Indian Army Day 2025

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Indian army celebrated the annual 77th Army Day on January 15th, 2025 in Pune.

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• The 77th Army Day 2025 theme is ‘Samarth Bharat, Saksham Sena’ (Capable India, Empowered Army).

• This year the Army Day parade 2025 is organised in Pune, Maharashtra.

• It is the 3rd time outside Delhi and the first time in Pune.

• The 77th Army Day Parade was marked by the presentation of 52 prestigious awards which include:

• 15 Sena Medals (Gallantry).
• 8 posthumous awards,
• 37 Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Unit Appreciations.  

Why January 15th?

• On this day General (later Field Marshal) K M Cariappa took over the command of the Indian Army from General Sir F R R Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949 and became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of Independent India.

Three warships were commissioned into the Indian Navy

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Recently, the Prime Minister dedicated three frontline naval combatants on their commissioning at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

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The first tri-commissioning of Nilgiri, Vaghsheer and Surat — was commissioned on the same day in the Indian Navy. 

• INS Nilgiri is the first of the seven ships of Project 17A frigates. 
• INS Vaghsheer is the sixth and final ship of Project 75 Kalvari class submarines.
• INS Surat is the fourth and final ship of Project 15B destroyers.

Project 17A (Alpha)

• Project 17A Frigates are the follow-on class of the Project 17 (Shivalik Class) Frigates.
• A total of 7 frigates under Project 17A are under various stages of construction at Mazagon Dockyards Limited (MDL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE).
• 7 Frigates of Project 17A: Nilgiri, Himgiri, Taragiri, Udaygiri, Dunagiri, Mahendragiri, and Vindhyagiri.
• These frigates are stealth-guided missile frigates built for the Indian Navy.

Project 75

Project 75 India was first envisioned in 1998 as part of a 30-year submarine-building plan, set to conclude in 2030. 

• Under P-75, diesel-electric attack submarines were built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai with technology transfer from the French firm Naval Group. 
• The six submarines under Project-75 are INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, INS Vela, INS Vagir and INS Vagsheer.

Project 15B 

The Visakhapatnam-class (Project 15B) destroyers are an upgraded version of the Kolkata-class (Project 15A) destroyers.

• India’s indigenous Destroyer construction programme commenced with the three Delhi class (P-15 class) warships which were followed by three Kolkata class (P-15A) destroyers.

The Visakhapatnam Class (Project 15B) warships: INS Visakhapatnam, INS Mormugao, INS Imphal, INS Surat.

Building Blocks for THz Communication Front Ends

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Recently, the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), has signed an agreement with IIT Delhi for the development of "Building Blocks for THz Communication Front Ends" for 6G.

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• The agreement is signed under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) 6G.

• 6G (sixth-generation wireless) is the successor to 5G cellular technology for higher frequencies than 5G networks and provides substantially higher capacity and much lower latency.

• The aim of this project is the development of basic devices and components that are essential for THz systems envisaged for 6G communications, as well as other THz systems.

• C-DOT is the implementing agency for this project.

• This project is being initiated to develop some of the core components at IIT Delhi facilities, in association with SAMEER (Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research) Kolkata.

Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT)

• It was established in August 1984 as an autonomous Telecom Research & Development centre of the Department of Telematics, Government of India.
• It is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, of 1860.
• It is a registered ‘public funded research institution’ with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology.

Thiruvalluvar Day

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India is celebrating Thiruvalluvar Day on 15th January (celebrated on the second day of the Tamil month Thai, a day after Pongal, 16th January in leap year) to commemorate Saint Thiruvalluvar’s contributions to literature.

Saint Thiruvalluvar

• Thiruvalluvar was born in Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.

• Tiruvalluvar was a Tamil poet-saint known as the author of the Tirukkural (“Sacred Couplets”).

• The Thirukkural, is a set of 1,330 couplets thematically divided into three books and 133 chapters, regarded as a secular tome.
• According to traditional accounts, thirukkural was the last work of the third Sangam.

• He is one of the most translated Tamil Poet and G.U. Pope has called him “The Bard of Universal Man.”

• Tamil orator and writer and father of Pure Tamil movement, Maraimalai Adigal deduced 31 BC as the birth year of Valluvar, while Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, Kamil Zvelebil inferred that Thiruvalluvar lived around 500 AD.