Major Hari Pal Singh Ahluwalia was an Indian mountaineer, author, social worker and Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) officer. During his career he made contributions in the fields of adventure, sports, environment, disability and social work. He is one of six Indian men and the twenty first man in the world to climb Mount Everest. On 29 May 1965, 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest, he made the summit with the fourth and final successful attempt of the 1965 Indian Everest Expedition along with H. C. S. Rawat and Phu Dorjee Sherpa. This was the first time three climbers stood on the summit together.
H. P. S. Ahluwalia
Major Ahluwalia (center) in his Army days
Indian Spinal Injuries Centre
Ahluwalia with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam
Indian Ordnance Factories Service
The Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) is a civil service of the Government of India. IOFS officers are Gazetted defence-civilian officers under the Ministry of Defence. They are responsible for the administration of the Indian Ordnance Factories, which provide the indigenous defence production capabilities of India.
Minister of State for Defence of India, M M Pallam Raju, with the Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) probationers at NADP Nagpur
IOFS probationers calling on the Union Minister for Defence, Shri Manohar Parrikar
Defence Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, with the IOFS probationers at South Block
IOFS probationary officers of the 2008 batch, with the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, at Rashtrapati Bhavan