Patriotic fervour marks R-Day celebrations

vijayawada: the 53rd republic day was celebrated with patriotic fervour in krishna district and vijayawada city on saturday. district collector b r meena hoisted the tricolour at the parade grounds in machilipatnam in the presence of minister's vadde sobhanadreeswara rao, n narasimha rao, zilla parishad chairperson n sudharani, superintendent of police sandeep shandilya and others.the collector inspected a guard-of-honour on the occasion.in vijayawada city, police commissioner n v surendra babu hoisted the national flag at the armed reserve grounds and took salute from the armed reserve platoons, civil police, home guards and the ncc cadets. the armed reserve platoon was adjudged the best and the commander azamtullah presented a reward of rs 1,000 while the civil police commander a pallam raju was presented rs 500. the rtc krishna region manager u sudhakara rao conducted the honours at the pandit nehru bus station complex and distributed cash awards to the security personnel. city congress president kadiyala butchi babu hoisted the national flag at the andhra ratna bhavan and at several places in the city.with the government of india enforcing a new flag code from saturday, the tricolour was unfurled at several places. children of various schools presented cultural programmes at the armed reserve grounds. while tableaux of different departments were paraded. the apsrtc's sutlej vehicle bagged the first prize on the occasion. a constable abdul azeez attached to the satyanarayanapuram police station brought out an audio cassette sannihita which was released by the police commissioner.