Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Sree Chithira Award

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor said here on Sunday that apart from the armed forces and the government, every citizen in the country should be conscious and responsible for national security to effectively combat the threats of terrorism and prevent Mumbai model attacks.

He was answering to a query on the steps taken by the defence forces to stop Mumbai model attacks at an interaction with school students organised on the sidelines of the Sree Chithira Thirunal National Award ’09 function.

``All of us, you, me, everyone sitting here, have to be responsible for national security and that is the most effective manner of combating any threat or a repeat of a Mumbai like incident,” he said.

General Kapoor said that the Government of India and the defence forces had taken a number of steps to prevent such attacks in the future including the setting up of a centralised multi- agency centre to collect and analyse intelligence, constitution of special forces like National Security Guard in the Indian Army and establishment of regional security hubs in various parts of the country.

Saying that Keralites make excellent soldiers, General Kapoor added that Kerala has a very good chance to get another Sainik School in the state. ``This is a suggestion I intend to take up with the Defence Minister. If the Kerala government shows interest, we may have one more Sainik school coming up in Kerala,” he said.

General Kapoor said that Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was his role model in his career.

Students from Sree Chithira Thirunal Residential Central School (SCTRCS) and Sree Chithra Public School interacted with the Chief of Army staff at the programme. He said that the Armed Forces found a special significance in associating with the Travancore Royal Family as the Travancore State Force, formed during the reign of Sree Chithira Thirunal, was later merged with the Madras regiment of Indian Army.

Earlier, General Deepak Kapoor presented the Sree Chithira Thirunal Award ’09 to actor Mohanlal at the function. The award, instituted by Sree Chithira Thirunal (SCT) Trust, carries a purse of Rs 1 lakh and a citation plaque. Receiving the award, Mr Mohanlal said that he was humbled and honoured to receive the award.

``My heart overflows with pride and happiness on receiving this award which carries the legacy of a great Maharaja,” he said.

Mr Mohanlal, who was recently conferred the rank of honorary Lieutenant Colonel by the Indian Territorial Army, added that being bestowed with the title has been a major milestone of his life.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Vijayakumar, present head of the erstwhile Travancore royal family Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, Mrs Kirti Kapoor, Ombudsman for Local Self Government Institutions M.R. Hariharan Nair, University of Kerala vice chancellor A. Jayakrishnan, SCT Trust chairman T. Ravindran Thampi, principal secretary and judging committee chairman T. Balakrishnan, SCTRCS principal S. Pushpavally and managing trustee T. Satheesh Kumar were also present at the function.

EOM

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Sree Chithira Award

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