India

Happy 69 India!

Team Tourism News Live wishes you a Happy Republic Day 2018!

India is celebrating 69 years of being a Republic today and the stage is all set to celebrate with great pomp and show. On January 26, 1950, the Indian Constitution came into effect and since then, every year, the nation celebrates Republic Day. This year, 10 state heads from the ASEAN member-states will share the dias with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi with the ASEAN Heads of State/Governments and ASEAN Secretary General, at the ASEAN India Commemorative Summit, in New Delhi on January 25, 2018.

Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, will grace the occasion this year as the chief guest, alongside heads of nine other ASEAN countries, marking 25 years of our country’s partnership with the group. The country is looking up on the motorcycle act to be performed by the women personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF).

According to an office memorandum issued by the Home Ministry, five Mi-17 V5 helicopters of the Indian Air Force would precede the parade commander and the lead helicopter will carry the national flag. The second helicopter will carry ASEAN flag and the other three choppers would carry the flags of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, while the echelon aircraft would shower flower petals.

The India-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will participate in the parade showing troops patrolling the China border on their newly-inducted snow scooters. A camel contingent of the BSF and columns of the 61st cavalry with 51 horses will be part of the parade. Also, for the first time, a tableau of All India Radio will be leading a series of 23 tableaux during the R-Day Parade, featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat. Of the 23 tableaux in the parade, 14 would be representing different states and Union Territories. The rest would be of ministries and departments of Government of India. An Income Tax Department tableau about special anti-black money drive launched post-demonetisation is also amid the many firsts this Republic Day.

The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind addressing the Nation on the eve of the 69th Republic Day, in New Delhi on January 25, 2018.

“Over 60 per cent of our fellow citizens are below the age of 35. It is in them that our hopes lie. Our aspiration must be to reform, upgrade and enlarge our education system – and to make it relevant to 21st century realities of the digital economy, genomics, robotics and automation. An innovative nation is built by innovative children. This must be our obsessive goal. Our schooling system has to encourage our children to think and to tinker, not just to memorise and reproduce. We have made strides in tackling hunger, but the challenge of malnutrition and of bringing the right micronutrients to the plate of every child is still there. This is important for both physical and cognitive development of our children – and for the future of our country. We simply have to invest in our human capital,” President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind addressed the nation on the eve of Republic Day.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in a group photograph with the ASEAN Heads of State/Governments, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on January 25, 2018.

The ASEAN heads: Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Dr Thongloun Sisoulith; Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Nguyễn Xuân Phúc; the State Counsellor of Myanmar, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK); Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, General Prayut Chan-o-cha; Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato’, Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak; Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong; Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen;  President of the Republic of the Philippines, Rodrigo Roa Duterte; President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo and Prime Minister of Brunei, Darussalam Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah.

The Republic Day parade will be aired on DD National from 9 am to 11:30 am on Friday.