Sidharth Roy Kapur, president of the Film and Television Producers Guild of India, Vivek Oberoi, Anupam Kher, Madhur Bhandarkar and producer Boney Kapoor were also a part of the event, held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
As the bugle was sounded for the retreat, the Raisina Hill complex lit up in a riot of colours, the illumination provided by LEDs rather than the traditional incandescent bulbs.
Sitharaman, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa and Vice Chief of the Indian Navy Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P laid wreaths at the Amar Jawan Jyoti in India Gate, paying respect to the fallen heroes of the war.
The mortal remains of the Central Reserve Police Force jawans killed in the audacious attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir were brought to New Delhi on Friday evening in an Indian Air Force plane, officials said.
As defence minister, Singh's most crucial challenge will be to speed up the long-delayed modernisation of the three services besides ensuring overall coherence in their combat readiness.
'So far there is no clear money trail nor an indisputable smoking gun.' 'But that doesn't mean there aren't disturbing questions and a strange resistance by the government to reveal the price, which only adds suspicion to concern,' observes Karan Thapar.
The ceremony to hand over the first Rafale jet will take place on October 8, the foundation day of the Indian Air Force, the sources said.
The AEWS&CS was developed by the Centre for Airborne Systems, a laboratory under the Defence Research and Development Organisation headed by woman scientist J Manjula.
The IAF hit the JeM training facility using S-2000 precision-guided bombs fired from the Mirage-2000 fighter jets.
Singh said, "It is extremely shocking and tragic that the prime minister of this country is pointing fingers at opposition parties for questioning the Army or the Air Force.
"What I said was if we had Rafale at the time (of aerial dogfight), then none of our fighter jets would have gone down and none of theirs saved," he added.
Here's a recap of the big events that shaped the nation over the weekend.
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The entire base must be spic and span with flags fluttering along the roads. Everything that moves will be washed and bedecked with the best while everything that is static will be painted afresh, observes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
Indian Air Force has deployed all available resources, including Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft and C-130 Special Operations aircraft, on a search mission for locating the missing aircraft.
Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja was tortured and killed after his MiG-21 was shot down and he ejected across the Line of Control during the Kargil War.
The IAF chief has said that his force had the capability of locating, fixing and striking across the border.
'To me, this is true patriotism - not deciding who should and should not say 'Bharat Mata ki jai,' in what language, with what inflexion, at what time, etc, but the recognition that the Indians who protected our country and the military traditions that made those men, must be honoured,' says Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
He reaffirmed the government's commitment to resolving any outstanding issue in the way of growth and development of indigenous defence industries.
Underworld don, Abu Salem's girlfriend, Monica Bedi has got an offer to act in producer and director Guddu Dhanoa's new film.
This was the first time General Rawat flew in the home-made fighter jet, known for its agility, being the smallest and lightest multirole supersonic fighter jet in its class.
The missile is capable of intercepting incoming targets at an altitude of 15 to 25 km was launched against multiple simulated targets of 1,500 km class ballistic missile.
The IAF has planned several activities at the air base to commemorate the 20 years of the war and the symbolic recreation of the Tiger Hill attack was one of them.
The CDS will be senior to the service chiefs and his primary role will be to work towards increasing operational coordination among the army, the navy or the air force and deal with India's national security with a comprehensive approach.
This will also be his first August 15 address after coming back to power with a huge mandate.
Rediff.com's Ashish Narsale reviews the Android game Indian Air Force: A Cut Above.
The court accepted the plea of Patiala Police for the extension of Daler's remand on the ground that the singer had to be taken to Mumbai for further investigations.
The singer is expected to be taken to Mumbai and Delhi for recovery of some documents.
Sitharaman said keeping morale of forces at the highest level was among the priorities of the government.
One can only imagine how it is at the receiving end of the bomb. The sound is deafening, splinters and rocks fly like missiles and the blast sucks in the air around asphyxiating everyone. The shock waves can be felt for miles around.
In a sweeping Facebook post, he attacked government critics, including opposition members, students leaders, activists and media, and called for a 'surgical strike' within India.
His health condition is being monitored by a group of doctors at the Army's Research and Referral hospital, the officials said.
The Russian origin aircraft, now capable of effecting mid-air refuelling, is compatible with latest missiles and can launch multi-dimensional attacks.
On that note, Sukanya Verma lists 10 times when Bollywood assembled a bevy of evil-doers to make life hell for its leading man.
The crash of the Mi-17 V5 took place at around 6 am when it was on a maintenance mission.
