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Sunday, February 22, 2026
TopicBeating the retreat

Topic: Beating the retreat

Indian popular tunes that are pushing out colonial martial music at Beating the Retreat

The Beating the Retreat ceremony this year featured Bollywood songs like Lakshya and Ae Mere Pyaare Watan.

Beating the Retreat — a musical military tradition celebrating the Republic for 7 decades

Tracing its origins to early 1950s, Beating the Retreat is held on 29 January at Vijay Chowk every year to conclude Republic Day celebrations.

J Ranade on India-China’s ‘cosmetic’ ties, Valson Thampu calls out ‘arbitrary exclusion’

The best of the day’s opinion, chosen and curated by ThePrint’s top editors.

‘Focus on more Indian tunes’ — Vande Mataram to replace Abide With Me at Beating Retreat

Abide With Me has traditionally concluded annual 45-minute performance of military music as last event of Republic Day celebrations at Vijay Chowk in Delhi.

Pakistani cricketer’s thigh-tapping antic is the latest ‘fake show’ at Wagah border

Introduced in 1959, the 45-minute flag-lowering ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border was a low-key affair for decades but now draws hundreds of visitors daily.

On Camera

Youth Congress, your foolish protest helped the Modi govt climb out of the AI summit hole

In tactical terms, the shirtless protest was worse than a self-goal. Suddenly, the fiascos of the AI Summit were forgotten, and the Youth Congress’s disruption became the issue.

In the West, there’s anxiety. In India, optimism—Rishi Sunak says India poised to be leader in AI

On Wednesday, the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was speaking in New Delhi at a Carnegie & Observer Research Foundation event on AI.

MoD, IAF agree on some exemptions to HAL for Tejas Mk1A, but no compromise on ‘must-have’ capabilities

IAF is fine with accepting the aircraft with 'must-haves', even if some other steps remain pending, which may take at least another year, it is learnt.

No country is ever fully sovereign. Cold War era taught India its real meaning

India’s fraught neighbourhood places multiple constraints on its strategic choices. It leaves no time to take a deep breath, lean back and reset.