| * Happy Independence Day India * |

The strike of 12 am tonight marked the 69th year of India as an independent nation. Reaching another milestone, the day with itself brings such a joy, that fill all around us with a patriotic zeal, be it our old grandpa reliving his early days of freedom fighting or our small sisters & brothers going to the Independence Day march in their school uniforms with a national flag in their hand.

Amid all the pride and glory, it is surely a good time to flip through the pages of our achievements in all these years. While some have a high opinion of India's growth story since its independence, some others think the country's performance in the six decades has been abysmal. However, 69 years is a short span in the life of a nation, and barely marks the first baby steps of a toddler. Hence, any assessment of India has to be generous and optimistic.

Let us now have a brief glance at the glimpses of India's achievements in various sectors since Independence.

Unity and Integrity

This is the most important achievement of India since independence because India has survived through every crisis & maintained its form throughout these years successfully. With a large number of ethnic groups, and major diversity across races, India is one successful nation in binding all of it together. Its unity and integrity is one such trait, admired across the world.

Vibrant Democracy

A widely known fact is that India is one of the largest democracies in the world. Right from the days of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, when the two topmost Indian leaders often differed drastically from each other on core issues, to the contemporary times of Anna Hazare, we take pride in being the only nation to have given its people the right to vote since the very first day of its independence.

Education Escalation

Education is the backbone of any country's development & India has put enormous efforts to strengthen its backbone. During the initial years of independence the percentage of literates was only 30% approx. Today, we have got 65% literates and that too with enormous progress in the percentage of women education. Indian Government has declared it a fundamental right to get free & compulsory education to all up to 14 years of age & has introduced various schemes to spread the light of education to every nook & corner.

Employment Opportunities

The growth of Industries &Service sectors over this 69 years has provided for huge employment opportunities to the youth, thus able to bring down the unemployment curve downwards. With a historical trend of increasing growth rate Indian market has always been a potential area for creation of new jobs. Self-employment schemes like RGSRY, JRY etc have given new life to many people.

Looking after the Weaker Sections

Indian Constitution provided equality to all in all sections. We have declared right to equality as a fundamental right & have also provisions for SC's & ST's. Providing reservations to the weaker classes made them to take up various activities in Government sectors & thus improved their life conditions to significant levels.

The Blooming Infrastructure

India has made a praiseworthy progress in the development of major infrastructure. Roads, Railways, Communication systems have made significant progress in these 69 years. We are now able to connect several villages by road network. Thanks to our improving transport system, all the major cities are well connected & reaching our desired destination is hardly any problem these days.

Endeavors in Space

Despite lacking in high end resources & equipment, India has touched some promising milestones in space journey in the last seven decades. From launching our first satellite Aryabhatta (1975) we have moved on to our first moon probe Chandrayan (2008). And to add with that we have successfully launched our highly acclaimed Mars Orbiter Mangalyan in 2014. Our country has definitely achieved a lot to mark its space in this field. An these are just a few strands of the feathers in our cap.

Progress in Entertainment & Sports fields

Entertainment is one such area where India is continuously climbing the ladder, setting up a niche every year. Stepping up from the regular drama stories, we have seen the emergence of directors like Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, and Sujoy Ghosh with their brilliant pieces like Gangs of Wasseypur, Queen, and Kahaani, creating a thunder on the big screen. Internationally too, India has managed to grab many an eyeballs with its movies like Mother India, Salaam Bombay and Lagaan making it to the nominated list of Academy Awards.

Even in the area of sports we have created several records.We nestle achievers from various areas. Cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil dev, hockey ace Dhyan Chand, tennis star Sania, badminton champion Saina, grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand, wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwara Dutta...to India's pride & glory, the list is nearly endless.

Polio Eradication

In a one of its kind achievement, India was announced as a polio-free region by the World Health Organization, in March 2014. Since the case of young girl paralyzed by polio in January 2011, in West Bengal, no other case has been reported. This is one high end feat, a glorious entry in India's list of achievements.

Aiding Other Nations

Apart from working on our own development India is aiding several countries in their development too. For example, India is aiding 53 Pan African countries in the areas of education& health, India also provided funds to several countries five year plans like Nepal etc.

In these 69 years India has made its own mark in almost every field. For a country with huge diversities in culture, language etc., it is not easy to achieve this progress,but India has managed it with ease & made every Indian feel proud to be an Indian!

Jai Hind!