A drone show and a 3-D anamorphic projection show cancelled due to bad weather.

With rain drops falling and foot-tapping music playing on the ground, the Beating Retreat ceremony was held on Sunday at Vijay Chowk opposite the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, marking an end to the four-day Republic Day celebrations.

While the audience and performers remained undeterred by the constant rain, a drone show, said to be India’s biggest with 3,500 indigenous drones, and a 3-D anamorphic projection show on the facade of the North and South Blocks had to be cancelled due to bad weather.

The ceremony began with fanfare by buglers and the massed band playing ‘Agniveer’ tune after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Pandey, and the tri-service chiefs welcomed President Droupadi Murmu.

As many as 29 captivating and foot-tapping Indian tunes based on classical ragas were played by the music bands of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the State police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF).

After the Pipes and Drums band played tunes like ‘Kedar Nath’, ‘Queen of Satpura’, and ‘Konkan Sundari’, the CAPF band’s ‘Pyari Bhumi’ and ‘Gangotri’ set the mood of the evening.

The Air Force’s band played ‘Aprajey Arjun’, ‘Charkha’, ‘Vayu Shakti’, ‘Swadeshi’.

Fascinating ‘Ekla Cholo Re’, ‘Hum Taiyyar Hai’, and ‘Jai Bharati’ were played by the band of the Navy with sailors making warship and submarine formations, receiving cheer from the public.

The Army’s band played ‘Shankhnaad’, ‘Sher-e-Jawan’, ‘Bhupal’, ‘Agranee Bharat’, and ‘Young India’, ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, ‘Drummers Call’, and ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ and made formations to depict the National War Memorial and Central Vista.

Following the separate performances from the bands of the three Armed Forces, were the massed bands mesmerising the audience with tunes such as ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’ and ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’.

The ceremony and the rain both ended with the lowering of the flag and buglers playing ‘Sare Jahan Se Acha’ as per the tradition.

Technological prowess

The drone show, as per the Ministry of Defence, was expected to light up the evening sky over the Raisina Hills, weaving myriad forms of national figures/events through smooth synchronisation. It was to depict the success of the start-up ecosystem, technological prowess of the country’s youth and pave the way for future path-breaking trends.

However, an official overlooking the arrangements said the drones were to be flown form a ground inside the Rashtrapati Bhavan but it had gotten completely drenched. “Plus, water could also cause some technical glitches. So, we had to cancel the show,” he said, adding, “It looked beautiful and majestic during the rehearsals.”

According to the Ministry, the Beating Retreat ceremony traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army indigenously developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands.

It marks a centuries-old military tradition, when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield and returned to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the Retreat, it said in a statement.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

It will cost ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 50,000 a day, with the total cost for the 51-day journey totalling to around ₹ 20 lakh for each passenger, the cruise’s Director Raj Singh said.

Here’s your 10-point guide to this big story:

1. The PM inaugurated a ‘Tent City’, developed on the lines of similar setups in Gujarat’s Kutch and Rajasthan, on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi. Over 200 tents will offer tourists a panoramic view of the famed ghats of the holy city on the other side of the river along with live classical music, ‘aarti’ in the evening, and yoga sessions. He also laid the foundation for several inland waterways projects, worth over ₹ 1,000 crore.
2. “With this cruise, many places of eastern India will now figure in world tourism map… What can be more unfortunate that since Independence the banks of the Ganga did not develop and thousands of people living along the Ganges had to migrate for job,” the PM said.
3. MV Ganga Vilas is the first cruise vessel to be made in India. It will travel 3,200 km in 51 days. The 32 tourists from Switzerland, who will take the first journey, were welcomed at the Varanasi port with garlands and tunes of shehnai. They will visit various religious and historical places in Varanasi before setting out on the cruise.
4. The cruise’s Director Raj Singh told news agency PTI that this five-star moving hotel has 18 suites with the capacity of 36 tourists. Apart from this, it has accommodation for 40 crew members. The modernist ship is 62 meters in length and 12 meters wide and requires a draft of 1.4 meters. 
5. It will take tourists across 27 river systems and will cruise through various prominent destinations. According to a statement from Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh issued in Lucknow, the cruise will cover 50 tourist destinations including world heritage sites, national parks, river ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Shahiganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Guwahati in Assam.
6. The cruise has also been fitted with facilities such as spa, salon, and gym. It will cost ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 50,000 a day, with the total cost for the 51-day journey totalling to around ₹ 20 lakh for each passenger, Raj Singh said. The cruise is equipped with a pollution-free system and noise control technology, he added.
7. There is a Sewage Treatment Plant on this cruise so that no sewage flows into the Ganges, as well as a filtration plant which purifies the Ganga water for bathing and other purposes, the cruise director said.
8. “The journey will give the foreign tourists an opportunity to embark upon an experiential voyage and indulge in the art, culture, history, and spirituality of India and Bangladesh,” Union Minister for Port Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal told news agency ANI.
9. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has criticised the initiative. In a tweet in Hindi with a photograph of the cruise, Mr Yadav said, “Now will the BJP take away the jobs of the sailors as well? BJP’s policy of earning money by making religious places tourist sites is condemnable. People from all over the world come to experience the spiritual splendour of Kashi, not for luxury. BJP will no longer be able to cover the darkness of real issues with external glare.” 
10. “India has everything that you can imagine. It has a lot beyond your imagination. India cannot be defined in words. It can only be experienced from the heart,” PM Modi said in his message for tourists.

source/content: ndtv.com (headline edited)