CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will pay tribute to war heroes of 1971 and celebrate the historic ceasefire agreement signed on the 13th day of the war in the evening of December 16, 1971, with Chief Minister MK Stalin paying homage at the Victory War Memorial at Kamarajar Salai on Thursday.
Chennaites would also be able to witness the historic ceasefire agreement signed on the 13th day of the war in the evening of December 16, 1971, and also the picture of surrender of Pakistani armed forces to India as these would be displayed at the War Memorial here during the Vijay Diwas celebrations from Thursday.
About 1,670 men and women from Tamil Nadu served India's armed forces during the liberation of Bangladesh. Three Vir Chakra awardees, 1 Mahavir Chakra awardee and 1 Sena medal awardee were from Tamil Nadu.
Lieutenant General A Arun, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Dakshin Bharat Area, on Wednesday, said that War Memorial will be kept open from 10 am of December 16 till 5 pm of December 19 to enable the people to visit the memorial.
The contributions of Madurai-born Commodore Gopal Rao, who led his team during Operation Trident on December 4, were also recalled by Arun. The day is marked as the Navy Day in India.
The operation sunk two Pakistani destroyers, a minesweeper, and a cargo ship; and set fire to oil dumps and other installations. Rear Admiral S Ram Sagar, a naval aviator who prevented the enemy from operating airfields by bombarding their troops, and Col Krishnaswamy, who led his team and inflicted casualties and damaged Pakistani tank formations, are likely to attend the event.
Tamil Nadu given Rs 806 crore under SDRF: Centre
CHENNAI: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the Parliament on Wednesday that the Centre has released Rs 806 crore to Tamil Nadu under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to carry out flood relief measures.
His was replying to a question by DMK's Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson. He had asked whether the ministry received the assessment report of the Central government team, which recently visited rain-hit areas in Tamil Nadu to study the damage.