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~*REPUBLIC DAY*~
The Republic Day of India is a national holiday of India to mark the adoption of the Constitution of India and the transition of India from a British Dominion to a republic on January 26, 1950. It is one of the three national holidays in India.
Although India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947, the Constitution of India came into effect only on January 26, 1950. During the transition period from 1947 to 1950, King George VI was the head of country. C. Rajagopalachari served as the Governor-General of India during this period. Following January 26, 1950, Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president of India.
To mark the importance of this occasion, every year a grand parade is held in the capital, New Delhi, from the Raisina Hill near the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's Palace), along the Rajpath, past India Gate and on to the historic Red Fort. The different regiments of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force march past in all their finery and official decorations. The President of India who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces, takes the salute. Parades demonstrating the cultures of the various states and regions of India are also held and broadcast nationwide on television. The parade also includes vibrant displays and floats and traditionally ends with a flypast by Indian Air Force jets.
Celebrations are also held in state capitals, where the governor of the state unfurls the national flag. If the Governor of the state is unwell, or is unavailable for some reason, the Chief Minister of the state assumes the honor of unfurling the National Flag of India.
[SOURCE : Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Day_(India)]
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India is a diverse country, Infact I can say that it is the country with maximum diversity, in terms of religion, language & caste. The 1991 census recorded more 1500 distinct languages, some languages were grouped under one language, and even after this grouping, the census recorded 114 dictinct languages. Out of these 114 languages, 22 languages are now considered as "scheduled languages".
The religious diversity is also very vast, We have Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jainists, Christians, Zoraostrians & Judaists. Even though Hindus make up the majority in the country, they do not make up the majority in every state, city, district, Zila, Village. Therefore, our constitution has been designed keeping this diversity in mind.
Our constitution is not any less sacred than the Ved, Quran or the bible. Each & every step that we take today, we do so because it has been sanctioned by our constitution. It is an exteremely detailed document on what should be considered as legal & illegal, right & wrong. We are very lucky as citizens of India, to have had constitution makers who had a consensus in mind even before we got our freedom, or else, we would not have adopted the constitution after 3 years of our independence. Our constitution is rigid, yet flexible. We have had 94 amendments in our constitution, which shows that we are open to change and are willing to change, yet, at the same time, it is not easy to bring about a change in the constitution. It is debated upon thoroughly in the parliament, sometimes even for more than 5 years, and only after the majority of the parliament is in agreement with the change, does the amendment finally go to the president.
It is very difficult to accomodate the diversity of our country, yet our constitution has been laid down in such a way that no person feels excluded from it. Everyone in our country is considered equal legally, irrespective of the caste, gender, religion or place of birth. Even though we have "majority rule" in our country, no decision has been taken which might be in favour of the majority, but oppresive towards the minority.
Even after facing multiple terrorist attacks in the past year, Our country stands proudly on the globe, with the hope of becoming a superpower by 2020 still intact in the citizens of India.
JAI HIND !
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1UgUpKz3Lc[/YOUTUBE]
VANDE MATARAM - LATA MANGESHKAR
Shiv Shakti
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