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The Indian Army on Wednesday joined hands with the National Geographic channel in offering the youth an opportunity to scale Mount Everest.
"Everest to us is about daring to dream and on the 50th year of the first Everest climb, we bring the dream of Everest to all our countrymen," Director General of Military Training Major General Vasudeva said in New Delhi.
The contest, titled 'Everest Se Takkar' [confronting the Everest], will mark the golden jubilee of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who were the first men to conquer the world's highest peak.
Two hundred youngsters will be selected from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore. Out of them 20 will be short-listed for the final round.
The army will train the 20 at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarakashi.
Five of the 20 will then accompany the joint Indo-Nepal Army Everest Expedition scheduled in May, which will also attempt the 8,516 metre Mount Lhotse, till now unconquered by Indians.
The National Geographic Channel, which will cover the event right from selection process onwards, hopes to reach out to the youth through this contest. The army expects, on its part, hopes to attract fresh talent by projecting its image as an adventure-loving force.
NGC, which entered the Indian market in 1998, looks at increasing its advertising revenues by 50 per cent through the six-month marketing event, Managing Director for India, Zubin Gandeiva, said.