CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a fast when he visits Chennai to inaugurate DefExpo-2018, the country’s mega defence exhibition, on Thursday. According to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Prime Minister will fast to protest the disruption of Parliament by the Opposition during the just-concluded Budget session.
Speaking to reporters, she said she too would observe fast.
“I will be fasting. PM Modi is also fasting. Fasting is not going to stop him from coming here,” Sitharaman said, after opening the DefExpo 2018, which celebrates Indian MSMEs that export equipment to armies across the world.
During his visit to the city to inaugurate DefExpo-2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also launch the India Pavilion, which will showcase the strength of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).After landing in Chennai airport around 9 am, Modi is scheduled to reach Mahabalipuram in a helicopter. After completing the events at the DefExpo, he will head to IIT-Madras campus in a helicopter.
He will also be visiting the Cancer Institute, Adyar, to inaugurate a variety of infrastructure projects on the campus, including a palliative care centre, a day care centre and nurses quarters. A helipad has been prepared for the Prime Minister’s visit at IIT campus.
After the function at Cancer Institute, Modi will reach the city’s airport in a helicopter around 2 pm and leave for Delhi in an Indian Air Force flight.Meanwhile, Opposition parties in the State, led by DMK, are getting ready to wave black flags to the Prime Minister to condemn the Centre’s failure to form the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). DMK sources said party cadre will be lined up from airport to Saidapet to wave black flags even as Modi would be taking the air route. A few other organisations and cinema personalities have also announced protests around the airport.
The India Pavilion, which Modi will be inaugurating, will showcase the DRDO’s flagship products and innovations in all formats — indoor, outdoor and a live demo. The theme of the pavilion is ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’. The DRDO is also putting up flagship products and systems in two broad categories — one pertaining to technologies ready for transfer to industries for production and the other relating to technologies ready for exports.
The DRDO will be participating in the live demo for some of its indigenously designed and developed products, which include light combat aircraft Tejas, main battle tank Arjun MK-II, Arjun Armoured Recovery and Repair Vehicle (ARRV), T-72 Trawl, T-72 Bridge Layer Tank, Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhaP), Mobile Surveillance System and Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS).
The Prime Minister’s visit comes in the backdrop of protests in the city over the delay by the Centre to form CMB.
Digital attractions too lined up
Another key attraction at the India pavilion of the expo would be an array of digital experiences, including war game simulation zone, augmented reality, virtual reality and physical simulators