Following are some highlights of the 60th Republic Day parade in national capital New Delhi:
- Unlike previous years, there was no elephant ride for the bravery award winning children on Republic Day today because of 'security reasons'.
The 19 children, who won the prestigious award, made their entry in five well decorated jeeps. One child was conferred the award posthumously.
- In the form of tableau, the Railways presented the prestigious Jammu to Baramulla rail link project, which has been declared as a national project. The 345 km rail line, when completed, would boost the economic prosperity of the region.
- The IAF displayed its air power in the form of a tableau IL-76 aircraft-mounted Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) that India purchased from Israel. The system is yet to be inducted into the IAF.
- This year's parade was curtailed to one-and-half hours in view of the security situation in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. Only 12 states and six union ministries and departments presented their tableaux in the parade.
- The Delhi Police marching contingent has a unique distinction of participating in the Republic Day parade ever since India became a Republic in 1950.
- All eyes were on President Pratibha Patil's spouse Devisingh Shekhawat, who was sporting colourful headgear.
- With the UN declaring 2009 as the year of Astronomy, the department of Science and Technology in its tableau presented the advancements made by India in the field of astronomy.
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