President, PM condole passing away of Edmund Hillary
Saturday 12 January 2008

New Delhi, Jan 11 (ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh have condoled the passing away of the Mount Everest pioneer, Sir Edmund Hillary.

In her condolence message, the President has said, "Sir Edmund Hillary represented the positive approach to life, which was described by him after his conquest of Mount Everest."

She said that Sir Edmund Hillary had described his conquest of Mount Everest as his ability to overcome challenges and problems to reach the summit.

Apart from being a keen mountaineer, he was also sensitive to the needs of the people of the Himalayan region by devoting his time and energy to their welfare, Patil added.

Patil said that Sir Edmund Hillary helped to fund the building of hospitals and health clinics for the Sherpas, and added that he was also a conservationist who was acutely aware of the need to keep the environment around the Himalayan region clean.

Meanwhile, Dr. Singh described Sir Edmund Hillary as one who drew our attention to the grandeur of Mother Earth.

In his condolence message Dr. Singh said we must seek inspiration from Sir Edmund Hillary's sense of adventure, enterprise and his love for nature.

"I convey my sincere condolences to his family, to the people of New Zealand, to mountaineers across the world who have been inspired by him and to all the brave Sherpas, who are a mountaineer's companion," he said.

Sir Edmund Hillary, who was catapulted into the history books when he became the first man to climb Everest, died on January 10 at the age of 88.

Sir Edmund, who conquered the world's highest mountain in 1953, had been suffering health problems since April after suffering a fall whilst in Nepal. (ANI)
--MP