the enthusiasm and healthy competitive spirit of all participants and expressed confidence that the services paragliding pilots would perform equally well in similar national and international events and bring laurels for their respective services.
Kalpana Singh Dhatt, Regional President AWWA, Northern Command gave away consolation prizes to the trainee student pilots.
The event also witnessed an equipment display as part of "Know Your Army" and guidance for recruitment into the armed forces alongside the competition that displayed the dynamic lifestyle of uniformed personnel and also motivated the youth to join the esteemed armed forces.