New Delhi/Feb,22: Hailing from a remote hamlet in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district, 30-year-old Afaq Ahmed Giri, an IRS officer, has been selected as a member of 80 experts for the International Antarctic Expedition beginning February 27.
Giri, an officer of the IRS batch 2015, is presently posted at Indore as an assistant commissioner in the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).
He has been selected as a member of the international group of 80 environmentalists and climate change experts for the International Antarctica Expedition from February 27 to March 12 from Argentina.
“My selection was a pleasure for me and my family for being a part of this International Expedition representing India,” Giri told PTI .
“I want to study climatic change and understand it as deeply as I can.
I thank the CBEC & the government of India enough for encouraging and sponsoring me to embark the expedition,”Giri said.
The Indian group is comprising of around 15 members including Giri.The group will start its voyage on February 28 from Ushuaia in Argentina in a ship towards Antarctica.
Selected in October last year among 80 candidates across the globe from over 5,000 applications pool to join the expedition 2018, ledby Robert Swan, OBE, founder, 2041 organisation, Giri recently got the official permission and sponsorship from his department, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Government Of India for the expedition.
Giri, a resident of Bankoot in Banihal tehsil in Ramban district, is a Sainik school Nagrota pass out.
He has led the Zakat foundation rescue team in 2014 floods in Kashmir and also worked as volunteer in 2015 Chennai floods.
