Home Minister Amit Shah has paid tribute to Lala Lajpat Rai on the occasion of his birth anniversary today. In a message, the Minister said that Rai ignited patriotism among millions of youth through his thoughts during the country's Independence movement. Mr Shah also recalled Lala Lajpat Rai as a symbol of patriotism, dedication, and sacrifice, who fought for freedom till his last breath.

President Droupadi Murmu has approved 412 Gallantry awards and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel and others.

These include six Kirti Chakras, including four posthumous, and 15 Shaurya Chakras including two posthumous. These include one Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry), 92 Sena Medals, including four posthumous, one Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry), seven Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry) and 29 Param Vishisht Seva Medals.

Naresh Lalwani has taken over as the new General Manager of Central Railway. He is a senior officer of the Indian Railway Engineering Service of 1985 batch.  Before taking over as General Manager, Central Railway, he was working as Senior Deputy General Manager and Chief Vigilance Officer of Western Railway. He succeeds Ashok Kumar Misra, General Manager Western Railway who was holding the additional charge of Central Railway as well.

The Nation is celebrating its 74th Republic Day today. The main function was held at Kartavya Path in New Delhi from where President Droupadi Murmu led the nation in celebrating the Republic Day. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was the Chief Guest at the parade.

The Republic Day Parade ceremony started this morning with the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the National War Memorial where he led the nation in paying solemn tributes to the brave-hearts by laying a wreath. As per the tradition, the National Flag was unfurled followed by the National Anthem with a booming 21-gun salute. This time, 21-gun salute was given with 105-mm Indian Field Guns replacing the vintage 25 pounder gun which reflects the growing Aatmanirbharta in defence. Four Mi-17 and V5 helicopters showered flower petals on the audience present at Kartavya Path. The Republic Day parade began with the President taking the salute.

Union Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Development of North Eastern Region G Kishan Reddy inaugurated the Bharat Parv at Red Fort in New Delhi this evening. This six-day mega event beginning today will be celebrated till the 31st of this month as part of the Republic Day Celebrations.

AIR Correspondent reports that the event will be open to the general public from tomorrow afternoon to 10 PM daily. During the event, some of the best Republic Day Parade tableaux will be showcased. 

The 30th National Child Science Congress will begin today at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The five-day event which will be organized at Science City will conclude on 31st January.

The program will be hosted by the Gujarat Council on Science and Technology (GUJCOST), the Gujarat Council of Science City, and SAL Education.

More than 1400 delegates including child scientists, escort teachers, evaluators, and government officials will attend the congress.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has felicitated the winners of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar at his residence yesterday. Sharing pictures of PM Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardees, Mr. Thakur said in his message that these young minds have demonstrated true grit and determination in their pursuit of excellence. He said that there is no doubt that they will continue to make India proud.

National Girl Child Day is being observed today. The Women and Child Development Ministry is celebrating the day, with a special focus on valuing the girl child. This year, the Ministry with various social media platforms has decided to make National Girl Child Day a public participation. The Ministry had asked the States and Union Territories to organize activities to make awareness about valuing the girl child from 18th to 24th this month.

The highlight of the National Girl Child Day celebration is 5 days of Programmes or various activities by Districts for dissemination of positive message on value of girl child and rights of the child. 

The United States has launched several new initiatives and schemes to reduce delays in visa processing in India. To reduce the wait time for all Indian applicants, the US has decided to increase visa processing capacity across India through initiatives such as scheduling special interviews for first-time applicants and increasing the strength of consular staff in the country.

The US in a statement said, as part of the multi-pronged approach to cut the visa backlog, the US embassy in Delhi and the consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad on the 21st of this month conducted the first in a series of special Saturday interview days, as part of a larger effort to reduce wait times for first-time visa applicants.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today named the 21 largest unnamed islands of Andaman & Nicobar after Param Vir Chakra awardees.

The Prime Minister attended the event, in Port Blair via videoconferencing. He also unveiled the model of the National Memorial dedicated to Netaji.

The memorial will be built on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep in Port Blair. The memorial will consist of Netaji's Museum, Heritage trail, ropeway connected to Port Blair and a children's park.