President Ram Nath Kovind unfurled the National Flag on 71st Republic Day at Delhi's Rajpath. After the unfurling ceremony, National Anthem started playing amid the 21-gun salute followed by the parade. Notably, a total of 105 toppers from CBSE and universities across the country will watch the Republic Day parade on Sunday from the Prime Minister's box.
Among the 105, 50 students are from undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph.D. programs, 30 from Class 10 and 25 from Class 12. The maximum number of 14 students are from UP, followed by eight from Assam.
In a break from tradition, PM Narendra Modi paid homage at the National War Memorial instead of Amar Jawan Jyoti on the 71st Republic Day. PM Modi laid a wreath at the memorial along with the three defense chiefs and the Chief of Defence Staff. The memorial has names of 25,942 soldiers inscribed in golden letters on granite tablets.
