Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 14th edition of Aero India 2023 at Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru on February 13. “The Runway to a Billion Opportunities' is the theme for Aero India. More than 80 countries are participating in the event. As many as 800 defence companies including 100 foreign are part of the big show.

Major exhibitors in Aero India 2023 include Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Israel Aerospace Industry, BrahMos Aerospace, Army Aviation, HC Robotics, SAAB, Safran, Rolls Royce, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Forge Limited, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and BEML Limited.

In line with Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Make in India, Make for the World’, the event will focus on displaying indigenous equipment/technologies and forging partnerships with foreign companies.

“India is touching new heights and transcending them too,” the Prime Minister said on the occasion.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s grandson Himanshu is pushing the idea of the ‘joy of giving’. He has also become a voice raising environmental issues.

Hello and welcome. This is Sushil Rao in Hyderabad bringing you this podcast.

 Himanshu, who is the son of Municipal administration minister K T Rama Rao was in-charge of an event in Hyderabad. He was in charge of the  Oakridge School annual CASnival, a Creativity, Activity and Service carnival. During the carnival, the students displayed their creativity and artistry with more than 30 stalls set up as part of the event.  

In the CASnival event, a food, fun and games exhibition, the students showed their talent with oak jail, cycle painting stalls and live music concert.  Students and parents attended the event in large numbers and made the program a huge success.

Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, who attended as the chief guest for the event, said the event was symbolic to the thoughts of the current generation.  "Events such as CASnival help in building self-confidence and enhancing creativity. In addition to excelling in studies, children of this generation are paving a way for a better society with their thoughts. We are organising such innovative programmes even in Government schools,” she said.  She expressed her happiness at Himanshu and his friends taking up the responsibility of conducting such programmes meant to benefit the society. 

Speaking on the occasion, Himanshu said the event was  a bridge between environment and education.  He said the amount raised through this event will be used to rejuvenate Nanakramguda Lake in Hyderabad. Himanshu said raising awareness on how to protect lakes and turning students into environmentalists was the aim of their group.

Himanshu said this time, CASnival was organised differently. The stalls were managed by the students themselves and this gave the students a chance to become young entrepreneurs.

Telugu film personalities Nikhil and Kiran Abbavaram also participated in the event.

Thanks for listening. This is Sushil Rao in Hyderabad. 

Indian Tunes based on Classical Ragas to be played in ‘Beating the Retreat’ Ceremony 2023

Indian tunes based on Indian Classical Ragas will be the flavour of ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony this year which will be attended by the  President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces  Droupadi Murmu. The ceremony will take place at the historic Vijay Chowk in the heart of New Delhi on January 29, 2023. As many as 29 captivating and foot-tapping Indian tunes will be played by the music bands of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the State Police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF).

Hello and welcome to this podcast. This is Sushil Rao in Hyderabad.

Prime minister Narendra Modi and Defence minister Rajnath Singh, will also witness the country’s biggest Drone Show, comprising  3,500 indigenous drones. The magnificent drone show will light up the evening sky over the Raisina hills, weaving myriad forms of national figures/events through smooth synchronisation. It will depict the success of start-up ecosystem, technological prowess of the country’s youth and pave the way for future path-breaking trends. The event will be organised by Botlabs Dynamics.

For the first time, a 3-D anamorphic projection will be organised during Beating Retreat Ceremony 2023 on the façade of North and South Block.

The Ceremony will begin with the  ‘Agniveer’ tune and will be followed by ‘Almora’, ‘Kedar Nath, ‘Sangam Dur’, ‘Queen of Satpura’, ‘Bhagirathi’, ‘Konkan Sundari’ by Pipes and Drums band.

Indian Air Force band will play ‘Aprajey Arjun’, ‘Charkha’, ‘Vayu Shakti’, ‘Swadeshi’, while   ‘Ekla Cholo Re’, ‘Hum Taiyyar Hai’, and ‘Jai Bharati’ will be played by the band of Indian Navy.

The Indian Army’s band will play ‘Shankhnaad’, ‘Sher-e-Jawan’, ‘Bhupal’, ‘Agranee Bharat’, ‘Young India’,   ‘Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja’, ‘Drummers Call’, and ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’.

The event will come to a close with the  popular tune of ‘Sare Jahan se Acha’.

The principal conductor of the ceremony will be Flight Lieutenant Leima pokpam Rupachandra Singh. The Army Band will be led by Sub Maj Diggar Singh, the Naval and Air Force band commanders will be M Anthoni Raj and Warrant Officer Ashok Kumar. The conductor of the State Police and CAPF bands will be Assistant Sub Inspector Prem Singh.

The Buglers will perform under the leadership of Naib Subedar Santosh Kumar Pandey, and pipes and drums band will play under the instructions of Subedar Major Baswaraj Vagge.

‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony at the Vijay Chowk on January 29th every year marks the culmination of the four-day-long Republic Day celebrations. It has emerged as an event of national pride when the Colours and Standards are paraded.

The 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. Colours and Standards are cased and flags lowered. The ceremony creates nostalgia for the times gone by.

Thanks for listening. This is Sushil Rao.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Army have successfully completed six flight-tests of Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system from Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur off the Odisha coast. The flight tests were conducted as part of evaluation trials by the Indian Army.

The Telugu film industry is going through a critical phase. High costs of production have made producers stop in their tracks to decide on what path they should take to see that Tollywood does not get derailed. Actor Vishnu Manchu, President of Movie Artistes Association is positive that all issues will be resolved and shootings which were suspended from August 1, 2022 will commence soon. 

Indian students stuck in Sumy in Ukraine woke up to a bright new day with full of hope on March 7. With ice cold water being poured on their expectations of being transported out for evacuation, it was once again a situation of ‘back to the bunkers’ for the disappointed students. Here is a conversation with Mahtab Raza who is voicing the concern of the students.

BDL and Indian Army  signed a contract worth Rs 3,131.82 Crore for manufacture and supply of the missiles. Konkurs-M is a second generation, mechanized infantry Anti-Tank Guided Missile, to destroy armored vehicle equipped with Explosive Reactive Armour. The Missile can be launched either from BMP-II tank or from ground launcher. It has a range between 75 to 4000 metres with a flight time of 19 secs.

The budget presented by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2022 is being described as having an overall positive outlook for aerospace, defence, space and drone sectors in the country. The director of aerospace and defence in Telangana, Praveen P A has said the budgetary provisions are also a big opportunity for Hyderabad.