A strong and resurgent India is celebrating its 62nd Republic Day today. The main parade will held at Rajpath in the capital which will showcase the country’s cultural diversity and military might.
Country’s military might, economic progress and its rich culture will be on show at the Republic day parade at the Rajpath in the national capital.
The Amar Jawan, the immortal soldier, is symbolised by a reversed rifle topped by a helmet. As per tradition, after unfurling of the National Flag, the National Anthem will be played. The President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil will confer the Ashoka Chakra on Major Laishram Jyotin Singh (posthumous) of the Army Medical Corps. The parade will then commence and the President will take the salute.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will be the chief guest at the parade.
President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil will take salute of the marching contingents.
President will also present Gallantry awards to security personnel.
While the Indian Navy will display scaled down models of the aircraft carrier INS Viraat, Talwar kilo class submarine and the Mig-29K, the 4th Generation fighter jet inducted last year, the Indian Air Force tableau will focus on Network Centric Operations based on the AFNET, the state-of-the-art gigabyte digital information grid, also dedicated to the nation last year. However, the IAF will not hold any static-display of any of its aircrafts.
The parade ceremony will commence at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate where the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will lead the nation in paying homage to the martyrs by laying wreath. An eternal flame burns at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to commemorate the indomitable courage of our Armed Forces personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the motherland.
The marching contingents of paramilitary and other auxiliary civil forces will include contingents from the Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, Coast Guard, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Railway Protection Force, Delhi Police, National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme.
Twenty-one of the 23 children selected for the National Bravery Award – 2010 will also participate in the parade. Two children have got the award posthumously. 686 children of different schools from Delhi and Regional Cultural Centres will present a fiesta of the varied folk and modern dances.
This year’s Chief Guest at the parade is president of Indonesia Dr. Haji Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono . The parade will be commanded by Major General Manvender Singh, General Officer Commanding Delhi area, The marching contingents of Army include the horse-mounted columns of the 61st Cavalry, Punjab Regiment, Grenadiers Regiment, Rajputana Rifles Regiment, Rajput Regiment, Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, 3 Gorkha Rifles and the Territorial Army. Another interesting feature of the Parade will be the Ex-Servicemen Marching Contingent led by 87-year-old Flying Officer MM Shukla, a veteran of the 2nd World War.
The Camel-mounted band of the BSF will be another major attraction. Tableaux from 23 states and Central Ministries and Departments will present the varied historical, architectural and cultural heritage of the country. They will also showcase country’s progress in different fields.
Dare Devils, the motorcycle display by the Army’s Corps of Signals, will perform breathtaking stunts the grand finale of the parade will be as usual a spectacular fly-past by the IAF, the Mi-25 attack helicopter participating for the first time.
62nd Republic Day
Showing posts with label Raisina Hill New Delhi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raisina Hill New Delhi. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Beating Retreat fanfare captivates audiences
Smriti Kak Ramachandran The Hindu- 30 Jan 2010
The colourful ceremony with bands marks the end of Republic Day celebrations
— Photo: Shanker Chakravarty
TRADITION AND GLORY: A view of the Beating Retreat, at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on Friday.
NEW DELHI: In the light of the setting sun, men in regalia made music with military precision as they marched down the Raisina Hill on Friday to mark the closure of the Republic Day celebrations.
Under a clear sky and in a patriotic ambience, captivated audiences sat and watched Beating Retreat, the ceremony that dates back to the time when sounding retreat pulled to a halt the day’s fighting.
Led by President Pratibha Patil, also the Supreme Commander of the three Forces, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, the audience sat through a ceremony that elicits a common response of nationalism and pride.
As men on foot and on horse back marched to the beats of drums and pipes, the air was filled with the rendition of different tunes.
Thirty-five bands from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force took part in the ceremony that began with the arrival of the President marked by fanfare by the buglers.
The first march of the massed band was the popular Sam Bahadur followed by the adroit performance of the pipes and drums which had the audiences tapping the feet with their Surya, Sky Boat Song, Pipers Cave, Highland Laddie and The Marquis of Huntly, among others.
The Naval and Air Force Bands, striking in their appearance and confident in their bearing, charged the atmosphere with their repertoire that included Ocean’s Splendour, Bharatiya Navsena, Sky Hawks, Nocturnal Cry, Swatantra Bharat ki Shan and Subroto.
Their tempo set the pace and had the audience applauding several times. Out in the open the acoustical performance was an experience unmatched.
The military bands with their Hanste Lushai, Gangotri, Abhinandan, Dhola-Re-Dhola were as spectacular to the eye as they were an aural treat. Next it was the massed bands again enthralling the audiences that included Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Vice- President Hamid Ansari and his wife, Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi and a host of dignitaries. Their quick march to the tunes of Saare Jahan Se Acha brought the curtains down on the ceremony.
Beating Retreat fanfare captivates audiences
The colourful ceremony with bands marks the end of Republic Day celebrations
TRADITION AND GLORY: A view of the Beating Retreat, at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on Friday.NEW DELHI: In the light of the setting sun, men in regalia made music with military precision as they marched down the Raisina Hill on Friday to mark the closure of the Republic Day celebrations.
Under a clear sky and in a patriotic ambience, captivated audiences sat and watched Beating Retreat, the ceremony that dates back to the time when sounding retreat pulled to a halt the day’s fighting.
Led by President Pratibha Patil, also the Supreme Commander of the three Forces, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, the audience sat through a ceremony that elicits a common response of nationalism and pride.
As men on foot and on horse back marched to the beats of drums and pipes, the air was filled with the rendition of different tunes.
Thirty-five bands from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force took part in the ceremony that began with the arrival of the President marked by fanfare by the buglers.
The first march of the massed band was the popular Sam Bahadur followed by the adroit performance of the pipes and drums which had the audiences tapping the feet with their Surya, Sky Boat Song, Pipers Cave, Highland Laddie and The Marquis of Huntly, among others.
The Naval and Air Force Bands, striking in their appearance and confident in their bearing, charged the atmosphere with their repertoire that included Ocean’s Splendour, Bharatiya Navsena, Sky Hawks, Nocturnal Cry, Swatantra Bharat ki Shan and Subroto.
Their tempo set the pace and had the audience applauding several times. Out in the open the acoustical performance was an experience unmatched.
The military bands with their Hanste Lushai, Gangotri, Abhinandan, Dhola-Re-Dhola were as spectacular to the eye as they were an aural treat. Next it was the massed bands again enthralling the audiences that included Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Vice- President Hamid Ansari and his wife, Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi and a host of dignitaries. Their quick march to the tunes of Saare Jahan Se Acha brought the curtains down on the ceremony.
Beating Retreat fanfare captivates audiences
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Military caught in the web of Bureaucracy- Defence meetings at South Block
Discussions items on the agenda
The meeting should have begun at 10 O’ Clock, and it did. At the stroke of the hour, the chairman came in, and even before we had settled down in our chairs, the Staff Officer had read out the first item on the agenda. The ‘old man’ expounded the nuances of that very contentious issue and he enlightened us on the pros and cons of the various alternatives available to us. He regaled the audience with some real life stories on how a bad decision had created such complex problems for the posterity. Having done that, he threw the subject open for discussion. I was not concerned with that particular subject and could therefore objectively watch the proceedings. I saw that some officers wanted to say something merely to be noticed. And when they were snubbed by the ‘chair’ I saw the glee on the faces of the detractors. The discussion went on for a long time, and after that the chairman said, “Well we have heard all the views. Now please send us your comments within two weeks and we will discuss this issue in the next meeting.”
The second item on the agenda was taken up at ten minutes to eleven. And by the time was served at half past eleven, we had finished three out of the 29 items on the agenda. I got a little worried. I had fixed a game of bridge in the afternoon, and the way things were going, it was unlikely that we would be able to finish discussion on all our ‘points’ even at dinner time. I asked a neighbor whether the conference was scheduled to spill over to the next day. He replied in the negative. He told me that the chairman was scheduled to go on a temporary duty that evening.
I need not have worried. After tea, the pace of the conference improved after tea, and during the next one hour we had completed fifteen items. And then, it seems the chairman decided to rush through. The last fourteen items were given a summary treatment, and before one O’clock, we wound up.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that a similar phenomenon occurs during ‘mating’. The first item, i.e. foreplay takes a longish time. But after that, things speed up and towards the end the mating partners are in a frantic hurry. This, I soon discovered, is not the only similarity between the two activities. In meetings, as also mating, nothing really happens after the activity. After meetings, the tables have to be cleared of crockery and after mating there is a bit of cleaning to do. In both cases, nothing really results as a result of all that effort. In rare cases, when something does fructify, it takes several months to manifest by way of a result, despite all the hurry in the end.
My dirty mind went further. I discovered that soon after marriage or the change of boss, mating and meetings are more frequent and more intense. Finally, in winter these activities flourish more than summer. It became increasingly evident to me that the similarity in the spelling of the two words, ‘mating’ and ‘meeting’ is not just a coincidence. It is the result of systematic research carried out by those who created the lexicon.
At his point, I was reminded of the unorthodox ‘meetings’ which are convened by military commanders. These have no formal agenda, and the boss is the only one who speaks. These seamless monologs are a method by which the ‘commander’ asserts his position as the master; the views of the subordinates are neither sought nor entertained. No prize for guessing the equivalent of this phenomenon in the mating game. The only difference is that the authoritative form of such mating is a deadly offence, but in the military meetings of this nature is a routine occurrence and are the birth right of all commanding officers.
From this emerges, what is now known as ‘the Surjit’s principle for military conferences’. It says, “If a meeting is inevitable, just switch off; sit back and ‘conceive’ a short story.”
A Footnote
Between 1973 and ’97 I spent thirteen long years in and around the South Block in New Delhi. The most onerous part of the service in the defense headquarters was the seemingly unending conferences and meetings. In the beginning, I used to listen to every single speaker and try to follow everything which he said. I also took copious notes of all the proceedings. Then, one day in 1987, I was seated just behind the Additional Secretary (Defense) and the meeting was in the office of Sh Arun Singh, Raksha Rajya Mantri. Our friend seemed to be taking notes, since his eyes were glued on to his note-pad. However, a peep on his work revealed some urdu couplets and pencil sketches of birds and flowers. If a question was directly addressed to him, he said, “I beg your pardon, Sir” and then gave an evasive answer like, “Let them send us a note. We will examine the issue on file.”
I had learnt a lesson. From there on I turned these meetings into occasions to reflect on life and do some serious thinking. A great deal of my writing is actually a result of what was ‘conceived’ during those interminable sessions!
Maj Gen Surjit Singh (Retd)
CHANDIGARH, 24 October 2009
The meeting should have begun at 10 O’ Clock, and it did. At the stroke of the hour, the chairman came in, and even before we had settled down in our chairs, the Staff Officer had read out the first item on the agenda. The ‘old man’ expounded the nuances of that very contentious issue and he enlightened us on the pros and cons of the various alternatives available to us. He regaled the audience with some real life stories on how a bad decision had created such complex problems for the posterity. Having done that, he threw the subject open for discussion. I was not concerned with that particular subject and could therefore objectively watch the proceedings. I saw that some officers wanted to say something merely to be noticed. And when they were snubbed by the ‘chair’ I saw the glee on the faces of the detractors. The discussion went on for a long time, and after that the chairman said, “Well we have heard all the views. Now please send us your comments within two weeks and we will discuss this issue in the next meeting.”
The second item on the agenda was taken up at ten minutes to eleven. And by the time was served at half past eleven, we had finished three out of the 29 items on the agenda. I got a little worried. I had fixed a game of bridge in the afternoon, and the way things were going, it was unlikely that we would be able to finish discussion on all our ‘points’ even at dinner time. I asked a neighbor whether the conference was scheduled to spill over to the next day. He replied in the negative. He told me that the chairman was scheduled to go on a temporary duty that evening.
I need not have worried. After tea, the pace of the conference improved after tea, and during the next one hour we had completed fifteen items. And then, it seems the chairman decided to rush through. The last fourteen items were given a summary treatment, and before one O’clock, we wound up.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that a similar phenomenon occurs during ‘mating’. The first item, i.e. foreplay takes a longish time. But after that, things speed up and towards the end the mating partners are in a frantic hurry. This, I soon discovered, is not the only similarity between the two activities. In meetings, as also mating, nothing really happens after the activity. After meetings, the tables have to be cleared of crockery and after mating there is a bit of cleaning to do. In both cases, nothing really results as a result of all that effort. In rare cases, when something does fructify, it takes several months to manifest by way of a result, despite all the hurry in the end.
My dirty mind went further. I discovered that soon after marriage or the change of boss, mating and meetings are more frequent and more intense. Finally, in winter these activities flourish more than summer. It became increasingly evident to me that the similarity in the spelling of the two words, ‘mating’ and ‘meeting’ is not just a coincidence. It is the result of systematic research carried out by those who created the lexicon.
At his point, I was reminded of the unorthodox ‘meetings’ which are convened by military commanders. These have no formal agenda, and the boss is the only one who speaks. These seamless monologs are a method by which the ‘commander’ asserts his position as the master; the views of the subordinates are neither sought nor entertained. No prize for guessing the equivalent of this phenomenon in the mating game. The only difference is that the authoritative form of such mating is a deadly offence, but in the military meetings of this nature is a routine occurrence and are the birth right of all commanding officers.
From this emerges, what is now known as ‘the Surjit’s principle for military conferences’. It says, “If a meeting is inevitable, just switch off; sit back and ‘conceive’ a short story.”
A Footnote
Between 1973 and ’97 I spent thirteen long years in and around the South Block in New Delhi. The most onerous part of the service in the defense headquarters was the seemingly unending conferences and meetings. In the beginning, I used to listen to every single speaker and try to follow everything which he said. I also took copious notes of all the proceedings. Then, one day in 1987, I was seated just behind the Additional Secretary (Defense) and the meeting was in the office of Sh Arun Singh, Raksha Rajya Mantri. Our friend seemed to be taking notes, since his eyes were glued on to his note-pad. However, a peep on his work revealed some urdu couplets and pencil sketches of birds and flowers. If a question was directly addressed to him, he said, “I beg your pardon, Sir” and then gave an evasive answer like, “Let them send us a note. We will examine the issue on file.”
I had learnt a lesson. From there on I turned these meetings into occasions to reflect on life and do some serious thinking. A great deal of my writing is actually a result of what was ‘conceived’ during those interminable sessions!
Maj Gen Surjit Singh (Retd)
CHANDIGARH, 24 October 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Ministry of Urban Development bowls out National War Memorial
The memorial is located at Brook Gate, Park Lane, on the edge of London's Hyde Park and was unveiled on November 24, 2004 by Princess Anne. The English Sculpture is David Backhouse. The sculpture depicts all the animals that have been used by troops in wartime, which have been killed in conflict while serving their country. Horses and mules to dogs, elephants, camels, canaries and glow worms are included in the memorial. The curved Portland stone wall symbolizes the arena of war, with the animals depicted on it in base. Two life-size heavily laden two bronze mules struggle up the steps towards a gap in the wall. Beyond the gap a bronze 10 foot horse and K-9 gaze into the distance. The memorial stands at 58-feet wide and some 55-feet deep.New Delhi, August 04, 2009
Military struggles for war memorial sanction by Rahul Singh
On the edges of London's iconic Hyde Park is a monument that could inspire our netas and babus. It's a tribute to the thousands of animals that served alongside the British and Allied forces in 20th century wars. The memorial depicts horses, dogs, mules, elephants, camels and pigeons. It's a Rs 16-crore testimony to their sacrifice. But India is yet to repay a debt of honour to its fallen heroes.
The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has expressed reservations about a Defence Ministry proposal to construct a national war memorial to honour soldiers who fell in the Second World War and post-Independence wars. Pallam Raju, Minister of State for Defence, told Rajya Sabha that his ministry had prepared a concept paper for a war memorial at India Gate. "However, the MoUD has expressed reservations with respect to statutory clearances and availability of land."
The military has been pleading with the government to build a war memorial at India Gate, which commemorate soldiers who fought for the British in the First War. The MoUD fears the war memorial could ruin the landscape around India Gate. An assurance from the Defence Ministry hasn't worked. Will the unknown Indian soldier's sacrifice go unnoticed?
Military struggles for war memorial sanction
Related reading:
Kargil hilltops lit up as India salutes war heroes
For the Curious who wish to know about National Urban Develpment Ministry wrestling with Land Acquisition Act of 1894- just a century behind times!
Despite the Report of National Commission on Urbanisation (1988) and the two successive National Housing Policies within a span of a decade, the country is yet to evolve a National Urban Policy. States Govts. have prepared their respective State Urbanisation Strategy Reports taking into account the pattern of urban growth, resources and potentials. At the national level, the Planning Commission has constituted a National Task Force on Urban Perspective and Policy in 1995. Three Technical Groups were also constituted on the subjects of Urban Perspectives and Policy, Urban Infrastructure and Urban Planning. The Technical Group on Urban Planning System under the Chairmenship of Dr. Arcot Ramachandran has submitted its final report. The Reports of other two Technical Groups under the Chairmanship of Shri Vaghul and Prof. Y. K. Alagh are yet to be finalised. After the final reports of the Technical Groups are available the Task Force will finalise its recommendations. These will provide input for the National Urban Policy.
Ministry of Urban Development- A website poorly maintained
Have grievances: Click here
Pertinent Question
MoUD can it take a decision for the twenty first century when it is grappling with laws of the ninteenth century? The Military's quest for the National War Memorial will be addressed by a Ministry dealing with the twenty first century matters. MoD needs to redirect its focus!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Beating the Retreat Ceremony
The President, Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil and the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh at Beating the Retreat Ceremony, in New Delhi on January 29, 2008.The Band performing at the Beating the Retreat Ceremony, in New Delhi on January 29, 2008.
The Rashtrapati Bhawan and the South and North Block of the Central Secretariat atop Raisina Hill that formed the centerpiece of the Imperial city that Edwin Lutyens built – comes alive during the Beating the Retreat Ceremony, in New Delhi on January 29, 2008.
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