Republic Day parade – It’s well past the Republic day and we are still high on the jingoistic ecstasy.

We all feel proud as Indians when the Indian flag reigns supreme on 26^th January Parade with the Prime Minister as witness. Over 2 lacs of people flock in there to catch glimpse of the extravagant ceremony and others wake up in the wee hours of morning to catch it live on Doordarshan. The event is adorned with fireworks, patriotic songs etc.

Before the Republic Day parade takes place, security is tightened around the India Gate so much that it becomes an impassable fort. Thousands of military men are deployed to ensure there are no criminal acts with Defence Ministry overlooking it. A lot of money rides on this occasion and quite rightfully so. Here are 10 things we are laying down before you about the Republic Day Parade that you may not know:

1. The Rajpath:

The parade is held on Rajpath now but it was not the same scenario from AD 1950-1954. At that time, the parade was held in Irwin Stadium (now National Stadium), Red Fort and Ramleela Maidan successively. It started to be held in Rajpath from AD 1955.

2. The chief guest:

The Prime Minister/President or ruler of any nation is roped in each year as the Chief Guest for the occasion. Dr. Soekarno, President of Indonesia presided over the first ever Republic Day Parade held in India on 1950. Later, the Governor-General of Pakistan Malik Ghulam Mohammad too was invited in 1955.

3. The first leg:

In the first leg of the event, a cavalier guards the President to the national flag and he 21 guns salute is given while he salutes the national flag. But take note, 21 cannons are not fired but 7 cannons of Indian Army, known as “25-Ponders” are used to do the firing in 3 rounds. It matches with the time the national anthem is played, the last firing takes place on bang 52^nd second.

4. The preparations:

All the participants of the parade reach the ground by 4 am but they gear up for it from the month of July of the previous year itself. They are formally intimated about the affirmation of their participation and asked to practice parade in their stipulated regiments of the Delhi centre.

5. The Tanks:

The tanks are stationed in a special camp arranged near the India gate accompanied by other Armored vehicles and modern equipment that exhibit Military strength India possesses. They go through 10 stages of tests before being featured in the parade.

6. The judges:

The judges are made to sit through the way of parade and each participating group has a different judge assigned to them who sit in 200 parameters while the participants cover 9 kilometres to win the ‘ Best marching group’ title.

7. The organizers:

The organizers egg on timeliness in the parade because the minutest of delay will cost them a huge loss. They make sure to organize everything beforehand with utmost dedication so no hassles are there in the aftermath.

8. The investigation:

Each Army personnel are put through 4 levels of investigation to be featured in the parade. Also, their arms are methodically checked to make sure there are no bullets.

9. The tableaus:

There is a predetermined speed of 5km/h for the tableaus in which they have to move. The drivers drive them through a small window and that’s that.

10. The flypast:

The Western Airforce command is responsible for the flypast which entails the participation of 41 aircrafts. These aircrafts take-off from different centres and reach the Rajpath at the same time.

Republic Day parade facts – These facts are fascinating and an eye-opener to the fact that how enormously devoted and eloquent our Indian Army is. The government also makes sure there are no bloopers in the parade and it matches the expectation of the people at large. This is a significant event hence carried out by unflinching sincerity by the government and the army in unison.

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“History Behind Celebrating Republic Day”

We all know that January 26 is celebrated as the Republic Day of India. It is among the three main holidays, along with Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti. But, do you have any idea about why it is known as “Republic Day” and why the day of “January 26” was chosen to celebrate this big day? I bet that some of you have no about it. So, before you dig into its deep history, here’s what you must know.

Why the word “Republic” was chosen?

The word “Republic” was chosen because it means a form of government in which power is clearly vested in the people of our country, who exercise their control in the elected leaders.

Why “26^th January”?

In history, some of the Indian leaders were in support of Dominion Status (the right to govern) which indirectly states that the kings of U.K would still continue to be the constitutional head of India. Few leaders were aware of this and they, including Bhagat Singh stood forward to demand the “complete freedom” from British, and this inspired congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose. They tried hard and a resolution was also passed to the British but they rejected it saying that “India is not capable for Dominion Status”.

Later, in a Lahore session, Jawaharlal Nehru was chosen as a President and he demanded complete independence (Purna Swaraj) and thus, to celebrate this occasion, last Sunday of January i.e. 26^th January (surprisingly) was fixed.

In 1947, on August 15, India finally gained the complete independence from the British rulers.

After two years, Indian constitution was formed on Nov.26. And earlier, those who were part of the 1^st Independence Celebration i.e. on January 1930, decided to celebrate Republic Day on January 26^th. Hence, they waited 2 months for it, and this is how the day was permanently chosen to celebrate Republic Day.

Brief history about it –

On August 15, 1947, India achieved its freedom from the hands of British after the “Indian Independence Movement” known for peaceful non-violence battle by Mahatma Gandhi. The Indian Independence Act of 1947 later led to the freedom of our country. The parliament of U.K then divided the country into two nations i.e. India and Pakistan.

Even though India received its freedom on August 15, our nation didn’t have permanent set of laws, and the laws were mainly based on the Govt. of India Act 1935. Later to set a permanent constitution, a draft was sent to the committee members on 28^th August, 1947. The constitution was prepared and it was then sent to the Assembly on 4^th November 1947. The Assembly thus discussed about it openly in front of public for 166 days, then went for a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adoption of the complete permanent constitution. After few modifications, total 308 members of the Assembly signed the copies in English and Hindi on 24^th January. After two days i.e. on 26^th January, it came out in front of all the public.

This is History Behind Celebrating Republic Day – Well, now that you’re aware about the history behind celebrating Republic Day, let your friends know about it too. And, tomorrow we are going to celebrate the 68^th Republic Day of India. So, be proud and unfurl our India National Flag.

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PM Modi’s and US President Barack Obama’s ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ at Hyderabad House on Sunday, January 25^th, was not only a comfortable and cosy setting with tea sets, roses and shamiana, it was also a style fiesta where our Prime Minister showcased his own personal branding in a woollen bandhgala with his complete name woven all across the stripes.

Yes! If you watch carefully the pictures of his suit he wore for tea talks that day, you will find ‘Narendra Damodardas Modi’ monogrammed in pin stripes all over his blue suit.

The bandhgala is reported to be designed by a store in Ahmedabad for men’s clothing, Jade Blue which has been Modi’s fashion stop for decades now and the owner of the store claimed to have stylised exclusively for the Prime Minister.

However, we have a style icon and a first-time Indian PM to wear a bandhgala with this monogrammic print, although several celebrities and even political leaders of other countries have worn similar styled clothing before. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak also tried this trademark style.

International brands like Burberry and Hermes fashion clothing for men have been much popular for these trends and have made it quite the in-thing.

However, Twitteratis have given mixed reactions to this trend of personalised styling by Modi, where some have praised him as an inspiring Fashion icon, especially representing the country while others have not accepted this too well and opponents have taken potshots at him calling him a narcissist and megalomaniac!

Modi wears a jacket with his name written all over. Is this megalomania or narcissistic personality disorder? Is this curable? #psychology

— Prashant Tandon (@PrashantTandy) January 27, 2015

Modi Assets worth 2Cr only, but wears suits costing 10lacs each. Who pays? Taxpayers money? Corporates ? #ModiSuit

— Vinod Mehta (@DrunkVinodMehta) January 26, 2015

.@GG_Studio Whatever PM Modi wears, is very apt to the occasion @rahulkanwal #NEWSROOM

— HeadlinesToday (@HeadlinesToday) January 26, 2015

Designer Anand Bhushan has, on the other hand taken this personalized textile and style statement as an initiative for fresh branding motives. “Narendra Modi himself is clearly a bigger label than Gucci. Thus, he is wearing his own eponymous brand, with his name inscribed all over the outfit!”

While Modi greeted Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at the Palam airport in beige coloured kurta and bright orange shawl, he changed his attires all through the day and even went on to carry out an elaborate bandhni as a turban with a formal black suit. The tie-and-dye turban reflected his spirit of celebration for the Republic Day as it was red, green and orange coloured with white dots all over. Well, who would know better about the bandhni technique than PM Modi who has ruled the state of Gujarat for a decade before he was opted with majority votes for Prime Ministerial duties?

You might remember PM Modi’s turban styling during his Independence Day speech, which according to designer Manish Malhotra, “he wore with incredible panache and style.”

Designers would certainly be elated with PM’s sense of fashion and styling however, the suit was hand woven using the jacquard technique that would alone cost somewhere between Rupees 80,000 to Rupees Five lakhs, let alone the price of the fabric, labour and making charges.

Modi has always been popular for his short kurtas or kurtas with half sleeves and sleeveless jackets where the store, Jade Blue has been given the rights to use the Modi label for their sets of kurtas (‘Modi Kurtas’).

Even Obama seemed to be flattered with Modi’s style statement and claimed at the banquet meeting, raising a toast to India that he wants to buy at least the ‘Modi Kurta’ for himself.

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Do you feel that the primary education system leads young children to become unduly competitive and memorize vast pieces of information, marring their ability to question, experiment, show playfulness and curiosity, only to qualify for admission to premier educational institutions at later stages of life?

People you know always talk about how expensive even school education has become and children from lower income groups are withdrawn from schools early on and those who are able to complete their school education have to face issues like less teachers as compared to students in class, insufficient notes and reading materials, old and out-dated teaching methods and equipment, and lowly-qualified teachers!

Well, now you can get the ruling party to address these issues whether you are living in the villages or are a young graduate or have reached some of the peak positions at a high-level corporate house/MNC.

And not in ten years from now but starting this republic day!

Yes! You heard it right! What NDA government’s HRD Minister Smriti Irani and her Ministry had promised last year with “opinions of those living in villages being solicited” is now coming true as the Government plans to announce the beginning to a New Education Policy (NEP) on this Republic day.

The education policies have not been changed since the year 1986 and the HRD ministry along with other political bodies and autonomous organizations has prepared this framework wherein opinions and discussions would be held initiating at the very grassroot level. Now people from all corners of the country will have the right and authority to voice out their opinion on the concern areas they have encountered so far with the current education system and how they think changes can be/should be made, so that only a handful of intellectuals/experts do not have a sole say in the matter.

The government now recognizes the need to introduce more innovative, research-based and quality-oriented education policies for a diverse network of people of the country with their even more diverse needs and perspectives. NEP will start at the village level, yes but will gradually extend to the blocks and districts, eventually leading to the state level. The opinions, changes and problems discussed and brought about at the state level will have a final review at the Centre where all state governments would represent their people’s mind sets, thoughts, views and solutions regarding the current education framework and what they seek for the future.

So far, the government has come up with 32 themes where 20 are for higher education (University-based) and 12 are meant for school levels, setting overall parameters for discussion to initiate at each level. There can be alterations in the themes, if need be. The government plans to address the problems of limited reach and access to secondary and senior secondary among the minorities or girl children, and looks forward to imparting vocational education, reinforcing better learning results, improving the school examination system, focussing on better qualified teachers and increasing the knowledge of lesser qualified teachers, revamping language and communication problems and introducing innovative methods at teaching science, maths and upgrade the information technology teachings at school level, thereby attempting at a holistic education policy.

Setting better standards for school in terms of a comprehensive education and learning of a child will be done on a priority basis.

The higher education themes would include ranking institutions according to the accreditation, and will emphasize on improving the government or state universities by better skill trainings to students, offering technology-based and online resources especially for girl children and meting out solutions for gender, social, cultural bias. The public universities will now better integrate with private sector companies and industries by reforming governing methods with better and increased employment opportunities and innovative techniques in place.

Earlier the HRD Ministry launched a project called Udaan where Irani focussed on “providing free online resources to girl students of Class XI and XII to prepare for admission tests of premier engineering colleges” with special importance to providing special incentives and financial aid to 1000 disadvantaged or underprivileged girls every year, bearing in mind the low numbers in which girls enrol for reputed technical or engineering colleges.

Now will come the time when you can easily be a part of the system and change it as much as the bureaucrats, educationists, academicians and politicians to bring about a framework where maximum people including left-out girls, children living below poverty line and the minority communities can get easy access to premier education facilities and reach out to technology, resources and better fundamental exposure to take on leadership roles at quality institutes.

A very Happy Republic Day!

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