India celebrates Republic Day today; Padma awards have been announced

Showcasing the military might and achievements in front of the world, today our country is celebrating its 68th Republic Day. Along with our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari and President Pranab Mukherjee, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is attending the colourful ceremony organised to celebrate the special day at Rajpath in New Delhi. The main attraction of this year’s Republic Day parade, apart from the mesmerising performance of our forces, is the march-past of the 179-member military contingent of UAE and the march-past of the black cats. The security has been beefed up across the national capital ahead of the celebration following an input from the intelligence department warning that the militant may use animals as the suicide bombers. Nearly sixty thousand security officials have been deployed, covering almost every sensitive region. Hours before the commencement of the Republic Day celebrations, the nation has announced the list of 89 Padma awardees- seven Padma Vibhushan, seven Padma Bhushan, and 75 Padma Shri. Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Pawar, P A Sangma, Sunderlal Patwa, Virat Kohli, P R Sreejesh, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar, K J Yesudas, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and Cho Ramaswamy are the big names in the list. Interestingly, apart from the celebrities, this time, fifteen unsung heroes like Kalaripayattu exponent Meenakshi Amma and Tree Man Daripalli Ramaiah have made way into the list. The inclusion of common persons into the most prestigious list makes it a people-friendly list. More importantly, this is one of the thinnest Padma lists made by the central government ever.

Vignesh

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