President braves steady drizzle to take salute

President Ram Nath Kovind today braved a steady drizzle and kept standing when the national anthem was being played while taking the salute by the Army on his arrival here on a day-long visit to attend a function at the Mata Amritanandamayi Math.
Though an official offered him an umbrella, he did not accept it and kept standing in the rain to take the salute.
Earlier in the day, Kovind arrived here on his maiden visit to Kerala after becoming president, and launched a Rs- 100 crore initiative of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math to provide clean water to rural India at the math headquarters at nearby Vallikkavu.

A function was organised on the occasion in connection with the 64th birthday celebrations of spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi Devi.
Kerala Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan were among those who received the president on his arrival at the Air Force Technical Area of the airport at Thiruvananthapuram.