Congress' Karnataka unit takes out mega 'Freedom March' in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Aug 15: The Karnataka unit of the Congress on Monday took out a mega 'Freedom March' in the city to commemorate 75 years of independence with thousands of people participating from various parts of the state.
Senior party leaders, including former chief minister Siddaramaiah, All India Congress Committee general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, party state chief D K Shivakumar, his brother and MP D K Suresh, and former state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao were among those who led the march.
The tricolour could be spotted all along the route from where the rally passed and all participants held a flag in their hand.
After passing through important routes including Anand Rao Circle, Freedom Park, Corporation, Town Hall, Minerva Circle, VV Puram, the rally culminated at the National College Ground where a public meeting was organised.
Addressing the gathering, Siddaramaiah said the first Prime Minister of the country Jawaharlal Nehru made a sincere effort to build a modern India during his 17-year tenure and accomplished many important projects.
He built many dams, roads, ports, airports and made the country self-reliant in agriculture, the former Chief Minister said.
He rued that inequality still existed despite rapid progress being made in the country.
"Until we achieve financial and social equality, there is no meaning to political equality and the independence of the country," Siddaramaiah said.
In his address, Shivakumar said people are suffering due to price rise and people are living in fear due to uncertainty.
"Nobody's income doubled as was promised. Prices have sky-rocketed while income has hit the netherworld. They are out to change the character of the country but no one can change this history of our nation," Shivakumar said.
He expressed anguish over the way attempts were made to erase the contribution of Nehru and his successors from history books.
The event is seen as a show of strength by the Congress ahead of state Assembly elections next year.
"We are organising this event to tell the people about the sacrifices made by the great freedom fighters to get independence, whose fruits we all are enjoying today," Suresh told reporters ahead of the march.
Bengaluru was chock-a-block with Congress workers and party leaders on the city roads. Elaborate security arrangements were made to ensure that the commuters were not put to hardship and law and order is maintained.
The march is also perceived as Congress state chief Shivakumar's answer to 'Siddaramotsava, organised by a section of Congress leaders to project Siddaramaiah as the chief ministerial candidate, held in Davangere earlier this month.
Shivakumar is also contending for the top post if the party comes to power.
Shivakumar and his brother Suresh had organised a march for a balancing reservoir across Cauvery river from Mekedatu in Shivakumar's Assembly constituency Kanakapura to the state capital, which was marred by legal hurdles due to the spread of COVID-19 earlier this year.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
