Punjab mountaineer feted with Tenzing Norgay adventure award

NEW DELHI: Country’s renowned mountaineer Harbhajan Singh was on Monday honoured with the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award by President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Harbhajan Singh, inspector general in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), is the 12th Himveer of the paramilitary force to be awarded the honour.

Hailing from Dholowal village of Hoshiarpur district in Punjab, Singh was born in 1956.

After joining the ITBP in 1980, he remained a national-level athlete and judo player and also won gold medal in judo national championship.

He participated in three successful Mt Everest expeditions of the ITBP. He also led 16 Indian and international-level expeditions and being a leader, he has climbed and unfurled the national flag on different mountain peaks, including Nanda Devi, Abi Gamin, Mana, Pyramid, Sphinx, Satopanth, Panchachuli II, Stok Kangri, Rimo Glacier and Kasket to become one of the accomplished mountaineers in the country.

Singh had earlier been awarded Padma Shri for his spectacular achievements in the field of mountaineering.

He had also been awarded with President's Police Medal for distinguished service and President's Police Medal for meritorious service.

The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) had earlier conferred upon him permanent membership for his remarkable contribution to adventure sports.