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The Union Minister of Tourism and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja today felicitated the two young mountaineers Arjun Vajpai and Mamta Sodha who have recently scaled Mount Everest and made India proud.
Speaking on the occasion in New Delhi the Minister said, these two young people have demonstrated that nothing is impossible to achieve in life and have done us proud with their achievement of summiting the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest. She said that Arjun and Mamta’s achievements are commendable.
While laying the foundation stone of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, the minister said, “Mountaineering trains men, not only to climb Himalayan peaks, but also instills in them the desired confidence to climb peaks of Human Endeavour”.
She said that her Ministry has been actively promoting development of Adventure Tourism in the country. The Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering at Gulmarg has been made fully operational in January 2009. This Institute now has its own building and is equipped with modern training facilities for adventure sports. Various adventure courses have been started and are being successfully run. She said that the National Institute of Water Sports in Goa is being upgraded with latest equipment for training in water sports activities.
Kumari Selja said that her Ministry is working with the Indian Mountaineering Federation and ATOAI to position India as an Adventure Destination. She further added that “Recently with the efforts of my Ministry, Government of India has given security clearance for opening of 104 additional peaks in Jammu and Kashmir (Leh Area) to tourists subject to stipulations and clearances from State Govt, Ministry of Home Affairs and other concerned agencies. The opening of the additional peaks will help in positioning the Indian Himalayas as an Adventure tourism destination,” she added.