New Delhi: As India celebrates its 61st Republic day on January 26, the capital witnessed a gala event. As part of the celebrations, the Service Chiefs arrived at Amar Jawan Jyoti to pay tributes at 9:30 am followed by Defence Minister AK Anthony and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Then the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Service Chiefs proceeded to Vijay Chowk where guests were welcomed.
This year the chief guest was Indonesian President Dr Haji Yudhoyono, who was welcomed by President Pratibha Patil, the Prime Minister and other dignitaries.
The parade began at 9:55 am and continued till 11:30 am.
Ashok Chakra was awarded to Major Laishram Jyotin Singh who fought militants in Kabul.
Various tableaux of various States were showcased and 21 young brave hearts won the national bravery awards.
A breathtaking dare-devil performance from the Army motorcycle team 'Dare Devils' then took the breath of the spectators as they performed back riding, border man salute, lotus formation, human pyramid and ladder balancing.
The spectacular parade ended with a flypast involving three Mi-25 in 'Chakra' formation followed by an IL-78, two AN-32 and two Dorniers in Big Boy formation.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi was conspicuous by her absence at the Republic Day parade and at the "At Home" hosted by President Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday.
There was no comment from either the party or her office about the reasons for her absence.
Her son and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi was present at the parade and was seen clicking pictures of a floral tableau on "Save the Tigers" theme.
No comments:
Post a Comment