News Analysis India

Tag: India Gate

  • PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Kartavya Path

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday inaugurated the newly-christened Kartavya Path, the stretch of road from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate earlier known as Rajpath.

    According to the Union housing and urban affairs ministry, the new stretch will be more pedestrian-friendly because of the new red granite walkways spreading 15.5 km that have been created, replacing bajri sand that lined the ground earlier.

    Four new pedestrian underpasses have been built at busy junctions to segregate vehicular traffic from pedestrian movement, making the street safe to cross.

    According to an official, 74 historic light poles and all chain links have been restored, upgraded and reinstalled on the site and more than 900 new light poles have been added where necessary to ensure that the space is always safe for visitors.

    The revamped stretch is part of the Modi government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project, which also envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a common central secretariat, a new prime minister’s residence and office, and a new vice-president’s enclave.

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday inaugurated the newly-christened Kartavya Path, the stretch of road from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate earlier known as Rajpath.

    According to the Union housing and urban affairs ministry, the new stretch will be more pedestrian-friendly because of the new red granite walkways spreading 15.5 km that have been created, replacing bajri sand that lined the ground earlier.

    Four new pedestrian underpasses have been built at busy junctions to segregate vehicular traffic from pedestrian movement, making the street safe to cross.

    According to an official, 74 historic light poles and all chain links have been restored, upgraded and reinstalled on the site and more than 900 new light poles have been added where necessary to ensure that the space is always safe for visitors.

    The revamped stretch is part of the Modi government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project, which also envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a common central secretariat, a new prime minister’s residence and office, and a new vice-president’s enclave.

  • PM Modi unveils 28-ft-tall Netaji statue at India Gate 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled a 28-ft-tall statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.

    The statue is part of the Centre’s Rs 13,450-crore Central Vista project, which will have a new Parliament building, new office and residences for the prime minister and vice-president and new ministry buildings.

    The North and South Blocks, the secretariat buildings flanking Rashtrapati Bhavan, will be converted into museums.

    The black granite statue has been carved from a monolithic block of granite weighing 280 metric tonne.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute after inaugurating 28-ft statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI)

    The block of granite picked for the statue was transported to Delhi from Telangana and the statue was carved out of it in over two months.

    Modi also interacted with some workers involved in the redevelopment work of the Central Vista avenue and told them they will be invited for the Republic Day parade, officials said.

    ALSO READ | Netaji daughter to miss unveiling of father’s statue, wants Govt to consider bringing Bose’s remains back 

    The prime minister also walked along the gallery in the India Gate premises showcasing the evolution of Central Vista Avenue over the past nine decades.

    Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, G Kishan Reddy, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Meenakshi Lekhi and Kaushal Kishore were present at the event among others.

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled a 28-ft-tall statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.

    The statue is part of the Centre’s Rs 13,450-crore Central Vista project, which will have a new Parliament building, new office and residences for the prime minister and vice-president and new ministry buildings.

    The North and South Blocks, the secretariat buildings flanking Rashtrapati Bhavan, will be converted into museums.

    The black granite statue has been carved from a monolithic block of granite weighing 280 metric tonne.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute after inaugurating 28-ft statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI)

    The block of granite picked for the statue was transported to Delhi from Telangana and the statue was carved out of it in over two months.

    Modi also interacted with some workers involved in the redevelopment work of the Central Vista avenue and told them they will be invited for the Republic Day parade, officials said.

    ALSO READ | Netaji daughter to miss unveiling of father’s statue, wants Govt to consider bringing Bose’s remains back 

    The prime minister also walked along the gallery in the India Gate premises showcasing the evolution of Central Vista Avenue over the past nine decades.

    Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, G Kishan Reddy, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Meenakshi Lekhi and Kaushal Kishore were present at the event among others.

  • Political squabbles erupt between BJP and TMC over decision to install Netaji statue at India Gate

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Political squabbles have erupted between the BJP and West Bengal’s ruling TMC over the installation of a statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at the IndiaGate in New Delhi.  

    A day after welcoming the Centre’s decision to install the statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose beneath a canopy at India Gate, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday asked the central government to declare national holiday on Netaji’s birthday.

    “We again appeal to the Central government that Netaji’s birthday be declared a National Holiday to allow the entire nation to pay homage to the National leader and celebrate #DeshNayakDibas in most befitting manner”, she tweeted, adding that a national university – the Jai Hind University, was planned to be opened in West Bengal by the state government in honour of Netaji.

    Slamming the BJP–led government in the Centre, Mamata said the decision to install the Netaji’s statue was taken under the TMC’s pressure.

    “Those dividing the nation should read Netaji”, she said a day after her party termed the centre’s decision aimed at diverting the people’s protest erupted against the rejection of West Bengal’s tableau on Netaji for the Republic Day parade.

    “The real tribute would have been the Centre taking steps to unravel the mystery shrouding Netaji’s disappearance”, the TMC said on Saturday.

    Amid all this, the workers of TMC and the BJP also reportedly clashed in Kolkata when BJP’s Arjun Singh went to pay homage and garland the bust of Netaji.

    TMC’s Sunday attack came on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi installed a hologram statue of Netaji at India Gate till a statue of granite is installed beneath a canopy.

    In a way to counter the Centre’s decision to install the Netaji statue, Mamata has announced to set up a separate Bengal Planning Commission drawing inspiration from Netaji’s concept on National Planning Commission.

    Slamming Mamata’s offensive, BJP’s national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asked the TMC supremo not to play politics with the decision to install the state of Netaji. “Netaji belongs to everyone, not just to Mamata Banerjee, so she should not speak in the language of politics”, he said. BJP MP Dilip Ghosh also talking to media said that the BJP-led centre government has bestowed honour by taking a decision to install a statue of Netaji at India Gate. He said that the Central government’s gesture expresses immense love for the brave soul of our country and the TMC should not play politics with such decision

  • PM Modi unveils hologram statue of Netaji on his 125th birth anniversary today

    By Online Desk

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate here on Sunday at around 6:30 pm and said that he is glad to see immense enthusiasm towards the ceremony.

    In order to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of the great freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and as part of the year-long celebrations, the government has decided to install a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.

    Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate on his 125th birth anniversary #ParakramDiwas pic.twitter.com/XmKJ6LuhNk
    — ANI (@ANI) January 23, 2022
    Till the work on the statue is completed, a hologram statue of Netaji will be present at the same place, as per an official statement issued by PMO.

    During the ceremony, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “This is not just a granite statue but a befitting tribute to the legendary Netaji, who gave everything for India’s freedom.”

    The statue, made of granite, shall be a fitting tribute to the immense contribution of Netaji to our freedom struggle and would be a symbol of the country’s indebtedness to him.

    The hologram statue will be powered by a 30,000 lumens 4K projector. An invisible, high gain, 90 per cent transparent holographic screen has been erected in such a way that it is not visible to visitors.

    “The 3D image of Netaji will be projected on it to create the effect of a hologram. The size of the hologram statue is 28 feet in height and 6 feet in width,” the PMO said.

    During the programme, the Prime Minister also conferred the Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. A total of seven awards will be presented during the ceremony, it added.

    Union government has instituted the annual Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar to recognise and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organisations in India in the field of disaster management.

    The award is announced every year on January 23. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual, the statement read further.

    It has been the constant endeavour of the Prime Minister to honour the freedom fighters in a befitting manner and the special focus of these efforts has been on the legendary freedom fighter and visionary leader, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

    Several steps have been taken in this regard, including the announcement that his birth anniversary will be celebrated as Parakram Diwas every year. In this spirit, Republic Day celebrations will begin a day early, from January 23. 

    (With inputs from agencies)

  • Ex-servicemen express mixed reactions on merger of Amar Jawan Jyoti with NWM’s eternal flame

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Ex-servicemen expressed mixed reactions on the Centre’s decision to extinguish and merge the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial (NWM) here on Friday.

    Former Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter and requested him to rescind the decision.

    “Sir, the eternal flame at India Gate is part of India’s psyche. You, I and our generation grew up saluting our brave jawans there,” he stated.

    While National War Memorial is great, the memories of Amar Jawan Jyoti are indelible, Bahadur noted.

    However, Former Lieutenant General Satish Dua expressed “great satisfaction” on merging the Amar Jawan Jyoti with the NWM’s eternal flame.

    “As someone who had steered the design selection and construction of the NWM, I had been of this view all along that India Gate is a memorial to the fallen heroes of First World War,” Dua stated.

    The Amar Jawan Jyoti was added in 1972 as we did not have another memorial, he mentioned.

    The NWM pays homage to the soldiers who were killed in action after the country’s independence and all homage ceremonies have been shifted to the new memorial already, he noted.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on February 25, 2019, inaugurated the NWM, where names of 25,942 soldiers have been inscribed in golden letters on granite tablets.

    Former Army Chief General Ved Malik also supported the Centre’s decision to merge the flames.

    He said on Twitter that it is “a natural thing” to merge flames now as the NWM has been established and all ceremonials related to remembrance and honouring soldiers killed in action are being held there.

    Former Colonel Rajendra Bhaduri said the Amar Jawan Jyoti is sacred and need not be extinguished.

    “India Gate has names of Indian soldiers who died in wars. It is immaterial who constructed it,” Bhaduri said on Twitter.

    The Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial for Indian soldiers who were killed in action in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, which India won, leading to the creation of Bangladesh.

    It was inaugurated by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972.

    Former Lieutenant General Kamal Jit Singh said on Friday that after the NWM’s inauguration, it is logical to unify both the flames.

    “Rationalise multiple memorials in penny packets,” he said on Twitter.

    Former Lieutenant Colonel Anil Duhoon said on Twitter that “If one can’t make it then break it” is the BJP’s mantra for new India.

    He said the Amar Jawan Jyoti is too sacred to be touched or relocated.

    “Why can’t they have two of them? Can’t understand their functioning,” Duhoon added.

    Government sources said it was an odd thing to see that the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti paid homage to the martyrs of the 1971 and other wars but none of their names are present there.

    The names inscribed on the India Gate are of only some martyrs who fought for the British in the World War-1 and the Anglo Afghan War and thus is a symbol of our colonial past, the government sources said.

    They said the names of all Indian martyrs from all the wars, including 1971 and wars before and after it are housed at the National War Memorial.

    Hence it is a true homage to have the flame paying tribute to martyrs there, they added.

  • Dalit girl death: Members of Bhim Army take out candle march at India Gate

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Members of the Bhim Army, a Dalit group, took out a candle march near India Gate on Wednesday, demanding capital punishment for the guilty in the rape and murder case of a nine-year-old girl in the Old Nangal area in Southwest Delhi.

    Over 100 members of the group assembled near India Gate in the evening, lit candles and raised slogans demanding justice for the girl, who was allegedly cremated without the approval of her parents.

    One of the protesters alleged that the girl was “gangraped, killed and later cremated without the family’s approval to destroy evidence”.

    “This is not a petty crime. This is a targeted crime. These criminals have got political protection,” he alleged.

    ALSO READ | Dalit girl death: NCPCR asks Twitter to take action on Rahul Gandhi posting photo of victim’s family

    Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Delhi government will order a magisterial inquiry into the death of the Dalit girl following alleged sexual assault.

    He also announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the girl.

    The parents of the girl, accompanied by hundreds of locals, have been staging a protest near the site of the incident, demanding capital punishment for the accused.

    The girl lived with her parents in a rented house in front of a crematorium.

    At around 5.30 pm on Sunday, she went to get cold water from a cooler at the crematorium, her parents said.

    Around 6 pm, the crematorium’s priest, Radhey Shyam, and two-three others called the girl’s mother to the spot.

    Showing the girl’s body to her mother, they claimed that she got electrocuted while getting water from the cooler.

    It was alleged that the priest and the others dissuaded the woman from making a PCR call, saying police will make a case out of it and during the post-mortem, doctors will steal the girl’s organs, so it was better to cremate her.

    Four people, including the priest, have been arrested in connection with the incident.

    The accused have been booked for murder and rape.

  • Central Vista project: Republic Day parade next year to be held on refurbished Rajpath

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Republic Day parade next year will be held on the refurbished Rajpath as the redevelopment work of the Central Vista Avenue, stretching from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, is expected to be completed by this November, officials said on Friday.

    Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who reviewed the status of ongoing construction works, said citizens will get an avenue that they will be proud of.

    “Reviewed the status of ongoing construction works of Central Vista Avenue project with the secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, officials of ministry and CPWD, contractor and architect Bimal Patel. The progress so far is satisfactory and on schedule. Citizens will get an avenue they will be proud of,” he tweeted.

    An official in the ministry said that the Rajpath redevelopment project includes large scale stonework, construction of underpasses, underground amenities blocks and horticulture work and sufficient space for parking.

    “Twelve bridges on artificial ponds are being built. People visiting Rajpath will have an amazing experience. The redevelopment of the Central Vista Avenue will be completed by November and the Republic Day parade next year will be held on the newly-developed Rajpath,” the official said.

    Infrastructure firm Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited has been executing the project as part of the government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project.

    The redevelopment project of the Central Vista — the nation’s power corridor — envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a common central secretariat, revamping of the three-km-long Rajpath, from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, new prime minister residence and PMO, and new Vice President Enclave.

  • No jamun trees uprooted in Central Vista Avenue revamp, few to be transplanted: Puri

    This comes a day after reports said that several jamun trees could be uprooted as part of the Central Vista Avenue redevelopment project.

  • Netaji’s kin demand his statue at India Gate

    The kin of Subhas Chandra Bose on Thursday demanded a statue of the leader at India Gate in the national Capital and declaration of his birthday on January 23 as “Liberation Day”.

    The demand comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 182-metre-tall statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, considered to be the tallest in the world, in Gujarat.

    The imposing monument — the Statue of Unity — is built near the Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat’s Narmada district.

    “NDA Government under the leadership of @narendramodi ji kept its commitment by unveiling #SardarVallabhaiPatel’s statue on 31Oct 2018 & celebrating the day as #UnityDay. Demand rising to unveil a statue of the #LiberatorofIndia-on 23 Jan’19 at #IndiaGate Delhi & declare the day as #LiberationDay (sic),” Netaji’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose said in a tweet.

    When contacted, Chandra Kumar Bose, who is also a vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) West Bengal unit, told PTI that the statue near India Gate was a demand of several Indian National Army (INA) and Army veterans.

    The Prime Minister had, on October 21, hoisted the national flag at the Red Fort and unveiled a plaque to mark the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the Azad Hind Government by Subhas Chandra Bose.

    This was the first time the Prime Minister hoisted the national flag at the ramparts of the historic Red Fort for the second time in a year. Traditionally, the prime minister unfurls the tricolour at the Red Fort on Independence Day.

    Modi had also announced a national award in the name of Subhas Chandra Bose, to be given every year to those police personnel who do excellent work in rescue-and-relief operations during any kind of disaster.