New Delhi, Jan 26 (IANS): In a first, national broadcaster Doordarshan Sunday broadcast High Definition live streaming of the Republic Day Parade on internet.

The crystal clear picture quality of the parade arrived on computers, laptops and mobile phones, barely a few seconds behind the actual proceedings, fetching over 13,000 views.

It was a welcome development for those who were unable to watch the colourful parade on their television screens.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting helped spread the word about the direct broadcast through its tweets that provided a direct link to the YouTube channel.

In another first, the hearing impaired were able to follow the Republic Day proceedings with a running commentary in sign language alongside the visuals on three channels - DD News, DD Bharati and DD Urdu.

Ankit, a hearing impaired teen, expressed his happiness at being able to understand what was being shown.

"He says he would earlier have to read the newspapers the next day or search for news on the net to understand what was shown. This time, he was able to understand the proceedings thanks to the live sign language commentary," said his mother Sujata, a school teacher.

The hearing and speech impaired had demanded sign language commentary on all six channels of Doordarshan, that also include DD National, DD India and DD Sports. However, the ministry did not accede to the request.