National day
Importance attached to the national day as well as the degree to which it is celebrated vary greatly from country to country. For example, Spain's national day Fiesta Nacional de España is held on 12 October, the day celebrated in other countries as Columbus Day or "Día de la Raza", and commemorates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. A military parade is held in Madrid celebrating the occasion. The national day in France is 14 July and known as the "Fête nationale" (known in English-speaking countries as Bastille Day) commemorating the Storming of the Bastille, which is considered the start of the French Revolution. It is widely celebrated and the French Tricolour is much in evidence, while the President of the Republic attends a military parade on the Champs-Élysées of Paris. In the United States, the Independence Day celebrations on 4 July are widely celebrated with parades, fireworks, picnics and barbecues. In Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March, is the equivalent of a national day and has been a public holiday for many years. However, in the United Kingdom the constituent countries' patron saints' days are low-key affairs. In recent times campaigns have commenced to promote the national days of England, Scotland and Wales, with St. Andrew's Day being designated as an official bank holiday when the Scottish Parliament passed the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007. A National Day for the United Kingdom has also been proposed in recent years.
French India Students Congress
As independence of British India drew nearer, the French India Students Congress called for a protest on August 9, 1947 to call on France to quit India. French authorities issues a ban against the manifestation. The ban provoked spontaneous protests from the French India Students Congress, the French India National Congress, the Communist Party of French India and trade unions. The protests forced the French authorities to withdraw the ban. The mass rally of the French India National Congress and French India Students Congress was held on August 10, 1947 a meeting was held at Nehru Vanam. It was presided by Rajan Das from the Students Congress. The meeting called for immediate merger of French India with the Indian Union.