Independence Day 2022: Is India celebrating its 75th or 76th I-Day this year?

Preparations are underway to celebrate India's 75 years of independence on August 15; however, there is a math-related confusion ahead of the celebration. Exactly, which Independence Day is it? India will mark 75 years of independence from British rule this year, which has added to the confusion. Which year's Independence Day is it, the 75th or the 76th?

On March 12, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,' a Government of India initiative to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence. It began a 75-week countdown to our 75th anniversary of independence. This means that India will celebrate its 76th Independence Day on August 15, 2022, and mark the end of its 75 years of freedom. 

Still confused, here's the Maths; on August 15, 1947, India achieved its hard-fought independence from over 200 years of British rule. This means that India celebrated its first year of independence on August 15, 1948, ten years on August 15, 1957, 20 years in 1967, and 70 years in 2017. Accordingly, India celebrates 75 years of independence from British rule in 2022.

However, counting the number of Independence Days celebrated in India, it will be 76 since August 15, 1947, which will be considered the first. 

Know some interesting facts here:

1) On August 7, 1906, the Indian national flag was hoisted at Parsee Bagan Square in Kolkata. Pingali Venkayya, a freedom fighter, designed the first variant of India's national flag in 1921. On July 22, 1947, the current flag was officially adopted.

2) Along with India, four other countries celebrate their independence on August 15: Bahrain, North Korea, South Korea, and Liechtenstein.

3) Rabindranath Tagore composed the song 'Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata' in 1911 and renamed it 'Jana Gana Mana.' On January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly of India declared it the national anthem.

4) Goa remained a Portuguese colony after India's independence and was only annexed by the Indian Army in 1961. Accordingly, Goa was the last state to join Indian territory.

5) The Indian flag is manufactured and supplied from only one place in the country. The Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha (KKGSS) in Dharwad, Karnataka, is authorised to manufacture and supply Indian national flags. Only handspun and handwoven cotton khadi wafting is used to make the flag.

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