Fighting extreme weather conditions and keeping their head high, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel celebrated India's 71st Republic Day in Ladakh's freezing temperatures. The ITBP personnel with the national flag marked Republic Day celebrations at 17,000 feet, and temprature nearing to minus 20 degrees Celsius in Ladakh.
ITBP personnel who are serving the nation in such difficult terrain are also referred to as 'Himveers', who chanted 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram' to mark R-Day celebrations.
Republic Day celebrations are taking place across the country and with R-Day parade set to begin in sometime at Delhi's Rajpath. This year, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is the chief guest on Republic Day who will witness celebrations with President Kovind, PM Modi and other dignitaries at Delhi's Rajpath.
15 ITBP officials awarded police service medal on Republic Day
This year, 15 ITBP officials were awarded the police service medal on the eve of Republic Day, a spokesperson of the border guarding force said on Saturday.
Second-in-command-rank officer Ratan Singh Sonal, Section Officer C Durai Raj and deputy inspector generals A S Rawat and Nishith Chandra were among the officials decorated with the distinguished and meritorious medal, the spokesperson said.
Sonal, an acclaimed mountaineer who has scaled Mt Everest several times, had led a team of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) climbers in a daring operation to retrieve the bodies of seven people from near a mountain peak in Uttarakhand last year.
Inspector General DK Dimri, DIG S K Sharma and second-in command-rank officer RK Joshi were also among the recipients of the medal.
The about 90,000-personnel strong force is primarily tasked with guarding the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control with China apart from rendering internal security duties like conducting anti-Naxal operations.
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