New Delhi: India is celebrating its 66th Republic Day on Monday with US President Barack Obama as its chief guest. He is the first US President to be the chief guest at the parade.

On January 26, 1950, the Indian Constitution came into force. The ceremonial Republic Day parade to commemorate the day will begin at 10 AM and continue for a little over 2 hours, the longest parade in eight years. As the chief guest of the event, Obama will view the parade from behind a specially designed bullet proof enclosure.

With women empowerment being this year’s theme for the Republic Day parade, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force will field an all women contingent each.

President Pranab Mukherjee will award the nation’s highest peace time gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra, posthumously to two Army personnel on Monday.

Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh of 57th Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles and Major Mukund Varadarajan of 44th Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles will be awarded for sacrificing their lives in the line of duty while battling terrorists in Kashmir.

The government has also approved 374 gallantry and other defence decorations in 2015.

Meanwhile, unprecedented security measures have been put in place for this parade. The Army, police, paramilitary forces, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) will be working in tandem with the US intelligence agency CIA and Navy Seals for foolproof security. Around 45,000 security personnel are part of the security team.

Rajpath is divided into 13 zones and each zone is being manned by a team which will be headed by their DCP. 2,000 security personnel will guard the main stage. The entire route will be covered with CCTV cameras and key buildings facing Rajpath and Obama’s route will have sniper cover. All security passes are being made at the spot so as to avoid duplication.

A no-fly zone within a radius of 400 km of the venue of Rajpath has been imposed for the day barring operation of flights in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

Courtesy: IBN