UP: Lucknow hosts 76th Army Day celebrations with parade of six marching contingents

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 15 : The 76th Army Day was celebrated with grandeur on Monday in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow with a parade of six marching contingents.

The celebrations were organised at the parade ground of the 11 Gorkha Rifles Regimental Centre in Lucknow under the command of Major General Salil Seth.
Army Chief General Manoj Pande reviewed the parade and presented gallantry awards to the selected officers and jawans.

Six marching contingents from the army's different regiments, a military band comprising five regimental brass bands and three pipe bands participated in the parade.

The 50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade, Sikh Light Infantry, Jat Regiment, Garhwal Rifles, Bengal Engineer Group and the Army Air Defence were among the six marching contingents at the parade.

The five regimental brass/military bands included the Punjab Regiment Centre, Grenadier Regimental Centre, Bihar Regiment Centre, Sikh Light Regiment Centre, Kumaon Regimental Centre and SIKH Regimental Centre.

The five regimental pipe bands that participated in the parade were the SIKH Regiment Centre, SIKH LI Regiment Centre, JAT Regiment Centre, KUMAON Regimental Centre and 1 Signal Training Centre.
In his address to the toops, Army Chief General Manoj Pande said that the Army is fully prepared and capable to deal with any challenge and have taken many concrete steps to develop our capabilities on the northern borders.
"In the past, the Indian Army has faced all security challenges with determination and commitment. I am proud that each of our soldiers has fulfilled his responsibility, be it security of borders, deployment in difficult areas and challenging weather. Our army is fully prepared and capable to deal with any challenge. Our army has foiled the infiltration attempts with full vigilance. As a result of continuous efforts by the security forces in the areas of Jammu and Kashmir, there has been a significant reduction in violence. We, together with all the stakeholders, are working determinedly to root out terrorism from the country," he said.
General Manoj Pande asserted that today our country stands on the brink of a new era, adding, "We all have set a vision of a 'Viksit Bharat' as our country completes 100 years of independence for which a secure environment is essential and Indian Army plays a vital role in achieving it.
"There have been advances in automation, digitization and networking to make our systems and functions more efficient. In this, we have got more benefits in areas like operational situational awareness, decision support system, management information system and human resource management. Agnipath scheme is an important step in the field of human resource management. Our efforts are continuing in nation building work especially in the border areas. We are taking our efforts forward by linking them with the projects of the state and central governments" he said.
The parade was followed by a skydiving display and daredevil jumps by the Paratroopers, a daredevil motorcycle display by the Corps of Signals Daredevil team and a fly-past by helicopters of the Army Aviation Corps consisting of the ALH Dhruv and the ALH Rudra Helicopters.