75th Republic Day: INDIA

India is celebrating its 75th Republic Day today (26 January, Friday), marking the adoption of the constitution on this day in 1950.

The theme of this year’s Republic Day is ‘Viksit Bharat’ and ‘Bharat: Loktantra ki Matruka’, which symbolise the country’s aspirations and its role as the nurturer of democracy.

75th Republic Day 2024: Here’s all you need to know

• The Republic Day 2024 ceremony will start with the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the National War Memorial, where he will lead the nation in paying solemn tributes to the fallen heroes by laying a wreath. Thereafter, the Prime Minister and other dignitaries will head to the saluting dais at Kartavya Path to witness the parade.

• Republic Day is celebrated with the President unfurling the national flag, followed by spectacular military and cultural pageantry. President Droupadi Murmu will hoist the national flag at 8 am at Kartavya Path today.

• The Republic Day parade will commence at 10:30 am at Delhi’s Kartavya Path today. The parade will continue for around 90 minutes.

• French President Emmanuel Macron is the chief guest at this year’s Republic Day Parade.
  For the first time, the parade will be heralded by 100 women artists playing Indian musical instruments. The parade would commence with the music of Sankh, Naadswaram, Nagada, etc. to be played by women artists. It will also witness the maiden participation of an all-women Tri-Service contingent marching down the Kartavya Path.

• A 95-member marching contingent and a 33-member band contingent from France will also take part in the parade.
  Around 13,000 special guests have also been invited to witness the parade this year.
  A total of 25 tableaux–16 states/UTs and nine ministries/departments–will roll down the Kartavya Path during the parade. The States/UTs are– Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. The ministries are– Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Ministry of Culture, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Election Commission of India, and Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

• On 29 January, the Beating Retreat ceremony will be held at Vijay Chowk. It is held annually on January 29 at Vijay Chowk and is a centuries-old tradition that dates back to the early 1950s, when Major Roberts of the Indian Army indigenously developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands. It marks a centuries-old military tradition when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms, withdrew from the battlefield, and returned to the camps at sunset at the sound of the retreat.