Lata to sing at Parliament hall

The 50th Anniversary Secretariat has choreographed an impressive programme for August 14-15, which was approved at a meeting held last week. At the stroke of the midnight hour, a laser show and a magnificent fireworks display from the National Stadium are to light the skies over Rashtrapati Bhavan, India Gate and Raj Path.

It has been decided to hold a March of the Nation’ on the evening of August 14. As many as 50,000 people representing different sections of society are to be drawn from all over the country and will be led in groups of 1,000 each by freedom fighters carrying the national flag. The march is to begin from the National Stadium here and culminate at Vijay Chowk, where Members of Parliament will receive the flags of the freedom fighters; and the MPs would then proceed to Central Hall for the special midnight session. At the function in Central Hall, the President will deliver a speech and archival recordings of a speech by Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru’s Tryst with destiny’ speech will be played, after which Lata Mangeshkar and Bhimsen Joshi would sing. Two minutes’ silence will be observed in memory of the martyrs of the independence struggle.

On the morning of August 15, the Prime Minister will unfurl the flag on the ramparts of Red Fort while in the evening, a big cultural event is to be held at the Diwan-e-Am.