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Strengthening ties
Honoured Indian Spinal Injuries Centre founder H.P.S. Ahluwalia
With many a medal to display, HPS Ahluwalia laughingly says this when you congratulate him for the recent Order of the Star of the Italian Solidarity award: “My people in the office now complain of lack of space to keep awards.” Ahluwalia
, a Padma Bhushan, a Padma Shri and an Arjuna Award winner, is a well-known activist in the disability sector, better known as the founder of Indian Spinal Injuries Centre in New Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area.
A recognition
This former Army Major, now on a wheelchair after being wounded in the 1965 Indo-Pak war by enemy gunshots in his spine, has been recently conferred this prestigious award along with H.S. Chhabra, a well-known spine surgeon at the Centre, by the Italian Deputy Prime Minister Massimo D’alemo in New Delhi.
“Our Centre has been set up in 1997 in collaboration with the Italian Government. This award is in recognition of the good work the Centre is doing in the field of research, various treatments, etc.,” says Ahluwalia.
The Italian Solidarity award is given to Italian and foreign nationals who have distinguished themselves through their activities and have thereby contributed to strengthening the relations between the two countries. Under the recent collaboration, the basic research and stem cell research facility is being set up in collaboration with Milan-based Hospital San Raffaele.
Wall climbing team
Besides being involved with the Centre, Ahluwalia, an avid mountaineer who despite his immobility, had led a Silk Route expedition, is also the former president of Indian Mountaineering Foundation.
Still involved with IMF, Ahluwalia quite excitedly talks about India’s recent representation in the wall climbing sport in the second Asian Indoor Games held in Macau end October.
“It is a six member team comprising three girls and three boys. This is the first Indian team for a new game like wall climbing,” he says.
A writer of over 15 books, Ahluwalia is coming out with yet another book with Central Asia as its genesis.
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