GUWAHATI, Aug 16 - The city joined the rest of the State in celebrating the country�s 69th Independence Day yesterday.
Don Bosco School, Panbazar, also celebrated the occasion at the school basketball courts. Fr Sebastian Mathew, school Rector and Principal, hoisted the national tricolour in the presence of Vice Principal Fr Pradeep Ekka, scouts, guides, NCC cadets, Junior Red Cross, teaching staff, students, parents and guardians.
In his speech, Fr Sebastian Mathew said, �On this day, let us not only rejoice but remember those great freedom fighters and martyrs who fought against the British and got us our freedom and made India a free nation.�
The national tricolour was also hoisted at the Guwahati Provincial House of Salesians at Panbazar by senior computer teacher Praneeta Das Gogoi in the presence of Guwahati Provincial Fr VM Thomas, scouts, guides, NCC cadets, Junior Red Cross, teaching staff, students, parents and guardians.
The national tricolour was also hoisted at the St Joseph�s Co Cathedral Church at Panbazar by Romanus Horo, retired IAS officer in the presence of Rev John Moolachira, Archbishop of Guwahati, Fr Cheeramben Francis, Parish Priest, Fr Sebastian Mathew, scouts, guides, NCC cadets, Junior Red Cross, teaching staff, students, parents and guardians.
Royal Global School celebrated the occasion by hoisting a huge national flag measuring 30 ft X 20 ft on an 111-foot-high flag mast, which makes it the highest flagpole in this part of the country. The flag was hoisted by the chief guest, MGVK Bhanu, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister, Government of Assam.
The tricolour would remain unfurled throughout the year and it is hoped that the flag would remind the Royalites of the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters and brave soldiers and would also instill in them the true spirit of democracy.
Bhanu, in his speech, congratulated the school management for taking the initiative to unfurl the highest national flag in the Northeast. Quoting Mohammad Syed Sadullah, the representative of Assam to the Constituent Assembly, he laid emphasis on what the three colours of the flag stood for. He urged the students to value their freedom and rise against corruption.
Addressing the gathering, the Principal of the School, Anubha Goyal, stressed the role of educators as nation builders to edify young minds to become responsible, tolerant, patient and pro-active adults who would take pride in being Indians and work towards the progress of the nation.
Old Boys� Association of Sainik School Goalpara (OBA SSG), in association with Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute, organised a blood donation programme on the occasion of the Independence Day. OBA SSG has been organizing blood donation programmes on August 15 for the last few years. Apart from members and well-wishers of OBA SSG, other people also donated blood during the programme.
Staff, franchisee, owners and their family members of courier network DTDC Express Limited, celebrated the day with the inmates of the Children Home for Boys run by the Red Cross Society at Lankeswar near the Gauhati University, by distributing gifts and sharing meal with them.
Popular Assamese cine star Barasha Rani Bishaya joined in the celebrations at the Home, bringing joy to the children. She interacted with the children and encouraged them to become good and successful human beings. She also formally gave away the gifts to the children provided by the DTDC Express Limited and shared meal with them and the staff, franchisee owners of DTDC and their family members.
Earlier in the morning, renowned singer Sudakshina Sharma unfurled the tricolour at the DTDC Express Limited�s hub at Nahoroni Path on Beltola-Survey Road. In her speech, she urged the youth to inculcate the spirit of nation-building and remember the sacrifices made by millions of countrymen to achieve India�s independence.
The Lions Club of Gauhati along with their Lioness and Leo Clubs organized a colourful Independence Day programme under the leadership of Kavita Beria as its chairperson at their Lions Eye Hospital, amidst the presence of over 250 members. The tricolour was hoisted by its president Surendra Jain, after which a patriotic cultural programme was held with the participation of members. A new web portal of the Gauhati Lions Eye Hospital was inaugurated by Radha Agarwal. This portal would be linked with all the social media platforms, and contributions and donations from individuals towards the hospital could be made online through this.
