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Avtar Singh Cheema (1933–1989) was the first Indian born man and the 16th person in world to climb Mount Everest.[1] Along with 8 others he was a part of the third mission undertaken by the Indian Army, in 1965, to climb Mount Everest after two failed attempts. The Indian Everest Expedition 1965 put 9 mountaineers on the summit on 20 May, a record which was unbroken until the 1978 German-French Expedition 13 years later.[2](p477), and was led by Captain M S Kohli. Cheema's fellow summiters were Nawang Gombu, Sonam Gyatso, Sonam Wangyal, Chandra Prakash Vohra, Ang Kami, H. P. S. Ahluwalia, Harish Chandra Singh Rawat and Phu Dorjee.[3][4][5][6][7][8] He was a captain in the 7th Battalion, The Parachute regiment at that time. Later he was promoted to colonel and commanded his battalion.[9] He is also founder of Guru Harkrishan Public School in Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan.[citation needed]
He was awarded the Arjuna award[10] and Padma Shri[11] for his achievements.
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