core sector communique

Independence Day Celebrations at Red Fort

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will unfurl the National Flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2012 to celebrate the 66th Independence Day. After unfurling the Tricolor, Dr. Manmohan Singh will address the nation. On arrival at Lahore Gate of Red Fort, the Prime Minister will be received by the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony, Minister of State for Defence Shri MM PallamRaju and Defence Secretary Shri Shashikant Sharma. The Defence Secretary will introduce the General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, Lt. General Vijay Kumar Pillai to the Prime Minister. The GOC Delhi Area will then conduct the Prime Minister to the Saluting Base where a combined Inter-Services and Police Guard will present general salute to the Prime Minister. Thereafter, Dr. Manmohan Singh will inspect the Guard of Honour. The National Flag Guard comprising 32 men and one officer each from Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police will present Rashtriya Salute at the time of unfurling of the National Flag by the Prime Minister. Commander Siji Jacob from Indian Navy will be in command of this Inter-Services Guard and Police Guard. The Naval Contingent for the National Flag Guard will be commanded by Lt CdrRajesh Agnihotri, the Army contingent by Major Vivek Kumar, Air Force contingent by SqnLdrJimmy Johnson and Delhi Police contingent by Additional DCP Pankaj Kumar Singh. The Naval Band will play National Anthem when the National Guard presents ‘Rashtriya Salute’ while unfurling of the National Flag by the Prime Minister. All Service personnel in uniform will stand and salute. The Band will be commanded by B Sudarshanan, Master Chief Petty Officer Musician Ist Class. Two Naval Officers, Lt. RavikantShuklaand Lt. Manish Chowdhary will be positioned on either side of the saluting dais for the PM for ADC duties. Lt. Commander Arunima Raja will assist the Prime Minister in unfurling of the National Flag. The Army contingent for the National Flag Guard is from the 10thBattalion of the Sikh Light Infantry (Parbat Ali). It was raised on January 01, 1967 at Ranchi. Soon after the raising, the Battalion got an opportunity to display its dauntless courage. The Battalion participated in almost all the major operations viz. Op Cactus Lilly, Op Orchid, Op Savage, Op Falcon, Op Rakshak-II, Op Rakshak (LC), Op Vijay and Op Parakram. In 1971 during Op Cactus Lilly 10 Sikh Light Infantry displayed dauntless courage and performed creditably. For that remarkable achievement the Battalion was awarded Battle Honour ‘PARBAT ALI’ and Theatre Honour ‘SINDH’.Decorated with many gallantry awards till now the Battalion is credited with 01 Kirti Chakra, 03 Vir Chakra, 02 Shourya Chakra, 13 Sena Medal, 10 Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card, 09 GoC-in-C Commendation Card, 02 Mention-in-Despatch and one JeevanRakshaPadak. The motto of the Regiment is ‘DegTegFateh’ and war cry is ‘Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akaal’. The Guard of Honour contingent for the Prime Minister will consist of one officer and 24 men each from Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police. The Guard of Honour will be positioned directly in front of the National Flag across the moat below the ramparts. This year, Navy being the coordinating agency, the Guard of Honour will be commanded by Commander A Vinith from the Indian Navy. The Army contingent will be commanded by Lt PareshPralhadKulkarni of the Madras Regiment, Naval Contingent by Lt CdrArjun Nair, Air Force contingent by SqnLdrVikramThiagaramanand the Delhi Police contingent by ACP Deepak Yadav. The Army contingent for PM’s Guard is drawn from the 28th Battalion of the Madras Regiment. The battalion was raised on 01 July 1976, Guava Hill, near Wellington (Ooty) and has completed 36 glorious years of service. It has served with distinction in all kinds of operational environment including High Altitude, Line of Control and Counter Insurgency / Terrorism Operations. The unit was awarded the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Unit Appreciation for its commendable performance in Op RAKSHAK and Op VIJAY (J&K) during 1998-99. During the short span of 36 years, personnel of the unit have been awarded one Veer Chakra, one AVSM, three Shaurya Chakras, 15 Sena Medals and three VishistSeva Medals. The Battalion has arrived in New Delhi after a very successful tenure on the Line of Control in the Rajouri Sector of J&K andisresponsible forconducting various ceremonial duties at the RashtrapatiBhawan, India Gate, Red Fort and other important ceremonial functions organized by HQ Delhi Area. After inspecting the Guard of Honour, the Prime Minister will proceed to the ramparts of the Red Fort where he will be greeted by Defence Minister, Minister of State for Defence, Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral NirmalVerma and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne. The GOC Delhi area will conduct the Prime Minister to the dais to unfurl the National Flag. The unfurling of the tri-colour will synchronize with the 21 Gun Salute fired by the valiant gunners of the elite 871 Field Regiment (SHINGO). The ceremonial battery will be commanded by Lt. Col Vijay Kumar Shah, Sena Medal and the Gun Position Officer will be Sub (AIG) Narayan Rao. After unfurling the National Flag, the Prime Minister will address the nation. After the Prime Minister’s address, school children and NCC Cadets will sing the National Anthem. About seven hundred Cadets of the National Cadet Corps from the Delhi Directorate comprising Army, Navy and Air Force wings are participating in the flag hoisting ceremony this year. The cadets will also participate in the singing of patriotic songs along with the school children. Three thousand five hundred girl students from 40 government and government-aided schools under the Directorate of Education, National Capital Territory of Delhi will sing the National Anthem. They will also sing patriotic songs in different regional languages before the start of the Independence Day ceremony.