Air Chief Marshal AP Singh while addressing a function of a private university in Gandhinagar on Thursday made a frank confession in front of the graduation students of Karnavati University. “The irony of life is that the person who is standing in front of you today and talking to all of you has not even completed his 12th class. I was in the middle of 12th class when I joined NDA and I did not even complete it, so my last convocation in a university was my first convocation in life, and that is when I got to know how things work and what is done,” he said. Singh, who is a member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, National Security Council and Defense Procurement Board, said he has not joined any college but that does not mean he has stopped learning.
Celebrating “Vande Mataram”
The Gujarat government, in a circular issued on Thursday, said that government offices will function from 9.30 am to 5.10 pm on Friday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the patriotic song ‘Vande Mataram’, which will include public singing of the patriotic song. The state-level event will be held in the Vidhan Sabha in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. The BJP’s district and city units will also organize a program to mark the celebrations on Friday, following which local bodies including municipal corporations, municipalities and district councils will organize the event from November 8 to 26 to ensure that elected representatives are able to attend. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), which initially planned the event on Friday, later issued a clarification that the event will be held on November 8. “The elected representatives have to be present even at the BJP’s party program on Friday, which will be held simultaneously. Therefore, they cannot remain present at the local bodies event… The local bodies will organize the event from November 8 onwards,” an official said.
(Tags for translation) Air Chief Marshal AP Singh
