Eves Power to Prevail at R Day Parade in National Capital

With 75 th Republic Day being held with the themes of “Viksit Bharat” and “Bharat – Loktantra ki Matruka” and the women marching contingents and flying squadrons being led by women officers, the celebration will have the best representation of women at R Day celebration in New Delhi.
For the first time, the parade will be heralded by 100 women artists playing Indian musical instruments, who will play the music of “Sankh”, “Naadswaram”, “Nagada”, etc. It will witness an all-women Tri-Service contingent marching down Kartavya Path for the first time. The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) contingents will comprise women personnel from the BSF, CRPF, and SSB. A total of 48 Agnivayu women will be part of the IAF contingent. The contingents of Armed Forces Medical Services and Delhi Police will also be part of the parade. The combined daredevil bikers team on Royal Enfield Bullets, a first in parade history, will precede Indian Air Force assets.
Displaying the women’s prowess, the IAF’s Tableau based on the theme “ Bharatiya Vayusena, Saksham, Sashakt and Atmnirbhar” (IAF Potent, Powerful and Self-reliant) will be led by Flit Lt Ananya Sharma and Flying Officer Asma Shaikh. Similarly, the IAF’s marching contingent will be led by Squadron Leader Rashmi Thakur with Squadron Leaders- Sumita Yadav and Pratiti Ahluwalia and Flt Lt Kirti Rohil.
While the Army and Navy contingents/floats will also show their might, the IAF is entering the fray with 51 aircraft, including 8 transport aircraft (with C-295 transport aircraft making debut), 13 helicopters, and one heritage aircraft. They would participate in the dazzling flypast and would include 15 women pilots. One Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft and two Rafale aircraft of the French Air Force will also participate in the Fly-past. A 95-member marching contingent and a 33-member band will be part of the contingent.
Additionally, the floats from 16 States/UTs and 09 Ministries/Organisations tableaux will display the country’s rich cultural diversity, unity, and progress.
Chief Guest
The French President Emmanuel Macron will be the Chief Guest. This is for the 6th time, a representative of France will be India’s guest. Prime Minister Jacques Chirac (1976) and the Presidents Valery Giscard d’Estaing (1980), Jacques Chirac (1998), Nicolas Sarkozy (2008), and Francois Hollande (2016) were the earlier guests. Besides France, the representatives of the United Kingdom were the guests at the R Day function on five occasions.
Economy
While India is aspiring to be a $5 trillion economy by next year, the outstanding internal and external debt at Rs.169,46,666.65 crore at the end of 2023-2024 is a cause of concern. It was Rs 152,61,122.12 crore at the end of 2022-2023. The United Nations has projected India’s growth rate (GDP) at 6.2% this year, while the RBI governor Shaktikanta Das has predicted,
That the Indian economy is expected to grow 7 per cent in fiscal 2024-25. In the meanwhile the Indian rupee stands at Rs. 83.12 per US Dollar.
Health
The country’s population is 140.76 crore with a 74.37% literacy rate. The infant mortality rate is 25.799 deaths per 1000 live births. The doctor-population ratio is 1:834 and the nurse-population ratio is 1:476. The existing hospital bed-to-population ratio is 1.3/1000 (private plus public hospitals), and there is a deficit of 1.7/1000 population. As such there is an additional requirement of 2.4 million beds. Going by the strength of 13,08,009 allopathic doctors, 5,65000 AYUSH doctors, and 361,400 nursing personnel, the health infrastructure needs drastic improvement.
Unemployment
As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the unemployment rate scaled down to 3.2 % in 2022-2023 as against 4.1 % in 2021-22 and 4.2 % in 2020-2021. However, according to a Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report, the national unemployment rate stood at 7.95 % as of July 2023. The unemployment rate in urban and rural India was 7.93% and 7.44%. respectively. Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Delhi are having the highest unemployment rates. In 2023 the unemployment rate was the highest at 37.4 %.in Haryana and the lowest at 09 %.in Odisha.
Defence/Space
With a thrust on self-reliance and a robust budget of Rs 5,93,537.64 crore, the country’s defence export is expected to cross Rs 24,000 crore in the financial year 2024. Similarly with rapid progress in space research, now ISRO plans to launch the Mangalayan II this year. It will study aspects of Mars, including interplanetary dust, and the Martian atmosphere and environment. With these advancements let’s hope that India becomes superpower soon!