India celebrated its 66th Republic Day in style today, showcasing its military might on the street and skies above, and its tremendous cultural diversity as Rajpath turned a river of colours before US President Barack Obama who became the first from his country to be chief guest. The parades main theme Nari Shakti was in full display as the Navy and IAF women took to Rajpath next. The Navy contingent was led by Lt Com S. Kapoor and Lt Com Vartika Joshi. The IAF womens team, its first outing at an R-Day parade, was led by squadron leader Sneha Shekhawat. HRD minister Smriti Irani gives the all-woman contingent a standing ovation. President Pranab Mukherjee confers the Ashok Chakra posthumously on Major Mukund Vardarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar. Their wives collect the awards. Major Varadarajan, killed two heavily-armed terrorists before breathing his last. Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh, also from Rashtriya Rifles, was killed while he was leading a search operation at Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir in August. He rescued an injured soldier and shot dead one of the terrorists. (6 photos)
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 12:54:22 +0000
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