Children conferred national awards all smiles at Republic Day parade

The children awarded with Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar were all smiles as they greeted President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with folded hands as they passed the Rajpath during the Republic Day parade.

The children, awarded by President Kovind on Tuesday, stood up in a decked-up open jeep and gleefully waved at the crowd gathered to celebrate the 70th Republic Day. President Kovind and Prime Minister Modi waved back at the children.

The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar was given to 26 children and under two main categories Bal Shakti Puraskar and Bal Kalyan Puraskar.

The Bal Shakti Puraskar was given to boys and girls for their outstanding work in the fields of innovation, scholastic, sports, arts and culture, social service and bravery. The Bal Kalyan Puraskar was given to individuals and institutions for their commendable contribution and service in the field of child welfare.

The youngest awardee was seven-year-old Eiha Dixit, who waved excitedly at the crowd as she paraded in front of them.

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Among other Bal Shakti Puraskar awardees in the field of innovation were Mohammad Suhail Chinya Salimpasha, Arunima Sen, Aswath Suryanarayanan Sen, Naisargik Lenka, A U Nachiketh Kumar and Madhav Lavakare.

In the field of social service, Aryamaan Lakhotia, Prathyaksha B R and Eiha Dixit were awarded, while Ayushman Tripathy, Megha Bose and Nishant Dhankhar bagged the award in scholastics.

In art and culture, Raam M, Dev Dushyant Kumar Joshi, Vinayaka M, Aryaman Agarwal and Truptraj Atul Pandya were awarded. In sports, Shivangi Pathak, Esow, Priyam Tated, Anish and Vijay Deokule were given the award.

Kartik Kumar Goyal, Adrika Goyal and Nikhil Dayanand Jituri were given bravery awards.

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As many as 616 schoolchildren also performed during the Republic Day event in Delhi.

Three schools were selected by the Directorate of Education and the Defence Ministry to perform at the function and children from East Zone Cultural Centre also participated in the event.

India celebrated the Republic Day with a grand display of its military might and rich cultural diversity as the ceremonial parade rolled down the majestic Rajpath here in presence of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as the chief guest.

The theme of this year's celebrations was principles of Mahatma Gandhi.

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