The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday marked 90 years of excellence and began its celebrations in Punjab's Chandigarh with a band march and parade. Every year on October 8, the IAF Day is celebrated in the presence of the IAF chief and other senior officers.
On the special occasion, the Chief of the Indian Air Staff, Vivek Ram Chaudhari, said, "We've inherited the proud legacy curated by sheer hard work, perseverance and vision of our predecessors. Right to acknowledge the contribution of our veterans who chartered this course. Now the onus is on us to usher IAF into the centenary decade."
"Induction of air warriors into Indian Air Force through Agnipath scheme is a challenge for all of us. But more importantly, it's an opportunity for us to harness the potential of India's youth and channelise it towards service of the nation," he said.
IAF to induct women agniveers from next year
IAF chief VK Chaudhari continued, "We've changed our operational training methodology to ensure that each Agniveer is equipped with the right skills and knowledge to start a career in IAF. In December this year, we'd be inducting 3,000 Agniveer Vayu for initial training. This number will go up in the years to come. We are also planning on induction of women Agniveers starting next year. Creation of infrastructure is in progress."
India celebrates 90th IAF day
Abiding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiatives to take major events out of the national capital, Delhi, to different parts of the country, the IAF, for the first time, is celebrating this year's special day parade and flypast in Chandigarh instead of the Hindan Air Base in Delhi NCR.
The programme has been divided into two parts: the morning parade and the air show. The event begins at around 9 am on Saturday with a 2-hour morning parade followed by a fly past. In the afternoon, the Indian Air Force will put on a show with a range of aircraft during its air show as a part of its 90th-anniversary celebrations. Aircraft such as Rafale, Tejas, Su-30, Mi-17, Mirage, and others will participate in the air show with aerobatic display temas like the Suryakirans and the Sarang.
