Celebrating India @ 75: A Peep Into The Country’s Future
India is gearing up to celebrate its 76th Independence Day on August 15, 2022. The feeling of patriotism is filling the hearts of citizens. Many monuments and government offices are all decked up in the tricolour to mark this historic day.
On this day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will first hoist the ‘Tiranga’ at the iconic Red Fort in New Delhi. Continuing with the traditions, this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will then address the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort. Notably, this will be Prime Minister’s ninth independence day address to the nation from the Red Fort.
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav: This year’s Independence Day is truly special in a number of ways.
This Mahotsav (or the grand celebration) is dedicated to the people of India who have not only been instrumental in bringing India thus far in its evolutionary journey but also hold within them the power and potential to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of activating India 2.0, fuelled by the spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
As part of the Mahotsav or grand celebration, several events and campaigns have been organised for over the last 75 weeks to celebrate independence and the glorious history of India’s people, culture and achievements.
The official journey of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav commenced on March 12, 2021 which started a 75-week countdown to the 75th anniversary of India’s independence and will end post a year on August 15, 2023.
The Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav campaign is based on five broad themes- Freedom Struggle, Ideas@75, Resolve@75, Actions@75 and Achievements@75. Over the past 75 weeks, different events based on the themes were organised to commemorate 75 years of the country’s independence.
Har Ghar Tiranga
‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ is a campaign under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India’s independence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (August 13) said he was overjoyed and proud of the amazing response to the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ movement. He also said record participation was being seen from people across different walks of life in the campaign.
“Overjoyed and proud of the amazing response to the #HarGharTiranga movement. We are seeing record participation from people across different walks of life,” Modi said in a tweet.
This is a great way to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the people of India to hoist the tricolour at their homes between August 13th and 15th to celebrate the 75th Independence Day.
In a tweet, PM Modi had earlier said, “This year, when we are marking Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, let us strengthen the Har Ghar Tiranga Movement. Hoist the Tricolour or display it in your homes between 13th and 15th August. This movement will deepen our connection with the national flag.”
Last month, Prime Minister Modi launched the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and hoist it to mark the 75th year of India’s independence. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Ministry of Culture said.
On July 31, 2022, while addressing the Mann Ki Baat radio programme, the Prime Minister of India urged Indians to replace their social media profile picture with the Flag of India from August 2 to August 15.
Notably, the National Flag of India (in its present design) was adopted in the meeting of the Constituent Assembly on July 22, 1947, days before India gained Independence on August 15, 1947. The colours of the National Flag of India hold great significance and were chosen distinctively to portray the spirit of India. Saffron indicates strength and courage, white indicates peace and truth and green stands for fertility and growth. The Chakra present in the center of the Flag symbolizes motion, progress, and advancement.
The dignity of the National Flag of India is governed by the Flag Code of India and its amendments. It describes the conventions, practices, and instructions for the display of the National Flag.
Commonwealth Games 2022: India’s best ever performance
India clinched as many as 61 medals including 22 Gold Medals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (held in the UK). This might seem fewer than the 101 medals won at the Delhi Commonwealth games in 2010 and the 26 Gold Medals won at Gold Coast in 2018. But after accounting for sports that did not take place, it is actually India’s best ever showing at the Commonwealth Games.
Out of the 101 Medals at Delhi, 49 were from sports like Shooting, Archery, Tennis and Greco-Roman Wrestling- all of which were excluded from the Birmingham Games. Commonwealth Games were formerly known as the British Empire Games. India’s outstanding performance is a testimony to India’s advancement as a republic over the past 75 years. Squash player Anahat Singh became the youngest Indian athlete to compete at the Commonwealth Games at just 14 years of age. The oldest player in the Indian Contingent was the 45-year-old Lawn Bowls player Sunil Bahadur. India won medals in Lawn Bowls for the first time when the Women’s Fours team won Gold, and also the Men’s fours won Silver medals. Sharath Kamal was India’s highest individual achiever winning four (3 Gold and 1 Silver) medals in Table Tennis.
India concluded the games as the best nation in 4 sports: Badminton, Table Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling and as the second best in Boxing.
In fact, India’s entire Wrestling Contingent is returning with medals in their respective categories in addition to the badminton, hockey and cricket teams. India is also bringing home medals in Weightlifting in 10 out of the 16 categories at Birmingham and Badminton medals in 5 out of 6 categories. Powerlifter Sudhir established a Games Record in Para Powerlifting by winning gold in the men’s heavyweight category. Even Weightlifters Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli created Games Records in their respective categories. Mirabai Chanu continued her excellent form from Tokyo last year to establish a Games Record in her weight category and Bindyarani Devi also achieved a Games record in clean and jerk.
On August 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the Indian contingent at his residence to felicitate the players in New Delhi. The Indian athletes produced a sensational show in Birmingham, claiming 61 medals, including 22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze.
The golden period of Indian sports is knocking on the doors, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday as he hailed the gutsy show of the Indian contingent which returned with 61 medals from the Commonwealth Games.
Indian Economy
Over the last seven decades, the Indian economy has seen several ups and downs. In 1947, India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was Rs 2.7 lakh crore which has increased to 3.17 trillion US dollars now, making India the sixth-largest economy. By 2031, India is expected to become the third largest economy. India’s economic history has been marked by several critical milestones amongst which are the crisis years of 1966, 1981 and 1991.
Recently, on August 1, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India’s economy is much better than most countries, adding that India is still the fastest growing economy. “Global agencies have ranked India’s economy high,” the minister said in a reply to the debate in the Lok Sabha.
“We have never seen a COVID-19 pandemic of this kind…all of us were trying to make sure that people in our constituencies are given extra help. I recognise that everybody -MPs and State Government- has played their role,” Sitharaman said.
“Pandemic, second wave, Omicron, Russia-Ukraine (war), even today largest supply components in China are under lockdown…in spite of that, we have held inflation well within 7 per cent or below. That has to be recognised,” she said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the Indian economy saying that despite global headwinds, it is still being recognised as the ‘fastest-growing’ worldwide. She dismissed fears of a recession or stagflation and added that India has adequate foreign exchange reserves and the macroeconomic fundamentals are “perfect”. She credited the government for managing inflation and the country’s debt efficiently.
Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) projected India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.2 per cent for 2022-23.
In view of the 75th Independence Day celebrations, a multi-layered security cover along with Facial Recognition System cameras have been installed at each entry/exit point at Red Fort in the national capital where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on August 15, Delhi police said on Sunday. (ANI)
