Around Town 3MONDAY4 SEPTEMBER 2017CHENNAI

NT BureauChennai, Sept 4:

A mini marathon was organised by Earth Smiles as part of its ReGreen

Chennai initiative at the YMCA campus in which close to 1,000 youth participated.A press release stated that apart

from the marathon, the participants also planted about 1000 saplings within the campus yesterday.People from all walks of life took

part in the fi ve km and 10 km mini marathon events.‘Wife of Spanish Consul, Vinolia

Lobo, honoured the winners. Consul General of America, Robert Burgess, was the chief guest of the tree plantation programme. Russian Consulate, Vice Consul, Yulia Antonova, was also present. Honorary Consul of France in Chennai, Raja M Kausalya Devi was among who planted tree saplings,’ the release added.Planting of over 2000 Palmyra

seeds along Adyar river banks was also initiated during the event.

Riding for riversNT Bureau

Chennai, Sept 4:A car rally in support of ‘Rally for

Rivers’ was fl agged off from Savera in the city yesterday by Lanka Lingam of Lanson Toyota and actor Rahaman. A press release said that 123 teams took part in the 47km rally through Chennai’s water bodies. ‘47 families with their children along

with 176 cars motored by mixed groups of corporates, women groups and college students took part in the rally,’ the release said. The release further said that the

participants were requested to answer a questionnaire about the water bodies and the associated environment creating an awareness about the water resources of the city.‘One of the tasks set for the

participants is to pick up tree saplings and handing them over to Nizhal at Kotturpuram Tree Park,’it added.

Mini marathon for green Chennai

S VISHNU SHARMAAChennai, Sept 4:

The Officers Training Academy (OTA) here is used to foreign cadets.

They come from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Papua New Guinea,

Uganda, etc. But this year was special as cadets from Tajikistan, a land-locked country in central Asia, took up training in the academy.A group of eight

cadets from Tajikistan has come to India and are getting trained at OTA

and will pass out on 9 September

along with regu la rs (Indians) and join t h e a r m y o f their

country, said a senior offi cer of the academy.Foreign candidates are recruited in

their native countries and then come here for training through mutual cooperation agreements signed with various foreign countries who are on friendly terms with India.The Government of India had

decided to admit foreign cadets in the military training academies based on these agreements, said the senior offi cer.Our academies become their

choice as the training provided here is world-class, the senior offi cer pointed out.Mamadeliev Morad, one of the Tajik

cadets, has already managed to make a few friends with the regular Indian cadets in the academy. News Today had an opportunity to talk to the cadet at OTA recently when mediapersons were taken on a tour of the academy.Fellow Indian cadet Prasanna

Kumar is my close friend, said Mamadeliev who comes from Pamir in Tajikistan. The Tajik cadet also managed to familiarise himself a bit with the city. ‘I have visited the famous Marina beach,’ he said. The cadet admitted that training here is tough and confessed that horse-

riding, a part of the training, was the thing he liked the most.He gave full credit to the instructors

at OTA. ‘They ensure that I understand the lessons well,’ he said.An instructor at the academy

informed that they have placed interpreters for the sake of foreign cadets. They would translate the

lessons, instructions and explain their significance to the foreign cadets in their languages.

THE TOUGH GET GOING

The tough physical training the cadets undergo at the academy to keep themselves fi t and battle-ready was a sight to behold at the OTA.Trainer (physical training instructor)

Hawaldar Manoj Yadav said cadets have to undergo two types of obstacle courses during their training at the academy.J u n i o r s u n d e r g o s t a n d a r d

obstacle courses, while seniors undergo assault obstacle courses which are a difficult to accomplish. Junior courses comprise normal jumping, climbing, and senior obstacles comprise jump over 9ft ditch, wall climbing with ropes, walking over a rope bridge and others.The idea behind making cadets

undergo these obstacle courses is to build toughness, make them fi t and battle-ready. If a candidate is unable to try them in his first attempt, we give them a chance to try again, practise

repeatedly, said the trainer. But the concept is that he has to learn doing them at any cost. ‘We will not give up until they learn the exercises,’ said Manoj.After a bit of practice, any cadet

is bound to become adept in handl ing these obstacles, he said, but also cautioned that if a cadet fails in senior level obstacles it is bad news for him: he will be made to undergo junior obstacle course again before he comes back to senior obstacle course.I t i s tough fo r cand ida tes .

Sometimes, soon after strong fi ring practice session they may be sent for this obstacle training; or cadets may go for firing practice after undergoing a gruelling obstacle course.Manoj says, ‘Some, unable to keep

up with the training, also faint, though we help them return to normalcy. We remind them that undergoing this tough training is in their own interest for it makes them a real good soldier.’

SANTHOSH MATHEVANChennai, Sept 4:

A group of people has joined hands for a signature campaign at Velacheri recently. It was dedicated to Blumen Rajan Sathya, a 28-year-old athlete, battling cancer. The campaign was done to create awareness about cancer. Actors Aaree, Spurthi Praveen,

Aravind and director Balaji Mohan were among those who participated. A resident of Blumen

went to Don Bosco School and later g radua ted f rom Loyola College. He earned his masters in Social Work from Madras Chr is t ian College and started his corporate life with Sutherland Global Services as an HR business partner.A decade ago, Blumen was a

shining star in all track events. He won medals at several State level meets and came second in the 400m hurdles in all-India University meet. But in December 2014, he was

diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), a type of blood cancer. The Tata Medical Center of

Kolkata would arrange a donor and treat Blumen. ‘The t rea tmen t wou ld cos t

around Rs 40 lakh and his family exhausted their lifetime savings on his medication and treatment. We want Blumen to be back in the track of life,’ said Vedha, an organiser of the event.Pinky, Blumen’s s is ter , and

friends have come up with a campaign to raise funds

for his treatment and spread awareness to the people who think cancer cannot be treated. P e o p l e f r o m

different walks of life: Cine artistes,

musicians, sportsmen, activists, teachers and

students came to support this initiative. Actors Dulquer Salman and Vikram Prabhu

have tweeted to support his cause. ‘Singer Shakthisree Gopalan and

actor Aari joined us in this events. Your support is our st rength and assurance to Blumen’s life’, added Vedha. To support the athlete, one can reach out to 8754401566 or vnandaram86@gmail.com.

For fi rst time, OTA trains cadets from Tajikistan

� Academy’s passing out parade to be held 9 September

TWICE AS BRAVE

Another remarkable thing about this year’s passing out parade at the Offi cers Training Academy will be the veer naris (brave women, wives of service personnel who died in action). Though they have lost their husbands, the women return to fi nd a place in the Army to fi ght for the same cause.This time, two veer naris will be

passing out from the academy after a gap of 5-6 years, said an offi cial at the OTA.Swati Mahadik, wife of Col

Santosh Mahadik who died in action in the Kupwara area (Kashmir), and Nithi Misra, wife of a soldier (Naik) who died due to illness, will be wearing the stars and joining the legacy of brave personnel serving this nation braving all odds.Though they decided to join

the Army being inspired by their husbands, their selection was done on merit, says the offi cial.

Battling it out� Celebrities come to the aide of State-level

athlete to overcome cancer

‘The idea behind making cadets undergo obstacle courses

is to build toughness, make

them fi t and battle-ready’

Yoga courseNT Bureau

Chennai, Sept 4:A r i v u t h i r u k o i l A n n a N a g a r

Manavalakkalai Manram Trust will be conducting their Manavalakkalai course from 4 to 9 September formulated by Yogiraj Vethathiri Maharishi. The trust is located at No. 2863, Y Block, 3rd Street, 12th Main Road, near Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar. For details, contact 9445236242 / 9382893297 / 044 26261092.

Mamadeliev Morad Hawaldar Manoj Yadav

Cadets going through obstacle course for developing physical fi tness and becoming battle-ready. Photos: C SANTHOSH

Rajan Sathya