Suo Divya Vijay Pb/19/SDA/137136 Iconic Military Structures
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Suo Divya Vijay Pb/19/SDA/137136 Iconic Military Structures: The Indian Military Academy (IMA) trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up under the chairmanship of Field Marshal Philip Chetwode. From a class of 40 male cadets in 1932, IMA now has a sanctioned capacity of 1,650. Cadets undergo a training course varying between 3 and 16 months depending on entry criteria. On completion of the course at IMA cadets are permanently commissioned into the army as Lieutenants. The Academy, spread over 1,400 acres (5.7 km2), houses the Chetwode Hall, Khetarpal Auditorium, Somnath Stadium, Salaria Aquatic Centre, Hoshiar Singh Gymnasium and other facilities that facilitate the training of cadets. Cadets in IMA are organized into a regiment with four battalions of four Companies each. The Academy's mission, to train future military leaders of the Indian Army, goes hand in hand with the character building enshrined in the IMA honour code, warrior code and motto. Cadets take part in a variety of sports, adventure activities, physical training, drills, weapons training and leadership development activities. The Academy's alumni include six recipients of India's highest military decoration, the Param Vir Chakras, and India's first Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. Other achievements by alumni include 73 Military Crosses, 17 Ashoka Chakras, 84 Maha Vir Chakras and 41 Kirti Chakras. In 2017, Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz Parray was the 847th name to be engraved on the IMA War Memorial, which honours alumni of the Academy who have fallen in the course of action During the Indian Independence Movement, Indian leaders recognized the need for a local military institution to meet the needs of an armed force loyal to sovereign India. The Indianisation of the officer cadre of the army began in 1901, but it was only for the elite, and after training they were not allowed into the regular army. The British Raj was reluctant to commission Indian officers or permit local officer training. In 1905, natives could officer only Indian troops and by rank were not equal to commissioned British officers. Up to World war I, the highest rank to which a native soldier of India could rise was Subedar, a rank lower than the lowermost officer rank of Subaltern. Heritage Residences: The Rashtrapati Bhavan is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath in New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bhavan may refer to only the 340-room main building that has the president's official residence, including reception halls, guest rooms and offices, also called the mansion it may also refer to the entire 130-hectare (320-acre) Presidential Estate that additionally includes the presidential gardens (Mughal Gardens), large open spaces, residences of bodyguards and staff, stables, other offices and utilities within its perimeter walls. In terms of area, it is the largest residence of any head of state in the world. The Governor General of Fort William resided in Belvedere residence, Calcutta, until the early nineteenth century, when Government House, Calcutta (now Raj Bhavan, Kolkata) was constructed. Lord Wellesley, who is reputed to have said that ‘India should be governed from a palace, not from a country house’, ordered the construction of a grand mansion between 1799 and 1803 and in 1854, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal took up residence there. The decision to build a residence in New Delhi for the British Viceroy was taken after it was decided during the Delhi Durbar in December 1911 that the capital of India would be relocated from Calcutta to Delhi. When the plan for a new city, New Delhi, adjacent to end south of Old Delhi, was developed after the Delhi Durbar, the new palace for the Viceroy of India was given an enormous size and prominent position. About 4,000 acres of land was acquired to begin the construction of Viceroy's House, as it was originally called, and adjacent Secretariat Building between 1911 and 1916 by relocating Raisina and Malcha villages that existed there and their 300 families under the Land Acquisition Act 1894. National War Memorial: The National War Memorial is an Indian national monument built to honour and remember soldiers of the Indian military who gave the supreme sacrifice in armed conflicts of Independent India. The names of armed forces personnel killed during the armed conflicts with Pakistan and China as well as the 1961 war in Goa, Operation Pawan and other operations such as Operation Rakshak are inscribed on the memorial walls in golden letters. This monument is spread over 40 acres of land and was built by the Govt. of India around the existing chhatri (canopy), near India Gate, New Delhi. The memorial wall is flushed with the ground and in harmony with existing aesthetics. It completed in January 2019 and was unveiled on 25 February 2019 in an inauguration ceremony held at the monument where the prime Minister of the India in the presence of CDS of India and the 3 Chief of Staffs of Indian Armed Forces, ignited the eternal flame of Amar Jawan Jyoti (Flames of Eternal Soldiers) at Amar Chakra under the main obelisk of the monument. National War Museum A National War Museum will be constructed in the adjoining Princess Park area and will be connected to the memorial through an underground tunnel. The Princess Park is a 14-acres large area north of India Gate, with barrack- like accommodations built during World War II. Since 1947, it has served as family accommodation for mid-level armed forces officers posted in the Service Headquarters in New Delhi. The proposed National War Museum will be connected by metro. The construction of the War Memorial and Museum is expected to cost ₹500 crore (US$70 million). In July 2020, the Central Public Works Department opened the tender for the selection of a consultant for the National War Museum in an area of around 10acre. Two firms have been shortlisted, CP Kukreja Architects and Suresh Goel & Associates. .