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Kalam pays homage to martyrs

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI AUG. 14. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, today set a new tradition by paying homage to martyred soldiers on the eve of Independence Day. Army sources said the President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, would henceforth lay a wreath every year at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate.

Accompanied by the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, and the three service chiefs, Mr. Kalam laid the wreath in the morning to set off the 57th Independence Day celebrations. He was presented a guard of honour by a tri-services contingent which later sounded the melancholic Last Post. The Ministers of State for Defence, O. Rajagopal and Chaman Lal Gupta, senior services officers and hundreds of school children watched the proceedings.

Army sources said the President had sometime ago sounded them out about his desire to pay homage to the soldiers on the eve of Independence Day.

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