Republic Day celebrations in the country began today with Parakram Divas to mark 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, led the nation in paying tributes to Netaji on the occasion.

The Prime Minister unveiled the hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate in New Delhi this evening. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Modi
said, the statue is a tribute of a grateful nation to the great hero of freedom struggle. He said, the statue of the legendary leader will not only remind us of our duties to the nation but also inspire democratic values in the generations to come.

Louie Anderson, whose more than four-decade career as a comedian and actor included his unlikely, Emmy-winning performance as mom to twin adult sons in the TV series “Baskets,” died Friday. He was 68.
Anderson died at a hospital in Las Vegas of complications from cancer, said Glenn Schwartz, his longtime publicist. Anderson had a a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Schwartz said previously.

Anderson won a 2016 Emmy for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Christine Baskets, mother to twins played by Zach Galifianakis. Anderson received three consecutive Emmy nods for his performance.

He was a familiar face elsewhere on TV, including as host of a revival of the game show “Family Feud” from 1999 to 2002, and on comedy specials and in frequent late-night talk show appearances.

The government has put out the eternal flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti underneath India Gate and merged it with the one instituted at the National War Memorial in 2019 a few hundred meters away.

The decision kicked off a political row, with Opposition leaders claiming that it was a disrespect to the soldiers who have laid down their lives fighting for the country.

The eternal flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti underneath India Gate in central Delhi was an iconic symbol of the nation’s tributes to the soldiers who have died for the country in various wars and conflicts since Independence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that a statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose will be installed at India Gate to honour his contribution to the independence movement. Until the installation is completed, a hologram of Netaji will be projected at the site of the statue.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardees on 24th of this month through video conferencing. During the function, the Prime Minister would give digital certificates to this year’s winners using Block Chain Technology. The certificates would also be given to winners of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar-2021, who could not be given the certificates last year due to COVID situation. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has said that Block Chain Technology is being used for the first time for giving certificates to awardees of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar.

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar is given to children with exceptional abilities and outstanding achievement in the fields of Innovation, Scholastic achievements, Sports, Arts and Culture, Social Service, and Bravery. These Awards are conferred by the President in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan. The Prime Minister also interacts with these awardees every year. The awardees also take part in the Republic Day parade every year. However, in view of the COVID-19 situation in the country, it has not been possible to organize the award ceremony in New Delhi this year.

Indonesia passed a bill replacing its capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo island. The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara.

Further strengthening the Indo-Israel relations, Experts from both countries deliberated on widening the scope of the India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F) at its 8th Governing Body meeting. They approved three joint R&D projects totaling 5.5 million $ and proposed measures to create a larger India-Israel collaborative ecosystem.

Dr. S Chandrasekhar, Secretary, DST & India Co-Chair, acknowledging the contribution made by Israel to S&T said, the I4F programme has a lot of potential. This board meeting will give us new thoughts, new directions on how to go forward.”

He mentioned that the Prime Minister of India declared January 16th as ‘Innovation Startup Day,’ which is a significant milestone for India. Given that this is DST’s 50th year of operation, it will be a great year with more and more Industries coming forward,” he added.

Minister of state for Defence Ajay Bhatt today inaugurated an interactive Virtual Museum hosted by the Gallantry Awards portal. Mr. Bhatt said the virtual museum will honor the contribution of the country’s bravehearts who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation. He said that it will bring their stories to the people, especially to the youth. He expressed confidence that the virtual museum will encourage more and more people to visit the Gallantry awards portal and inspire the youth to come forward & join the Armed Forces.

The Virtual Museum brings together the stories of commitment and sacrifice of the gallantry awards winners in an innovative and user friendly format. It comprises of a 3-D walk through experience, gallery building, lobby, wall of fame, tour of war memorials, war room, resource centre, selfie booth and equipment display. The Virtual Museum has been jointly developed by Ministry of Defence, Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics.

The gigantic and spectacular scrolls created under the unique initiative ‘Kala Kumbh’ have now been installed at the Rajpath for the Republic Day 2022 celebrations. These scrolls analyse the potential of art to express National pride and excellence with varied forms of art from diverse geographical locations of the country. These have been diligently researched upon and painted enthusiastically by more than five hundred artists who participated in special workshops or ‘Kala Kumbh’ at two locations, Odisha and Chandigarh.
Secretary, Culture Govind Mohan today visited Rajpath and inspected the installations.

Briefing mediapersons, Mr Mohan said that as the country celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the 750 metre long scrolls are a unique initiative of Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Defence. The magnificent scrolls have been painted by local artists drawn from different regions and largely portray the tales of valour of unsung heroes of freedom struggle. The varied art forms of these artists are also reflected in the scrolls which have been brought together on a single platform in the true spirit of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat. He further said that after Republic Day, the scrolls will be taken to different parts of the country and exhibited there as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

THE Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile was test-fired from Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the coast of Odisha on Thursday morning validating several new indigenous systems, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.

The DRDO said, “BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with increased indigenous content and improved performance was successfully test fired at 10.30 am from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on January 20. The launch was conducted by Brahmos Aerospace in close coordination with DRDO teams. In this text book flight, the missile followed the predicted trajectory meeting all mission objectives.”