Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh to virtually launch major events to mark 75th Independence Day

The Armed Forces and different organisations of Ministry of Defence have been conducting various events across the country to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of India’s Independence, being celebrated as ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will formally launch various major events virtually from New Delhi on August 13, 2021. Following are the events to be launched in the run-up to Independence Day 2021:

• Unfurling of National Flag at 75 Passes/Places: To commemorate 75 years of Independence, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will unfurl the National Flag at 75 Important Passes and Places in the country, displaying their resolve in developing border infrastructure. 75 teams of BRO will depart on August 13, 2021 to these remote passes. The most prominent among them is ‘Umlingla Pass’, which is the Highest Motorable Road in the World at 19,300 feet, in Eastern Ladakh. The national tri-colour will also be unfurled at prominent infrastructure landmarks like Atal Tunnel, Rohtang and Dhola Sadiya Bridge in the Northeast, besides in friendly foreign countries.

• Unfurling of National Flag in Islands: Indian Coast Guard will be unfurling the National Flag at 100 islands Pan-India on August 15, 2021 as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The proceedings will start on August 13, 2021.

• Freedom Run: Indian Navy personnel and their families will participate in the freedom run at Naval Officers Mess Varuna, New Delhi. The Raksha Mantri will virtually flag off by the freedom run, which is part of the Fit India Freedom Run 2.0being launched across the country on August 13, 2021 to celebrate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

• Army Expedition: To instill a sense of pride and confidence among citizens that the Indian Army is committed to protecting the country in all types of terrain & climate, the teams of the Army will scale 75 mountain passes to mark this momentous occasion. The passes include Saserla Pass in Ladakh region, Stakpochan Pass in Kargil region, Satopanth, Harshil, Uttarakhand, Phim Karnla, Sikkim and Point 4493, Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh. The Raksha Mantri will flag off the event on August 13, 2021.

• Cleaning of statues: To pay homage to the freedom fighters and the bravehearts of the country for their invaluable role in India’s Independence, National Cadet Corps (NCC)will conduct a Pan-India event, ‘Swatantra Senaniyon ko Naman’. The NCC cadets will carry out cleaning and maintenance of 825 statues adopted by 825 NCC Battalions.

• Crowdsourcing module for Gallantry awards portal: To honour the Gallantry award winners and motivate people, especially the youth, to interact with the Gallantry awards portal (https://www.gallantryawards.gov.in/), a ‘Gallantrypedia of Awardees’ will be launched. People will be able to share their own content about the awardees which would help in making the portal more engaging, dynamic and informative. The portal is a one-stop platform to holistically showcase and celebrate the bravery of the Gallantry award winners.

• Book on ‘Deeds of Gallantry’: To commemorate India’s victory in the 1971 war, a book ‘Deeds of Gallantry’ will be launched by the Raksha Mantri. The book details 20 selected battles and highlights the gallantry of Indian soldiers.

• Defence Products: To showcase and expand the defence export capabilities, various products/facility will be launched by the Raksha Mantri. ‘Off the Shelf’ Export Ready Defence Products Portfolio will be launched beginning with Fast Interceptor Boat by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL). Other launches include a Transducer Manufacturing & Production facility developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to cater to the production of wide range of Transducers & underwater equipment and oxygen concentrator developed by BEL which works by filtering and concentrating oxygen molecules from the ambient air to provide patients with 90-95 per cent pure oxygen.

• Jan Sampark Abhiyan: In another initiative aimed at addressing the issues of the veterans, Jan Sampark Abhiyan will be launched wherein a representative each of the respective Zila Sainik Board along with a representative of Indian Ex-Servicemen League, a recognised ESM association, will interact simultaneously with the ESM fraternity in 75 districts across the country. The objective is to address the issues of the veterans in a time-bound manner.

• Rejuvenation of water bodies: Water is life! Underlining the importance of conservation of this precious resource, Rajnath Singh will flag off activities for rejuvenation of 75 water bodies across 62 Cantonments by inaugurating the work on the Patel ParkLake in Ambala Cantt.Rejuvenation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks is one of the intervention areas of Jal Shakti Abhiyan, a time-bound, mission-mode water conservation campaign.

• DRDO Scientists: A team of scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be moving to border area villages to celebrate Independence Day.