President Ram Nath Kovind to address nation on Republic Day eve

President Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation on Friday on the eve of the 70th Republic Day. The address will be broadcast from 7pm on the entire national network of All India Radio and telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by the English version, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

This will be followed by broadcast in regional languages by regional channels of Doordarshan, it said in a statement. The AIR will broadcast regional language versions 9.30pm onwards on its respective regional networks, the statement said.

The majestic Republic Day parade will start at 9.50 am tomorrow. It will commence from Vijay Chowk and pass through Rajpath, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar (BSZ) Marg, Netaji Subhash Marg and proceed for the Red Fort. A function will also be held at India Gate at 09.00 am, the traffic police said. In order to facilitate smooth passage of the parade, movement of vehicles on certain roads leading to the parade route will be restricted, they said.

According to a traffic advisory, no vehicle will be allowed on Rajpath, from Vijay Chowk to India Gate, from 6 pm on January 25 till the parade is over. No cross traffic will be allowed on Rajpath from 11.00 pm on January 25 at Rafi Marg, Janpath, Man Singh Road till the parade is over and 'C'-Hexagon-India Gate will be closed for vehicular movement from 02.00 am on January 26 till the parade crosses Tilak Marg, it said.

On Republic Day, no vehicular movement will be allowed on Tilak Marg, BSZ Marg and Subhash Marg in both directions from 10 am onwards, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Alok Kumar said. The Delhi Police has advised commuters to plan their journey accordingly in advance and avoid the parade route from 0200 hours to 1230 hours for their convenience.

Kumar said though there will be no restriction for people from North Delhi going towards New Delhi Railway Station or Old Delhi Railway Station, yet it is advised that they plan their journey in advance and take sufficient extra time to reach their destination to avoid any possible delay. Flying of sub-conventional aerial platforms like para- gliders, para motors, hang gliders, UAVs, UASs, microlight aircrafts, remotely piloted aircrafts, hot air balloons, small size powered aircrafts, quadcopters or para jumping from aircraft are prohibited over the jurisdiction of National Capital Territory of Delhi from January 9 to February 9, the advisory said.