On the occasion of Republic Day, a Ceremonial Parade was held at the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) parade ground at INS Circars on 26 January. Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, ENC took the salute and inspected a 50 men Armed Guard and later reviewed twelve platoons comprising of naval personnel drawn from all ships, submarines, establishments, and Defence Security Corps. Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Chief of Staff, ENC, was the Conducting Officer of the Parade, and Cdr Ravi Kiran was the Parade Commander. The Parade was attended by all Flag Officers, Commanding Officers of various ships, submarines and establishments at Visakhapatnam. The parade concluded with the singing of the National Anthem by all present.
Addressing the personnel on parade, the Commander-in-Chief extended his Republic Day greetings and complimented the men and women on parade on their immaculate turnout and smart drill. Speaking of the occasion, Vice Admiral Jain emphasised the significance of Republic Day and how India became the Sovereign Republic by adopting the Indian Constitution which was drawn from the best practices from across the world by the framers of the Constitution, headed by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. He highlighted the four guiding principles of our Constitution which are justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, and the importance of being aware of our fundamental rights and duties that are enshrined in our Constitution that we must abide by. He also highlighted the restrictions in the fundamental rights imposed on armed forces personnel to ensure discipline and efficient discharge of their duties while safeguarding national security.
Vice Adm Jain appreciated the efforts of all personnel of ENC particularly from the Medical fraternity and the Healthcare workers in limiting the impact of COVID19 amongst the naval community. He also complimented all personnel for maintaining a high tempo of operations by ships, submarines, and aircraft squadrons in meeting all challenges on the Eastern Seaboard despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. He congratulated all frontline units for successful weapon firings and ensuring ordinance on target always. As part of the Republic Day celebrations, all naval ships at Visakhapatnam were also ‘dressed overall’ with various signal flags displayed from their main mast to the front and rear flag poles.
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR COMMAND CELEBRATES REPUBLIC DAY
A ceremonial parade was conducted by Andaman & Nicobar Command, India’s only tri-service command to celebrate the 72nd Republic Day yesterday at Netaji Stadium, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Admiral DK Joshi (Retd) was the Chief Guest and Reviewing Officer for the parade. The parade led by Lt Cdr R Manikandan of the Indian Navy comprised of contingents from Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Andaman & Nicobar Police. Each contingent was represented by of one officer, one Junior Commissioned Officer and fifteen Other Ranks. The parade witnessed the fly past by MI-17 Helicopter from Indian Air Force and Dornier Aircraft from Navy. All government guidelines and Covid protocols were adhered to during the conduct of event. The pride and josh of each participating contingent from the only Joint Services Command of the nation reflected the level of integration of all arms and evolution of joint-manship culture in the Andaman Nicobar Command.