The 3-day ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’ was held in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh (UP) from November 17-19, 2021 as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahaotsav’ celebration.
- The event was inaugurated by Minister of Defence, Rajnath Singh in Jhansi, UP on November 17, 2021. It was organized by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) along with the government of Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Highlights of Different Initiatives Inaugurated at the event:
a.Inauguration of Development Projects:
i.At the event, in Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi participated and dedicated various developmental projects including the Arjun Sahayak Project, Ratauli Weir Project, Bhaoni Dam Project, and Majhgaon–Chilli Sprinkler Project.
- The cumulative cost of all these government projects is more than ~Rs 3,250 crore and once it becomes operational, the projects will help irrigate around 65,000 hectares of land in the various districts of UP such as Mahoba, Hamirpur, Banda, and Lalitpur.
- The projects will also provide potable drinking water to the region.
Note – Anandiben Patel, Governor of UP, Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of UP, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and State Ministers, have participated in the launch.
b.Inauguration of Atal Ekta Park:
i.The PM also inaugurated Atal Ekta Park in Jhansi, UP, which is named after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
- The park has been built at a cost of over Rs 11 crore and is spread across an area of about 40,000 square metre.
- The park will have a library and a statue of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The statue has been built by the renowned sculptor Ram Sutar (who designed the Statue of Unity).
ii.Solar Power Park: The PM laid the foundation stone of 600 MW Ultramega Solar Power Park at Garautha in Jhansi, UP. It is being constructed at a cost of over Rs 3000 crore and will help provide the dual benefits of cheaper electricity and grid stability.
c.PM Modi hands over LCH, Drones, Electronic Warfare Suite
i.During the ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’, PM handed over the indigenously built Light Combat Helicopters (LCH), developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, to the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari as a part of boosting the nation’s self-reliance in the defence sector.
- LCH is the only attack helicopter that could land and take off at an altitude of 5,000 meter with a considerable load of weapons and fuel.
ii.PM handed over indigenously developed drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane.
iii.The PM handed over the Advanced Electronic Warfare suite ‘Shakti’ for the naval warships to the Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh.
- The Advanced Electronic Warfare suite was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
iv.PM laid the foundation stone of a Rs 400-crore project to develop the propulsion system of the anti-tank guided missiles by Bharat Dynamics Ltd. It is the first project in the Jhansi node of defence industrial corridor in UP.
d.Launch for NWM – Kiosk, Mobile app:
i.He also launched 2 projects related to the National War Memorial (NWM) in New Delhi, one of which was a kiosk to enable visitors to pay floral homage to martyrs through a click of a button.
ii.Mobile app of NWM: The 2nd project is the mobile app of NWM, which was developed by the NWM Directorate to provide a virtual tour of NWM with 360-degree experience. It allows visitors to listen to commentary in 21 languages based on the location within NWM.
e.PM Became 1st member of NCC Alumni Association:
PM Launched the NCC (National Cadet Corps) Alumni Association and registered himself as the 1st member of the association. He also launched National Programme of Simulation Training for NCC Cadets. The NCC Alumni Association would fulfill the demand of lakhs of former NCC cadets.
f.Sainik Schools: The PM also referred to the setting up of 100 Sainik schools. Recently, the Cabinet approved the setting up of 100 Sainik Schools throughout India.
- The Schools will be set up in the next 2 years in partnership with private educational institutions, NGOs and State Governments. At least one Sainik School is proposed in each State/Union Territories.
g.The DRDO demonstrated the fully offensive capabilities of its operational decentralised UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) swarm comprising 25 drones flying coherently with minimal human intervention drone swarms at a three-day ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’ in Jhansi, UP.
- The drones’ unique capabilities of distributive sensing, distributive decision making, reconfigurable path planning, and autonomous attack formations were displayed at the event.
h.The 3-day ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’ event ended with the 193rd birth anniversary of Rani Lakshmi Bai on November 19, 2021.
Recent Related News:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the curtain raiser activities of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ (India@75), the government’s initiative to mark 75 years of India’s Independence at the event organised in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It will continue till 15 August 2023.
About Ministry of Defence:
Union Minister – Raj Nath Singh (Constituency – Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh)
Minister of State – Ajay Bhatt (Constituency – Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Uttarakhand)
